Slip trailing and loading the kiln plus video

My back is finally feeling well enough to work for a few hours each day.  The back specialist said that I had muscle spasms.  While I am happy that it wasn't something worse, I can't imagine anything hurting much worse.  By last Wednesday I could hardly move.  Slowly I have gotten better with medication and icing.

Yesterday I did some slip trail beading then I loaded the kiln.  Today I worked on trays and small wall hangings.

While I was laid up I worked on a video of our local pottery guild's semi-annual festival.  I had taken the video clips last spring and just never had the energy or time to work on putting it all together. It is actually good that I got it done.  It's less than 2 months until the festival and I need to get going on the online promotion.

First Place Win

Friday evening I went to the Summer Art Explosion award reception at Falling Rivers Gallery.  I had received first prize in the 3D division.  This was exciting because it was my first win.  A few years ago I received an honorable mention at the Mint Hill Arts Juried show.  Since then I have not entered into any shows, mainly because I never hold anything back for shows and the timing never works out that I have something available that is worthy.  This time I purposely made 5 items for the show and took up 3.

I did something to my back this week.  Probably lifting boxes full of pottery at the show last weekend.  Every morning I wake up and can't roll over, but as the day moves along I get better.  So I have been working through the pain.  But today I woke up at 4am and could not deal with the pain.  In 45 minutes I will be at the Chiropractor and hope that he can make an adjustment that will fix it.  I really can't take many days off since I have 3 shows this fall and only have 2 boxes of pottery glazed.

Lidded jar

Today I made a couple pedestal pieces.  The piece to the left was initially supposed to be from an inspiration piece, but I didn't look at the photo and had already cut out the lid before I checked to see what I was supposed to be doing.  I will try again next week and make the decanter I was meaning to make.  

The piece on the right is a funeral urn for a customer in Canada that wanted a special urn for a beloved pet.  I hope she is happy with how it turned out.  I made three just like this, but only the one has a name on it.

In the last few weeks I have listed some of my new work on my online shop.  I hope to continue to add items when I have extra pieces.  I am starting to gear up for my fall shows and online holiday sales.  As always I am open to custom orders and if there is an item shown on my blog or Facebook page that you are interested in let me know and if it's still available it's yours.

Village Art & Craft Fair

A few days ago I got a call asking if I would like to the Village Art and Craft Fair in Asheville.  I had applied the last few years and did not get in, but they needed a fill in for a last minute cancellation.  So I said OK but then I had to figure out where to get enough product.  Now I suppose I could have just closed my Etsy shop and taken what I had, but then my display would be a mish, mosh of last years leftovers and a few new pieces.  So I decided to raid two of the consignment shops I recently put new work into and I glazed a load with the best bisqued pieces I had available.  Altogether I think I have good enough pieces for a show of this caliber.  Too bad my 5 very favorite pieces are out at competitions.  Tomorrow morning I will unload the kiln, clean up, price and pack in boxes, then load the truck.  My friend Lynda will be helping me out and we will be staying in our cabin near Bat Cave, NC.  I couldn't afford this show if I had to pay hotel costs as well.

Monday I really need to get into serious work mode.  Hopefully I will sell out this weekend. LOL. Then I will need to refill the gift shops plus get ready for the 4-5 shows I will do this fall.  I also have a few orders to fill in the next few weeks.

Spring (summer really) Cleaning

Well, as you can see I can be very messy.  This is my photography studio and shipping room.  I had not cleaned it for quite awhile and my son had also cleaned out his closet and dumped the computer parts right in the middle of it all.  I kept stubbing my toe But what really made me decide to clean is that the shelves in the closet are where I put some of the overflow from my showroom of items listed online and I needed to bring the items back from my studio sale.   I was stepping on packing materials and the desk was a jumble of stuff that mostly didn't even belong in that room.

Before (up)  After (right)

I don't think that the pictures actually capture how bad it was, but now I feel refreshed and ready for sales.

Bisque load going, glazing tomorrow.

Before (left), After (below)

London Trip

A few weeks ago we got back from a trip to London.  This was our 25th Anniversary trip and we had a great time.  To see more photo of the trip, check out my cabin blog.


One item of interest to my fellow potters is that the Victoria and Albert Museum has 11 rooms on the top floor jam packed full of ceramics. The room in the photo was very sparse compared to the following rooms.  Some were floor to ceiling and almost stacked on each other there was so much.  In the next few weeks I make some pieces using photos of pieces from the museum as inspiration.

Vases

I started out the week going uptown to Carolina Clay for some more clay. Then Tuesday I made plates, Wednesday wall hangings (below) and today the three pieces to the left.  The piece in the middle is a prototype and I can see where I need to tweak it a bit. Two inches of the bottom went into the pedestal and threw off the proportions.  I think that the belly needs to be higher up, the pedestal smaller and the neck smaller.

Yesterday I worked on the wall hangings below.  The two on the bottom will have some kind of wire handle to look like baskets.

I still need to make some plates that can hang on the wall.  Tomorrow is slab built platters.  There will be another week of slab built items, then a week of throwing.  I have found that its hard to switch back and forth due to space issues.  Some time next week I will bisque and probably glaze the following week.  Mainly because I have a order for plates that I need to finish.

Today I sent my application in for the Made in the South Show in Charlotte and (new for this year) Macon GA.  Looks like I will be in four shows this year.  Carolina Claymatters Pottery Festival (Charlotte), Carolina Pottery Festival (Shelby), Made in the South Shows (Concord & Macon, GA)  I applied for Adalaya in Huntington Beach, but was wait listed.

I am looking for balance in my life.  Art shows can take over if you let them and I was neglecting my health, family and home.  For a few years I would do around 15 shows, most in the Fall.  My new plan is to workout Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with lighter work schedule those days.  Then there's the cabin on some weekends and I would like to go there during the Fall leaf season.  In the past, I filled up October with shows and missed out on the best time to go to the mountains.  Then there are my friends and family time.  I got to the point that I didn't see anyone all week because I needed to hit a deadline. Now I try to find time to go to lunch or shopping.

I don't know how the new work will sell yet and so it's hard to know how much to make this summer but I am making things I love and hope others will feel the same.

Earth and Fire Festival

The Earth and Fire Festival in Kings Mountain finishes up this Friday.  I am not sure why I haven't mentioned it sooner but there it is.  Since I had no other shows planned this summer I used four of my new pedestals from my new booth display. I can see from the photo that I need to add some other colors to my palette.  A few weeks ago I did some tests that were promising but I won't be able to use them for awhile since I am in a throwing/making mode.  My next scheduled show isn't until October and I really need to get to work.  Next on my schedule is a dinnerware set for a customer, then wall hangings.  My booth lacks wall art.

My first art competition win

As stated in the last post, I took three pieces to Albemarle for the "Summer Art Explosion" juried show at Falling Rivers Gallery.  Well, I got a call yesterday and guess what?  I won first prize for this olive oil cruet.  It's pretty exciting.  A few years ago I won an honorable mention at a show but since then I had not entered anything for competitions, mainly because I just don't hold favorite pieces back for those times when I need a piece so the timing just never worked out.  I wish now that I had photographed the piece in my photo booth.  The award ceremony is August 9th, 6-8pm.

This week I have been adding a number of new pieces to my online shop for the Christmas in July sale.  Customers receive 20% off with coupon code CIJ2013 at checkout.