So I'm getting antsy to get my fingers into clay again! I feel a bit out of touch with that part of my life. I have been gone from home (and thus my studio) for the last five weeks and still have one week to go and I am READY! Ready to be home, sleeping in my own bed, makings things in my studio. Agh, I can't wait!

There was one very exciting thing that happened while I was here: I sold another piece on Etsy! To another potter, from Rochester, NY. She put it up on her pottery shelf in her kitchen:


Can you find mine? (hint: it's really quite easily spotted)

Her name is Carol and she is another Etsy potter; you can find a link to her work here.

Thanks again Carol, for supporting my work!

So this post is going to be a bit short because I (accidentally) stabbed myself in the hand with a thermometer today and my hand is a bit sore.

I wanted to write because I've been looking for inspirations lately and I found some really beautiful vintage script letters. I was thinking possibly for my new chop stamp that I've been meaning to make out of some extra blocks of plaster I have lying around.

I actually really love the colors on this one. They are very vintage/scandinavian/60's/Medieval which I think is very fun!

This one is embroidered and the color palate is more in line with my work. I'm actually going to try and get a yellow similar to that one but maybe a bit more buttery. I have the test tiles but I haven't fired them yet. Once I get back home (I'm in NC training for my day job for 6 weeks), I will get those fired!

This one, I think, is my favorite! The leaves remind me of the swirly way the leaves are drawn on Islamic Pottery.

A little work, a few pots

So I've been terrible about updating my blog lately. I was just in a mood where nothing seemed good enough and I was getting a bit frustrated with trying to sell my work (still am, but I'm a little more accepting of how hard it is now!). I did my first sale (as I talked about in my last post) and I sold one cup all day. Yes that is right, only one cup. I actually lost money on that one. But slowly I grow....there's a woman in Salt Lake City that is interested in selling my work at her store so I have hope again.

The bright side of that sale was really just the extra effort put in the month before to make new work. Since I didn't have my normal slip (it was still on order at Bennett) I had to improvise and the results were actually wonderful!]

Here's a few of my favorites:I love how the copper green blushes in little corners and how the lines look underneath the oribe. Also, if you can tell on the cup, the little dots go through the cup to show up on the inside so it's just another wonderful little detail. I love how the little dots feel!

And my very absolute favorite:

This picture was taked at the show so it doesn't really show how perfect it is. One of the things I really love about it is actually that the bottom is so thin that the outline of a leaf that I carved into the bottom of it is actually transparent! It's a great little surprise when you're finishing your last bit of drink. I decided after the sale when it didn't sell that I was going to keep it and so I will (for now anyways!).

Well, I have officially sold something on Etsy now even if it was to my sister Joy. She's also commissioning me to make her some things for her guest bathroom and I can't wait to get started! I also have another alchemy request for a large bowl so things are slowly happening on Etsy which is encouraging. Also, I will be doing another sale in the Orlando area the week before Christmas. Me and one of my studio mates Whitney will be at the Homegrown for the Holidays Artisan Market in Thorton Park (a trendy downtown area of Orlando). So needless to say, I'm pretty busy in the studio right now working on those things and testing a yellow slip color and experimenting with other colors of underglaze just to see how they look.

Here's my first "sold" Etsy item:



Voila! I think it's my best teapot so far!

If you're in the Orlando area this weekend, me and a few studio mates are having a home sale on Friday evening from 5-8pm and during the day on Saturday from 12 until 5.

Come check it out at the home of Hank Schubert:

3214 Inverness Ct.
Orlando, Fl 32806

Hope to see you there!

Well, directly after I posted my disappointing entry this morning I decided that before I go to the studio I should decide what pots I wanted to bring to the sale this weekend, pack them up and drop them by Hank's house (where the sale will be). This got me thinking that it would be really nice if I had some business cards or postcards or something to give out to people who like my work. So I designed my very first postcards, here's the print samples below:


I'm pretty happy with them especially for being my first go at designing postcards. My only concern at this point is whether the pitcher in the top picture will be cut off a bit at the top! I really hope not. I didn't realize it until after I bought them and came back tonight to try and post their pictures on here that I read and realized that somewhere between the green and red lines is where the axe will fall. Everything in the red will for sure be kept and the green is the "fade out zone" or something like that. Oh well, they still show good images of my work and communicate how to get a hold of me. I'm also thinking for next time, to just write my name on the front rather than my pottery (that I hope to have one days name). These are more geared toward a retail market whereas just something with my name could be both retail and gallery.

I think these maybe point me squarely in the direction of crafter/designer vs. artist and I'm still not really sure where in there I do fall or want to fall. I think that's why my artist statement is giving me so much trouble- I'm not sure of all that stuff yet.



Oh, and in other news, I have gotten over my recent rejection and decided that I should subject myself to more of that at least once a week. That will be my goal for the rest of the year-- to find some gallery, store, online shop every week to try and get my work accepted into. Rejection is good for the soul (or something like that). Keeps us grounded....although most of the time I think I'd rather still be dreaming!

Well, I have received my first official rejection as a ceramic artist! Does that mean I have arrived? I don't actually think it was because of the quality of work but rather because of my lack of sale (thus feedback from customers) on Etsy. Either that or they are just currently filled up in that category because I refuse to believe it was quality of work because I can see that, even with the faults of my work, it's every bit as good if not better than some of the people on that site. At least that's what I've chosen to tell myself.... Somehow I'm not feeling so motivated to get to the studio today. Not just rejection but also the fact that I am out of decorating slip and it's still on order from Bennett's and will be another week so the only thing I really have to do in the studio is glaze. I don't think I'm alone in saying that is my most unfavorite part of the process. Regardless of all of this, I think I will head off to the studio today and perhaps throw myself a few nice caseroles. Something that requires lots of pieces and time so I can put off the decorating until my slip comes!