time just flies by

I can't believe how quickly a week passes. On Monday there was still snow on the ground. After several days of rain, it has all washed away, but biting wet cold remains. I am incredibly grateful that we got cold and rain rather than the snow that's hitting the upper midwest and eastern seaboard, but this is not a normal winter for Memphis. I think we'll all be ready for the first glimpses of spring that usually come at the end of February.

This week has been a busy one- I'm working on settling my business taxes and getting all of our documents in order for the accountant. I have a Valentines Day self-imposed deadline for turning it all in. We've gotten a serious decluttering and home-improvement bug at our house and have been hacking away at things we don't love or use often enough to keep. Organizing what we're keeping- from toys to books to food (a full freezer inventory was Tuesday's accomplishment) to clothes.

This week I also spent some time at a new space that is going to be one of the best new spots in Memphis! If you know me on Facebook, you may have seen something about a new retail location for me this spring. Or you may have heard me mention Trolley Stop Market. My good friends Keith and Jill Forrester are opening a new restaurant/deli/grocery/market in April. It will be all local produce, meat, honey, coffee, baked goods (including my friend Uele's awesome granola), skin care, and pottery! It opens in April, M-F, and you can read more about it here. I can't tell you how excited I am about this shop- both as a producer and a local-product enthusiast.

My excitement about the Trolley Stop has carried over into the studio. I've been making lots of vases- both bud vases like the ones I showed you on Monday- and larger versions. Jill grows gorgeous flowers- which will be a major component of the market. I also pulled out my box of two porcelain clays I ordered last year. One brick is hard and well, brick-like. The other is still soft enough to throw with. I haven't used porcelain in over 5 years. I couldn't tell the difference between my usual smooth stoneware and the trickier porcelain after the pieces were finished, so I abandoned porcelain in favor of the more-reliable, easy to use "porcelaneous stoneware" clay.

Fast-forward to 2009 and my problems with the berry bowl cracks. I was desperate to solve the problem and bought two porcelains to try and I bought a new hole puncher to try with a new hole formation. The latter two ended the majority of my production issues and the porcelain sat, forgotten. Today, I am both low on my standard clay and thinking about teacups. I opened the softer bag of porcelain and threw some with it today. I'd forgotten how much I love this. It has the consistency of cream cheese and the color of buttercream icing (for reference, the back bowl is my regular clay and the porcelain is in front). It is harder to throw- the eggs that I tried weren't successful, but the teacups were. I envision a set of lovely thin teacups made out of this clay. I even have a special (also abandoned) glaze in mind for them.

My. I seem to have had a lot to say.
Have a lovely weekend. Stay safe, and stay warm. I'll see you again next week.

good monday

The sky is bright, the ice is melting, I've finished my monday paperwork and am headed up to the studio for a good hour of cleaning and another two hours of working. I was particularly happy with some of the things I took out of the kiln late Friday.





Some of these will be at the vendor marketplace at St. Jude this Friday, right outside the Kay Kafe. Have a lovely week

persimmon

persimmon
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

Here's one of the things I made based on your suggestions, both here and on facebook. This piece, actually, came directly from this photo, which I just couldn't stop thinking about.

I also made a pear, and began experimenting with mishima. I'll get some photos later (still in the kiln, which is now cool enough to unload, but it is a) snowing and b) I am still in my jammies) but the underglaze I used wasn't dark enough for the design to really pop. Surface design is not what excites me most about pottery, but it is fun to try new things.

It is snowing, and snowing hard. We don't get much snow in Memphis (which is fine, because we collectively freak out at the sight of a single flake), so everyone is home and I'm about to begin a marathon session of baking and soup-making, knitting, and maybe a little pottery-making. Maybe not. I'm going to enjoy the snow day!

hope

This Doctors Without Borders update is long overdue. Y'all helped me raise $400 to send for their relief efforts in Haiti. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to you for helping me to do this. As a family, the Bridgmans would have only been able to send a small, small portion of that amount (we channeled our personal support through Episcopal Relief and Development which went directly to St. Vincent's orphanage, school, and hopsital with which our congregation is affiliated.) for relief efforts. This morning, after I saw that the paypal transfer came through, I sent that money on to Doctors Without Borders.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

request

I'm a bit stuck. I've been restocking in the studio- making things I need to make, but I'm not exactly inspired (no, that's wrong- I'm VERY motivated to bring in money for my family. But I'm not excited about it) by what I'm doing. Surface design really isn't what gets me excited about pottery- it's the form that does great things for me.

So I'm trying to work through this stuck, but would you, could you, send me some images (or urls of images on line) that you find lovely and inspiring, shape/form wise? Pretty please?

Thank you!

respite

There are so many things that I need to do today, but after weeks of cold and dark, and last week's intensity and sorrow with Haiti's earthquake, I needed a break. So I spent most of this glorious, warm day outside in the garden. Clearing out the asparagus bed, mulching, weeding, cutting down a prickly holly or two, pulling oak and privet seedlings. Filling the birdfeeders for the new chickadees, putting out more apples for the mockingbirds, adding a good thick layer of compost to the vegetable garden. Tackling the hateful bermuda grass that has crept into all of my front garden beds, strangling the perennials with their rope-like runners. I still need to pack and ready boxes for shipping tomorrow, but it was so wonderful to be outside. 60 degree days in January is one of my favorite things about living in Memphis.

gratitude

fifteen
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

Every year for lent I try to take on the habit of gratitude. It is starting early for me this year. The response from you- my readers, my friends, my loyal customers- to my little fundraising project for Doctors without Borders efforts in Haiti have blown my mind. I am truly, truly humbled. So far, you've brought in almost $250 (ETA-I'm about to go to bed early, and at 8:20 CST, we're almost at $300! YAY!) .

There are some other crafty benefits going on- so SO many artists have donated to Craft Hope's efforts. I added an egg vase, but it's gone. There is one left in my shop and a few more in storage I can dig out if need be.
My friend, Tomi, a metalsmith and jewelry extraordinare, has organized an auction of handmade rings to benefit Haitian relief efforts. Find out more about the rings and auctions here.

I'm grateful for your outpouring of support. I'm grateful for my home and family. I'm grateful that we're all feeling for others, and forgetting about our own hardships for the moment. Thank you, and have a wonderful weekend.