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...

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..

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!

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!!

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!!....

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! ....

ChaChaChaChanges......

Day; 257. Sunny, warm, light clouds....

Temperature on outside kiln; 52 degrees
kiln firings; glaze re-fires and some new glaze tests!!
Music in the studio; Maggie and Magpies...

Non-studio day besides loading the kiln and making a few new colors up before the rest of the Magpie's showed up this morning.  This is what we do when not making pots...

Loved having the Magpie's in my living room.. such a nice treat to stay home and practice instead of going elsewhere, not that it is a big deal at all, just fun to host rehearsal myself....

However, we are losing one of our own (temporarily)  really soon, and while very excited for Julie, I am sad to see her go and not have the chance to sing with her for a full 3 months. I will miss her terribly. The good news is that I will have to work on my head voice which I am always threatening to do since Julie's beautiful soprano voice will be absent. So, as far as singing practice goes, it is a good thing... And for her, a wonderful opportunity  as she travels around the country moving from open-mic to open-mic and meeting up with all kinds of folks...
We do have her for one more practice next week though so I will have to scheme on how to make it extra extra special...