Thursday, April 30, 2015

A Wedding in the Wine Country....

Day; 99. It's summer apparently!? Skipped right over spring.... Warm, beautiful, sunny. Temperature on outside kiln; 70 degrees.

A gorgeous day, the best of New Mexico; warm sun, clean air, beautiful skies.... student in the morning, packing in the afternoon. Off to the Napa Valley/Sonoma for a family wedding, fun!! 86 tomorrow in the wine country, ahh..... as our last snow storm was 5 days ago, I can go for that! see ya next weeek......

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Last of the Wet Work for the Studio Tour

Day; 98. Sunny, spring like. Incredibly blue New Mexico sky. Temperature on outside kiln; 69 degrees!!

After singing with  Julie and her piano for an hour, and then another 2 hours with The Girl's Garage Band, I came home to throw the last of the cups and mugs for the Eldorado Studio Tour in 2.5 weeks. I am always jealous of my jeweler friends who can work up to the night before a show if they want to... us potters we have to stop working with wet clay 2 weeks before the show or it ain't gonna make it out of the 3 kiln firings in time...So, my wrists are sore but I did get a few large bowls, some tumblers and mugs made to replace the ones sold last weekend at the clay fair.
And now tonight is the last of the studio tour meetings; pick up postcards and brochures, go over organization of the preview gallery, check-in with all the committees, and find out how the publicity is going....
After 5 years on publicity, I have moved myself to the distribution of brochures committee and very happy about that. Publicity is stressful and the most important job, I am happy to just have to spread tour brochures around town. After organizing the Clay Fair last weekend, I needed something a little easier to do....

So, now all I have to do is fire, glaze, fire, glaze, fire, glaze.... But first a weekend in the wine country at my niece's wedding, thanks Naomi for getting married in beautiful Glen Ellen where it will be 86 degrees on Friday! Makes up for the snow storms last weekend in Santa Fe!!....... Now if I could just decide on which dress I am wearing.....

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Imperfectly Perfect

Day; 97. Beautiful spring day, not really warm but at least not snowing! Temperature on outside kiln; 48

I had  a wonderful teaching experience today; in the process of making parts of pots (circles, rectangles, spouts, stoppers, collars, shoulders...) my student Kris and I rediscovered how over-rated perfection is and how fun it is to just "play" around with shapes and see what happens naturally. .



This is what happened as we poked, prodded, cut, diced, pushed, and squeezed this poor unassuming pot. What you can't really see is how soft the slabs are and how challenging it is to make something out of clay when it keeps moving around on you.... this is what potters would call, "loose",  as opposed to "tight", ie, stiff slabs, strong angles, strong control. This pot in contrast we let move as it would; slouch, lean,  have attitude, whatever.
And we both loved it! How charming it is, how anthropomorphic, how much we wanted to grab it around the middle! After throwing so much in the last couple of years, I really forgot how much fun it is to work with soft wet clay and allow it to be itself, to allow for it's spontaneousness, it's wetness , it's lusciousness. Hmm, makes me want to forgo the wheel and just cut and dart slabs.
There of course is also the application to everyday life; if only we could let life be itself, to allow for it's messiness, it's spontaneity, it's unpredictability... I swear everything I need to know I learned in the clay studio......

Monday, April 27, 2015

Yipee, I Love Giving Out Money

Day; 96. Cold, rainy. Temperature on outside kiln; 48 degrees

Spent all morning  post-clay fair trying to balance tickets and actual money on hand. Finally went to the bank about 1 in the afternoon. Drove real slow, what if  someone hit me and thousands of dollars in cash went floating into the air! Not good.

Spent the rest of the day unloading truck and getting all the work/bags/boxes /lights/receipts, etc. etc... back into storage in the bathroom (?!).
Rest of day sorting out who made how much and writing checks. I love sending money to all the potters in New Mexico, it feels really good. The best part of being the treasurer.... otherwise I suck with figures... I get to write myself a big fat check too, yipeeeeee!!

Sunday, April 26, 2015

A Weekend Amongst my Kind

Day; 94. Back to winter?! Blowing rain and then thick snow fly mid-morning. Beautiful afternoon. Temperature on outside kiln; 38

What a wonderful weekend. I just spent two days hanging out with 30 other potters selling pots. Such a connection with all of them as we intimately know what life is like being in our studios day after day. Sometimes I think I hate ceramics, ( like when the kiln fucks up) but not today.... Potters are just naturally good people, it is natural selection at it's best.  There will never be a serial killer who is also a potter, just won't happen, ceramics selects for only committed, hard-working, kind people. And because they like to use their pots and those of other potters, they are also almost always good cooks, except of me. I am the random genetic mutation on that one...

Here is how much we sold this weekend;


This is a stack of a couple hundred receipts representing the hundreds of pots we sold for thousands of dollars...It was record breaking. As the morning started out with rain and then blowing snow, a lot of the potters were concerned. But experience told me that snow is very good for a ceramics sale, given it is indoors, which ours is. Because Santa Fe could not hike, garden, or do anything else outside today, instead they came to the Clay Fair, in droves I might add.  We had our highest sales ever on a Sunday we have ever had, snow and all. As a bonus, my husband came and played classical guitar for 2 hours and provided a very nice atmosphere. Thank you steering committee members, potters, and Santa Fe for all your hard work and support!!

Saturday, April 25, 2015

CCF is here...

Day; 94. Beautiful spring day. Temperature on outside kiln; 54

Got up at 5:45, grinding coffee beans in the studio so as not to wake up the rest of the house. Off to the show at 6:15, very smooth set-up and opening. A crowd of customers waiting at the front door by 9am for a show that opens at 10am, I guess it is a success!


Sold tons of cups and mugs of course but I have a lot of plates left over! That is fine, Eldorado Studio Tour right around the corner and first I am going to Sonoma, so if it sells tomorrow, great, if it doesn't sell tomorrow, great!

 I don't know whose idea it was to book me back to back cashier shifts in the morning chaos-free-for-all-grab-pots-as-fast-as-you-can scene, but it killed me and I spent the rest of the day trying to recover! This was the first clay fair at which I had to lay down and take a nap from 3:30-4:30 but I made it to Harry's Roadhouse by 5:15 for the strongest/biggest cosmo that they would serve me. My friend/accomplice/partner in crime Jackie was invaluable help all day and I don't know how I would ever figure out Ipads-hotspots-Paypal without her. We rock! Hundreds of pots sold between the 31 potters at the show and we still have all day tomorrow...see you there....

Friday, April 24, 2015

Halibut, Music, and Early to Bed...

Day; 93. Overcast, a bit chilly and WINDY. Ah it must be spring. Temperature on outside kiln; 52

Just putting the final touches on the clay fair show.... sanding, packing, the last of the pricing. And my favorite part, loading the truck!?....



I am really tired now but Dave is cooking some Alaskan halibut for dinner so I guess I will stay up awhile and participate in that! Also Miya-the-ukelele-player/potter is coming to spend the night and get up with me at 5:30 (to get to the show by 6:30) so I better warm up my voice and get ready for some music tonight!

Stay tuned for some good photos of the Spring Contemporary Clay Fair tomorrow.....

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Hap, Hap, Happy Girl on Joya Court

Day; 92. Sunny, warm, beautiful. Temperature on outside kiln; 65 degrees.
Firings; Just unloading the last image transfer kiln for the Contemporary Clay Fair.

Writing this blog, doing the dishes, laundry, anything at all to keep me from opening the kiln too soon and cracking all the hard-won pieces that are in there. Still a little hot to the touch so I am giving them all another 30 minutes...

Teaching/meeting with student Kris again this morning and reviewing handles and how to make and attach, I think these pieces look pretty good!...


(Back in 5 minutes, I know I said 30 minutes but I want to see what's in the kiln, damn it..)

Okay, unloaded everything and I am a hap, hap, happy girl. Really some beautiful stuff in there. I wish I could keep some it for myself. Someday  I will begin to do that..! Here are my 3 faves for the show;




Very tempted to keep the two noodle bowls, really love them, oh well, I can always make more, but then I never do?! Feeling relieved and proud of the work, especially as it was touch and go 2 days ago. Now to sand all the pretty bare bottoms so they feel like a baby's you know what and then price and pack. Off to new homes go my challenging children in clay.....


Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Minor Technical Difficulties...

Day; 91. Sunny, warm, spring-like. Temperature on outside kiln; 63
Firings; unloaded glaze kiln after 16 hour firing and 20 hour cooling. Loaded  image transfer in small kiln at 5pm. 8 hour to temperature, will unload in the morning.

Finally unloaded work from the epic 16 hour glaze firing of yesterday! Mostly the results were as expected; the glazes look really good after being very slow fired and held at temperature for so long, more melty and integrated with surface. However,  I was worried about some of them flowing off the pots and onto the kiln shelf and sure enough I had 3 pieces, all the same cornwall stone glaze, firmly glazed onto the surface of the shelves....



This is what happens when you melt glass for several hours at 2,000 degrees F, a puddle of feldspar and silica fusing this poor little bowl and the shelf it was sitting on. Ah well, I was lucky this was the only piece I could not chisel off the shelf and grind smooth. The other two cups I think are going to survive. Good thing I just happened to use this particular glaze sparingly in this  firing. After unloading I inspected the kiln's electrical elements and found one near the bottom which was broken in half, so a large portion of the kiln was entirely cold, it is a wonder I reached Cone 6 temperature at all. Atests to the efficiency and good insulation of these Scutts kilns. I am also very lucky I happen to have two! I can finish the show in the other one while I purchase the necessary repair parts and install them. Saved by the skin of my teeth again!!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

The Kiln Gods Don't like Cookies....

Day; 90. Sunny and warm. Beautiful. Temperature on outside kiln; 60

I guess Santa/Kiln Gods don't like chocolate macaroons.... When I got up this morning expecting the kiln to be off and cooling it was still going and short 50 degrees of cone 6, this was after 14 hours. It usually takes about 8.9-9 hours to get to temperature...


 I guess you can't quite see that the computer on the kiln reads 2167, it should read 2210 degrees.
 Really stressful as half the clay fair show is in the kiln and there is no time to have it cool and then re-fire. But I plugged up the last peep and waited another 2 hours and finally after 16 hours is was off. That is exactly twice the amount of time it usually takes. I will have to add a few dollars to each piece, that is a lot of electricity to keep it red hot for so many hours, arggggg......Looks like a have an element or two that need replacing....Why does the kiln only need repairs right before my biggest show!!??

But the day turned around and it was a lovely afternoon in the end. Packed up a large wholesale order and started on pricing and packing the show for this weekend. I then had a student for 3-5, which was really fun. I showed Kris how to use paper patterns and we had a great ol' time making cups out of folded and darted slabs....






I had forgotten how fun and exciting this way of working can be. I am usually too impatient to do all that handbuilding and just want to get on the wheel and throwing some. So much faster but not nearly as interesting form-wise. Teabowls and wine cups are drying upside down and getting ready for their bottoms to be applied.....Hey, I want to make some of  those now!

Monday, April 20, 2015

A Potter's Shameless Plea...

Day; 89. Started out nice today and then got overcast, stormy, and windy. Pretty warm however. Temperature on outside kiln; 57

Firings; Glaze kiln to cone 6, (2210 degrees F.) 8.5 hours to vitrification and glaze melt, about 18 hours to cool...

Dear Santa/Kodiak the Kiln God;
I've been a good girl, I swear! But I've put all my eggs in one basket yet again, and I  need your help. The show is this weekend so please make this a good firing and fix all of my glazing mistakes if you would. I left you a plate of cookies in case you are hungry (shameless bribe),
Yours Truly,
Maggie Mae in Santa Fe


Sunday, April 19, 2015

If You Don't Like The Weather, Wait 5 Minutes.....

Day; 88. The opposite of yesterday. As we used to say in Colorado; "if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes!" Kinda like that, but had to wait 24 hours and back to springtime. Temperature on outside kiln; 50

I so wish I could have gotten a picture from the vista point out in the Galisteo Basin Preserve this morning for y'all. Just picture crystal clear air and sky, with Ortiz Mountains in the background and the Galisteo Wave closer in.... Really, really beautiful. After growing up in smoggy So. Cal., clean air to breathe is still a luxury to me after 30 years departed from those shores....
After a stiff cappuccino and a bursting-with-blueberries muffin at Cafe Fina this a.m., I was ready to tackle the pile of work in the studio....


This is just the pile of bowls to glaze (not pictured;  piles of plates, cups, mugs, etc....) After spending all afternoon glazing, I am pooped! I will recommence tomorrow and just fire whatever is ready to go by, say, 5pm. Cuz after that is din-din of course and then I can't miss The Voice at 7, the competition is getting tough!
One more quick glaze firing, an image transfer firing on Wed. and Voila!, a body of work for the Clay Fair
by Friday!
I'm gonna need that weekend in Sonoma after this... Can't wait to see my family at the end of next week, smell the ocean, and dance at my niece's wedding!!! ( for now I will just keep glazing...)

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Life at 7000ft. in Altitude

Day; 87. OMG, 4 inches of snow this morning when I woke up. GIVE ME A BREAK!  It's April 18th isn't it!? There goes all the fruit in New Mexico for the summer, bummer! Temperature on outside kiln; 42

It being Saturday, I would normally be at the Farmers Market selling my pots but this weekend I am home trying to sleep in a little and then get up and get ready for the Clay Fair next weekend. I woke up at 6am anyway and was thinking the tree out front looked a little strange. It didn't hit me immediately and then I realized it was because it was covered in snow?! WTF! It's April 18th.....





So glad I was not out in the Railyard trying to put up my tent and work in this wet heavy stuff. The Market was probably cancelled anyway. Instead I went down to the coffee shop and got myself a strong cup of joe and my usual blue corn and lavender donut. Just because I'm not out selling doesn't mean I have to miss my Saturday morning breakfast!
And I needed it, Pepe-the-hard-working-intern  and I put images on plates and bowls for hours together and then I got giddy and had to take a nap. Kiln locked and loaded around 5, only an 11 hour day, but we had fun and here is our favorite new design for this week;


I would eat off of this plate, just sayin'.  Love this cute little elephant, he just seems so shy, like he's peeking around a corner and whispering hello. Do elephants whisper?!, I expect not, but maybe this one does...

Friday, April 17, 2015

Sad Day....

Day; 86. Overcast, chilly. 27 degrees last night, damn! Lost half of my locust tree leaves and buds. Maybe no fruit again this year on fruit trees, all buds were frozen last night.

Non-studio day, at a funeral for an artist friend here in Eldorado. See you all tomorrow.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Glaze-a-thon

Day; 85. Incredibly windy. Reminds me of the winters I spent on top of Hurricane Hill up against the Continental Divide...Temperature on outside kiln; 52 degrees.

My knees hurt, my shoulders hurt, my wrists hurt.... 8 hours standing on concrete glazing, brief hour out to Galisteo and back to run with the dogs....But Big Mama is locked and loaded and ready to go...



Unfortunately had to load in a wind storm and got it almost completely stacked and had to redo the entire load due to leaves, dirt, dust, having settled on all the pieces. I carefully unstacked everything blew them off and re-stacked it. It wouldn't do to have desert detritus fired onto the surfaces of all my new plates... arggg. But I got it done and took a quick pic of Kodiak The Kiln God overseeing it all.. 3 Hail Mary's and we are off and running at about 5pm on Thursday. About 7 hours to cone 6 temperature ( 2210F) and another 18 hours to cool. I will unload very early Saturday morning. Another Contemporary Clay Fair begins to take shape....

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Thanks Barry....!

Day; 84. Windy, sunny but changing. Winter is on it's way back...?! All my plants, trees, shrubs have leafed out and now I hear there will be solid freeze the next two nights, damn!! Temperature on outside kiln; 52 degrees.

Ever since I read Barack Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope, and learned that he was know as "Barry" for all of his young life, I have come to think of him as such. I just can't think of him in any other way, he will always be Barry to me now. So when I wrote him an e-mail last year with Dear Barry as a heading, I guess he wasn't offended because I got a nice replay back from the White House. Of course he probably never saw my e-mail, I'm sure some very low-level aid did that for him, but nonetheless you could tell from the reply that someone had read it. Basically I wanted to thank him for pushing through Obamacare when all the nutcase Republicans were giving him hell for it. I really wanted him to know that someone out there appreciated all of his efforts.
The point of this particular rambling is that I had real cause to think of Barry again today and to thank him quietly for being willing to basically take on the most difficult job on the planet. I mean Leader of the Free World cannot be easy.... I think of him and Michelle sometimes at night when I am worried about stuff. Then I think, you gotta be kidding Maggie Mae, you're worried about the next kiln firing, how to pay your taxes, whether to go to California again  so soon, 3 dogs or 4? New windows or a new roof... comparing this to what he is shouldering always calms me down, it seems so pathetically minuscule  when held up to what's on his plate.
So today I was worried about our taxes, but  what's new?, every April 15th is the same, you would think I would be a pro at this by now. And most years I am, but this year was different;  2015 was the first year that Obamacare was in the mix and it was very much an unknown for us here at Magpie Pottery and David Yard Guitar Studio. We took a rather huge subsidy from the federal government this past year  in order to go out and buy some decent health insurance for ourselves, the first in our lives really. Insurance that actually paid for something other than being hit by a truck. And as it is paid out as a tax credit, today was the day that our guesstimate on how much income we had last year, and therefore how subsidy we qualified for, came home to roost. Either we guessed right and we owed about the same as we always do, or we f*cked up and have a much larger tax bill than anticipated. And as I was the one who went  on-line, dealt with Healthcare.gov, bought the insurance and input all the data, I was a little nervous that marital discord would be the theme for this evening..
I am happy to report that our  taxes remain about the same, we still have a large subsidy and no one is in the doghouse, except well, the dogs.
So, a big Thank You Barry!, we now have good health insurance and it is all because of you.!

(cc.thewhitehouse.gov)

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Glaze Purgatory- Day 1

Day; 83. An absolutely beautiful spring day. It just doesn't get any better. Really blue skies, only a slight breeze, and fairly warm. Ahhhh, New Mexico. The benefits of living at high altitude are apparent today. Temperature on outside kiln; 62 degrees

Remember that photo from yesterdays post? The one with the pile of bisqueware in it? Well, I have finally dove in, although it took me most of the day to surrender to it. First I taught a two-hour class, then I had to make cornbead, (procrastinating), then a trip to the library (procrastinating), then I had to throw a few canisters for my new groovy rough cork stoppers ( yet more procrastinating)..


Here are few finished ones from last week's firing. Aren't they cute? I love the rough top cork on the left, just seems to go with the wavy rim a bit more. The trick is to make the canisters a smidgen bigger than the cork so it fits snug after all the firings and the shrinkage  involved therein. I actually made them all a tad small and had to sand each one in order for the cork to fit. Of course I could calculate the shrinkage of this particular clay body, do the math, and calculate how much bigger I needed to make the canisters in order for the corks to fit, but where's the fun in that?! It's so much more exciting to eye it and guess?! Sometimes being a Pisces can be a liability and having a Virgo in the house is a plus....of course he would have had  them fitting perfectly together right  down to the centimeter....

Anyway, at 3pm I finally settled down to glazing and will be in that mode for the next week to come probably, have quite a few pots ready to go and more drying and ready for bisque later in the week.
Thank God Pepe-the-intern  is due tomorrow, although it means singing with the Girls will have to be missed this week, and maybe next as well. Perhaps it will all go smoothly and I will get ahead of myself/kiln-firings, does that ever happen!? Not usually before the Clay Fair and Studio Tour I'm afraid!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Procrastination Is My MIddle Name

Day; 82. Overcast and windy but pretty warm. Temperature on outside kiln; 60 degrees.

Procrastination; verb. To delay or postpone, to put off doing something out of habitual carelessness or laziness. To drag one's feet/heels, to play for time...

Yup, that's me all right. Don't much like the "habitual carelessness or laziness" part, but the truth hurts sometimes... And the truth this week is it's  wayyyyy past time to put this....


.... all over these......


Rule number whatever for successful potters; never let your bisqueware pile up....OOPPS!!!!

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Two Heads (and two arms) Are Better Than One

Day; 81. Warm, a little overcast but nice. Temperature on outside kiln; 62 degrees.


Whewww! Back to the land of the living.... 3 intense days of shoulder/arm/neck pain and no drugs to speak of??!!  I tried to find some green relief but I guess we are just all too old now, not one of my friends had any!?  Couldn't get comfortable, couldn't sleep, couldn't work really. Just sort of wandered around trying to distract myself, not all that successful. I did have a dynamite massage on Thursday however which at least hurt me so good.... Combination work and pinched nerve? I don't know and I don't care, I just know it is ok now and that's all I need to know....
Spent Saturday morning here.. . outside the farmers market selling my wares of course  (thanks to Pepe-the-hard-working-intern or my tent and work would still be out there and not in my truck).




And had a really wonderful time talking to people from all over the globe actually; London, Canada, Texas (it's own country right?!) It was murder getting there at 6am and setting up with me/myself/I, but I did it and was glad after all was said and done. There is a wonderful vibe when all the farmers are out and about and selling their wares; so many colors, textures, the beautiful abundance. And even though we artists are outside and not in the same space, the constant parade of dogs and people going by clutching their vegetables is amusing, entertaining, comforting somehow. All seems right with the world when your local community is enjoying themselves so.
I always have the best conversations with people in my booth. They seem to enjoy the market so and as well, to meet local artists.  I meet visiting scientists from Los Alamos, sisters from upstate New York, and a young potter and boyfriend/chef from Canada. We talk politics, ceramics, food, weather, life in our respective towns and how they differ. It is such a great cross-section of the country.

And then there are those who just simply want a little shade and to talk on their cell-phones, to take pictures of your work, or have some time to waste before their next stop....I try to  be nice and smile/greet everyone, but sometimes it is hard, especially when they ask how long it took me to make something..... 30 years, is my pat answer.....



Friday, April 10, 2015

Maggie Mae, The One-Armed Potter....

Day; 79. Sunny and windy of course. Temperature on outside kiln; 63

I have not moved to another planet, I am still on the 3rd rock from the sun.... only just after yesterday's massage at 5pm, I came home and dove into my bed... So I missed everyone yesterday..
And almost again today but I'm rallying for a few sentences so I don't look like a slacker....

 I am not sure what is up with my right shoulder and arm; pinched nerve?, torn rotator cup, tendonitis? I and health care people are not sure. Somehow I overdid (what a surprise!,  not...!), and I am right back where I was 2 weeks ago with only one shoulder and arm functioning. I have begged all the drugs from family and friends that I can think of  and am now reduced to cold dark beer and hot baths....arggggg.
 Next week I will try needles, acupuncture that is, and maybe physical therapy. I just have to figure out a way to be a potter and not injure myself every other week.
Today Pepe-the-intern came to help load truck and unload kiln, here are some nice lunch and breakfast plates still warm...


If I disappear again tomorrow it is because I am in bed taking care of me!


Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Uncle Sam is at the Door

Day; 79. Sunny and warm but W I N D Y!!!!! Temperature on outside kiln; 65

TAXESSSSS, TAXES, AND MORE TAXES......

No real studio work  today between  band practice, dog walk and  large piles of paper to  calculate and then add up... this is the first year Obamacare will figure into the mix and I am a bit nervous. We accepted a rather large subsidy on our health care costs under the assumption that we are making a certain amount of money. I hope we are not in for a nasty surprise! Meeting with CPA day after tomorrow. I am set-up with a TV tray in the bedroom so I can simultaneous watch the results of this week's Voice competition and do my taxes in the same two hours. I figure this can't hurt and might make doing taxes palatable. Stay tuned for final results on both counts.....

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Out of the Kiln and Into the Marketplace....

Day 78. Sunny and warm, beautiful spring day. Temperature on outside kiln; 56

Pepe the-potter-in-training and I had a really productive day together. And he will be in Santa Fe for the summer! Internship continues through June/July, great news for me, not so sure for Pepe. This means he goes to summer school and doesn't graduate completely in May. I'm ecstatic, Pepe not so much....But atleast he has a summer job!

Anyway, we rocked the studio today!; unloaded the kiln, sanded buttons and earrings. made cute little square plates and recycled 100#'s of clay. I'm exhausted  and ready for the couch but he had homework to do and a class to go to...ahhhhhh to be 22 again, so much energy! I kept trying to feed him but he wasn't hungry. How can a person work that hard and not eat for 5 hours?! No wonder he weights about as much as I do...

 Here is a small part of what we did today... plus my favorite little tumbler from this kiln-load complete with new images..(enough with birds and bees already!)






Looking forward to the Clay Fair at the end of this month, especially if everything comes out as good as this kiln-load did!

Monday, April 6, 2015

Contemporary Clay Fair A-comin' Down the Pike

Day; 77. Sunny, warm and a bit breezy again. Temperature on outside kiln; 60 degrees
Firings; image transfer firing afternoon/evening to cone 02, about 8 hours total. Off by 9pm. Unload
finished work in the morning! Yipeeeeeeee

I spent this  morning finishing up image transfers that I started on Friday!? Finally got kiln fully loaded and firing by early afternoon. I tried to take  a brief nap for 30 minutes, that is  until dog sled team woke me up to dish out their puppy chow. Somehow they can tell what time it is without being able to read a clock....

Afterwards, I had an early dinner with Adele Devalcourt from Handstar Designs in Louisiana. About 18 months ago I helped her start a crowd-funding project through Indigogo. Her dream was to move back home to Lafayette and open up her own ceramics studio/school. Although the project was not fully funded, she did receive a portion of the needed  funds and subsequently used those to move, find a location, and set-up shop. As I was very involved in the prep work here in Santa Fe ( writing, scheduling, moving equipment, pricing, estimating costs, moral support, etc.... ) it was very gratifying to see her after a year in her new home and find out how it is all unfolding for her.

After fueling up at Harry's Roadhouse ( I know I was just there two days ago....) I continued on to the pre-show meeting for the Annual Spring Contemporary Clay Fair coming up in a mere 3 weeks. We divided up the postcards, scheduled the jobs for all participants for the weekend, and  made up a floor plan for the layout of the show itself. We are pretty much ready to go! Now to just make pots like a crazy woman for the next two weeks and then fire, fire, and fire!!!!!!



Sunday, April 5, 2015

Uncle Sam Beckons....

Day; 76. Sunny and pretty warm, but Windy of course, I mean it's Spring isn't it!?! Temperature on outside kiln; 60 degrees

So...... gardening, laundry-doing, watering, dusting, vacuuming, dog-feeding, napping, web-site tweaking, and most of all, TAXES!
No pots today just my pencil and my calculator....Hope the news isn't too, too bad.....!!



Saturday, April 4, 2015

If It's Saturday I Must be in the Railyard

Day; 75. Mostly sunny, windy in Eldorado, but fairly warm. Temperature on outside kiln; 58

Now that we have turned out clocks ahead an hour, getting up at 5:30 is really getting up at 4:30, just sayin'.
And in fact that is the only hard thing about doing the Artist's Market on Saturdays,  the f*cking early start time! Really?, set-up my tent in the dark at 6am?  It's not even the hour that is so hard, it is the requirement of hard physical labor at that hour that is challenging. I like to ease into my morning and unloading  a truck full of tables, weights and heavy ceramics in the cold and dark doesn't really consitute ease by any stretch of the imagination.
This morning however I was treated with a lovely surprise; as I was pulling out of Eldorado I noticed the full moon looked a bit strange. It was full yes, but only a sliver of it was lit up and on the opposite side of the rising sun?! I felt like someone in the middle ages wondering what this strange celestial event might presage. Well, I finally figured out that last night there was an eclipse of the moon and for once I was actually up and awake   in order to see it! Bonus! There are good reasons sometimes to be up that early, sometimes...

And after listening to the howling wind all night and wondering how the hell I was going to keep my booth from becoming a sail, it actually was quite nice in town with no wind to speak of as opposed to Wind-o-rado where I live. So it turned into a very nice morning with customers from Denver, LA, China, and of course Texas, always Texas. They talk funny but they like to shop so you gotta love em'. After my weekly lavender and blue corn donut to jump start my system, I ended up having some good sales. I even sold  a piece I have been lugging around for at least a year, and getting good money for it.  I love getting rid of old pieces, such a sense of satisfaction that it has  found a good home at last. Like the mutt at the animal shelter that has finally found his forever humans....
I look forward to next Saturday when I can hang out in the sun with my artists buddies, make money, and connect with people from all over the world. See you here...... I hope next week....






Friday, April 3, 2015

It's all Sher-The-Drummer's Fault

Day; 74. Sunny and warm but chilly in the am. Spring has sprung. Temperature on outside kiln; 60 degrees.
Firings; none! Didn't quite make it, loading an image transfer kiln today but only half full. So....

I was a bad girl last night, didn't make my daily blog post.... Went for happy hour at my friend Sher's house and, well, that was that... But, I had THE MOST INCREDIBLE DARK BEER I have ever had; Alagash Black from California. I previously liked dark beer but never loved it, there was always this bitterness at the end of the sip... Not anymore. I loved this beer for the absence of the bitter aftertaste, just a smooth dark creamy loveliness all the way home... After a hot, dry,  dirty day in the ceramics studio, a cold dark smooth alcoholic beverage is just about as close to heaven as I will probably ever get... I was trying to be polite and not gulp it, not sure I succeeded.
It was so good I started to think about how I could bring an extra carry-on next month when I go to Sonoma just so I could sneak a few bottles back to New Mexico with me. Hmmm, might have to seriously think about that....
Oh yeah, back to studio doings.... Busy making earrings/pendants/buttons, lots of small stuff. A nice change, I can actually sit down and work on them, a welcome alternative to all that standing, bending, lifting, etc... that I am constantly doing. The only downside to jewelry making is that they will forever remind me of 911; everyone remembers what they were doing as they watched the second plane live on TV hit the other twin tower, and it just so happens I was sitting making earrings at the time. I didn't move for the rest of day as I watched tiny hand-holding  figures  jump from the top of the tower...(Indelibly etched in my memory)
Now I listen to old jazz tunes and plan what I might sing next week with my pianist!!






Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Girls In the Garage....

Day; 73. Sunny and warm again today but windy. It must be spring if the wind has started up, and  I must be prepared for it not to stop until June. Every year at this time it blows for all of April and May. Temperature on outside kiln; 65 degrees
Firings; waiting for glaze kiln to cool, last 100 degrees or so and I can unload. It will have to wait until morning however, I plan to eat a little pasta and then watch American Idol as the last dozen singers perform live...

Trimmed about 10 bowls today before/after band practice and that was it for Magpie Pottery today. I have been going over an hour earlier than the rest  of the crew to get a little more singing practice in. Dear Julie played her beautiful baby grand for me in her 14-foot-ceiling living room. The acoustics are wonderful, I always sound better at her house than at mine! It feels  good to really warm up my voice before the rest of the Girl's Garage Band shows up and to sing some old standards that I have always loved;
Smile, Since I Fell for You, and  You Don't Know Me are a few of the songs we are working on. Thrown in are a few contemporary tunes from Alicia Keys and  Bob Dylan.

Today was so gorgeous that we literally were a garage band,  electing to open the garage doors and set-up facing south looking out into a beautiful blue sky, here are the girls rockin' the hood....








Can't wait until next week!...............