We’ve been working on some new items the last couple weeks – bottle trees and bird houses and bird feeders. Experimenting with shapes and engineering on them all, trying to get the right mix of aesthetics and functionality.
Danny has gotten back into working with metal and is trying out new projects. I’m thrilled and am trying not to inundate him with new things to try, but my brain is filled with ideas. At the moment, he’s working on bottle trees and bottle bushes. I love bottle trees and the way the bottles glisten in the sun.
So far, Danny has either sold or given away all the trees he’s made before I could get good photos. This is one he made yesterday. It’s about 5.5′ tall after it’s put into the ground. Actually, I kinda like the way it looks without bottles, too! I had to grab a photo in the garage before daylight this morning, so apologize for the quality of the photo and the one following.
We also have been experimenting with ceramic bird houses and feeders. I threw these on the wheel and Danny added the hardware and perches. He had them hanging on a stand he made when I got home last night and I thought they looked pretty neat. I’ll be researching more on what suits different types of birds and such, but was pleased with these as a starting point.
We’ll have our new projects in our booth at Woodstock Festival Art Center’s Market Day tomorrow, May 12, and at Tannehill Trade Days next Saturday & Sunday, May 19 & 20. Come on out and see us!
Tannehill Trade Days
A really nice weekend selling pottery at Tannehill State Park’s Trade Days this weekend. Our first “official” outdoor show, so we gained experience in setting up a canopy and an outdoor booth. We had learned only a few days before the event that there was an available booth and we didn’t even have a canopy, so there was a mad rush of online shopping for a reasonably priced, well-made canopy that could be shipped to arrive within 3 days. Found just what we needed at Hut Shop in Memphis TN. We ordered an EZ UP on Tuesday and it arrived at our house on Thursday. What great service! And the 600 denier canvas and zip-up sides came in really handy when we had rain on Saturday and strong wind gusts on Sunday.
We were really pleased with our EZ UP. You can’t see much of the canopy in this shot, but this was our quickly thrown together booth.
Other than pottery, we sold one of Danny’s bottle trees he’s been experimenting with. It was smaller than the one on the left side of the booth photo. Actually, it was short enough that we called it a bottle “bush” instead of a tree. It definitely caught a lot of attention from the folks walking by. The one in the photo is about 4′ tall and 4′ wide. Love the shape of it. It had lots of admirers, too, but I think most of them couldn’t figure out how to get it home! Those of us who have pickup trucks take them for granted sometimes!
We were amazed at how many women tried to buy the displays we were using, like the little wooden cabinet sitting on the table on the right side of the photo. We picked it up at an estate sale for $10 just to use in our booth and folks kept asking how much it was. I was using it to display pottery and to hold my business cards and credit card placard. Folks also kept trying to buy my little wooden tables I picked up on sale at Hobby Lobby and the metal casserole racks I had the larger serving bowls sitting in. Guess before the next show I’ll be adding stickers saying, “Display not for sale”!
For those of you who do outdoor shows, thought you may be interested in seeing the hanging weights Danny and I made for the corners of the canopy. They worked out really well.
4″ PVC pipe, 30″ long, filled with Quikcrete. Caps glued onto both ends. An eye bolt in one end for hanging and a square u-bolt for a handle. You must drill a small hole in the bottom cap before gluing it on to allow air to escape while you’re pushing it onto the pipe. Didn’t weigh them, but Danny thinks they weigh about 35 lbs ea. They worked great!
Better head to bed so I can stay awake at my “real” job tomorrow. Really tired, but it’s that good kind of tired that comes from working hard at something you love. Ready for another weekend and this one isn’t even officially over yet!
Market Days at Woodstock
Was a slow weekend at our first craft show at the new Woodstock Festival Art Center. Made some sales regardless of the slow traffic and made some contacts, which was good. Enjoyed interacting with the customers we did have.
Just today, management hired a new coordinator who will be actively promoting the work of the vendors, bringing in more vendors, and seeking out opportunities for hosting special events that will coincide with Market Days on the 2nd Sat of each month. Just a few of the special things to come during Market Days are vendor door prizes, arts and crafts demonstrations, and great food from the soon-to-be-expanded Woodstock Junction Cafe. Sounds like lots of fun and I’m excited to see this grow into a wonderful place for local artists/crafters and vendors.
Anyone needing a spacious venue (with both indoor and outdoor spaces) for a special event – car show, farmers’ market, gem & mineral show, etc – can contact Sheila Gunter to see what the Art Center has to offer. Come and be a part of this special place!
Woodstock Festival Art Center
A new venue has opened near me that will provide a place for local artisans, musicians, and performers to showcase their talents – Woodstock Festival Art Center.
I took a vacation day from “the job” today to prepare to set up a booth of my pottery this weekend at Market Days at the Art Center. This will be our first show, so we’ve been busy gathering tables and props and such. Still must finish up the tablecloths and print more business cards and make a trip to the bank for some small bills and stain a couple props and price and pack pottery. Too much to do! Never did develop a logo and have a banner printed; maybe I’ll get to that before the next show. For sure, I’ll be taking notes all weekend on things I need to change or add before the next show!
Market Days at Woodstock Festival Art Center
2nd weekend of each month – Saturday and Sunday 8:00 – 5:00
Working in Stages
Busy, busy around here the last couple weeks, trying to get some pottery inventory built up and some orders filled. Thinking we may set up at the Woodstock Festival Art Center the 2nd weekend in April to try our luck with a local craft venue. This should be interesting as they are just getting started as an arts / crafts / music center and Danny and I are new to vending at craft shows. Yes, I say, ver-r-r-y inter-r-r-esting indeed!
Thankfully, this is an indoor show for now, so we won’t need to purchase a tent right away. I’m not even sure what all we need to set up indoors, but I do have a couple of folding tables and some boxes that can be used for displaying pieces at different heights. Hoping I can find some fabric for tablecloths in my fabric stash. One thing I don’t have is a banner bearing my business name and logo, but a friend gave me a really good lead on where I can have one made, if I ever stop long enough to create a logo to go on it.
(I apologize for photo quality. I snapped these with my phone and didn’t even pay attention to the lighting.)
The studio is crazy right now, with pieces at various stages of completion. There are pieces waiting to be trimmed…
Pieces trimmed and waiting to be carved…
Pieces freshly carved and turned upside down in order to dry their little bottoms…well actually, these have pretty big bottoms, compared to the bottoms of the mugs on the shelves below. The piece on the right is Danny’s whiskey jug he asked me to try. I don’t have it right yet, but I’ll keep working at it. It’s pretty heavy; started out as a 10 lb ball of clay, which is quite a chunk for me.
Then there are mugs, “handled” and “leaved” and almost dry. They still feel just a tad cool on the bottoms. Damp clay feels cool to the touch; dry clay feels, well, not so cool.
And lastly, we have these trimmed, carved, handled, lidded, and “not at all cool” dried pieces that are waiting patiently on the others to catch up so they all can be run through the kiln together for their bisque firing.
So much still to do! I do hope the glazes turn out nicely on these pieces. Always an adventure. Always a surprise ending.
Here a Mug, There a Mug, Everywhere a Mug, Mug!
We’ve been MUGGED!!
Finally got all the mugs we have orders for thrown and trimmed. At the moment, they’re wrapped up tightly in plastic, awaiting handles and a final rounding before they’re put on the drying shelves. Will have to work on that in the evenings after work this week.
Danny is working diligently to help me get orders completed. Here he’s wiping down and waxing freshly bisqued urns and jars and bowls. Yes, we’ve been JARRED and URNED and BOWLED, too!
OK, so it’s late and I get sillier as I get sleepier. I should have been in bed 2 hours ago. Have had so much fun in the studio this weekend that I hate to see it end. Bah, humbug! Off to bed I go…night all!
Rummaging Through Old Photos
Was digitally rummaging through some old photos, trying to create some semblance of order, when I came across these jewelry experiments I did quite awhile back. It was fun looking back and remembering how much fun I had learning new techniques and how awesome it was to morph metal from one state to another. I didn’t take time to run these through Photoshop (sorry!).
These bracelets started out as copper wire, which I hammered and soldered, then wrapped with fine gauge sterling silver wire and glass beads. I like the dainty, airy look of these.
This simple silver band was the first ring I made “from scratch”. Before it was a ring, it was a piece of sterling silver sheet metal, sawn and soldered and hammered around a mandrel. I learned to do this in a fun class taught by Michael Johnson of Cosmic Folklore Studio in Helena AL. Check out more of his cool metalsmithing on his Facebook page.
This next photo is of a clasp I made for a leather cord, another technique learned in one of Michael’s classes.
I wanted a handmade clasp because this cord would be used to hold my very first bezel / cabochon piece. I was so excited to take Jessica Dow’s class on bezel making at The Bead Biz in Helena AL. This is where you can find The Bead Biz on Facebook and Jessa’s Facebook page is here. What fun we had! This piece is sterling silver and Spectrolite.
Here is a photo from the bezel workshop. Stacy (middle) is soldering her bezel. Jessa (left) watched over us all to ensure we didn’t end up with liquid silver instead of a soldered bezel. Thanks, Jessa!
By the way, Stacy also creates wonderful fused glass jewelry. You can find her Girls with Glass Facebook page here.
Lastly, these are some silver earrings I made for my friend, Donna. She had lost one of her favorite earrings, so I offered to make her a similar pair. I sawed the triangles from a sheet of sterling and soldered the wire to the top. The triangles are ever so gently domed, just to give them a bit of interest. I love that they’re very lightweight. I hope she is enjoying them.
Well, it was fun to reminisce a bit. Good “old” memories carry us through to the new ones waiting to be made. Now, go forth and make those memories!
Berroco Sox Socks Finished!
Finally finished “the socks”, as mentioned in my last post. For quite some time they’ve been my take-along project when I needed something to keep my hands busy on trips to Mississippi. I love these socks so much that I put them on tonight just to sit on the couch and work on my punchneedle project. You just can’t beat wool, handknit socks.
I’m miserable twiddling my thumbs on long car rides, so I keep a couple simple knitting projects on the needles so as to have something to grab as I’m running out the door. My favorite take-along projects are socks and dishcloths, something I can knit while carrying on a conversation with Danny the Driver. You’d think after almost 40 years of marriage we would long ago have run out of things to talk about, but no, there’s always something to discuss…..and always something to knit.
Punch who??? Punchneedle!
I have had the most fun today working with my new punchneedle and design kit I received for Christmas from my sweet friend and cousin, Donna. Donna understands my need to be involved in multiple arts and crafts projects at once and she doesn’t think I’m crazy when I get the urge to try something new although I already have 5 other projects going. She understands cos she’s the same kind of different as me. 
I love primitive, folk art pieces and punchneedle work is at the core of many of those pieces. Punchneedle likely began with the Egyptians who used hollow bird bones as needles to punch elaborate designs on garments. Early Europeans also used punchneedle work in the Middle Ages to decorate garments, particularly ecclesiastical panels. This ancient craft is kept alive in modern times by Russian immigrants who identify with a sect called The Old Believers. Isn’t that interesting?
As you can see, I finished the design portion on my piece and just am beginning the deep red background.
Hopefully mine will look similar to this photo that came with the pattern once I finish the stitching and give it a good dunk in some strong coffee to give it an aged appearance. I love the little “penny” at the top. Every heard of penny rugs? Love those, too.
Not sure yet how I’ll complete my first punchneedle project. Maybe I’ll mount it on some over-dyed wool and make a wallhanging or put it in a neat frame. I’m already researching other projects and haven’t even finished this one. Will be another good car project for trips back and forth to MS.
Oh, and I finished the Berroco Sox socks I was working on! The ones I talked about here and here. They’ve been to MS quite a few times. I’ll have to post photos after I get them washed and blocked. Really pleased with how they came out.
Handmade Brushes from Deer Tails
Artisans love handmade tools. Creating handmade items using handmade tools is just the best. While I’ve been making pottery, Danny has been experimenting with handmade brushes made from whitetail deer hair. Thanks to nephew Tracy for providing the deer tails!
Buffing the handles up a bit.
So far, I’ve only tried these brushes using water on newspaper, but they feel really good, hold loads of liquid, and come to an awesome, sharp point. Can’t wait to try them with some oxides and some slip.
These have bamboo handles…
and these have deer horn handles, cut from some horns Danny found in a creek. Did you know that deer horn smells really nasty when it’s cut with a saw? I’m here to tell ya, it does. I think a little sanding would make these look as good as they feel.
All that’s left now is to get some pots thrown so I can experiment with my new brushes. Thank you, dear hubby!
Fun at Vibrant Portraits Workshop
I so enjoyed my early birthday present from Danny yesterday. I attended a portrait painting workshop given by Kellie Newsome at Alabama Art Supply in Birmingham. As you can see from her website, Kellie’s portraits are not your traditional, refined portraits. They’re bright and colorful and fun to look at. They also are very large. 18 x 24 is the smallest canvas Kellie uses. I wish I had gotten some photos of the portraits she had posted around the classroom. They were awesome! You can catch a tiny view of a lady’s eye from one of the portraits in the first photo below.
I’m the world’s worst at taking photos. Not that I take bad photos; I forget to take photos period. I did get these in at the workshop yesterday, but most of the time we were so concentrated on our work that we weren’t doing much talking nor photo taking.
We had some folks who had never done portraits and some who had, but who wanted to break out of the traditional portrait mode. Two of the ladies I spoke with were like me, they had done portraits before, but never refined their skills and had not painted for 20-25 years. I was glad not to be the only one unsure of her skills.
Of course, we didn’t complete a portrait, but I learned a lot about loosening up and trying bright, neon colors. I only got through the first couple stages, so don’t have many bright colors. Kellie provided high-contrast photos for us to use in class, so we all were painting portraits of people we didn’t know. I won’t complete this particular portrait, but it was a great exercise and I learned so much from it.
This was the first stage, laying in the darks.
In the below photo I had started fleshing out with some midtones. I normally wouldn’t have put the eyes in until I was finished with this stage, but with the opportunity to follow along with Kellie, I went ahead and put in some eyeballs. As you can see, Kellie’s style is to exaggerate the eyes and really make them pop.
Well, this is as far as I got before we had to clean up and go home. I certainly need a lot of practice, but it was so good to get back to painting again. I will be taking up my sketchbook and drawing more, in preparation for future paintings. Maybe not traditional landscapes or still lifes or portraits. Maybe more like mixed media or collage, something bright and fun. Something into which I can incorporate my clay and glass and metal, too!
Is it possible to love too many art materials??? Likely, but I do love them all and I will continue to work with them all as I can. Retirement, where are you???
On a Painting Tangent
Taking a break from pottery today to attend Kellie Newsome’s one-day
Vibrant Portraits Workshop at Alabama Art Supply.
It has been years since I painted. Not at all sure why I haven’t gotten back to it before now. One day I stashed away my brushes and palette knives and paints and my water buckets and palettes and papers and canvases, thinking at the time that I would be right back in a day or two to begin again.
Now, 25 years later, I’m wondering where the time has gone and why I haven’t, before now, caved to my yearnings to return to my brushes. Life happens, I suppose, and I can only say that mine has been filled with love and joy and blessings beyond measure. No complaints here.
So I take a little trek off the beaten path today to attend what looks to be a fun and color-filled workshop. Looking forward to the smells of paint and to the camaraderie of fellow artists who, perhaps like me, have been away too long. Will be a fun day with or without a finished product. It’s the journey, you know, that counts.
A Week of Good News
Last week was a great week and makes me anxious to see what’s in store for this one.
Monday – The highlight of Monday was my 5-year screening for colon cancer. Yeah, the fun colonoscopy. Now before you think me a crazed woman, I’ll tell you the actual prep and test were absolutely not the good part. The good part was that I got a great report. Just had my annual physical a couple weeks ago, then the colonoscopy and all is well. What better news is there for an almost-56-year-old woman? Sorry, no photos of the prep nor the procedure…..
Tuesday thru Friday – I went home to Mississippi to stay with my mom after she decided to go into the hospital to find out why she’d been sick for several weeks and was not getting better. Mom had lost way too much weight over the last couple months because her food wasn’t staying in her body long enough to digest. Again, the actual hospital stay was not the good part, but finding out that colitis was the culprit and that it was easily treatable was a blessing. What a relief to her and to us girls to know it wasn’t something more serious. Um, no hospital photos either…
What I DO have photos of is a kiln load of pottery Danny unloaded just before we left for Mississippi. I only got a glance at it before we left so was really happy to find when we returned that it had been a good firing.
Spent my Superbowl-watching time Photoshoping photos and posting these pieces to Etsy. Danny & I have been playing around with some new glaze combos and I’m liking most of the results.
I didn’t take “good” photos of these canisters yet because I still need to purchase knobs for them, but I was really pleased with how the glaze came out.
I’m thinking bronze knobs, like the beautiful bronze kitchen fixtures you see these days. These may end up in my son’s and daughter-in-law’s kitchen. DIL Sara had requested canisters awhile back and I’m thinking this green may blend well with the house they’re thinking of purchasing. Taking one of the lids to work with me today to see if I can find suitable knobs while on my lunch break.
Gotta go get dressed and get this new week started. Hoping lots more good happenings are just around the corner!
In Production Mode
We’ve been busy as bees the last couple weekends making new pottery pieces.
Throwing…
Trimming…
Handle-ing…
Rounding…
and finally, checking for fit.
For what good is a piece of functional pottery if it doesn’t FUNCTION???
Fresh Supplies and Fresh Pots
After a whirlwind Christmas season, I was left with only 5 pieces in the Etsy shop. Yikes! I had decided in mid-November to really promote the shop and was able, with Danny’s help, to get 40-some-odd pieces posted initially. Although we worked on pieces right up to Christmas, we just couldn’t get ahead and on top of that, supplies were getting low.
Well, Christmas break is over and we’ve made a trip to Atlanta for supplies, so we’re working hard to re-stock. Made this set of canisters, with a hole drilled in the tops for some sort of hardware to be added after glazing.
Here is the first batch of mugs, still upside down and drying. Most of these have thumb rests added to the handles. We’ll see how these feel in the hand once they’re glazed and fired. I really like the way they look. Threw a couple serving bowls, some salsa bowls, a casserole, and a yarn bowl.
Hey, tomorrow is Friday and Monday is a holiday for me, so looking forward to a productive 3-day weekend. We’ll have that Etsy shop restocked before you know it!
We’ll be cranking up the heat in the studio, cranking up some music on the radio, cranking up the wheel, and cranking OUT some pots!
Back Home and Catching Up
Made it back to Alabama last night after a week in Mississippi for Christmas. Lots of visiting and eating and running around, some grocery shopping and cooking, then some babysitting with our little 22-mo-old Jude who had his tonsils removed last Tuesday. He came through like a trooper. A typical whirlwind holiday visit, as I’m sure lots of you experienced, too.
Had the kids and grandkids over for lunch on Christmas Eve. Was wonderful to see them all and have time to visit without someone needing to run off in a different direction. Those grandkids are growing like weeds. In case I haven’t mentioned it, I have the best kids and grandkids in the whole wide world! Love all my babies.
Spent Christmas Day with Danny’s family at his sister’s house. We grazed all afternoon, even after consuming way too much at the noon meal. Phil pulled out the VCR and we watched some old VHS tapes, trying to determine if we had something that needs to be put onto DVDs. Some good memories shared, some laughs and some tears. Thanks, Brenda and Phil, for allowing the gang to congregate at your house on holidays!
Visited my side of the family the Monday after Christmas and was glad to see my sister, Melisa (who was visiting from Thailand), and her 3 kids. Her oldest son, James, gave me (GAVE me, for FREE) his Wacom Bamboo tablet that he was no longer using.
Awesome! Can’t wait to play with it.
My mom was feeling a bit under the weather and is scheduled for some GI tests next Tuesday. Hoping the doctor will find the problem and have her on the mend in short order. Odd to see her puny as she’s usually a bundle of energy, never still.
Spent the day today catching up on business odds and ends. Got the Etsy shop activated again, albeit with VERY few pieces of pottery. Updated the business cards to include Danny’s name and printed new ones. Completed an application and printed some photos for a juried craft show that will be held at Tannehill State Park, just a mile from our house, next September. If we’re accepted, we’ll have to do some research on what is needed to set up at an outdoor show and work like crazy to get some inventory built up.
So looking forward to 2012! Can already hear the neighbor kids shooting fireworks, readying to welcome the New Year. Our sweet little next-door neighbor girl came by earlier to ask if we would be disturbed if they shot fireworks tonight at their New Year’s Eve party. Why certainly not! We all need a few fireworks in our life, right?
Lennon’s Gift to Grammy
My granddaughter, Lennon, is 9. She is the oldest and the only girl out of five grandkids. This photo is a couple years old, but it’s so like her, always smiling and happy.
Last time I was home in Mississippi, Lennon gave me an early Christmas present – a tray to use on my desk in my studio.
It’s one of those styrofoam meat trays, covered in cut up pieces of a map. She explained that since I work for the Postal Service, the map made her think of me.
As soon as I get back to Alabama after Christmas, I’ll be Mod Podge-ing her sweet note to the back of the tray, rag-tags and all, so I can have the tray and the note together.
Then I will make good use of my little tray in my studio and I will smile every time I see it. These are the very BEST gifts, don’t you think?
Wishing all my friends and family a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and all the best for the coming new year.
God bless.
Last Minute Customers
Can’t believe folks are still placing pottery orders for Christmas delivery, but so happy they are. Can’t guarantee pre-Christmas delivery at this point, but counting on my co-workers at the Postal Service to deliver these last-minute orders I got yesterday. Thank you, wonderful customers, for choosing my pottery for your gift-giving!
Christmas is a-Comin’!
The end of another busy, busy weekend. Have kept the Post Office hoppin’ the last 2 weeks shipping pottery all over the country. Yay! My first “real” Christmas season actively promoting and selling my pottery and I’m encouraged by the positive responses from customers and excited about inquiries regarding future orders. Couldn’t have done it without my favorite studio helper, Danny, who prepared clay and did all sorts of chores around the studio and the house to give me time to make and market pots. The boy even learned to make cornbread and I’m here to tell ya, it was GOOD!
I’ve tried not to work Danny TOO hard. He did take a couple breaks to sit in his recliner and pick out some pecans his sweet sister, Brenda, gave us. Mind you, these were pecans already gathered and cracked. How wonderful is that? We’ve really been enjoying them the last several days.
I’ve decided I’ll be exploring canisters and teapots in the coming year. This little fella sold today and I kinda hated to see it go. Something about it just sits well with me. All the reason to make more, I say.
Have plans also to delve into the mystical world of glaze development and come up with a few glazes of my own, particularly something in a nice red, that elusive color that so often escapes potters who fire in electric kilns. Reds often require firing in a reduction atmosphere, such as in a gas kiln, not the oxygen-rich atmosphere of an electric kiln.
Have explored this a bit already and have been bitten by the bug. Playing with all sorts of raw materials and seeing how they react with each other just appeals to me. I always liked science anyway, so a good way to combine science and craft. Will have to throw a little math in there, percentages and conversions, but that’s where Danny comes in – he does the math, I do the craft. That’s why we’re a team!
My First Etsy Treasury
For those of you who are Etsy fans, you know that a seller will often create a Treasury in order to share a collection of favorite things. Today I created my first Treasury and it features the work of some fellow potters from Electric Cone 6, Mid-Fire Potters. This is a site where potters who fire in electric kilns, to mid-range temps, share info and inspiration. These artists are from the Etsy group on this site. Hope you’ll take some time to check out their awesome work.
Old World Essence – Etsy Treasury