Journey's in Clay 2009.

I survived another gallery opening! And it was a successful one too, sold 6 of the 11 pieces.



Journeys in Clay 2009-Contemporary Ceramics.

May 30-July 18

GCCA Mountain Top Gallery, Windham, NY. Hours: Friday & Saturday 11AM-6PM; Sunday & Monday 10AM-5PM; Tuesday-Thursday:11AM-5PM. 518-734-3104, or visit www.greenearts.org.

You can see the nice little blurb in the Arts Newspaper right here...name misspellings and all.

p.s. The pitcher isn't in the show...I'll be posting it in my shop this weekend!

Gondolas?

That's what I'm calling them.

I made these 3 before I decided to use this mold for my new fish dish. I really like the shape and they look quite elegant. These may be the only dishes I make like this.

I still need to do some last minute things before I finish loading and start firing the kiln. It's full of mugs, creamers and vases. My hand is killing me.

I also have a pile of pieces I made for earrings. I guess I should get them finished. Oh, and I need to string up some more ornaments. Soooo many ornaments!

Pitcher love.

Yes, true love.

I've been throwing a lot of curvy forms lately. I decided to go more geometric with this pitcher. This was the result. I resurrected my turquoise for this one. I tried to stay away and I just couldn't resist. It just looks so fantastic with the crisp black and white and helps to soften up tighter, more calculated shapes. These are all sitting in the Things that pour section of my shop.

Pink loveliness.

Okay. I know I say it a lot, but this piece is so lovely. When I took it out of the kiln my heart was melting. I think I may need to make myself a mug version of this pitcher. And as someone who spent the first 25 years of her life hating the color pink, I've certainly had a change of heart. I guess it's the context that makes the difference and paired with black and white, almost any color can shine.

I've mentioned previously of my love/hate relationship with mugs. In the beginning I thought that I had to make them. Everyone loves mugs. They are an inexpensive, useful yet handmade and special gift for others and a present you can buy yourself and not feel so guilty. And for the ceramics collector, the are another relatively inexpensive way to purchase work by your favorite artist. BUT, they are a lot of work. At least the way I work. Throwing them exactly the same size, painting them, CARVING them(I don't think people appreciate how long that takes), pulling the handles, attaching the handles, firing, glazing, firing again... At first I kept them simple in form, simple carving. But they were still taking time and I felt bad charging a lot and definitely lost money on them. Now, I think I've found some peace...

I'm not going to worry about matching perfectly. They are all the same style. I'm using the same amount of clay for each so they are all similar in height, but not exact. And if someone really wants a matching set, I'll make sure they are the same height, but not exact in shape. They're more interesting that way anyway. And I don't feel bad charging more because more work, more consideration of form and definitely more love goes into these. There are still a few left in the shop from the last batch and I'm working on more.

hmmmm.

I posted this vase in my shop today.

I had originally intended for this design to have handles on either side. I tried about a dozed different handles and none of them seemed to work. So, I scrapped that idea and realized it was telling me it didn't want handles. Anyway, I'm so pleased with how it came out and the turquoise glaze suits it just perfectly. Yummy.