Etsy It Is...

Day; 45. Overcast again, snowy. More snow than we have had all winter. Temperature on outside kiln; 23

Woke up to about 9-10 inches of snow today, I didn't realize we were going to get that much, here is the view at Magpie Pottery this morning;

 This must look pretty puny compared to what Boston has had to deal with, but for us out in the high desert 9-10 inches is a god-send.













 

Kai watches me from the front door as  I take pictures out front. She wishes she could romp in the snow with me. And in  fact later in the day we took the entire dog-sled team (Kai, Marshall, Oso, and Leona) out to the Galisteo Basin Preserve for a snow day hike. The 4-leggeds love it so much, they truly are in their element. Leona ran in circles chasing her tail she was so excited to get out into it.






After our walk I returned  home and  to the studio and finished a bunch of square mugs and bowls I threw yesterday. Afterwards I decided to check my on-line market place site one more time today as I had spent the morning listing pieces  while waiting for the mugs and bowls to reach the desired state of leather hard.
I have a love/hate relationship with Etsy and so had spent an afternoon recently researching other on-line market place sites. The competition looked terrible, really bad, so I recommitted myself to Etsy as my on-line shop and loved it up this morning. When I checked my shop this afternoon after finishing work, lo and behold someone had bought something! This was remarkable for two reasons; There are hundreds of thousands of sellers are Etsy and I had not sold anything in almost a year I think, sometime last spring I believe. I tend to think of it as a winter option and I am not very active on it the rest of the year.The fact that someone in Montana not only somehow found me amongst all those other shops and additionally decided to purchase seems to defy the odds.

The  immediate positive feedback after recommitting myself stopped my in my tracks. I do not believe in coincidences and so I paused and quietly  whispered a thank you into the air.....

Another Snowy Day in the Studio

Day; 44. Overcast, really cold, snowy. Never left the house. Temperature on outside kiln; 19 degrees
Firing; unloaded the image transfer firing at around 11am.

Another snowy day in the studio.. here is the dog sled team watching it come down and wishing they could go romp around in it...

I imagine them saving, "if we only had a sled, if we only had a sled... "  Instead the littlest and cutest one tore apart the couch cover... Ah well, it was a cheap solution to dogs using the furniture as  beds, but it was almost new!! Arggg! It is hard to discipline her for it however, she is so young and doesn't have enough to keep her occupied. More dog toys, more dog toys....











Back in the studio, I accepted the challenge from other potters world-wide to  post a photo of my 8 fav pottery tools, it looked like this...

Kind of interesting for me to narrow the tools of my trade down to eight; these are the ones I use everyday and could not do without. They are not usually this clean however, I admit to giving them a quick sponge bath before snapping this shot.











Also unloaded the 3rd and final firing of this weeks cups and mugs and was very happy with the results, here are my favorite 3 pieces from this kiln load;

Lots and lots of wonderful cups, mugs, and tumblers for the Albuquerque show in  two weeks. One more kiln of mostly large serving pieces and it will be a  wrap.










 Also unloaded the plates for the NCECA La Mesa exhibit in Rhode Island next month and I am pretty happy. Lovely stack of 4 plates descending in size; glazes look good, no cracks, pin-holes, crazes, or bloats. How does anything get through 3 firings of 2000 degrees in one piece I am wondering?  I should feel lucky, or maybe it is just 30 years of  experience glazing and firing minerals and glass together?

Also took a large wholesale order from some very nice folks I met in Santa Fe a week ago. I know, I don't do wholesale but these people were so nice, they charmed me into it. I will get Pepe working on the slab roller tomorrow and we can get a good start on  a lot of the pieces that they want. I googled their store, Main Street Shop on Chincoteague Island, Virgina, and it looked very nice. It is also a coffee house, so all the cups and mugs should be a good fit.

It's Friday night, I don't have a date but I think it's time to eat and watch some PBS...

Did I Mention How Much I Love My Ipad?

Day; 43. Cold, overcast and snowy. Temperature on outside kiln; 22
Firings; Image transfer firing to cone 02, 2000 degrees F. Turned kiln on at 5pm.

A good day to be in the studio, windy and cold outside so made a big fire and some hot tea and hunkered down in my  snug domain. Happy as a clam in my little world of clay, dogs, and music. I am a lucky girl...

Checked my Instagram page a few times, well a lot actually, as I was listening to Pandora radio on the Ipad. It occurred to me how much this little skinny device has changed my world, both professionally and personally; 

* I now have access to the Ultimate Guitar site whenever I go to band practice; this means I can download any song during rehearsal that we might be thinking of covering. I can change the key it is written in to fit my voice. And since so many songs are written my men and  a little low in register for me, this is very handy. This saves a lot of time and paper, no more running off 6-7 copies of every song we might be thinking of. It will even play the song, diagram the chords and auto-scroll it down the page for you. How utterly cool is that.
And never, I repeat never, will we ever get caught singing in the wind again outside with sheets of music sailing in the air around us- how embarrassing!

*I would not be writing this blog everyday if not for my Ipad;  The camera is fantastic, so easy to use and it takes great pictures. I can use them instantly to document  what is going on that day and upload to blog and Instagram page. Having to write and document my studio life each day has changed me for the good. I see all that I do now and have a greater appreciation for myself as an artist and for my life in general. I am not such an ingrate anymore! I don't take my beautiful like for granted like I use to...

* I can access virtually anything from my bedside!; At night when my husband is watching shoot-em-up guy movies in the other room, I play songs I am considering singing, listen to my spiritual guides by the fire, check e-mail and Instagram sites. It is wonderful to lay by the fire and have the world at my fingertips, incredible really!! I can end my day with some meditation music or listen to Joss Stone sing, I love it.

* I am connected to other potters all over the globe; This is the most life-changing effect perhaps... I have become addicted to Instagram, I hope in a good way. I now "follow" other potters  who live all across the globe and feel connected to them in ways I could never have hoped to before. It isn't just that my work is changing as a result, it has and continues to be, but more that I am not so isolated in my own studio anymore. I used to check out Pinterest every morning to get juiced up and motivated and now that has shifted to Instagram. I make a big cup of coffee in the morning and then site down with my Ipad and check out what my buddies are doing in Copenhagen, Brisbane, and Tasmania. It is fascinating to me to view their lives, work,  homes, kids, and dogs. You get a real sense of these artists lives and I feel honored to be allowed to peer into them. I find I miss the companionship of other ceramic artists and have started to think about workshops in the U.S. and a trip to Central American with Potters for Peace.

All of this; a greater connection with my deeper self , with music, with other potters across this planet , and with my life in general would not have happened without my Ipad. I am so appreciative, thanks Steve!, your legacy lives on through others...

A Secretly Lazy and Fun-loving Person

Day; 42. Sunny and warmer, not so brutally cold. A bit breezy. Temperature on outside kiln; 29

Firings; Unloaded glaze kiln at 3:30 after cooling for 15-16 hours.

Non-studio day  which felt good after 2 intense days of non-stop glazing. Sang with the girls in the garage band and had fun working on some dance tunes. My favorite song to sing right now is; I Want You Back by the Jackson Five. Love to hear Michael Jackson sing as a younger kid, such a great voice and stage presence. So cute too, I wish he had just left his physical self alone, it was quite enough as it was.... no need to alter anything really...

I came home and took a nap and slowly wandered into the studio. Unloaded the glaze kiln and readied my self and work space for a big day of image transfer tomorrow. For two seconds I felt guilty about not really working today and then I reminded myself that prosperity and a-bun-dance ( a dance involving shaking your booty around?!) are  emotional states and have nothing whatsoever to do with effort! Jesus God, what a radical statement for a daughter-of-the-great-depression parents. I can hear my father roaring "what????, you can't be serious.."

But I am. It just flies right in the face of everything my parents taught me about the Protestant work effort and so has been, and remains to be a  bit, a giant leap of faith for me. But deep down inside I agree with Esther Hicks who purports that feeling good ( consistently focusing on good-feeling thoughts) is what tunes us to the abundance of the universe in all aspects,  not just dollars. I just know that this is so,  I can feel it.  Being happy, joyous, and content is what makes my life flow with ease, not slaving away in the studio until my body gives out. But this  is just so polar opposite to what was ingrained very deeply in me as a youngster that I have to constantly remind myself of what I actually believe. I am a lazy, fun-loving, happy person in training. So, I challenge my friends,  go ahead,  invite me out to coffee, and see if I don't say yes these days instead of no....

Glaze Underworld Again

Day; 41. Cold and snowy. Overcast. Perfect day to be in the studio. Temperature on outside kiln; 26
firings; Glaze firing began at 5:30,  cone 6, 2,210 degrees, 8 minute hold at temperature.

Just stood on concrete floor for two days and glazed. I  have nothing more to say!! Exhausted, hungry, sore, tired. And The Voice starts in 50 minutes. Just enough time to eat and soak before the singing starts. So glad Christina Aguilara is back as a judge, nothing against Gwen Stephani, but it just wasn't the same...Love Pharell, such a big heart! Always so supportive of whomever has the guts to get up and sing even if he doesn't turn his chair around for them. New season started last night so here we go.....!

I love this Universe!!

Day; 40!! I'm getting somewhere, well out of the 30's at least...
Overcast and very cold. I never left the house today, even to walk to the end of the driveway for the mail. Temperature on outside kiln this morning; 11 degrees

Synchronicity; "two or more events that appear to be meaningfully related but not causally-related. Synchronicity holds that such events are meaningful co-incidences"

First described by Carl Jung of all people in the 1920's,   synchronicity was proposed as  conclusive evidence of human archetypes and of a collective unconscious. He described it as a governing dynamic that underlined the whole of human history and experience. 

I am thinking about Mr. Jung and his "meaningful co-incidences" today as I experience it for myself and wonder in awe at the co-ordinating mastery of this Universe I inhabit. Two particular instances from the past week stick in my mind most clearly ( out of the many synchronictic events that happen to me on a daily basis..); Last Friday I drove to Albuquerque to get pictures taken of my work for future show applications. As it is the slowwww time of year, I was  a little worried about how I was going to pay the photographer and even considered  using old photographs for my applications this year. I decided since my annual income is dependent on good images that this was not a place to be pinching pennies. I showed up, we got some good shots and the phone rang. It was for me apparently. A friend of Margot the photographer had called to talk to her but found out Magpie Pottery was in the house and wanted to chat with me. Anne is a good customer of mine and just happened to call during my once-a-year visit. She wanted to know if the pieces I had were for sale and if she could come over and buy them. It blew my mind that before I even left the photo shoot the session was paid for! Ah....

The second co-incidence happened today as I began my work day glazing. A good friend's husband came by with 5 perfectly good kiln shelves and some posts to go with them. Two days ago as I was loading the kiln with a bunch of beat up, cracked and terrible looking shelves, I said to myself that when the money started flowing more consistently this spring that I would buy new ones. And today they showed up, for free!
I love this Universe! It gives me everything I ask for, if I can just tune myself to it's frequency. I am learning....

It's Oscar Sunday and I Am NOT Selling Ceramics!

Day; 39. Overcast and really cold. WINDY! Temperature on outside kiln; 22, brrrrrrr
Firings; kiln cooling after yesterdays bisque. Ready to unload at 3:30; 110 degrees with open lid.

A rare Sunday where I am home and not selling ceramics in the Railyard or further afield.  A good day to have stayed home, really cold and windy, I doubt many art-buyers would have been out and about. I made the right choice in not going and setting up this morning in below-freezing weather. Yeah me!

What a treat to be in the studio while Dave is at rehearsal and entire house is quiet and empty. After breakfast at Harry's Roadhouse with my sister, I came home and worked on Dave's new website for awhile.
Of course this was just a stalling tactic  as the bisque kiln was ready to be unloaded and glazing was due to commence, but I could not face it, yet. I will start tomorrow and finished up this kiln load with the ever-helpful Pepe when he shows up on Tuesday. He has no clue what he is in for, poor guy!

Meanwhile, I am typing fast as the Oscars are about to start and I want to see it from the beginning, I know, but I can't help it. I have been watching the stars arrive on the red carpet all my life and it was always a very exciting night at our house. Here is a picture of my father and uncle at the 33rd Annual Academy Awards in 1961 the year they were ushers at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium....

Bob Hope was the Oscar host that year and The Apartment won best picture. My entire childhood I looked at a 6' tall print of this picture in the stairwell of our home. They both worked in the city where the Oscars were held for 30 years so I think had multiple opportunities to escort the hollywood elite to their chairs. I definitely remember photos of Dad with Lee Marvin. Jesus, it brings back memories and how deeply seeing this photo makes me miss both of them.... such characters!

Uh Oh! It's exactly 5:03!  gotta go, the stars are strolling the red carpet as I write.....!!

Etsy Shop Update

Day; 38. Overcast, bounce back to winter. Temperature on outside kiln; 40
Firings; Bisque kiln to cone 04; 1,945 degrees. 12.5 hours to temperature.


Back in the studio today after getting photos taken in the Duke City yesterday. Loaded a bisque kiln with mostly  plates for dinnerware show...trying not to drop them as studio assistant Pepe snaps a quick picture.

After getting the kiln going I cleaned the house (love how the dishwasher looks filled up with other potter's work).....

while Pepe filled up my etsy.com shop. It looks a lot better with something actually in it, don't you think?...
 Lavine the Cat thinks so....

She Makes Me Look Prettier Than I Am

Day; 37. Very warm and spring-like, sunny and clear. Temperature on outside kiln; 60 degrees

Today was a non-studio day as I made my annual February trip to Albuquerque to get professional photographs of my work taken. Every year I do this right before all the summer and fall show applications are due. The point is to have new photographs every year to wow the juries with and just in case this  consists of some of the same folks, I do not want them to be looking at the same work every year. I want them to see how the work progresses and that I take the jury process seriously.

So, I loaded up the Saab with a few pieces this morning and off I went down I-25. It was pleasant and with my I-pod blaring made the trip to Old Town in just one hour flat from Eldo, stopping for a poppyseed muffin on the way of course at the Fina Station. For years I have only trusted my work to Margot Geist, she is the best photographer of  reflective work that I have seen and she is inexpensive. Glossy and reflective glazes are hard to get right and she is a master at it. She always makes my work look so pretty and alluring, much more so than when it is covered with dust in my dirty studio. If I am feeling not-so-great about what it is coming out of the kiln, all I have to do is look at her photographs and I suddenly feel like I am not doing too badly. As she fussed with the lighting, shadows, placement, design, I was grateful for her attention  to detail. As everything is digital now we get immediately feedback by uploading to her computer to review the results and can re-shoot on the spot. If there is dust, or hotspots, or other unsightly stuff in the shot, no problem, it can be erased immediately. I found myself so wishing I could do the same with my complexion;  remove the liver spots, take care of the under-eye bags, etc... She gave me an exasperated look and told me I looked just fine, I will take her word for it.
Here are a few examples of her work; 

     

Margot has taught me a lot about applying for shows as well; it is not just about good photographs. The order in which a jury looks at the photographs is important too. Spouts and handles should point inward not outward, the look and feel of the 5 required shots should read like a body of  coherent work, the booth shot should be taken just as seriously. This winter I was juried out of a show due to my booth; I was told my work was exceptional, but my display sucked! I will try not to make that mistake again! 

What would be great would be to get down to Margot's a couple of times a year as good work comes out of the kiln and not just in winter when who knows what is hanging around the studio. Alas it never happens, the work goes from hot kiln to hot-running truck and I careen down the road to the next show. So much good work never documented, never to be seen again. Oh well...

Lastly I stopped for cheap gas at the indian casino on the way home and decided to go inside to relieve my much abused bladder. With the  one dollar bill I had I decided to try my luck and see if I could make a dent in my 2014 federal tax bill coming up. I couldn't even figure out the slot machine... no more handle to pull down, no more sound of coins jingling as they fell into your lap. It was so complicated and automated as to be absolutely dismal and no fun at all. I lost 50 cents on my one dollar and gave the astonished drunk Native American next to me my remaining 50 cent payment voucher on the way out the door.....

Close To The Piano But Not The Hotdogs

Day; 36. Sunny, warm, back to spring again. Temperature on outside kiln; 57

Pepe the studio assistant came to help again today, what a god-send! Although he might weight as much as myself, his diminutive size is not indicative of his zeal to be helpful and get some work done...

We rocked the studio today and got a table-full of slabs rolled out and put onto molds for various plates and bowls...

Which is a very good thing as I finally looked at the calendar and realized the March Albuquerque show is 2.5 weeks in the future! I have one more week to make "wet" work and then it will be just glazing and firing like a Tasmania Devil (been looking at too many Tassie potters on Instagram I guess?!) up until March 12th when I load the truck and drive the 65  miles south. I am suddenly not so sad to be on the waitlist for the Scottsdale show, 500 miles across New Mexico and Arizona is seeming like very long boring drive presently....A one hour drive to a show is a piece of cake, almost close enough to sleep in my own bed, but not quite.. Not after a long day of selling, talking, etc.... I got a cheap but nice hotel up Central Ave. in the Burque, far enough up Central as to be a safe distance from all the sketchy folks further west down the Avenue. Little kitchen included for my 3 night stay so I can bring my own coffee (extremely important!), my own breakfast food, and some end of day libations if I so choose, which I usually do...If only I could bring my pup Oso... how will I sleep without a canine? 

Also got my booth assignment today; always a little exciting to see where one will be and who else will be in the show with you. I am near the piano apparently  but not too close to the the food court, a relief as smelling roasting hotdogs and green chili for 3 days makes for a slightly nauseated art-seller. That just leaves the piano player to worry about... hopefully a decent musician on an in-tune instrument... My buddy Bob Hazeltine the glass blower will also be in the same hall somewhere so I at least can visit and maybe have someone to eat din-din with.
Hey,  I'm actually starting to feel some pre-show excitement!, however it's best not to think about how many kiln firings I have between me and driving south with a full truck...

I Wish I Was Famous Too

Day; 35. Sunny, warm again. A bit of spring. All the snow from yesterday has melted. Temperature on outside kiln; 48

After singing for 2.5 hours today with the girls I came home to an entire table of trimming bowls and teacups. Finally finished around 6 and then soaked in the tub, my back was killing me from bending over the potters wheel for a couple of hours.
 I am now waiting for American Idol to start at 7. I so want to just eat dinner and chill with the pups in front of the fire, but if I don't post this now it will not get done and my friend Susan S. will be so disappointed!

So, I will honor the  commitment I made to myself and post something of my studio activity for the day. Which I am not proud to say revolves around envy....

When I was in grad school 20 years ago there was a very spunky and opinionated functional potter across the hall from me. Man, could she make pots! I've never seen shelves fill up so fast and with such interesting,  loose, vibrant pieces. She could really throw! and the surfaces were just as engaging.  I was making tiled walled pieces at the time and sorta wished I was making tableware  too, it looked like so much fun.

Anyway, I have often said in the intervening years between graduation and today, that Julia Galloway taught me everything I know about ceramics and then some. We've managed to stay in touch somewhat  and even get together  a few times in Santa Fe in the past 15 years, but today I saw her work on the cover of Ceramics Monthly magazine and was both delighted and envious. The  cover is simply a close up of a glazed surface, just some very crackly blue clouds dripping down a white background.  I knew instantly however whose work it was, and just as  instantly felt a stab of envy. I want to be on the cover of Ceramics Monthly too....!
 Julia is easily the most well-know ceramic artist of  our class; she teaches at the University of Montana during the academic year and from what I can gather from all the ads in the same issue of CM, spends the rest of the year traveling and giving workshops. And she deserves all of this acclaim. Just pick up this magazine and look at her work! Or better yet, click on the hot link above to her website. The work is exquisite, there is no other work for it. Such a beautiful combination of extremely interesting and masterly  form, with surfaces that are beyond luscious...

I have such fond memories of her making pots across the way from me in the basement at CU Boulder.. and I am equally thrilled to see her gracing the cover of CM today...Bravo Julia!

Special Orders or Just Shoot Me Now

Day; 34. Chilly with a few inches of snow on the ground. Mostly overcast. Temperature on outside kiln; 24

After a quick commando raid on Santa Fe Clay this morning to fetch some more clay (200 pounds of B-mix for $97.00)  I sped back to the studio to have fun throwing on the potters wheel. And I did, without even much damage to my wrists or back or shoulders. However I did feel a little tied to the fence trying to knock out some special orders or "requests" as I call them for some return customers. If it's an order I have to make it, but if it is a request, I can make it when I please or never get to it at all and that's ok too.

 A few years ago after losing money on several "orders" I vowed to just make what I make. If someone wants it they will buy it, if not, the next person will. This is much  more fun than trying to satisfy the general public which is often an impossibility; the glaze isn't quite right, the bowl is too short, too high, too wide, too narrow. It doesn't match what they already have, etc....

Or just as likely, the kiln goes wonky, the piece cracks or sticks to the shelf and I have to chisel it off, breaking it in the process. Or any number of things that only happen when someone is waiting for the piece and needed it yesterday. STRESSS !!!! So I refuse to do them,  and have been so good at keeping this pack with myself..  until February when there are no shows and therefore no income from the work. I weakened and agreed to make a few requests.. so far so good, but nothing has seen the kiln yet, so I will be a good potter and make two of everything in case the inevitable happens and something goes wrong.

I also finished the dinnerware set for NCECA from yesterday and have crossed all my fingers and toes. Lots of stuff drying and in process, not to mention the 3 day show in Albuquerque in 3 weeks time. Which sounds like a lot until you consider that it takes me a week to fill the kiln and another week to get everything fired. Which means I have one week to make wet work as they say... I think I will get up early and have a big cup of coffee in the morning.....

National Council On Education of the Ceramic Arts, NCECA

Day; 33. Colder, overcast. Spring is over for now. Temperature on  outside kiln, 28 degrees

Back in the studio today after spending two days standing and selling work in the Farmers Market Pavilion Building. I am not complaining, I am grateful for the opportunity to sell my work, I really am. I am just so glad to be back where I most love to be however, namely  my own studio tripping over my 4 huskies.  My idea of Heaven. I ran out of clay after a few hours however, so I only got my special orders done and then spent the rest of the afternoon obsessing over tweaking the details on my website. I love how it is looking!

Within all the special orders was a very urgent need to finish my dinneware set for the upcoming NCECA
 ( National Council on Education of the Ceramic Arts)  exhibit on the east coast. I have it completed and drying but every potter knows to make two of everything if it is imperative all pieces come out good/matching  by a certain deadline. If you don't make an extra set every potter knows something will f*ck up and you will not be in the show... so, I hurriedly made a second set just in case the kiln gods are hungry that day...
This is a big deal and I should have had my act together weeks ago. I am also waiting on some turquoise and lime green stain to glaze them with but that is another story. If  Magpie Pottery is in the 2015 La Mesa Exhibit in Rhode Island this year, it will be a firing miracle. I better quickly think of an extra special offering  for Kodiak the Kiln God or I could be up the creek. Extra biscuits?, some stinky cheese? Some of  Dave's smoked salmon from Alaska? If that doesn't do it nothing will...

NCECA is akin to,, hmmm, what in other disciplines? Um, well any large  gathering of professionals of any ilk. It is an annual event that all ceramic artists look forward to each spring. Everybody who is anybody in the ceramic world will be present. Students, teachers, professionals, ceramic supply companies, grad school programs in the arts, etc... Not only that but all the galleries in the hosting city will be having special ceramic shows as well . The conference itself will also host workshops/teaching sessions all weekend long. Santa Fe Clay, which I occasionally teach for, has one of the most popular exhibits in the conference; La Mesa (the table). A 50 foot long table with dozens of single dinnerware sets from the best ceramics artists  in the country.

And I am invited to submit an entry and be in the best company I could possibly hope for... and I am still working on it with 2 weeks to go! Argggg, why do I do this to myself? I don't know, I just couldn't get going again in January  after the holidays nor could I decide on a design.  I made square plates, round plates, thrown plates, slab plates, nothing seemed right. I finally just had to choose and here is the dinner plate (lunch and breakfast still drying!) that I finally finished;

 I like it; the colors, the design, the raised foot, it all pleases me. When the other two sizes are stacked on top it looks really cool. I'd eat off of it. When I showed it to my husband however he went "meh, not your best...."
What do musicians know about ceramics anyway?

New Website!!

Day; 32. Sunny and incredibly warm, feeling so sorry for those poor slobs in Buffalo, snow measured in feet now not inches.. Temperature on outside kiln; 60!

Another non-studio day, but I didn't mind. Spent most of it with Karen  at Artful Tea selling cups. We sold several and all in all I was happy, and I learned a lot about tea in the process. Thanks Karen!

 I did see a very curious sight however, Teens with Tails in the Teashop. A new breed of fox apparently... Endemic to Santa Fe it seems...

Although tired when I got home, and after a short nap of course, I tweaked my new website enough to make it publishable. More work to do but I really wanted to be available on-line so here it is, please check it out!;   magpiepottery.com

Trunk Show at Artful Tea

Day; 31. Sunny and warm. Spring-like again today. Temperature on outside kiln, 40 degrees
Firings; unloaded image transfer kiln, very happy with results, no disasters!

Getting ready most of the afternoon for another trunk show this weekend. Tomorrow, Valentine's day I will spend with the lovely Karen Gardiner at Artful Tea in the shops at the Santa Fe Farmers Market Pavilion. Lots of cups out of the kiln today and I am hap, hap, happy. After sanding the little bottoms of each one and pricing accordingly, I snapped a quick shot..

 So hope to see a large crowd in the morning here.. Artfultea.com

The Cavalry has Arrived

Day; 30. Chilly still after a heavy wet snowstorm yesterday. Temperature on outside kiln; 29

Firings; 3rd and last firing for the decals. Cone 02 (2,043 degrees) 7.5 hours with 15 hours of cooling

Second day of severe tendonitis and I am officially going crazy....
Reminds me of the old Tom Waites song; "you never miss the east coast until you move out west. I never saw the moonlight until it shined off of your breast".

I never appreciated my right arm and shoulder until I needed it and couldn't  use it....
Lucky for me the cavalry arrived today in the form of Pepe, a senior at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Graduating seniors are required to do a 2-month internship in their field of concentration, so I agreed to take him in for a day per week, slave labor in exchange for 2 college credits. Works for me! Someone to load kiln, scrap shelves, mix glazes, move stuff around, load the truck!?
Very nice kid, so young and innocent!! A native of New Mexico from Hobbs who wants to be an artist. I will help him all I can, not that I know anything about making a living as an artist! I was tempted to discourage him and suggest a degree in natural resource management, specifically water, but I kept my mouth buttoned up.
We worked for 3 hours on some new vase designs and finally at 2:30 I flipped the switch...

Kodiak the Kiln God is on duty again tonight... good boy!

Back On-line

Day; 29. Sunny and incredibly warm for February. Temperature on outside kiln; 60
Firings; glaze, cone 6.  2,210 degrees soaked for 8 minutes.


Technical wifi/internet  problems yesterday but back on-line tonight. However I can barely move my right arm so I am writing this one sentence and then going to bed. I guess doing a trunk show on Saturday and an all day art market on Sunday was too much for my poor old physical self... I never knew tendonitis could be so painful, if I hadn't already polished off  all of Dave's Grey Goose vodka I would be gulping it right now. Sadly  I had to make due with half of a very dark beer and 4 more Advils.  So tonight here is a picture of my best friend ( no it isn't from my Star Wars collection, but rather  a self-massager, hmmm). 

Looks a little like something from a George Lucas movie but it is the only thing keeping me from going crazy presently...

It's Sunday So You Know Where I Am

Day; 28. Sunny, very warm and spring-like. Temperature on outside kiln; 59

Firings; bisque to cone 04, 1,945 degrees

Another Sunday at the Railyard Market.....

        

                                             But with a difference....Miya's here and so is her uke!

 In between customers( say what?) we can at least practice our new dance set;

Dancin in the Moonlight
I Want You Back
What's Love Got To Do With it?
Sunday Morning
ABC
Sugarpie Honeybunch

A bit retro I know but we are all women of a certain age..

Dash home afterwards to rescue the dog-sled team from the backyard which they had been lounging in all day. I had been very worried about them but I guess the humongous elk bones I gave them before I left for the market did the trick. Happy dogs!

Today I'm In Utopia..

Day; 28. Sunny, incredibly warm, it seems like spring. Temperature on outside kiln; a balmy 58

Today I was here for the afternoon...

...participating in a trunk show at the request of the  lovely Destiny Allison who owns and operates our general store here in Eldorado, Utopia. As I sat for two hours chatting with whomever strolled in, I felt a deep sense of gratefulness and community. I knew just about everyone who walked by and some even mentioned my husband, David Yard. Most had heard of Magpie Pottery even if I did not know them personally. I was feeling really lucky that I lived in a place where I could  spend two hours easily  making money, garner a private student to boot, and eat as many chocolate-covered espresso beans as I wanted. Not too sure what to expect as I drove up to unload, but what a pleasant afternoon it became however. With one little 4 foot table I managed to sell several pieces and have fun as well, I love working for myself!

After stopping at the deli on the way home for dinner-makings, I loaded up the truck for the Railyard  Market again tomorrow and also filled the bisque kiln with new work.. what a long but satisfying day!
I am now officially exhausted and it is time for Netflix and beddy-by....if the dog-sled team will make room for me that is.

I'm Back, and Live!

Day; 27. Warm, sunny, spring-like. Temperature on the outside kiln; 60!!


After a week of importing older posts from a different server/platform, I am finally back to a live blog everyday. It just didn't work out  and I needed to change hosting platforms before I got further  along on my journey. So, I re-commit myself to a blog a day, even if I have nothing to say! There is always something happening in the studio however so stay tuned....