Friday, May 13, 2016

Here They Come...!

Day; 279. Sunny and warm even, not much wind! A perfect weekend for the Open Studio Tour!!

Temperature on outside kiln; 75 degrees
kiln firings; none
music in the Studio; Adele's latest....

Well if it's 2016 then that means this is my 16th year on the tour....., my first year was right after we bought the house in 2000... 16 years, hard to believe!! And every year has been fun, exciting, tiring, very lucrative... I don't imagine that this year will be any different... Except for the after-the-tour party that we throw every year, I will miss it... eating, drinking, singing, with all my friends.. but I just feel like after 16 years I can't do it this year, just going to go to the local grill and have a burger and beer and call it am weekend... sad but relieved!
Not as much work this year either but that's ok too, usually I try to fill the whole house but this year just the dining room and the studio, it was all I could do and I feel good about it, I just don't want to work myself to death anymore, life is too short! So here are a few shots of the set-up before I disappear for two days during which several hundred people walk through my house... !!

 Dining room wall.. love the pictures of Dave and I and my Dad on the wall as well....

















Opposite dining room wall with more cups....





Table set-up in the same room....



















Studio shot with wall pieces, jewelry,and tile..



May all 94 artists on the tour have a great weekend!

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Eldorado Open Studio Tour..( or the weekend where my customers come to me and I don't have to schelp anything!)

Day; 278. Sunny, warm. A beautiful NM spring day....

Temperature on outside kiln; 65 degrees
kiln firings; none! I'm done!
Music in the studio; Democracy Now with Amy Goodman

Continuing to meander towards The Tour... cleaning, organizing, pricing, baking, dusting... slowly but surely I am getting to the Preview Gallery opening tomorrow night...


Never, ever, have I been so ready so early!! It feels odd.. I even spent yesterday singing with the girls 3 days before the tour, that has never been the case.  I am usually frantically glazing or getting a last firing in... But instead I spent the morning with these lovely ladies singing songs.... Soo good to see Miya Endo, she has been in Indiana with her family for the last month and we have sorely missed her...






I look really tired!, so I guess getting ready for the studio tour has been a little harder than I thought!? I am also wondering what happened to my eyebrows?! Ah well, middle age, we all start going bald somewhere...

Anyway, Happy Studio Tour to all my artist friends and see you on Sunday for burgers and brews!!!!

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

I'm a Lucky Dog....

Day; 277. Sunny and warm, breezy. Hey, it's Spring!

Temperature on outside kiln; 70 degrees
kiln firings; unloading the last load for the Eldorado Studio Tour
Music in the studio; Jackson Browne in prep for tonight's concert!

Going here tonight...
















to see....






Can't wait to see Jackson Browne tonight at the Lensic Theatre, 3rd row center! Thank you Julie Cunningham!!



Sunday, May 8, 2016

Meandering towards The Tour

Day; 276. Windy but sunny and warm. A beautiful spring day....

Temperature on outside kiln; 70 degrees
kiln firings; none
music in the studio; Jefferey Gaines

Finishing up the last image transfer load for the Studio Tour this weekend. I am so ahead of myself I don't know what to do... No last minute panic, no race to the finish, no stressful opening up  of the kiln at 3am.... 
It feels weird.. yesterday I went to the wholesale nursery out in Lone Butte, bought annuals and then went out to lunch! Today I planted said plants and then took a nap.. Afterwards I finished up my watering of all the gardens and then sorta organized the display space in the dining room for the show.. I have never been this ready for the Eldorado Studio Tour so far ahead of schedule, nor so relaxed, in the 16 years I have been on the tour. I guess I  am finally  learning to chill, and what I got, is what I got... Not a lot of work for sale but I decided to take orders for tableware to make up for the paltry selection, so I am working on samples of dinner, lunch, and breakfast plates. I like this casual walk towards D-day instead of the usual mad dash, much  more enjoyable...!

Exactly a year ago I helped some students make tile for their kitchen counters and recently they sent me some pictures. At the time I was no so sure about the design, how was all this going to fit together but it was their project and I just taught them how to cut out and glaze tile. I have been wondering for months how it all turned out and at last I was able to get a glimpse..  It is beautiful! (makes me want to redo my own black-tiled?! kitchen...)





Wednesday, May 4, 2016

"Running On Empty"

Day; 275. Sunny and warm, I am happy to report. It is about f*cking time! no rain, no sleet, no snow, no wind. Just a gorgeous NM day....
Temperature on outside kiln; 68 degrees
kiln firings; none
music in the studio; Democracy Now with Amy Goodman.  ( Donald Trump is now officially the Republican nominee for President..!!?? The world has gone crazy.... )

It's Wednesday so mostly I was out of the studio singing with the Magpies but I did unload the bisque firing and I am taking inventory of all my glazes....

Tomorrow I will begin glazing the last load for the Eldo Studio tour and that will take two days... I have an entire week to get through these last two firings so I am feeling relaxed and ahead of the game....

Funnest thing that happened today;  about two months ago I saw an ad in the Pasa about a Jackson Browne concert happening in May at the local Lensic theater.. As my husband and I are die-hard fans I asked him if he wanted to go. After finding out that it would cost $200 dollars for both of us to see him, we waivered, we were trying at that point to figure out how to pay our federal taxes...  I told David not to worry that someone would just show up with tickets... and then I forgot about it.

Well, today one of my good friends called me this morning on the land line sounding very excited. She had found two tickets to Jackson Browne on Craig's List at the Lensic for Tuesday night and would I like to go?!

I LOVE HOW THIS UNIVERSE WORKS!!.........

Top 10 Jackson Browne songs;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQvH1MMqL4c

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Back to the Studio..

Day; 274. Sun/clouds. Looks like it could rain/snow AGAIN! slight breeze

Temperature on outside kiln; 61 degrees
kiln firings; last bisque firing for the Studio Tour
music in the studio; various karaoke for band practice tomorrow...

Well, I made it! The spring Contemporary Clay Fair is a wrap!  It is always a  lot of fun but a bit crazy/stressful at the same time. Although I am only the treasurer, everyone thinks that  I am in charge for some reason, I guess because I have been doing it the longest and seem to know what is what... !??

Anyway, we had 900 people show up which is A LOT in the course of two days, it is not that big of a building... just a small-ish meeting room with an a-joining kitchen. Needless to say the line to check-out was very long Saturday morning, a good 10-15 people waiting to give us money. We sold hundreds of pots for thousands of dollars, extremely successful... !  The 30 or so potters who do the show 2x/year are marvelous people and really step-up to do their jobs and make it work. Here are some of us at Harry's Roadhouse on Saturday night drinking cocktails and recovering from our cashiering shifts...


Sunday morning handsome husband guitarist David Yard came to play a set for us, it was a bit slow on Sunday as it was snowing (May 1st!) and therefor wonderful to have some classical guitar music in the background. I  actually enjoyed a slower day, I could talk to customers, visit with other potters, nibble on free food all day long... saturday during the show none of this is possible, I am just selling pots as fast as I can and putting out whatever fires have broke out in general show-wise. a few shots from Sunday when we could actually get some pictures taken..



With 7 new potters in the show I thought it looked really good and was glad to have some new work for our many, many, returning customers to buy.. Looking forward to the November/holiday show already, but first the ELDORADO STUDIO TOUR  next weekend, yikes!!!

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Contemporary Clay Fair Weekend...

Day; 273. Damn Wind!, again...

Temperature out outside kiln; 55 degrees
kiln firings; none
music in the studio; Joss Stone, soul singer

I am about to disappear for 3 days so I thought I should warn all of my readers, all 6 of you that is! The Spring Contemporary Clay Fair is going  up tomorrow at the Santa Fe Woman's Club and will be open all weekend, April 30th-May 1st, from 10am-5pm. As the producer and treasurer for the show, not to mention a participant,  I will be too darn tired at the end of the day to write anything at all so goodbye until Monday.. maybe even Tuesday... I have to count all the money and get it to the bank... ! A big job..!


Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Juggling Shows...

Day; 272. Windy as Hell!

Temperature on outside kiln; 52 degrees
kiln firngs; all done!
music in the studio; Karaoke sing-a-long!

A funny couple of days as I prepare for a second show before I have even done the first one....
The work for the Spring Contemporary Clay Fair is mostly packed and priced for this weekend so I had a few days to make a few more things for the Studio Tour in two weeks time. I will probably sell half my inventory this weekend so I really needed to spend this week making more, but... I didn't feel like it! It is hard to be looking ahead to The Tour, and what I might need to make for it, when there are 7 bins of work sitting in my studio... After the Clay Fair there will be no time to work wet however, so if I am to make more stuff for the studio tour it needed to be this week. I managed a few bowls and cups yesterday and today I made a few more wall pieces thinking they would be big sellers at the Clay Fair, but that is a guess. Here are a few pieces out of a recent kiln for the Clay Fair that I really liked;

 Some wall pieces...
 Buttons and earrings...





A few noodles bowls..















Hopefully my customers will like them as well!

Friday, April 22, 2016

Printing on Clay

Day; 271. Mix of cloud and sun, really pretty and warm...
temperature on outside kiln; 62 degrees
kiln firings; none
music in the studio; Democracy Now with Amy Goodman

Today is one of those days I love.. dogs and husband out in the basin for a hike, and me and my I pod in the studio together sitting quietly transferring images onto pots... Ahh.. quiet, still, focused... really meditative and relaxing, I am so grateful to be working for myself.





I will finish all the image transfers tomorrow and fire the Baby Bear Kiln one more time for the Contemporary Clay Fair which is going up in exactly one week..









The ads are in, the tables are counted, the jobs allocated, the receipts printed, the wrapping paper bought, the stickers stickered, the hotspot and Ipads charged up... ready, set, go...!












Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Nothing But Glazing...

Day; 270/271/272;  Overcast and chilly..

Temperature on outside kiln; 48 degrees..
kiln firings; glaze firing in little bear kiln to cone 6
music in the studio; what is on Pandora..

Beautiful day but a bit chilly still. We have had 3-4 days of clouds, rain, hail, snow....




Mid-April and it is 30 degrees at night and the roof is leaking....













But it also means we get to have plenty of these right next to the bed..






And the next day the Jemez Mountains to the west look like this...


Hard to see how truly snow-covered they are.. But the entire range is blanketed this a.m...

But  I am in the studio today, and for the last 3  days, just mixing glazes and then dealing with all the bisque -ware that has built up... I try not to let that happen because then I make bad glaze choices simply from being overwhelmed..



So  I decided to  fire what I have completed so far and not worry about filling Big Mama Kiln. It isn't as cost effective, but it saves my SANITY... and that's important!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

A Return to My Mountains...

Day; 269. A little overcast and chilly.

Temperature on outside kiln; 50 degrees
kiln firings; leftover image transfer pieces, cone 02
music in the studio; Corrine Bailey Rae

I am back in the studio today after 5 days in Northern Colorado and 2 days in the dining room finishing out taxes...
My trip to Boulder and the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area was awesome.... I checked into the Chez Villarreal (a friend of a friend's house) and this is what greeted me upon dropping my backpack in my room....

 My own  big fluffy robe, shampoo and various personal items, and two bars of Boulder-made chocolate...  I was treated like the visiting Queen of England, instead of a visiting artist, for 3 days and nights.. all meals, lunches made for me, bottles of wine... I really didnt want to leave... Kate and Mark were incredible and I hope to some day return the favor as Mark The Painter has a new gallery in Santa Fe...











 After a 400 mile drive and a good night's sleep, I spent 3 days teaching teenagers in two different Boulder County High Schools and an evening  at the Boulder Potters Guild. I had a bit of trepidation about teaching teenagers, strictly because I have no experience doing so, but they were very respectful, interested, and really very delightful...


This is the view from the ceramics studio looking west towards the Boulder Flatirons... not too shabby!!



How fun to be back in such a gloriously beautiful place and the city that I went to grad school in... I visited with several old friends and basically felt like I had re-entered by life of 20 years ago... ! A little disorienting but great good fun as well. 

After my teaching gigs I spend a night up in the mountains with an old friend that I lived with in Nederland (and in New Mexico), after my husband and I decided to get a divorce. I wanted to see her again as it had been a year and also she bought a house, her first ever, outside of the small village of Jamestown. 3 years ago this area had suffered a 100-year flood event, and the ravages of that historic flood were still evident; rubble and debris still littered the landscape and roads were still impassible and being rebuilt. After reaching the Bar K where Tamira lives with her two very large dogs, another Husky of course which I had found for her in NM, we had our usual meal of olives, cheese/crackers,  and very good wine. I was so pleased to see that the north-facing windows perfectly framed Longs Peak, a 14'er right outside her window, in the mountains that she loves so much. So good to catch up on old times and see her happy and contented in her new home. 

The next morning I drove home but not before I stopped briefly in Nederland to drive up to the top of Hurricane Hill.. My ex-husband and I built a house here in 1993 and I wanted to see how it was doing after 20+ years of hurricane force winter winds..  I must say it looked great and I was tempted to ask the woman standing outside if I could  peek inside. I didn't however, I was feeling  shy and sad and a little emotional, so I just pretended I was a tourist looking at the Continental Divide... I just couldn't help thinking about the day I had left in 1997; crushed and sobbing, and leaving one dog behind...  off on another adventure, but not really knowing where life was about to take me at the age of 41...



After a deep breath, and another goodbye,  I turned from my mountains again and headed for Santa Fe...  All the way down Boulder Canyon I thought about my life in Colorado and how much I had enjoyed it; skiing out my front door, the camaraderie of graduate  school, the intensity of nature at 8,500 feet of elevation... But by the time I reached the bottom of the canyon, 16 very steep and winding miles, I had shifted my focus and was then thinking about how the move to New Mexico had turned out and how lucky I was to land on my feet again; an incredible man in my life, a beautiful new home , a new studio to work in, four new huskies to love,a supportive arts community and more mountains to play in! Damn, I'm a lucky girl!



Monday, April 4, 2016

Uncle Sam Takes a Bite Out Of My A*s ....

Day; 268. Sunny and absolutely gorgeous! Spring has definitely sprung.

Temperature on outside kiln; 60 degrees
kiln firings; none
music in the studio; none

Another non-studio day for the 3rd day in a row, and I am about to take a road trip for 5 days so I thought I better catch up all of my two readers as to my whereabouts....

Saturday I participated in my first  Art Market in the Santa Fe Railyard, and had a great day!... even if I had to put my tent up at dawn.. It was so beautiful with pink clouds hovering over the mountains...






















I had been a little worried the night before because we got a few inches of snow, but the next morning it was cloudless, snowless, and most importantly, windless!!
And a lot of tourist and locals came out to support us. I had one of my best days and it was only April 2nd!      
Which was great because the next day I spent working on my federal taxes and sweating a little like I do every year once April 15th is looming...


 I am going with the notion that all will be well however, and practicing the feeling of abundance and imagining all bills paid... Feeling first, than manifestation... it seems to be working!

Tomorrow I drive my husband's new SUV north 400 miles  to Boulder, Colorado...

 I will be teaching at Boulder High School for two days in their ceramics department and will be doing a one-night gig at the Boulder Potter's Guild. I am really excited to get out of the studio and into the world. I have been feeling wayyyy to isolated lately and I am making a change!




As I went to CU Boulder in the early 90's and lived up in the mountains above town  for 10 years,  I am very stoked to re-visit my old stomping grounds as well and to see some old friends. My husband and I at the time built a custom house overlooking the Continental Divide and I am curious to drive by and see how it is weathering the years.  I will also visit one of my oldest friends who lived with me up in Nederland and who I lived with briefly when I moved to New Mexico. Tamara is now back up in "Our Mountains " and living the life with a new husky dog which I found for her after her wolf hybrid, who was related to mine, died several years ago...
It should also be fun to kick around the town, so chic, so outdoorsy, with tons of window shopping to do that Santa Fe just doesn't have...   and even though they got a foot of snow last week, this week is suppose to be 65 and beautiful... Front Range of the Rocky Mountains here I come.... !!                                                                                                                                                       

Monday, March 28, 2016

Message in a Bottle

Day; 267. Sunny and pretty warm... nice spring day...

Temperature on the outside kiln; 59 degrees
kiln firings; none... it's been awhile! tomorrow however...
music in the studio; Megan Trainor, (!, even after I disparaged her at the Grammy's!)

Good solid day in the studio... I am going to Colorado in a week so I am finally getting some work done before I go.. The Clay Fair and Studio tour are right around the corner so a fire has finally been set under my butt...
I spent the day making bottle forms of all things, a rare sighting at Magpie Pottery, but I like how they came out.. a few cubby ones, a few svelte ones...







I have no idea how to glaze them....

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Easter Sunday 2016- A Resurrection, of Sorts...

Day; 266. Stunningly beautiful but cold... brrrrrrr.

Temperature on outside kiln; 35 degrees
Music in the studio; Corrine Bailey Rae
kiln firings; none

Another few days goes by... I can't keep up. Obsessed with making wall tiles.... 

Also spent all afternoon on Friday at the printers and with my sister and her  scanner....  the story goes like this;

While watching the WWII  movie A Bridge Too Far last week,  I decided to Google the name of my fathers crashed B-17 plane, Swing Shift Baby... And while I have done this before and garnered a few tidbits of information, this time I struck gold....
 I noticed a link to Ebay which I had not seen before..
A dealer in NY state had listed an original photo of a crashed B-17, by the name of Swing Shift Baby!!! I nearly fell out of bed! A photo of my father's plane, on Ebay! holy moly....  I had to have it of course!! As it was listed for $99., I called my sister and asked her to share the cost of purchasing it with me.. As we were talking on the phone, I could hear her typing on her computer and after a minute or two, she said, "I got it, I just bought!"   I wanted to cry I was sooo excited...




You have to understand that my brother, a Vietnam vet, is a military/family historian and has asked me many, many times that if I ever see a photo of Swing Shift Baby, complete with nose art,  to let him  know and please, please try to obtain it .. While I have seen a few photos on the internet, mostly WWII historical sites, I  have certainly never held in my hands an original  polaroid  of the crash site.. After anxiously waiting 5 days for it to travel from the east coast to New Mexico, my sister and I finally had it in our hands...

Thus we spent all of Friday afternoon scanning it and making copies for the family before sending the original to our older brother Matt as a surprise early birthday present. And boy will he be surprised... Someone alerted him to the listing of the photo on his Facebook page, but it had already sold!! He will be floored that it was his sisters that had purchased it before anyone else...! Wish I could see  his face when he opens the package on Wednesday...

We also made a few copies for the pilots' family in Alabama which I will also get in the mail this week. My father, Wade Beyeler,  was the navigator and the last crew member to jump/get pushed out of the plane after getting shot down by the Nazi's..... the first member out the door became a German POW, while the rest of the crew  also survived  parachuting and landing in no-man's land... Dad ended up in the  newly liberated Paris  just in time to enjoy the party of the century!!!!




 Wade Beyeler (the handsome one on the left..)











The pilot, James Davis, actually rode it all the way to the ground on one engine and you can see above the results of that adventure... His son Bob in Alabama is just about as excited as we are to obtain  this 70-year-old precious piece of history... Bob also told me he went through his father's war photos and found one of my father standing in front of the plane! He will send what he has to me in a gesture of reciprocation. Can't wait to get another piece of photo documentation of  our family history!

The year before my father died, he received a letter from a very small town in Luxembourg... The historical museum in that small village had found a piece of this plane and was planning an exhibit  around the local events during the war... They had been searching for two years(!) for the "angels from above" and were so excited to find one still alive, my dad....
He hand-wrote and sent to them his personal account of the 13th mission of Swing Shift Baby... If I ever get back to Europe, I would love to go to southern Luxembourg and see the exhibit that they put together based on my father's recollections....

The story of Swing Shift Baby lives on...


Thursday, March 24, 2016

Wall Flowers...

Day; 265. Sunny and beautiful, but WINNNNNDY!!

Temperature on outside kiln; 54 degrees
kiln firings; none
Music in the studio; Amy Winehouse

The days/weeks roll by... It has already been two weeks since I went off to the Albuquerque Spring Show...  Since I still have a large part of that body of work, I have not been motivated to make much. However, I have been making more hand-build cups, which I have really enjoyed...


I really enjoy the darting and cutting of the clay, it is just like sewing which I once tried to do for a living as well... ?! Another crazy scheme!!













Today I continued the obsession with texture and made some wall tiles I have been wanting to make for a long time...


These will hang/stand off the wall a good bit, 1-2 inches. The wall tiles I have made before have all been 1/4 inch thick so are pretty flush with the wall. I have been wanting to made much thicker ones for some time and today I finally figured out how to do it! I threw a short wall on the wheel about 1.5 inches high and just attached the tile itself to it, easy! I poked a couple of holes in the side walls so that I can attach some wire to the back as a hanging device. Can't wait to glaze them and see how they look on the wall!!....

It feels so good to make new work and feel inspired again, it seems like it's been since the first Ice Age since that has occurred!!

Friday, March 18, 2016

Dance the Night Away....

Day; 264. Sunny and breezy, AGAIN. Can't breathe due to allergies....

Temperature on outside kiln; 60 degrees
kiln firings; none
music in the studio; 70's and 80's radio on Pandora..

The perfect day in the studio.. too windy to go outside and too much pollen as well blowing around. Snorting all kinds of nose spray and steroid stuff but only so-so effective. I can't wait until the Juniper trees are done with their courting season and stop all the pollinating already...!!

Meanwhile back at the ranch I am still in hand-building mode and making cups and mugs just like yesterday.. There is something very satisfying about slowing down and just cutting and darting clay instead of  wildly spinning on a wheel, which can be fun too, but today I was in slo-mo again..

Except for the music! Oh man I had so much fun listening to 70's and 80's rock today;  dancing, prancing and singing as I went. Of course the classical guitarist mate was in the Pecos hiking so I turned it up LOUD  and didn't have to worry about disapproving glances from the high-brow husband..

But who can resist awesome bands like;
Ambrosia
Robbie Dupree
The Eagles
Earth, Wind, and Fire
Toto
Pure Prairie League
Steeley Dan
Steve Perry
Hall and Oates
The Bee Gees

I mean come on People, the list goes on and on....

If only we still had complexions like this;

 ....70's (high school)

..... 
and the 80's (college,complete with requisite hair perm of the times)


The music, the hair, the drugs, (just kidding, sorta...)

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Start Where You Are... With Cups!

Day: 263. Sunny and warm. But breeeeezyyyyyy

Temperature on outside kiln; 62 degrees
kiln firings; none
music in the studio; All Things Considered on NPR

Another entire week has gone by... I am not being very consistent with my postings. At this rate 365 Days in A Ceramics Studio blog is going to take me two years instead of one. I still have 100 days to go and it is March of the second year... !! Ah well, at least I am still at it!!

Last week got eaten up by the Rio Grande Spring Show and my  participation in it.. I spent 4 days in the Duke City hunkered down either in my booth or in my cozy hotel room on Central Ave. While the show was well attended I couldn't sell a plate or bowl to save my life!! I sold exactly 2 of each, which is really, really pathetic considering I sat there for 3 days! I did however sell lots of cups and earrings, as well as buttons, not exactly big ticket items! I consequently went home with about half of what I have historically made as this show. It puzzled me...  I felt happy to be there, proud of the work, and made sure I put out a good welcoming vibe to all customers... And my booth looked great...

Well, I have been putting a lot of energy into doing other things in my life besides shows.. maybe that has something to do with it... I also have plenty of inventory for the next REALLY BIG  shows; the spring Contemporary Clay Fair,  and the most important/successful  show, the Eldorado Studio Tour, so maybe it is as it should be...  I also am going to Boulder in a few weeks so having some inventory already made up and ready to go is a good thing..
 There is just the small matter of my FEDERAL INCOME TAXES which are due in a month and which I usually pay for with this Rio Grande show, not this year!? Hmmm, the Universe must have some other plan for me and my taxes and I anxiously await notification of what that might be...can't wait to find out how it will all with orchestrated.... !!

In the meantime, I started again in the studio today with wet work after going to the clay store and getting some fresh, soft, white stoneware, ahhhhhh!! And I started again where I always do, with, you guessed it, CUPS!!...






Love the square ones with the darted foot!! More tomorrow... having fun hand-building after a lot of wheel-throwing...

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Bright Lights, Big City

Day; 262. Sunny and warm, definitely Spring!

Temperature on outside kiln; 60 degrees
kiln firings; none
music in the studio; none

A week just went by... ! And I turned 59! How is that possible! I just can't relate to that number, it is really unthinkable... 59 is my parents age.. or so that is about the age they are forever in my mind. I myself can't possible be that old!? As I am still in my 50's, at least for one more year, I have decided to party hardy all year long, so let's going dining, drinking, dancing.... !!

Just spent a week firing kilns in anticipation of the Rio Grande Spring Show in Albuquerque, so I have not posted anything this week... A boring, tedious job of standing and glazing pot after pot so I had nothing to post... anyway, I am finally done and the truck is packed. Now I just have to wash some clothes and grab my tooth brush.. It always feels good to get to this point; everything is made and fired and now I just have to find them all new homes...
I've got a new bra!, a new blouse, a new pair of shoes, and a new haircut, what isn't to love! I'm feeling lucky, blessed, and hopeful that the weekend will be fun and profitable... Albuquerque here I come...!

Here are a few pics of the inventory in the studio waiting to be sanded, packed, and  priced, and a shot of my fave mugs from this go-round... If you happen to be in the Duke City this weekend come on by..! The Rio Grande show is on the NM State Fair Grounds, Manual Lujan Building.. Magpie Pottery is in booth# B5..




Thursday, March 3, 2016

More Interesting Projects ... Just What I Asked For!

Day; 261. Sunny and warm, very spring-like

Temperature on outside kiln; 55 degrees
kiln firings; image transfer firing to cone 02 in Big Mama kiln.
Music in the studio; Singer/songwriter David Ryan Harris, smoooooth...

Yesterday I was here... at band practice...


It was a little skinny without a guitarist but we managed thanks to the lovely Miya Endo who played all the melodies are her ukelele! I miss Julie B. who played many instruments for us, and also has a killer voice, but I think it is good for the rest of us, most especially myself, to step up our game and stretch ourselves musically. We also  have a new singer, Joanne S.  who loves harmony, and also can play percussion for us, something I have been wanting for awhile, so I am really excited about that...







Today was a glaze day, ho-hum, but it was beautiful today, simply marvelous, so I took the opportunity to go outside and water all 3 gardens. I spent the rest of the afternoon slowwwwwly glazing so as not to screw up next week's show too much!....

Now one more thing to do before American Idol at 7pm, (down to the top 10 singers!), and that is to write a proposal for the Santa Fe Opera in regards to appropriate items that I can wholesale in their retail shop. Of course their price point is very low so there isn't a lot to offer, what can I make for 20 bucks that is worth it!? Not much is the answer to that question,  but since it is mostly about operatic images, I think small little plates and trays are the answer, something that is flat that I can transfer images onto... like lunch and dinner plates...

Round or square, I think these little serving plates will be just the thing... easy to make and glaze, they afford a nice flat surface to collage images onto. Anyway, that's my solution and I hope they like it.. I imagine folks from all over the world coming to the SFO and seeing my work!

And buying some of course!

Monday, February 29, 2016

It's Raining Over Here.....

Day; 260. Sunny and warm again, spring is in the air!!

Temperature on outside kiln; 52 degrees
kiln firings; none
music in the studio; Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!

Post-Oscar binge, 5 hours of TV last night, I wonder if I have damaged some brain cells.... Loved, Loved, Loved Chris Rock! Hilariously funny and brutally honest when it came to #oscarssowhite... "hard to care about best foreign documentary short, when your grandmother is swinging from a tree.."!!!! Whoa, that was brave.... I also loved that he raised $65,000. in 5 minutes for his daughter's girl scout troop by just having all the millionaires in the audience buy some cookies!! I just loved that!!... "come on Leo you made 30 million for your movie, buy some cookies!!" Chris Rock for president!!

Anyway, back to the studio... spent the morning glazing and then I went to the mail box.... Whoa!! Big Surprise! I always hope there is going to be a check in the mail even when I know there isn't going to be... I always think every time I walk out there, "maybe someone sent me money today..." always an optimist I guess. Today it paid off!! I opened the box and there was a sweet lookin' little hand written/addressed envelope for me from someone is Santa Fe... Hmmm, I was instantly curious.. as it is my birthday week I just assumed someone sent me an early card.. But, no, a lengthy hand-written note from a friend's mother whom I had  not seem in 20 years!!?? With a check for one thousand dollars in it!! WHAT!!!!  I sorta collapsed right there in the street and started crying...

You see today is the last day of the month and tomorrow being the first of March I didn't really have much of a plan to get my bills paid beyond my well-worn Visa card... I was really nervous about using it again for my health insurance and electric bill and digging a deeper/bigger hole for myself. The relief that swept over me was so great that it knocked me to the ground... I sure hope none of the neighbors was lookin' out the window at that  moment, if they were they must have really wondered what was goin' on next door...

This is so out of left field that I just took it as the Universe looking out for me. I now know assistance can come from very unlikely places and I vow to see only variation/diversity in others and to bless them on whatever journey they happen to be on. To the Noyes women of Santa Fe, NM,  may you have the trip of a life time and I thank you from the deepest, most sincere place in my heart...

As I was jumping around and dancing in delight a few minutes later, this time in the privacy of my own studio, the phone rang... Someone from the community  wants to bring a house guest over in the morning to buy ceramics.... ! What a non-coincidence!! When it rains abundance sometimes it pours!!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

LOA- My New Friend..

Day; 259. Sunny but brisk.

Temperature on outside kiln; 40 degrees
kiln firings; glaze firing to Cone 6 in Little Bear
Music in the studio; various and sundry on Ipod...

After a week of summer temps we have been back to winter for the last 3 days... 4-5 inches of snow on Tuesday and sunny weather yesterday and today but chilly!! After working in the garden all last weekend it was hard to go back to long underwear and hats/gloves... but I love the moisture and so do my perennials...

A busy week getting ready for a 3 day show in Albuquerque so I have been remiss in writing  any posts.. after glazing all day I just don't have the juice to write coherently... but if I am ever going to get to day 365 I must try...
So this week was about serendipity I am happy to report. Seems like the energy of manifestations I have been working on is starting to loosen up and flow, here is a list;

*thinking about getting in touch with possible student Margaret and at the movies on Sunday she shows up at the same theatre/showtime and sits in the seat right in front of me... !

*thinking about friend in Boulder I want to see and director of ceramic program at Boulder High emails me about possible workshop next month...

* Another friend of 20 years ago from Boulder shows up at my booth and tells me she knows said director and validates connection...

* Thinking about how nice it is when I don't have to drag my ceramics anywhere to sell it and two days in a row customers call and ask it they can come directly to my studio and buy stuff...

* Thinking about customer on east coast and she calls with a credit card number and orders $150. in breakfast plates 

* Thinking about how I just need someone to call and place a large special order so that I can immediately charge them the 50% deposit in order to pay my health insurance and the Santa Fe Opera calls and wants to know if I will make a large order of 60th anniversary mugs for them...

* Thinking about how much I want a percussion/cahon player for Maggie and the Magpie's and a good friend calls and wants to get together.. she sang in a band for 30 years and after one practice session with us, is excited to come every Wednesday and play and sing with us...

Kinda really diggin' this Law of Attraction (LOA) thing, it seems to work! If I can just focus long enough on The Wanted, and ignore the Unwanted,  I am good to go!!....

Friday, February 19, 2016

Color Therapy

Day; 258. Overcast but warm...

Temperature on outside kiln; 50 degrees
kiln firings; none
music in the studio; singer/songwriters Matt Duke and Jay Nash

Spent the morning making  coffee mugs with new forms... gotta keep from getting bored!...


I plan to glaze them with two different colors split vertically instead of my usual latte cups which just take too damn long to glaze. This way I can just dunk them top and bottom into the bucket without having to pour and wax... too complicated, I was going more crazy than I already am....!

I also got my new glaze tests out of the kiln and I LOVE them!! Who knew that just a few new colors would re-invigorate me ceramically. If I had know that is all it would take I would have made up a new batch 2 months ago, jeeezzzzz... here they are..,



The first image shows a beautiful blue/purple and a deep yellow ochre, both a soft satin matte. The second two test tiles are both white/off-white, one a satin matte and another a very dense soft matte, just lovely! I wish the reader could get a sense of the glaze surface from the picture but it is not possible. The second image is one of the soft whites over some deep texture, I love the elegance/calmness/softness of no color at all, just some soft winter white over a large bird. Very lovely I think. I cant wait to use these new glazes/surfaces.
Unfortunately I don't think they will be nearly as lovely refired with decals so I am in the process of making some short tumblers with a lot of texture to play around with... stay tuned for more pics tomorrow! ....