Getting Myself Organized, Not my Strong Suit...

Day; 46. Cold and snowy again in the am. Clearing up late afternoon. Rain?! last night and this morning. Temperature on outside kiln; 36

I was supposed to be in the Railyard selling work again today it being Sunday but I cancelled last night as it was raining and snowing and cold. I just couldn't imagine anyone coming out and shopping today with half a foot of snow on the ground. It felt so good to stay home and organize my files, office and studio, all the little details of running your own business that I never seem to get to.

As it turned out and my day unfolded, I had a nice couple from Canada who had been here during the studio tour come by and buy several mugs. The best of all worlds; I stay home and don't have to load up heavy ceramics into my Toyota, and customers come to me. I love it... It makes the marketing part so easy, more please Universe!

Spent some more time on my Etsy shop making sure it looked full and organized, with new pieces listed. I'm inspired to spend more than just two months of winter paying attention to it.

I also got copies today of the images Margot of Geistlight took last week during our photo session; she is a magician with lighting and a camera.. I uploaded to my website immediately, I am determined to keep it updated with recent work; here is what they look like;

I was really pleased. A lot of artists don't like a heavy shadow in their product shots, but I do. I like the drama of it. I added these to two others  and an updated booth shot and sent it off to Crested Butte last week. They better let me in their show or I will... hmmm,  what?, show up  anyway!? After getting in for the last 10 years I am trying not to be complacent and assume, so I did my best on the application.

 Now I have to wait a month to find out...

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.....

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....