bridgman pottery

a fundraiser

2012-01-23T16:44:00.002-06:00

for my friend Angela and her husband, Devin. $32 for the 6" tray, flat $4 shipping. In a variety of colors, in my shop now and in the coming weeks. Thanks for helping me help my friends get back on their feet.

More soon.

progress

2012-01-20T12:12:00.001-06:00

It has been a killer of a week over here. We had a week and then a weekend in which I really felt my well had been replenished. Friday night date/movie night, several parties to go to on Saturday, and then Sunday was wonderful-we took a family trip to try to see bald eagles at Reelfoot Lake in Tiptonville, TN. Monday was quiet, and Tuesday started a slump for me. I was on the ball and started and finished my quarterly sales tax before 8:30 am (one of the benefits of having a 7:20 school day start). I rewarded myself by checking facebook to find out that a college friend was losing her 5 year battle with metastatic breast cancer. My friend is still fighting, refusing hospice, but she is weak and tired. Holding on for her two sons, her husband, to the life she loves. It's been hard to see much past that.

I did manage to fire my kiln and the past 2 days I've been alternately keeping vigil for Mischa and working on the special "hope" pieces. I have almost 20 little trays and the first four tumblers (the tumblers have all been reserved, but more are in the works).

These tumblers are lacking only a clear coat of glaze before they go back into the kiln this afternoon. I'll put the trays up on etsy and my Facebook page, hopefully on Monday.

Thank you for your response to these. You warm my heart.

Go and love on the people you love.

See you next week.

momentum

2012-01-10T17:11:00.001-06:00

Even though I came into 2012 with a plan (for drawing, for finishing up a client's order), I felt like I lacked any sort of momentum to get myself up away from the cozy wood stove and into the chilly studio. That is, until I found out about how much a friend is suffering with a debilitating, degenerative rheumatoid disease, that it's been going on for 16 years, that she and her husband are in the direst of straits. So I started working, thinking about Angela and Devin as I worked, and this is what I came up with:

and also this:

As many of you know, my husband was laid off and under-employed for almost 2 years. I'm blessed, fortunate, lucky that we came out of that period with our savings largely intact, with out home, our health, our marriage. We lived on hope and faith and scratching around to make do. I know that lots of people aren't so lucky. And it just hurts my heart that my friends are in such a bad bad spot. I didn't think that I could do much for them- I'm so far away, and what really could I do? Well, this: I'm dedicating half of the sales of this work, featuring the first line Emily Dickinson's poem, to help support Angela and Devin. I hope to have the first batch of these pieces out by the end of next week. They'll be for sale here (email me and I'll send you a paypal invoice), through Facebook (same deal, let me know and I'll send you a paypal), and my etsy shop. The trays are roughly 6" long by 5" wide and are $32. The tumblers are 4" tall and are $34. Shipping is a flat $4.

I know this poem means a lot to so many people. It meant a lot to me as we wandered through the darkness.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for helping me to help my friend.

new year

2012-01-04T19:18:00.002-06:00

Every year I try to take on a new project in January. Learn something new, develop a new habit. It's leftover from my college days when we were on a 4-1-4 system and had the month of January to take an intensive class, do an internship, independent study, or travel (I took a class on Churchill in 1994, interned at my city's Human Relations Council office- essentially a Civil Rights/non-discrimination arm of the city government -in 1995, interned at the Arkansas Territorial Restoration in 1996, and completed ten oil paintings in 1997). It's a nice way to segue into a new year and ease out of the excitement of the holidays without having those post-holiday January blues set in.

In years past, I learned how to knit socks, ran every day, taught people to knit, started blogging and opened an etsy store, painted or did printmaking. It's never been as monumental a project as when I was in college, and frankly, as a mother and a small business owner, my memory of those "extra" things that we do for ourselves is a little lacking. Two years ago I started the habit of taking a photo every day. I continued that last year, but started to feel like my photos were becoming a little, um, formulaic or rote. How many times can I take a picture of a bowls of lemons? Lots, apparently. In high school and college I really thrived in art classes. I loved to draw and kept sketchbooks. Since 2000, I think I've jumped around in three or four different sketchbooks- some huge, some purse-sized- mostly for taking notes, jotting pottery ideas, sketching pots and surface design motifs. I decided to buy a thick, 365+ page book for this year, some nice micro pens, and make a drawing every day.

Here's my first drawing. Edna, my black star hen, her egg, and one of her fluffy downy under feathers. Then I drew a rose, some lemons (sensing a pattern here), and today I drew a saucer that took at least twice as long to sketch as it did to throw on the wheel. So it's stretching me, which is rather the point of these January exercises. But I think I'm enjoying taking ten minutes (or thirty) sitting by the fire, sketching and drawing before I start working in the studio for the day. I'm posting some of the sketches on flickr, as I feel up to it. Some are private, visible only to me, others public. I think tomorrow I'm going to work on the shallots on the counter that have sprouted and should be planted in the coldframes. Maybe.

There's studio work, too, an order to finish for a client, new work to develop, and an entire 6 foot table in my basement full of work to glaze. I threw 6 saucers, 4 mugs, and 3 ill-fated yarn bowls today- my first time at the wheel since early December. I need to ease into that rather than hurl headlong. No real goals for the year, just observing the journey as I take it.

Happy Wednesday, folks, and see you soon.

pottery 2011

2011-12-28T19:39:00.001-06:00

pottery 2011 1
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

I made a little mosaic. Actually, there are three. This year and been good and hard and crazy and glorious. I have part-time help, retail accounts, three publications, a show, several wipe-outs, and I am just now getting back to being ready to work and getting excited about what 2012 will bring.

I hope y'all have a great new year's eve and a wonderful new beginning to 2012. See you soon.

2011-12-16T13:35:00.001-06:00

Professionally, I have been a bit of a stinker this holiday season. My basement glazing area is full of pots to glaze, as is my slab roller upstairs in the "regular" studio. Honey pots, mugs, teapots, platters, even butter crocks. They sit, sad and abandoned, waiting until I'm ready to work on them again in January. I stocked my shelves at one store in town, made sure another client was taken care of, and made some special order Christmas ornaments for a friend's business and another set for a local church. I have a small kiln-load of glazed ornaments to give as gifts, and a few other special pieces I want finished- some icon-like pieces, a belated wedding gift, and some bowls for a special friend. I've still been working- developing, hand-building, glazing, shipping, but I don't have much to show for it.

It is very strange to me that I don't feel guilty about this at all. I'm content to sit and draw and think and knit or cook something. Stranger still, I have nothing but one class on the calendar for 2012. No markets, no fairs, nothing. And I'm fine with that, as well.

This year I'm giving lots of handmade gifts, but made my friends or their spouses. I knit a hedgehog and a pair of socks that aren't quite finished yet. One scarf. Two pieces of pottery are going to friends who live abroad, but they aren't special made. Christmas cards? They're going to elderly relatives and a few mentors, but I haven't even begun them. Honestly, I don't quite know what's come over me because I have never ever been this laid-back about Christmas in my adult life. (I kinda like it!)

I am excited about my back door. Several weeks ago I took a pair of klompen that some college roommates had bought for me in Holland, painted them yellow, and nailed them to the back of my house. Planted them with johnny jump ups. I bought a second pair from another college friend who sent me another pair and a single. Last night I drilled, nailed, and planted them all. They make me exceedingly happy. I'm looking for a red pair, and maybe a plain wooden shoe to paint blue, to finish off this wall, but, dreaming big here, I'd like to have an entire wall filled cheek-to-jowl with planted klompen. Call me crazy, but it makes me happy.

I'm signing back off until, oh, almost January. I hope your holidays are merry and bright and joy-filled and peaceful.

pulling back, experimenting

2011-12-04T07:54:00.001-06:00

Hi, friends. Would you believe that I'm STILL on the mend, still not 100%, still coughing and not up to my usual energy levels? This is the 3rd Sunday. A bear of a virus, this was. But I'm better, I'm being quiet and listening my my body and energy levels and pulling back from working like crazy during this holiday season and resting. I am working, but I'm doing so slowly, with help, quietly.

In October, I returned from San Francisco ready to experiment with new clay bodies, glazes, techniques. I've gotten the first bits of what I made from the kiln this week. There have been some definite YAY pieces, like this mug. It is porcelain, which worked beautifully with my standard yellow glaze. It seems to just make the glaze sing. It is also the first finished piece with my honeycomb hex stamps, inspired by a conversation I had at Heath Ceramics in which I looked at their enormous kilns and fixated on the hex nuts holding it together. I'm very pleased with it.

The porcelain did very well when it was a flat-bottomed, not footed piece. If the piece had a trimmed foot ring, it left large chunks of itself adhered to the kiln shelf. Every. Single. Stinking. piece. No glaze on the bottom, but the porcelain doing it's thing and sticking. It did this, too, if it had an underglaze bottom. The edges stuck. So I did a bit of research and found that I need to add an alumina hydrate solution to my wax to keep the porcelain from adhering. You learn something new every day.

This blue is a new underglaze color. I was excited about it, but it's 2 ticks too bright for my taste. Nice, but not what I was looking for. Not to mention that on a large pitcher, it peeled off in several spots, ruining what I thought was a particularly nice piece. I was playing around with the surface design and this piece, in particular, never felt right. I like it, but it wasn't me. I realized why once I pulled it from the kiln. The divided planes of color and random lines intersecting the two is a fairly straightforward (but unconscious) copy of my mentor's work. Nothing wrong with copying styles to learn, but I kept feeling like this piece specifically wasn't me, even as I was making it. Well, Duh. It's not. It's nice, but the color, the line, they're not me. Diana also helped me trouble-shoot my underglaze peeling issue yesterday, so I'll be ready to roll in January.

While I felt that half of this kiln-load was filled with failed pieces, I did learn a lot from trouble-shooting the problems. This week I'm planning to scrape and re-coat my shelves with kiln wash, order my alumina hydrate, and keep working, slowly, steadily, at honing this craft. I'm also planning to add several small pieces to the shop and finish up orders people have placed for Christmas. Failure marks progress. And makes a fantastic mosaic pile!

Thanks for reading.

thankful

2011-11-24T20:14:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful to be *almost* all better.

I am thankful for a Thanksgiving meal at my mother's house that was the most colorful, vegetable-filled meal I think I've ever eaten.

I am thankful that I was able to bring my favorite harvest dishes, like this (dairy-free, panko-topped) take on this tomato cobbler.

And I'm thankful that there were still plenty of fresh local cherry tomatoes at my favorite farmers' restaurant/grocery last night.

I'm thankful that my good friend and studio helper has more sense than I do and sent me back to bed on Tuesday (or Monday. I'm not sure anymore) and told me that I was too sick to work.

And I'm thankful that she told me that I was too sick to do the Tsunami Sale on Sunday. Because truly, if I'd tried to press though, I would still be sick. I'm sorry that I'm not doing the sale, but also not. I'll have work available by appointment if you're local, and online in the coming weeks. This week I'm putting a lot on Etsy (I hope. I think).

And I'm thankful to y'all for continuing to read my ramblings and support me with your encouraging words and your business. It means so much.

I hope you all had a beautiful Thanksgiving and your coming holiday season is a joyous one.

the third

2011-11-21T15:55:00.001-06:00

Here they are. The pieces for the St. Jude event that I began in mid- July. Finished them last week. 11 short oval vases, 11 taller oval vases, and in the back you can barely see the 10 enormous thrown and hand-built shallow serving bowls.

And here are the smaller vases and butter plates I made for the tables. I'm incredibly proud of this body of work, but less pleased with the time it took me to make them.

As fate would have it, I came down with the upper respiratory virus that is winding its way around the city and spent yesterday, the day of the actual event, in bed, asleep, or trying to cough up my lungs. I don't have any photos of the event itself (yet).

I'm still under the weather, and the weather itself is not being very cooperative, so I will have limited work for Sunday's artists sale at Tsunami in Cooper-Young. I think I'm ok with that. I'll have what I'll have - some ornaments, some bee pieces, some of these colorful vases. Not what I'd planned, but it's better than nothing!

Over and out until December. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Oh! If you're still reading, I try to respond to people who comment, but most of the time blogger doesn't give me your email address. This makes me cranky. So if I don't reply to you when you've taken the time to comment, forgive me. I want to, I just can't find your email address.

two collections

2011-11-07T07:29:00.002-06:00

I'm so happy to be finished with both. My third collection should be finished this week.

Have a good Monday, everyone!

sunday morning

2011-10-30T09:02:00.002-05:00

It is a foggy foggy morning- I'm in a quiet hotel room and all of my family is asleep after a late night at my cousin's wedding. I'm thinking about pottery- specifically picking up a box of porcelain and some new white glazes to test. I'm still having problems with glaze shivering off the edges of my pieces- it seems to happen at random, and even though I've switched glazes and even the formulations of the glazes, I think I'm ready to try a new clay. Maybe it's the clay that's been reformulated rather than the glaze? I've been yearning for porcelain for some time, but my normal clay supplier, as wonderful as they are, doesn't carry much in the way of porcelain. They have 2 that I've tried but once finished, there's not a perceptible difference between it and the smooth smooth stoneware I usually use. So, that's tomorrow.

Last week my boy was sick, sick, and I focused on tending to him and delivering pots rather than making anything new. I boxed up twenty little cups and saucers for my friend and client, Lane. I finished the botanical dinnerware set, finally, as well as the bowls for another client who's ordered her dishes by component. I also delivered all of my bee pieces. I spent last Saturday hanging them on the wall of my dining room and shooting them. I'm really really proud of them and can't wait to see how they look all hanging together at the same time.

This is a set of 8 small dessert bowls I threw on the wheel and decorated. Honestly, if they don't sell, I will be more than happy to keep them. I'm just tickled with how they turned out.

And this is a detail shot of one of my larger bowls. It's a slab piece, one that Natalie made for me. She really has been invaluable- she and I worked and worked on figuring out how to use the honeycomb foundation to make a nice impression before we laid the enormous, heavy slab into its mold. I inscribed a bit of Emily Dickinson's poem 58/"the bee" into the side rim.
All of these pieces hang on the wall- either with traditional plate hangers, small holes I drilled into the foot of the piece, or little lug loops I added to the backs of the larger platters.

I'm ready to begin working and throwing again. I have very little inventory. Mugs and bowls are platters and ornaments for the holidays are on my to-make list, as are travel cups. A friend found some silicone lids for her mugs in her etsy shop. I'm on a search for some lids to make cups to locally. This week I'm finishing up my "hope" pieces for the St. Jude event- hopefully early in the week. I'm motivated to clear my plate and emerge from the land of "swamped" and start being creative again.

Have a wonderful week, everyone.

invitational

2011-10-20T09:41:00.001-05:00

I can't tell you when I've felt such a sense of accomplishment (well, yes, I can, it was when I finished with my dinner set, but that was erased when I broke three of the dishes. they're almost done!). I needed to have 10 pieces (or groups of pieces) for the annual invitational at St. George's Independent School. Now I need to go through them, separate them into groups, and price them.

There is no way I could have possibly made all of these without the help of my friend Natalie. She wedged clay, rolled slabs and cut out all of the molds for my platters. I did the finishing, decorating, and throwing, but she was instrumental in helping me work through this task. I'm grateful and excited and ready to finish my last big assignment. But before I do, look at what's coming!

I made and bisqued some hex stamps to speed up my honeycombs. One of my "eureka" moments came at Heath Ceramics when I was talking to Ali, the kiln-daddy and glaze mixer-master. I kept staring that the hex nuts on the kiln and finally realized that they were the key to my honeycomb problems. I'd been using a template to draw them, but I wanted larger shapes. Hex nuts don't make a good impression in clay, but they do make a fine template for clay stamps. I know it's obvious, but I'd been stumped and the answer was waiting for me in my hardware cabinet.

Y'all have a nice end of your week and weekend. My boys are going on a group camping trip and I'm taking the "extra" time to do a little housekeeping in the studio, pushing through the last of my production obligations, and get started on holiday production. I'm late in the game and my work will be limited, but I'll have enough for a small studio sale, etsy restock, and to stock my local retailers.

SF, 2- some things I learned

2011-10-18T09:12:00.000-05:00

I learned a lot when I was touring pottery studios and galleries- by looking and talking to folks. Some new techniques- like this, which is very similar to the crayon scratch-art we did as kids- though I don't think I *quite* got it, I'm mostly pleased with the results. And wondering how I'd like it with another color as the base layer. It isn't what I anticipated, but I'm not disappointed with the results, either. I saw some pieces in process like this at Fourth and Clay, so I'm not 100% sure how they were supposed to turn out. That may be good, because where I take the process from here will be entirely up to me. It's very painterly, isn't it?

I also learned that I need to take greater care with the bottoms of my pieces. Sometimes I don't catch things in time to make the bottoms smooth and pleasing, or trim them quite properly. There might be a rough spot from an air bubble that I let pass because it's on the bottom. I need to pay more attention to those details. On the flip side, I saw some very expensive pieces by celebrated potters that had some quirks would have made me scrap the pieces entirely- handles not attached smoothly, some uneven/peely glaze issues. Potters aren't perfect. Neither is the work of our hands. We aren't factories and some things slip by us. Lesson for me- Melissa Bridgman needs to cut herself some slack. Point taken.

So- it is Tuesday, the kiln needs loading and firing, and I'm looking forward to a large pot of soup on this first really cold day of fall. Hope y'all have a good week.

R&D- San Francisco

2011-10-10T08:32:00.001-05:00

This trip was fantastic. I toured Heath Ceramics (This is such a wonderful small company. Everyone there was so incredibly kind and open and I learned SO MUCH), several individual pottery studios (Diana Fayt, Fourth and Clay, the studio of Josie Jurczenia, Rae Dunn, and Christa Assad), and Trax Gallery, which is both a ceramics gallery and studio for Sandy Simon and Robert Brady. There was a drive-by of Whitney Smith's studio and shop in Oakland. Bought unavailable-locally glazes, underglazes, and tools. Spent several hours at SF MOMA, which, happily, featured a ceramics collaboration .

I returned home inspired to clear my plate of my obligations (this week will be a veritable glazing festival) so that I can work on new pieces, using new techniques I learned on the studio visits and try my hand at adapting some pieces that were particularly inspiring. I am ever grateful to Diana Fayt for sharing her time, knowledge, and passion for this medium with me, and even more grateful to call her my friend.

(top, L-R Josie Jurczenia's studio, Heath Ceramics, test tiles at Diana Fayt's studio. middle, L-R Rae Dunn's studio, Diana Fayt's studio, Trouble Coffee and my friend Monica Bodnar-Pharr's teacups. bottom, L-R Heath Ceramics, work in process, Christa Assad's cup, Nest, Louise Nevelson at SF MOMA)

preview

2011-09-26T07:42:00.001-05:00

to say that I am thrilled with these is an understatement. Bisque firing a bunch more of these today.

This weekend I also went to see this show and lecture. I bought the book that accompanied the show, which is something that I rarely do, but I think I'll go back to it over and over again. I drew and took notes furiously throughout the lecture- not so much on this potter's style- it was very much in the folk, utilitarian style of the NC mountains (read- really, really thick), but he used a slip-painting style that was reminiscent of Wedgwood Jasperware (without knowing about Jasperware) and crystalline glazes. Crystalline isn't something I'm interested in pursuing- they're not really food safe- almost, but not quite, too soft and leachable, and frankly, too finicky in the firing. I'm not into finicky. Nope. But I did fall in love with how they cascade down the shoulders of large vases, and that, friends, is something I can draw. If you're in Memphis, the show runs through mid-November. There's also a nice impressionist exhibit up through Oct 9.

working and sorting

2011-09-21T19:37:00.000-05:00

I may have mentioned that I was sorting out my options for the foreseeable future, what I wanted to do, what I wanted to make more of, what I didn't want to do this year(a holiday home sale) and what I didn't want to make anymore. This is a process that's been difficult for me, and that I've been wrestling with for the better part of this year. Difficult because some things have been so so good in the past but don't feel quite right anymore. Difficult because I'm used to them and changing how I do business or make pottery is scary. Difficult because I've been in survival mode for so long that I haven't let myself ask big questions since, oh, 2009, when I decided to quit my job, one that I loved but knew I wouldn't want to do forever, and go out on my own.

During this process, I've been off-line from social media sites (that are useful but harmfully addictive for people who need to actually get things done). The only on-line form I've kept up with has been flickr, and if I weren't committed to taking and posting a photo a day, I would have foresworn that, too. Surprisingly, I haven't missed it. Not at all, which leads me to wonder how much of it I'll add back in October, once the heavy part of my current workload is over. I've also just finished a 30 day vegan course, which was challenging and stretching and good. There's been a lot of navel-gazing in the midst of a heavy workload, but I'm seeing lots of progress in both the work and clarifying my goals for the future.

These berry bowls, which have happily (but more frequently, frustratingly) paid my mortgage for several months of each year for at least the last four years, are on the don't want to make anymore list. Maybe forever, maybe not. These are the last three berry bowls I made. Even with new techniques in throwing and piercing the holes, the percentage of breakage (which never shows up until after they've been glazed, leaving me with a functional but non-sellable bowl) is just too too high. One in every four or five bowls cracks, even when pierced with a sharp tool, a drill, compressed on the edges, etc. etc. No more. I have one (not pictured) tucked away in my cupboard in case the one I use most breaks. Two of these are being sent away. I haven't decided what to do the last bowl. It will probably go into my gift closet. I love to use my berry bowl, but I will not miss making them, nor will I miss explaining that despite its diminutive size, it is a colander. Not a coffee cup. Ahem.

Next week I should have lots of pretty pretty work to show you. I've been throwing and glazing and drawing on pots every day. There's no more shelf space in my studio. I have another hour's worth of either glazing or drawing to do tonight (probably glazing, so that I can fire the kiln overnight). I have conquered the "how to hang it" issues I was having last week, happily. I'm knocking through long-standing orders. I'm super-tired, but my goals are clear(er) and I'm moving past the post-stress exhaustion, thank goodness.

Hope your week ends well, friends.

deadlines

2011-09-14T09:50:00.001-05:00

Good morning! It is mid-morning here, now, and I'm ready to start my day in the studio. I've been spending a lot of time planning and drawing this week because I realized, late last week, that a deadline was approaching much faster than I'd anticipated. As in, weeks sooner. And that I was somewhat behind in both planning and production, given this new deadline.

This summer I accepted an invitation to show at St. George's School here in Memphis. I had a plan and was thinking through how I'd be hanging my plates, platters, and bowls on the wall. I'm still working through that- have had some successes and some abject failures in the hanging department. The show is in November. Plenty of time, I thought, to work steadily and give myself some days off to regroup, refocus, re-evaluate. Friday I shuffled through the papers that came with my contract and realized that photos and artist statements are due this week. Eek. Work needs to be finished by mid October. Eek. I have several pieces in process, but only a few pieces are actually finished and ready to be shot. Eek. I have a plane ticket for Oct 3, and wanted a clear plate before I leave. Well. Time to revise the plans.

My solution is eating breathing sleeping drawing bees on pieces that I've thrown and handbuilt. I've made a good bit of progress (my plans, roughly sketched out, above) but I have miles to go. Realistically, one can only sit hunched over a plate/platter/bowl you're drawing on for 3 hours a day. The actual making of the pieces is a breeze, but the surface design/detail work is hard on the body. Yoga has become my good good friend. I'm excited about the work that I'm making. That helps. The other work (those large cylinder vases) are on the back burner for another week or so because I'm 4/5 finished with those large pieces and they aren't due until November. Progress and process. I don't work well when I'm freaked out. I do work well when I have a plan. So I have the plan, and it will all be well.

See you soon.

little bits of happy

2011-09-09T08:03:00.000-05:00

yesterday I pulled this piece, and a few others (it was a tiny kiln load in my tiny kiln), from my kiln. I was really happy with how it turned out. This blue is a new color for me- brighter than I wanted, but I'm pleased. The photo is dark so it's difficult to see (especially with the high gloss finish), but I really like the watercolor-y lightness and depth of color. I want to play more with this watercolor effect.

I was also pleased that my little kiln made it up to ^6- I regularly bisque in this kiln- the bisque fire is the first firing- I take the kiln up to about 1900 degrees, slowly at first to make sure the pieces are bone dry- then finish up fairly rapidly in 10 or so hours. Yes, I said rapidly. The second firing goes to the mid 2200s and typically takes 13-14 hours. The little kiln is older; the coils need to be replaced, but I rarely glaze fire because in the past it hasn't reached ^6 in 14 hours. Happily, it did on Tuesday night and I opened the kiln up Thursday morning. I've taken to letting the kiln cool for a full 24 hours before I even touch it- I don't want to risk cracks in the glaze or worse, the pots, from cool air flooding the hot pottery. Once, in my first few years of making pots, I melted the sleeves of a down coat by taking a too-hot piece from the kiln. I've learned my lesson there.

Other happy bits- the weather has cooled down to windows-open temps. Next week will be back in the 90s, but this week's been a lovely reprieve. And it's reminded us to get our firewood ready for actual cold.

I bought my plane ticket for San Francisco! Only after much hesitating and dithering and nausea caused by sticker shock. Lesson learned: next time, buy it when it's $300. I am excited to go, and more excited to see my friend and mentor, Diana. I'm also grateful that Gary's company is having a big meeting in an interesting city. Work (at home, even) is going well for him, and I'm glad for that.

This piece of pottery is for an Oct/Nov invitational show. I'm really excited to be working on a large group of unified pieces. They all have to hang on the wall- that's a challenge I'm working through. I've figured out flattish bowls and platters, but I'd like to hang some deeper pieces. Time for some experimentation.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone.

right here

2011-09-06T17:25:00.000-05:00

is where all of my energy has been going lately. So far I think I have 8 of each of these pieces, maybe a few more. The ones on the upper shelf are 7.5" x 5-6" oval cylinder vases. The lower shelf is 5.5"x 7.5" ovals. Not shown are 13" diameter shallow bowls.

I need to have 10 of each of the 3 styles, so I'm making 14 of each.
I'm also working on finishing glazing the dinner set I showed you last week- the touch ups and replacement pieces, plus two sets of bowls for a client who has been ordering her dishes piece-meal fashion.

I did not labor on labor day. I didn't even pick up my camera. Today I glazed. Tomorrow I'll trim and throw a bit, then tackle a few boxes of tomatoes. Those won't last.

relief

2011-08-28T16:34:00.000-05:00

my friends, let me show you what relief looks like:

This is the dinner set that I referred to as "green ware" in my last post. "Green" means that it hasn't been fired. I have to remake one mug and three desert plates, plus do some spot-reglazing on almost every piece in this set, but the bulk of the work is done and I'm not sweating over it anymore.

Plus, I have an incentive to get it (and two other big projects) off my plate. I'm going to San Francisco (tagging along on a work trip) the first of October and I want a clear slate before I leave. This means that September will be busy, but that's good because I need immediate goals to stay focused and productive. Now I know this about myself, but it's always good to have it reaffirmed.

This coming week I'll attack those other two projects with a vengeance and get these pieces re-spot-glazed. I'm grateful today that they're 4/5 finished, that my bout with the flu was short-lived (but oh! I got LOTS of rest, which I needed), that my friends on the East Coast are safe and the hurricane packed less of a punch than we anticipated, and that I finally got a batch of okra pickled and processed.

Hope y'all have a good week.

watching and waiting

2011-08-18T14:33:00.000-05:00

Last week was the first week of school, right on the heels of our beach trip. It got massively, oppressively hot. Then it got really nice and cool. As in, 80 degree days in which you can hang out in the yard with the chickens and a cool beverage in the evening sort of days. I threw and threw and threw and ran out of clay last week.

My husband landed a new job after a long long long time of uncertainty and trying to keep everything together by the skin of our teeth. It was hard, so now that it's over I've been having a bit of a post-emergency collapse. Periods of resting and doing nothing, periods of remembering that I have a full fall schedule and will kick myself for watching Mad Men at noon on Monday. It's not something that I'm used to (luxuriant laziness) and I'm not sure I like it. I prefer being productive.

Having run out of clay, I fired several kiln-loads of green ware this week and am spending the last half glazing and firing it. I'm getting more clay this weekend and next week will glaze my dinnerware set in one fell swoop. I'm really excited about it- unglazed, it looks good. Unfortunately, it is always the last firing that shows where the flaws are hiding- either through weakness in the clay or sloppiness in my glazing. We'll see how that goes.

Summer is fleeting. I'm ready for fall.

return

2011-08-10T07:33:00.000-05:00

We've been back for almost a week and school's begun. Our trip was filled with art, inspiration, rest, rejuvenation. We were sorry to leave, happy to be back. Still a little quiet around here. Working steadily, wrapping projects up, beginning new ones.

Captions: Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Ocean Springs, MS. Community Center Mural

Beach glass

Ship Island, part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore

Bottlenose dolphins following the ferry

Last morning's low-tide beach combing expedition

look!

2011-07-31T21:57:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite part of the weekend. It's been excessively difficult, but this bee tree- a new colony, it seems- in my mom's yard seems to be a message of renewal and life in the midst of trial, struggle, and succumbing to the end.

Thanks for your kind comments and support of my work and the direction in which I'm heading. It means a lot. Y'all mean a lot.

I'll be back here on Friday. Have a good week.

a shift

2011-07-25T20:09:00.000-05:00

I've been putting off listing my new pieces online - I didn't touch the pottery last week. It has been sitting on a sideboard in the dining room, staring balefully at me every time I walk past. I feel a little at odds with it and with my work as a whole, but I'm beginning to come to terms with it.

For the past ten years I've been making pots. I've been selling them at a price with which I feel comfortable. I've reasoned that I can pay myself a certain rate per hour and factor the cost of my work by that rate- and it covers my expenses. I've prided myself on making useful and above all, affordable work. A lovely but expensive mug won't get used, I thought. I want my work to be used and enjoyed every day. So, as the costs of materials and utilities went up (oh, you should see my electric bill when I'm firing a lot), my prices stayed relatively even. Over the years my coffee mugs have gone from $15-18, but nothing drastic. I also know that as a, um, impoverished sort of person, money is tight, and that's almost universal right now. $30 cup, or $30 for lunches for my family for a week. I know the answer to that question.

This year, my wholesale orders have jumped. You probably know how that goes, right? I get $9 for that $18 mug? Um, not so appealing. So the mugs that my wholesale clients sell are higher priced, and if I sell those same mugs, I match their price so as not to undercut them. I've tried to keep my prices at a level that I'd pay, but I've been uneasy about it. I have a beautiful cup that I bought for well over $50. A guest in my home asked about it when we were having tea and wanted to use it. She asked me (because she was a very good, close friend, and we've dispensed with those barriers) about its price and promptly put it back on the shelf. I understand that reaction, and it isn't one I'd like to see with my work. There's a flip side to that- under-pricing work makes it disposable. I get that, too.

BUT. I'm experiencing a shift. This work, like the cup above, is still pretty affordable. But it is significantly more expensive than one of my botanical cups. So I've put off listing the bowls and platters and pitchers, items that are regularly more expensive anyway, because I've been worried about (speaking collectively here) your reaction. Not that it isn't good enough to fetch the price that I ask, and not that I don't deserve to be compensated for my work, but I've just been nervous. This week I'm going to start listing them. They do me absolutely no good sitting in my dining room, staring at me. Actually, less good, because they're likely to get broken where they are now. So these pieces will be special*. They'll cost more. But they take more time, more skill, more firings. I think they're worth more. I feel mostly good about this decision.

Several of these cups are already up on Etsy. The one pictured above is going to its new home tomorrow. The mugs that I used for my invitation will go up in another few weeks- they need another glazing and firing. I won't be around here much over the next two weeks. We're wrapping up summer, working hard, and sneaking in a beach trip before school begins. I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer, too.

*They're also special because I'm setting aside a bit of each sale to finance my own urban bee hive next year. And they're the pieces I'm making for my first invitational show this fall. And they're special because I love them in a way that I don't love my other work. Maybe because Melissa means "honey bee", maybe because I'm drawing them. I'm not sure.

restored

2011-07-18T08:33:00.000-05:00

My home is restored to its normal state, or mostly so, after the weekend sale. We remove the furniture (and some of the books lining the walls, not not all anymore- that got just plain crazy) from the living room/library, bring in shelves, and fill it with pottery. The furniture is back in place, the shelves are stored, and the pottery is waiting to be packed up, delivered to local shops, listed online, etc.
I am pleased with my sale attendance- I didn't expect high turnout in July because it's hot and sticky, but I am really tickled by the number of people who came out. Even more tickled by the new people I met!
Some funny events: the thermostat batteries died. I felt like it was getting hotter and hotter- indeed, the thermostat read 83 degrees. Even warmer because there were 20+ people in my living room. At the same time, 4 children under the age of 10 decided to play boy-on-girl mortal combat in the back yard and, yes, in the house, complete with screaming, crying, stick-throwing. I am ever grateful to my neighbor friends for corralling our collective children and leading them out of the house. All in a day's work!
The surprise hit of the evening was the blueberry lemonade I made for the sale - it was so simple. I made lemonade in a large beverage dispenser and used frozen blueberries (which I'd picked intending to make jam, but running out of steam, stashed in the freezer) instead of ice. It turned a lovely pink color delicately flavored with blueberries. I also made sangria with white wine (a box of Big House White was perfect for this), peaches, lemon verbena, some lemon/ginger infused vodka, and seltzer. Both were Yummy. We're still enjoying the last of the beverages, as well as the tuberose I bought for the taller vases.
I'm taking this week off for some quiet time and rejuvenation. I hope you have a good week!

a preview

2011-07-13T15:04:00.000-05:00

I just pulled this little bitty pot (it's about 1.5" tall, mouth about as big as a quarter) out of the little kiln. I made it to test using the honeycomb foundation pieces on thrown work. I can barely even stand it I love it so much.

I'm in the middle of loading the big kiln with the last glaze load. Mercy, it is HOT outside. I'll wait until sunset to begin firing.

How's your week treating you? I feel like it is Thursday rather than Wednesday. But my heavy work is almost finished, and I'll be glad to spend time organizing, setting up, and pricing tomorrow and Friday.

sale week!

2011-07-11T11:54:00.000-05:00

You've seen this image before. I'm not sure if I got lazy or if I just really like it, but it's the postcard. Those are going out today. I also sent an email version. If you're local and would like a print or email postcard, send me an email and I'll get one out to you.

Last night I fired my last bisque load. Today I'm doing a small touch-up glaze firing, then I'll be glazing all day tomorrow, firing tomorrow night, and unloading it on Thursday. Lots of setting up and spiffing up to do around here to get ready to open the doors for y'all.

I might be back later this week with some sneak peeks. Like this one. Have a nice week! Stay cool- it's scorching hot here in Memphis!

details

2011-07-07T07:48:00.000-05:00

Good morning!
Today is my glazing day. The first of two before next weekend's sale. so of course it is overcast and looking like rain. Inevitably if I set aside a day for glazing it rains. Such is life. I am grateful to have glazing help today, and grateful to have had help yesterday in cranking out the last few platters I wanted to make.
I am tweeting. Sometimes I feel like I have something to say or share, pottery-wise, but not enough for an entire post. We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday I picked up my sale postcards. I'm mailing some, emailing some, facebook-inviting some. I always feel awkward inviting friends- Hey! Come buy my stuff! Love you! Ok! Bye!- But what do you do? So while I'm not glazing I'll be addressing postcards.

This cake plate is off to California. I hope to have another like it for next weekend. I have a base and am waiting for the plate to dry.

Oh! Today I am glazing the first of the honeycomb foundation pieces. Can't wait to see how the glaze pools up in the impressions.

There is much to do. See you back in this space next week.

friday

2011-07-01T15:25:00.003-05:00

Happy weekend!

Today is my wedding anniversary. 11 years. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Today I also had the nicest chat with my mentor. It was good to touch base and talk pots and life. Whatever path you take, it is so so helpful to have a mentor. Someone who has experience in your field, and in life, to help guide you. I feel very lucky that mine was kind and answered my questions about beginning a pottery business and moving it online. I think it takes a special kind of person to be a mentor, and I hope that someday I can be a good one.

I drew on some mugs, like the bee mug in the previous post, this morning, and on some platters that my friend Natalie helped me impress with honeycomb foundation. I got the foundation (plastic pieces with raised honeycomb pattern to help guide the bees in langstroth hives) in making their combs from my friends Rita and Richard Underhill at Peace Bee Farm. Last night they were on ABC news! You can watch the segment here (although the video doesn't seem to be up yet, you can read the transcript. I'm really excited for them. They are good stewards of their bees and I have (and will continue to, as I prepare to begin my own urban bee journey) learned so much from them.

But about the pots! I'm really excited about using the foundation to create texture. I can't wait to see what the pieces look like once they're glazed. I've been throwing and glazing and making pots like crazy for my sale on the 15th and 16th. This next week will be my last week to throw before the sale, and I'll continue glazing and firing through Weds the 13th. Nothing like working until the last minute, hmm?

This week my camera died. I was very sad. Its replacement, a Nikon d80 (a step down from the d90 or other upper numbers, because I don't want or need video- heck, I'd really rather use film, still, most of the time), should arrive today. I'm excited to have my camera back in hand. I knew I relied on it, but I didn't realize how bereft I'd feel without it. And I'm so glad to have lots of work to do to pay for it. I wasn't really planning on this purchase. . .

Monday we're partaking in my own family's 4th of July tradition. My mother and I (and my son, plus anyone else we can wrangle) get up as early as possible, drive to a tiny farm in MS, and pick blueberries. I ran out of blueberry butter back in February and I only have one jar of blueberry-raspberry jam left. I'm not big on using the berries in muffins or pancakes, but I usually dry a gallon to add to our family granola. The berries came early this year- I hope to pick 3 gallons.

Ok. Enough rambling. Happy 4th, everyone. Be safe this long weekend.

moving forward

2011-06-24T08:39:00.000-05:00

Good morning! Yesterday I dropped off a small batch of these cups and had a really interesting talk with Diane of Diane's Art Gift and Home in Midtown Memphis. She is such a creative, generous person- I'm grateful to have her retailing my work- for that matter, I'm grateful to have good working relationships with all of my retailers- they encourage me to look beyond what I'm currently making and into what's possible. Sometimes it's a bit of a stretch, but stretching is good. We're working on some things with a little more whimsy- more birds, more color. We'll see what comes of it! She was excited about these little cups- as am I. I'm just crazy about drawing these bees.

I was browsing around early this morning and came across this blog. I was looking for something having to do with refinishing a built-in-butler's pantry, but this honeycomb platter caught my eye. She uses self-hardening clay for this project, but I am definitely going to adapt her use of a plastic bee-keeper's honeycomb foundation to create some texture and pattern in my bee pieces. I'm thinking that I'm going to set aside a portion of my bee sales to financemy own hive next spring. This website is full of good information on top-bar beekeeping, a low-impact practice that is good for urban areas.

One last bit- I am holding my annual Spring/Summer sale on July 15 and 16. Let me know if you want on my mailing list (please email me your address). I know it will be warm, but I'll have lemonade and cooling snacks for you.

Have a nice weekend!

plates

2011-06-20T09:55:00.000-05:00

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words- here, on Facebook, and elsewhere- regarding my departure from the crazy-making and unattainable land of perfect. I really appreciate them. We jetted out of town for a long weekend of lakeside family reunion for my grandmother's 90th birthday and to help another relative move into her new house- it was cool and rainy and there was no internet access. I napped and knitted and organized rested and unpacked and watched the river roll by my aunt's new house. It was nice.

Shortly before I left I unloaded this stack of plates from the kiln for a client's dinnerware set. I've done teacups, tumblers, salad/dessert plates, and now her dinner plates. She's getting her set one component at a time, and while these aren't *quite* where I'd want them to be, I am, by and large, pleased. It has taken me years to get to the point where I could make plates- both in terms of skill level and in dealing with tendonitis. I've found that I can make 2-3 plates a day if I alternate plates with smaller pieces that don't require as much force to center. I started with around 3 lb of wet clay and threw them around 11.25." After bisque and glaze firing, they shrank to 10-10.5". I made 12 hoping for 8 successful plates. Another client has asked for a botanical set of dinnerware and I am about 1/4 of the way through her set.

Yesterday I found an email from a potential client who wanted tea bowls for matcha. He was kind enough to send me a link showing me exactly the shape and slope he wanted- I had no idea there was so much variation. I did some online research and really enjoyed watching this series, which included the chawan bowls I've been asked to make. There are so many different shapes and styles of tea bowls, from refined porcelain to rough and rustic groggy clay. This should be an interesting project.

If you happen to be in the Memphis area, Original Ink is having their grand opening/open house on Thursday afternoon/evening. We have a conflict or I would be there, but I hope that you can stop by and see their lovely shop.

Have a good week!

restocking: taking stock

2011-06-09T16:04:00.001-05:00

I have finally restocked my etsy shop. There are latte cups, a few honey pots, new mugs, and more solid-colored spoon rests. And more to come- both locally and online.

Saturday's last market day was good- events unfolded so that it was bitter-sweet, more sweet than anything else. My instincts that it was time to go were validated- friends were sad but happy to see me embarking on a new chapter. Now- to begin that new chapter? What shall I do?

I'm listening to myself, to my customers, to new opportunities that come knocking. I'm revising my plans and my expectations of myself. One large revision is throwing away expectations of perfection. I'm embracing wabi-sabi- all of my work shows my hand. There is a flaw in every piece because I am a human, flawed, wonderfully imperfect. And I'm getting to the point where I'm ok with that. I'm not going to kill myself trying to make work that looks like it rolled off a factory line somewhere and should be sitting at (name your favorite large kitchen-ware retailer)__________. Stopping that right here. Happily.

I have shelves full of work to be fired upstairs and am waiting until it is just a *little* cooler before I fire again. We've had 2 weeks of 100+ heat indices and actual temps of 95+. I think most of the country has. I'm in no hurry. It's summer. It's the south. We move slowly for a reason (but we're thinking fast, don't let our pace or drawl fool you!).

Ok. all done. Y'all have a nice weekend.

last day

2011-06-03T09:36:00.000-05:00

I am back. Happy to be home, well rested, feeling cooler than the temps outside. Holding all of the deep lush green forest damp in my heart.

Tomorrow is my last day at the Farmers Market in Memphis. I'm not sure if it's the last ever, but it will be the last this year. If you're in the notion, come and find me and say hello. Leaving the market was a difficult decision, but I can't keep and build inventory and hold on to my wholesale accounts or manage to stock an online store. So I'm dropping my obligations there and seeing what will happen in other areas. I'll have some mugs, some honey pots, a few berry bowls, and a precious few bee pieces.

While we were away in the Smoky Mountains my new clear glazes arrived. I'm excited to try them. And shortly before we left I restocked my wares at Original Ink in Germantown, TN. I am so happy to be with the ladies who run this lovely stationery and gift shop- they have so many nice gifts for babies, small children, and a growing selection of gifts that would be just wonderful for hostess and birthday gifts.

Next week I'm planning to do more glazing and firing and restocking. Have a nice weekend, y'all. Stay cool!

And-

2011-05-27T20:49:00.000-05:00

I'm glaze shopping again. For clear this time; the new batch of white is doing exactly what it is supposed to, but the clear- oh goodness. I tell you that it BITES to spend, say, six hours on a set of cups (start to finish, hands-on time is about 10 hours for these 20 cups, not including firing) and pull them from the kiln and find them rough and streaky and/or cloudy. I tried to reglaze them but the glaze wouldn't stick because it was too thin. Not terribly good for someone trying to fill wholesale orders. On Tuesday I cried about it and told my son I didn't want to be a potter any more. He asked what I'd do with my wheel and kilns. Good question.

And then I see lovely photos of my work in friends' homes, and someone I know sees me out at supper and tells me that she loves the new piece she bought, and my knitting friends are tickled with their newest batch of seconds, and I realize that it's ok. And that I am in serious need of a re-boot. A vacation. So we're taking one. I'll be back here in a few weeks, with some new clear glaze, and hopefully some work to share.

Happy Memorial Day. Enjoy your holiday weekend. Remember those who have given and lost and be thankful.

peeking

2011-05-20T08:24:00.000-05:00

Here's a preview of half of my kiln that is ticking and cooling out back. about 2/3 of this load is intended for local shops. The other 1/3 is for my etsy shop. I love love love these pieces. Yesterday, when my assistant was over, I had her roll out slabs to make some platters to draw on. I checked on them last night and am looking forward to spending an hour with them later this morning.

I keep feeling like I'm working and working and not having much to show for it, but I remind myself that keeping things in inventory is not my goal. Making and moving them out is. I do need a certain amount of inventory to, oh, stock an etsy shop or have a sale at home, but I realized that I'm accustomed to having six huge rubbermaid bins chock full of pottery- 60+ lbs each, but that's not how I'm working anymore. It isn't efficient or, frankly, the best way to generate income for my family.

Tomorrow I'm getting a new batch of the glaze that worked best for me so that I can finish one of my dinnerware orders and start a second. (hint to Melissa- THAT's where your effort has been going!)
This afternoon I'm going to pick strawberries with a friend and our children, and then we're going to make JAM! Canning season has begun (I snuck in a batch of rose petal jelly and syrup on Mother's Day) and I have a plan. Tonight will be rocking at Levitt Shell, our neighborhood free concert venue- I'm thinking about a picnic of Zapps (google it!), banh mi, and rose- or abita, as it's a new orleans band. And on Sunday, I'm working on putting those front-yard raised beds in. In the middle of the yard. Because it's my yard, dang it all, and I'm out of veggie space. Possibilities.

I hope your Friday is full of potential.

I stink

2011-05-14T16:58:00.000-05:00

at blogging this year. But ironically, I'm making like gang-busters. Everything I make, like these platters, I'm making in quantity. Platters, honey pots, latte cups, mugs, berry bowls. I've been making 8 at a time of everything. First, I'm working on filling my wholesale obligations and the dinner sets that people have ordered. Second, I'm working on building inventory so that I can have a sale at home in June, and put things up on etsy. I seem to have been unable to have enough work to put it online. And I've been doing little projects around the house, like painting a new mailbox for the front porch so that the mail doesn't fall through the slot and get permanently lost under the sofa. Not good when that happens with bills, or netflix envelopes. Trying new things in the studio and outside of the studio. Reorganizing the studio with found and new-to-me shelving. Painting lots of things. And summer's almost here. Ten more days of school.

Hope your weekend is swell.

the glaze test

2011-05-05T11:06:00.000-05:00

I've unloaded the kiln and am mostly happy with my test results. This is glaze one, which was totally new to me. Um, No. I'm not sure if you can see that it has an almost eggshell like texture to it- almost miniature dimples. It is bright white and runs all over the place on the pieces that I dipped. I tried it on one of my botanical mugs and you can't see the leaf at all. It was fine for brushing, but again, the piece that I brushed had a 4-leaf clover in the middle and the image was almost completely obscured. The glaze also dripped all the way down to the kiln shelf on several pieces, so I have some shelf maintenance to do now- you can see this on the little bowl, which had a really clear margin of wax on the bottom to keep the glaze off the bottom of the pot. This will probably be a good liner glaze (to go on the inside of mugs, particularly the mugs that I draw on), but this glaze is not for me. I bought 5 lbs of it, which makes a gallon, and it should be fairly easy to use up if I use it exclusively on the inside of pieces.

Here are glazes 2 and 3. Glaze 2 is my old glaze. Glaze 3 is my old glaze, just a fresher batch. Again, I dipped and brushed pieces. I measured 100 ml of each glaze and then weighed them. They each came in at 146 g, 145-150 being the optimal weight according to the manufacturer (less weight means too much water, more weight means too much glaze solids). No shivering off this time with the old glaze, but there were still patchy rough places. In this photo I dipped the platter on the bottom in the new formula and it was almost perfect. Lesson 1- start dipping ALL of my pieces if possible. The second piece, on top, is the new mix of white on top- nice and thick, 3 brushed-on coats. On the bottom, the old mix- again, 3 brushed-on coats. I'm not sure if you can tell in the photo, but the top layer is much thicker than the bottom layer. The really interesting thing about these tests is when I mixed up the glazes, there was a discernible difference between the two buckets of the old and new glaze. The old glaze was bright white and settled out quickly, even though I'd added a stabilizer. The new glaze was creamier, almost beige. It didn't need a stabilizer, even after I'd been using the bucket for an hour or so.

I didn't glaze under ideal conditions- it was raining cats and dogs for most of Tuesday morning, and I was in the even-more humid basement. I always have problems with the glaze sticking on humid days, so I expected some problems. I'm pleased that I didn't ruin too many pieces with Glaze 1, that 75% of the pieces I used Glaze 3 with came out near-perfect, and Glaze 2 did exactly what I expected it to, which was to under-perform.

If you're interested in knowing which glaze I used for Glaze 1, shoot me an email (I don't get most of the email addresses with your comments) and I'll tell you. Glaze 2 is an at least 3 year old 25 lb bag of Opulence Gloss White. Glaze 3 was a brand-new bag of the same. There is one other white glaze I'd like to test, but since I buy all of my clay and most of my other glazes from Opulence (they're based in Nashville, fairly close to me), I think I'll stick with them. Now to work on those dinner and wholesale orders!

I'll be at MFM for Mothers' Day shopping on Saturday. Maybe in the new section of the pavilion. Come say hello!

good morning!

2011-05-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

It is, finally, a beautiful sunny day. We've had torrential rains for the last few days (Sat pm through Monday night), which, coupled with the MS river's almost record-breaking depth (we're almost at 45 ft, expected to be at 47 next week. Official flood stage is 34 ft), has almost everyone on alert. Last year on May 1 we had flash flooding that caused creeks to rise, threw municipal pumping stations off line, and caused all sorts of havoc. We didn't know it was coming. Now we know it's coming and people are evacuating, planning, sand-bagging, worrying. I'm grateful for the warning and lead-time.

Weather aside, yesterday I tested my three white glazes. My old white glaze that had been giving me problems, a new batch (same glaze, but made recently- my I bought my old batch several years ago), and an entirely new brand. I mixed them up on Monday, let them rest for 24 hours, then screened and glazed a load to see what they would do. Mugs, small platters and little bowls- I tested dipping (my preferred method of glazing) and brushing (what I have to do for larger pieces) to see how they'd turn out. The kiln finished firing around 4am, and I'll need to wait until Thursday morning to unload it. My fingers are crossed. There was a discernible difference between the new and old versions of my "regular" white glaze- both in how the glaze felt when mixed and dried on the pieces, and in its color. I loaded the kiln so that each glaze got its own shelf - we'll see. I'm hopeful that the new/old white will work well and that maybe the new-new white will, too. Because I've got a TON of pottery that needs to be glazed white, and I'm ready to put that dinnerware set to bed!

Thanks for your good thoughts and emails about how my family fared with the bad weather here in the Deep South. I really appreciate it.
Happy Wednesday-

eek

2011-04-29T15:27:00.001-05:00

what a crazy week it's been. Easter was lovely, then the weather came. All of our friends and family are safe and well, but the toll on the mid-South has been really steep. I complained about three straight days and nights of tornado sirens wailing, but the reality is that I'm glad we have them and I'm very grateful that Memphis escaped most of the damaging winds.

Pottery-wise, I'm having a bit of a crisis. My old reliable white glaze has begun acting up on me- either not covering properly or shivering off - which means that the glaze cracks and bits of razor sharp glaze flake off. I grabbed one of my new latte cups from its bin on Wednesday and cut myself. Not badly, but that's not supposed to happen. I suspect that my clay has been reformulated, but my clay and glaze supplier has sent me a new batch of white to test and I've purchased a few other glazes to test the next time I fire. I'm waiting to glaze a fire a ton of work until these problems have been worked out- which must happen, oh, next week.

My colored glazes all seem to be working properly, so I will be using them, instead. I put up a bunch of these speckled spoon rests at Etsy and will list the solid colors over the weekend. I had hopes for honeypots, but many of them are supposed to be white, and, well, ahem. Soon, I hope.

I think that these are growing pains. It's interesting to me that these problems are cropping up now, eight years after I began using this clay and this glaze, and I'm working more carefully and mindfully now than ever before. There's something to learn, I'm just not sure what it is. So in the meantime, I'm doing a lot of thinking and throwing and yoga (I've discovered that I can do a mean headstand. The handstand triggers my old friend tendonitis, so I'll stay away from that, thanks much, but I'm a bit tickled by the headstand action) and reading and refining my pottery-making process. Maybe that's what I'm supposed to be doing- refining rather than producing.

Well. I've said all I have in me. I hope your weekend is nice and relaxing. Thanks for being here with me, friends.

new work

2011-04-22T10:33:00.000-05:00

For the past 6 weeks I've been working like one crazed- typically 8-10 hours a day, 5-6 days a week. I feel both satisfied and dissatisfied with this- I have very little product on hand to show for the time I've put in, but my last two (previous to the load I just unloaded) kilnloads were sold before they were even fired. I've made a few dozen large platters, mugs and honeypots of all sorts, these latte cups, egg cups, and spoon rests, all pre-sold. It's craziness. Right now I have these cups, spoon rests, and not much else to take to my first of three appearances at the Memphis Farmers Market. Plenty of herb markers on hand thanks to my once-a-week studio helper, Natalie, but pickings are slim. I'm grateful for the pre-sales and feeling slightly crazy at the same time.

These latte cups make me really happy. I kept one (a bonjour) for myself, and I have several more upstairs drying. It's also berry bowl season, and my friend Jeanette Zeis shared some new-to-me techniques that seem to have stopped the insidious cracking problems I've been suffering through for the last three years. I'm actually excited about making berry bowls again!

Ok. Must run. There are pots to price and pack, pots to trim, and a brother to pick up from the airport in the next five hours.
Happy Easter weekend, Happy Passover friends.

hope (one hundred two)

2011-04-13T21:17:00.002-05:00

hope (one hundred two)
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

I feel like one of those kindergarten mice on an exercise wheel- going and going and going and getting nowhere. Not that I'm nowhere, but I have been working like crazy and not feeling like I've got an appropriate (ha!) pile of work to show for it. So. I'm here, I'm hard at work. I'll be at MFM on the 23rd. Etsy restocking isn't happening this week. I painted a bunch of "bonjour" and "good morning" latte cups today. I work on getting pots ready for glazing for about 4 hours this morning and afternoon. This is the first day in, oh, six, that I haven't done a 8-10 hour day. Monday and Tuesday nights I worked until 10 pm. YUCKY. This is not, folks, why most people decide to work for themselves. I will tell you, though, that this is also why most pottery is as expensive as it is. It's because each cup takes about 2 hours of hands-on time, lump of clay to finished product, not counting the 16+ hours of firing and 40+ hours of cooling time.

To top it off, I cannot get my pictures up to blogger and I have to use flickr to do it. The day's been caca, I tell you. I am managing to keep up with my photo-a-day, but just barely. But we're here, breathing, well(ish), together. That's all that matters in the end.

So. A poem. Not mine.

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me

Thank you, Miss Emily.

well.

2011-04-04T13:55:00.000-05:00

that absence was unexpected. life is crazy sometimes. mine certainly is. the bad things are bad; we learn from them, hopefully, and send them on their way. We got hit by big-time bad on monday the 21st, right after I wrote here last. Another layoff, unexpected, and a big problem with our insurance. All is well in the end. We're coping, we have short-term insurance (hi, powers that be, I'd really really like single-payer insurance. I'd be happy to pay for it, to sacrifice some other things to get it. just so you know, in case you're listening.). The end that is well isn't here yet, but it will be.

I promised I'd show some of the new work that is at my newest retail account, Original Ink a stationery and gift shop in Germantown, TN. They're carrying my botanical pieces and some of the French redware, but I wanted to show you two ideas that they asked me to create:

The first is a series of baby cups, a spin-off of my french-labeled pieces. I love the "bebe" in lower case font. I'm not typically a pink fan, but I think it worked well here:

The second, a series of plates and platters, comes from my little nest-topped honey pots. I would have never thought to take the little nest and put it on a platter, but it's sweet.

Both of these lines are exclusive to Original Ink. I'll still sell my nest-topped honeypots and redware locally and at my etsy shop, but these particular versions are only available in Germantown. They are keeping me busy, as are my other retail accounts in Memphis. I'm planning my home sale for mid-May, and updating etsy NEXT WEEK! I promise.

Later this week (barring uncertainties) I'll have a few more things to show you. Until then, be well, be happy, be grateful for the good in your life. That's helped me wade through the muck. Thanks for reading, friends.

changes and challenges

2011-03-21T15:52:00.000-05:00

Last week was spring break. It was a good week- probably our last week to use the woodstove, and the first week with open windows. I had a really good meeting about a new project I'll be working on. I had a good birthday (hello, 36!). We took a camping trip with a friend and her family that was just divine. And, thanks to my dear friend Natalie, I got a lot more work done before the trip than I thought I might. She helped me crank out a ton of platters for a new retail account- they are in the kiln now (my stars, it is STUFFED) and this week we'll be glazing them.

That retail account is one of the new changes/challenges I'm facing. I have four wholesale and consignment accounts right now, which is pretty amazing to me. It's a lot for one person and a 2-4 hour a week helper to tackle. I haven't been terribly good about keeping my accounts as stocked as I should. And I'm realizing that I've let some things that are good slide and some things that aren't as good take up more space in my brain and my life than they should reasonably be allowed. I'm shaking that up. Over the past year I've really neglected my etsy shop. Sure, there have been egg cups galore, but I haven't put up as much new work as I would like. I've been operating on a zero-inventory basis. I make it, I sell it. Make it, sell it. This morning my accountant was finishing up our 2010 taxes and asked about inventory. She seemed a little surprised when I told her that I never really had any. I think that should change.

So- the changes. After early June, I'm taking the summer "off". I'll still work on filling orders for my accounts and keeping the etsy shop stocked, but I'm not going to be as publicly available as I have been in years past- at least, not to anyone but my family and friends. It has been five years since I've had a "proper" summer. Our school year ends right before Memorial Day and begins the second week of August. I'll be at the Memphis Farmers Market early- once in April, May, and June, and I'll have my annual home sale in mid May. After that, I'll have work available in stores (more on that soon) around Memphis, at Etsy, and I'll have an early holiday sale. Life isn't all about work, is it (I have a hard time with not working all the time)? I'm looking forward to having more time with my boy in the garden, at the pool, storing up the seasons' bounty, reading, relaxing.

I'll be back later this week with some photos of new work and where it will be available-
Y'all have a good week!

what do we do?

2011-03-14T11:58:00.000-05:00

there's a motto I try to live by - the motto of the Daughters of the King, an Episcopal women's lay group : "I cannot do everything, but I can do somethings. What I can do, I shall do. Lord, what would you have me to do?" I can't do much, but I can do a little. Last year Haiti's devastation lodged itself in my heart. The poverty, the destruction, the despair. Last Friday, Japan moved into my heart as well. This week I'm donating 50% of all sales in my Etsy shop to Doctors without Borders for their relief efforts in Japan. I've reloaded the shop with made-to-order egg cups, including these red cups. I hope I'll be able to make a small donation, and I will match the first $50 (because my budget doesn't go much beyond that) that comes in.Thanks, friends.

new beginnings

2011-03-08T09:55:00.000-06:00

Happy Fat Tuesday, everyone! I've been up early after a long day yesterday. Thinking a lot about the past, right now, and carrying on tomorrow. I took this picture this morning for friends who are still locked up in cold and snow- trying to give them a glimpse of spring that is surely coming (and in return, I'm asking for deep summer pictures of shade and cool streams when I'm sweltering in the sauna that is Memphis in late summer).

I've kept politics out of this space, but I am a very political person. I've jumped around a bit where I stand on many different issues, but I believe that we can affect the changes we want to see. I have been very involved recently in a local issue. This morning, thinking about the past and future, my family and I encouraged other parents and voters in Memphis to vote in today's referendum to combine the city and county school districts. There has been so much division in my community for too long- divisions over race, income levels, education, geography. I try to never speak ill of Memphis- I love it, but it is like a dysfunctional family. After I heard the NPR piece yesterday morning, I felt physically ill. This situation is a mess, but ignoring it and maintaining separate school systems won't fix our problems. If you're reading this and you live in Memphis, please go out and vote YES today. The schools need serious reforms, but voting to maintain the status quo will only serve to further marginalize children who are already at risk.

So, appropriate that voting day is on Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins. For many people, Lent is about giving something up. Deprivation is pretty easy for me- grace and beginning again are harder. This year, as in years past, I'm taking on the habit of gratitude. And after spending 10 hours yesterday glazing pottery and pushing myself too hard, I'm also going to work on being kinder and more gentle with myself. A bit more Grace for Me. And by extension, grace and gentleness for those around me. Lent is a time for preparation; Spring is coming, it's time to begin anew. Tomorrow, no matter how the election is decided, Memphis will begin preparing its children and its schools for the future. I hope we'll be unified. I resolve to be grateful that we were given an opportunity to decide and grateful that the will of the people will prevail.

More pottery talk later this week.
I'll keep the rest of my political opinions to myself.
Celebrate Mardi Gras, y'all!

friday!

2011-03-04T08:47:00.000-06:00

Good morning! It is a gray and rainy Friday in Memphis. I can hardly believe that it's Friday already. The week's flown by. I've gotten some good work done, had a good initial meeting with a new retailer and am developing some work especially for their shop. It's exciting to have a new direction to work in- taking someone else's idea and making it mine.
I've made two big batches of limoncello for 2011's holiday gifts- plain and gingered this year- last year's batch was rosemary-flavored and spiced-blood-orange. I have just a bit more than one pint of each left; I'm guarding them with my life!

This weekend is supposed to be rainy the entire weekend. With no definitive plans on the books, I'm going to try to get all of my glazing in - I have almost a dozen honey pots to glaze- at least 6 will go into the shop next week. I'm overdue with a restock in the shop.

Finally, I'd like to share an email I received from a customer this morning. It made my day:

Thank you so much for the egg cups. I saw your work in . . . and
decided to purchase as I have fond memories of my Grandfather eating
soft boiled eggs from an egg cup. Every time I make the eggs for my
little grandchildren, I think of him and wish I had his egg cups. . . .I have been

diagnosed with cancer and am currently undergoing chemo, so comfort and

nostalgia mean so very much. . . . I shared two of the cups with
my dear sister, and she had the same wonderful feelings.

This, friends, is why I keep working. My dearest desire is that my work will impart some extra meaning and joy into normal everyday life. That you'll use a mug, plate, eggcup, bowl on a daily basis, enjoy it, wash it, eat in it. This email counteracts every single small criticism that I get from other customers (though there are not many) or from my own hyper-critical inner voice.

Ok. Have a good weekend. See you next week!

march

2011-03-01T16:12:00.000-06:00

Hello, March! So happy to see you! Sunshine, warmer temps- spring has come to Memphis. We'll probably have one more freeze, but I've drug my bay tree out into the yard and will drag it back into the house if it gets too cold. The daffs are popping up, and the gorgeous Japanese magnolias and cherry trees are coloring up front yards like giant pink lollipops.

March is almost always a busy month for me- it is officially time to get busy building inventory, and a friend who managed the market sales for a local orchard with strawberry fields reminded me that strawberries will start coming in at the end of April. Which means one thing: berry bowls. I'm making fewer of these this year because I'm getting tired of them, but I don't think I'll stop completely. I've been making honeypots by the dozen, both to build inventory and to put up in my neglected shop. Starting Thursday I'll be making one. thousand. herb markers for a local event put on by the master gardeners- and hopefully that will be enough to last me through the summer. One. Thousand. That will be about 100 of each herb that I do. I'm getting help for this one- from the making to the glazing to the cutting copper stakes, my friend Natalie is my right hand gal. Our farmers market starts back up in mid-April; it is serious inventory time!

Today was a lovely day- a cool morning- frosty, even, cold enough that someone was kind enough to build a fire while his family was still sleeping- and now warm enough that laundry is out drying on the line. I saw a honeybee while I was hanging the laundry (I bough the new Ashley English Keeping Bees as an early birthday gift to myself, btw. Look for bee posts in another 2-3 years), and I am making a double batch of Olive Oil Granola (Don't let the name put you off. It is the best granola I've ever made. I cut the maple syrup down to 1/2 c and left out the brown sugar entirely) as I type.

I hope you're beginning to see signs of spring where you are, too.
Have a nice week!

Works in progress

2011-02-25T08:55:00.000-06:00

Unloading the kiln is always a surprise.* Yesterday I unloaded two large (as in, many pieces) commissions- I was so pleased that they came out how I'd hoped- as well as some pieces I was experimenting with. Sometimes you have a concrete image in your mind of how something will look when finished. Then, once the work is completed, it falls short. Sometimes a smidge, sometimes greatly short of the mark. I think we all experience this in cooking, in artwork, writing- almost any endeavor in which we have some creative input. Here's my example- two cups:

The cup on the left is the first cup I made. I wanted something simple and less expensive than the other cups I've made in this technique . I had a small handmade cup that had nice clean, straight lines, so I used that form and added the bee. I didn't feel like it hit the mark. The text was wrong, my surface design was way off (I took some shortcuts and just plain old did it wrong), but the cup felt good. I like drinking from it, but it isn't visually pleasing to me.
The cup on the left is closer to what I had in mind. It is slightly wider and shorter, and I cleaned up my surface decorating process. There are three of these, with three different drawings, and with two of them I feel like I'm 95% there. I'm not shooting for perfection (perfect = not made by hand= no room for personality= graceless), just another tweak or two. I'm happy with this one and will make more soon.

I really had the best day yesterday. In addition to the good kiln-unloading, I had studio help (a friend is coming over once a week for a few hours to help me in the studio- it's a godsend!), yoga class, shipped several big orders, and best of all, received so much really affirming feedback from a little profile that ran in our paper. It is always nice to hear from friends, family, and acquaintances who let you know that you're on the right path. I'm so grateful for the life I live and the blessings I receive from everyone in my life.

Have a beautiful weekend, everyone-

*last week I opened the kiln to find that either my glaze was contaminated or some sort of ash/mineral/who-even-knows had settled on the top of two large white platters strewn with ginkgos. They were so nice, except that they were randomly speckled with black. I was so upset and have since shop-vac-ed the kiln thouroughly and strained my white glaze. The problem must have been solved as these pieces aren't speckled with the same black. But oh, it was disappointing.

a debate: gettin' grabby?

2011-02-22T09:46:00.002-06:00

I took my camera outside with me this morning for a fast photo of my girls. Merigold wouldn't cooperate for the photo (No surprise. She is not a cooperative chicken). Pearl (L) and Edna (R) are happy to cozy up for a little more feed. They make me feel a just a little Laura-Ingalls-Wilder-in-the-City-ish. Especially now that I have a woodstove to heat the back of the house with, and our rain barrels capture almost as much water as we need for the garden. I'm watching seeds come up under cold frames and poking around for the first purple asparagus.

So have you heard about the new Urban Homestead ™ debate*? I'd like to think that I was on my way to having one, slowly (ahem. very slowly) moving there with a more productive garden and chickens, making my own pots- to sell and to trade for other goods and services. For instance, a neighbor is painting my studio in exchange for pottery and some eggs. I've also traded pottery for electrical work, and dried figs for specialty jams from other parts of the country. My 3-5 year plan includes both solar cells on the studio to offset my kiln usage, and bees. This way of living and working seems- well, cooperative (unlike Merigold). Helping one another to live better lives without having to necessarily exchange cash. Being less dependent on cash and "work" and more dependent on skills and each other.

But this? It just seems grabby to me. The term is far older than I am. I am all for protecting one's intellectual property- there has been more than one occasion that I've found the words I struggled to craft attributed to someone else- and in print, no less. But to try to exclude an entire body of people- authors, free-lance writers, bloggers, libraries, teachers, activists, and just plain old folks- around the world who are trying to make a better life for them selves and their communities by trademarking the best all-purpose term that you (the trademarker) didn't even coin? Well, that's just selfish. And boastful, in the most misplaced egocentric way possible. It would be as if I were to trademark the term coffee cup. Or berry bowl. Really? Why? Because in the end, it doesn't protect my sales of coffee cups or berry bowls. It would only serve to make me look sad and misguided and desperate- or else the recipient of some very, very bad advice.

I think we're all going to keep gardening, bringing chickens into the city, and doing our best, no matter what we are (or aren't) calling it. Oh, and if anyone has goats in Memphis, I'd love to trade some pottery (or eggs or figs) for it!
Have a good week, y'all.

*there is an awesome how-to book by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen of this same now-copyrighted name. They are facing a lawsuit because of this issue. Two ways to support them and this little take-it-back movement. 1) go buy the book. You won't regret it. Even if you just plant strawberries and basil in your front yard, it's something. 2) make a small donation to EFF, the advocacy group representing Knutzen and Coyne. There's even a paypal link! Go plant something!

accomplishment

2011-02-16T13:13:00.000-06:00

Hi! I just unloaded my first "big" dinner set from the kiln this morning. Actually, this is the first half of the set. 8 luncheon-sized plates, 8- 8oz tumblers, 8- 6 oz cups. They are super bright, simple, mixable-matchable. There are a few little spots that will need a re-glaze, and then I'll deliver them either this weekend or the first of next week. It feels really special to have done this- I put off making dinnerware for the longest time. I really sweated the plates, but I'm happy with them! I made a few extra of each piece just in case, and I'm glad that I did, because one plate cracked and one little cup adhered itself to the kiln shelf because I applied the glaze too thick and it ran. The second half of this set will include egg cups and some bowls, and probably something else, but I'm not sure what. I hope my client is as pleased with it as I am.

Gary's described some of my work as handmade fiesta-ware - I can definitely see that in these pieces. It's funny to me how the these forms, rendered in bright colors, are a world apart from the same pieces glazed white with a simple green leaf or two. I have several examples of both the botanical pieces and these vividly colored pieces sitting next to each other on the kitchen table - one set is definitely more quiet and formal while the other is vivacious and happy (if dishes can be vivacious. . . ).

Over the next few days I have to wrap up my 2010 taxes to take to our accountant, glaze a small load of pottery, attend a few meetings about our community's schools, and visit with some relatives who've come in from out of town for the weekend. We're having lovely sunny spring-like weather (today's high is 70!) and it energizes me.

I think I won't be back in this space before next Monday- I hope your week wraps up well.
Enjoy some sunshine!

good morning!

2011-02-14T09:14:00.000-06:00

I am 99% sure that I've shared this with you before- it is a cup that I made for one of my favorite customers who is also a volunteer at the Memphis Farmers Market- he takes the early shift and usually helps me set up my tent- those last few pulling it out steps that one person can't do alone. And he is always so happy and sunny- as is his wife, who plays the harp (!) at the market (!). I wanted to give them something happy and sunny.

Text appeals to me- maybe because I love reading so much, and I love calligraphy (but don't really practice it myself) and vintage fonts. Red on white reminds me of old redwork embroidery and vintage enamel kitchen-ware. This morning I saw this bit of happy text on my flickr contacts stream. It made me really happy, and made me wonder how I could take this idea and make it my own.

I think we'll be seeing more "good morning" pieces in the future- and maybe some happy welcoming wall tiles. We'll see how this percolates.

Have a beautiful week, friends, and happy Valentine's day! Tell someone how much they mean to you- it will make their day. You being here, reading, commenting, means so much to me. Thanks for being a support system!

color

2011-02-08T16:46:00.000-06:00

Color is funny, isn't it? How we feel about color is deeply personal and sometimes unexplainable. I love love deep cobalt blue, I adore jolts of red. But purple? I have an almost visceral reaction to purple. Never mind that my favorite flower, lavender, is very decidedly purple. I like green quite a lot, but I haven't been using very much green in my pottery lately. And my beloved cobalt? Well, it doesn't sell terribly well for me, and as I look at the body of my work, it doesn't really "fit" with it anymore. I haven't been using it for much in the past year or so. Cobalt will still show up on the occasional honeypot or egg cup. It will still be available for special requests, but I may be finished with it in terms of large bowls and mugs and things. Or I may not. I haven't completely decided yet.

But back to the green. Late this fall a friend gave me several buckets of glaze- the same brand that I currently use, some colors that I've used, some that I haven't. I passed on the more earthy colors- browns and bronzes that I knew I wouldn't use- and kept a few that I would. There was an entire gallon of celadon, which I took as a sign that I should begin using that again. These egg cups are the first pieces I've glazed in this deep celadon green in almost a year. I forgot how much I like how it pools in the ridges at the base. I also did a set of teacups and saucers for a friend who sent me a huge box of lemons from her tree.

This color can be tricky and often requires two glaze and firing sessions (that equals three trips to the kiln). It also varies in its intensity- sometimes it comes out deep jade and sometimes it is very pale green. I think that after years of trying to make everything the same in every firing, I'm starting to embrace the wabi-sabi in my work. It won't be perfect. It won't be the same every time. And that's just fine by me.

We're supposed to have a snowstorm tomorrow. I'm going to hole up in my basement and finish glazing that set of dishes I showed you last week. More on that next time.
Have a good week, everyone!

this week

2011-02-04T08:22:00.000-06:00

I feel like a lost a bit of my motivation this week. I know that the root of this is that I worked so so hard last year, and since Gary was hired on his contracting job as a full time employee with benefits, I felt like I could finally take a little break. So so much relief at my house- I just can't even tell you how relieved we feel. But a little break became no-motivation to work week. I threw a little, trimmed a little, fired a small kiln-load in which two big bowls blew up because they were, alas, still not dry. Alas, alas. Glazing is always hard for me to start, but there's no point in making pots you aren't planning to glaze. So I've glazed, babysat the men who are installing our wood stove, and strangest of all, I waxed the floors in the dining room, living room, kitchen, and bath. I'm not sure what wild hair got into me. They look good, but ahem, I'm still glazing.

Thank you, thank you for the teacup love. More are coming.

This pile of bisqued pottery is the first half of a dinner set that a local customer ordered. It's a set of 8, so I made 10 of everything to give a margin for error. The plates were the biggest stress point for these, but I threw 2 at a time over a few weeks and they turned out well, I think. They're smaller than commercial dinner-size plates, maybe 9" in diameter. Luncheon or breakfast sized. I still don't plan to make plates as a rule, but it was really nice to get these done.

Today I have an acupuncture appointment, more babysitting workmen, more glazing, hoping for no snow, and hoping to go to an art opening tonight. Tomorrow I'm going on a silent day retreat. I'm excited about that. Excited about quiet? You bet.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

this week:

2011-01-31T08:23:00.000-06:00

First, thank you for your comments and suggestions regarding my chronic tendonitis. I threw three days last week and didn't have any real problems- I even threw "big". Soft, wet clay is easy for big forms, but harder to throw tiny forms- egg cups, bud vases, etc. I'm looking for the happy medium. I have acupuncture again on Friday, and I've found that the liniment my practitioner made for me really works well. I can't tell you how very very happy I am that clay texture, different centering (that's hardest, really), and the acupuncture/liniment/massage (massage to get the liniment into the muscles) really seems to be working to solve my problems.

This week I'm working on finishing up a dinnerware order for one of my regular MFM customers, finishing up a wholesale order, working on a project for a school, and preparing the den for our new woodstove. I am finally going to finish painting the woodwork in the den, mostly because if I don't do it before the stove is installed, it won't ever get done. So I'm taking an hour a day to finish sanding, priming, and painting the baseboards and windows. We've been in our house for 5.5 years- I'm ready to finish those small nagging projects that bother me every time I look at them.

Pottery-wise, I think I'm returning to teacups. Every few years I make a half dozen then stop making them altogether. I made a few of these speckled ones last year and had a request from a potential customer that made me pull them out. Three of them have been stacked up on my kitchen table this weekend, and I've given them a lot of thought. I prefer drinking out of tumblers- I want to feel the warmth of the tea or coffee with both of my hands, but the form of teacups has always been visually appealing to me. I guess it's fitting that they keep returning as Josiah Wedgwood is one of my pottery heroes. I made a set for a friend a few weeks ago- they're ready to be glazed.

OK. Time to go get to work. I hope your week is productive and warm. Especially for my friends in the midwest and northeast- stay safe in the snow!

experimenting

2011-01-24T14:00:00.000-06:00

Since the holidays, I've been experimenting with different ways to make pots. Before the holidays, I worked too hard and steadily cranking out egg cups. I overused my arms and the tendonitis flared back up. I've had it in both arms for several years, but since December, I've been attacking the problem in some new ways.
One: acupuncture. Works wonders. Fabulous. Until I start really throwing again.
Two: wrist braces. They're fine for centering (and sleeping), not fine for throwing.
Three: Chinese Herbal Tincture (related to acupuncture). I spray it on and rub it in several times a day, and it seems to help.
Four: limiting my throwing time. Like to an hour or two, tops, a day. This part I hate.
Five: throwing with really wet clay. I know a baker who used to be a potter until his wrists gave out. He suggested a) stop making pots (imagine my very sad face here). b) learn how to center differently. c) use really wet clay to throw with.
Six: homeopathic/herbal anti-inflammatories and glucosamine. They also seem to help. My favorite is a combo of several herbs with ginger and tumeric (called something like inflam-action). I need more of these soon.
Seven: stop doing other things that hurt the arms- laptop, knitting, carrying heavy things, pilates, etc etc.

The suggestion to stop is one I first considered when the pain got bad. Stopping to rest, yes. Stopping and find a new profession? I'm not ready yet. I go to acupuncture every other week and am diligent about taking my meds- herbal and otherwise- that help. Today I threw for a little over an hour and a quarter and so far I'm ok. I tried throwing with super-wet clay. Some forms worked well. Some forms were disasterous. I am centering differently and have a carpel tunnel brace that I wear on my left arm (my "centering arm"). I think that I'll be making less work this year until I figure out how to work without injuring myself. This is one reason I haven't been blogging much here- I didn't want to whine about pain, I didn't have new work to show, and I haven't been doing anything else terribly interesting. But oh- the house is clean. That I can do.

I'm grateful that I have options, grateful that some of the less-invasive treatments work, grateful that I can still work in the studio at all. Not a terrible way to begin the week.
Have a good one, y'all.

liturgical

2011-01-19T07:38:00.000-06:00

Shortly before the holidays two different church organizations asked me to develop some liturgical items for them. I finally sat down to make some drawings and stamps a week or so ago, after letting the ideas percolate in my brain for over a month. This photo is of the green (unfired) stamps, drying on my radiator. They've been fired, and I was happy with what I'd come up with.

Until, that is, I actually used them. Yesterday I threw some Jefferson-type cups to impress with the round cross designs. One of them worked. Same with the anchor designs. I'll fire and glaze all eight prototype pieces that I made, but it never ceases to amaze me how difficult it can be to get the image in my brain to come to life. And how making something that falls so short can give me such a sinking feeling. I ask too much of myself, perhaps? I'm grateful that my work isn't always in R&D stages! Regardless, I'm happy that at least two of these seven designs worked the way I wanted them to.

Today I'm trimming pots that I made yesterday and the day before- including these liturgical Jefferson cups. First, I'm going to run with my dog.

Have a wonderful day.

whelmed.

2011-01-17T18:01:00.000-06:00

So, this is a year, alright. Since the first week of January I feel like I've been on a roller coaster. Sometimes good, sometimes bad.

The exposure from Southern Living has been incredible. But I've learned a thing or two from it: about how to make/list/describe pottery, that I won't make everyone happy with my work, and how I should deal with that in the future. It boils down to the fact that I'm responsible for me and what I put out, but nothing else. And most importantly, that I can't let my feelings get hurt because I (or my imperfect ware) didn't meet someone else's expectations 100%. That is a difficult thing for me to get past, but if I'm going to keep doing this, I just have to. I want to make people happy, but it isn't up to me to ensure that they are overjoyed.

We had snow! Last monday. About 6 inches. It was fun and incredible and there is still a 6 foot tall snowball on the green at Rhodes College, even though it made it up to the mid 40s again on Friday.

On Friday I had acupuncture, which really really helps my arms. Despite the rest, despite learning how to re-center and throw differently, I still have tendonitis. Acupuncture helps SO SO SO much. Before Christmas I wondered if I would be able to continue pottery as my profession. I was in both physical and emotional pain because of it. I'm happy to say that while my arms may never be 100% and I probably shouldn't, say, swing an axe ever again, with proper care and treatment, I'll be able to keep working.

One nice side benefit of acupuncture is that is can be very relaxing. It is almost as if the "irritation" section of my brain gets turned off and I feel incredibly peaceful. I was very grateful for this because a dear friend's home burned on Friday. They lost 90% of their possessions due to fire, smoke, or water damage. The community I live in- both in Memphis and online- responded with incredible generosity and grace. By Saturday evening all of my friend's basic needs were met. I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of love I've witnessed. I'm also overwhelmed with things- donations have been pouring in and I'm working on getting her "good mom" stash of hand-me-downs for her 4 kids boxed up in appropriate seasons and sizes. I've been very fortunate to have friends hand down clothes for my son- they are all up in the attic in bins waiting for him to be a size 8, 9, etc. If that security (because somehow, it is security) was suddenly gone, I'd miss it.

I feel like my life is very full right now- and very busy. I am grateful to you for your friendship and support. I had some big plans for making things this month, but they'll wait. Thanks for being here, and thanks for reading.

2011-01-02T15:18:00.001-06:00

to make changes. to read more. to fulfill our goals. to think creatively. to ask deeper questions. to love each other. to make grand plans. to do something fun. to stretch our boundaries. to re-envision success. to find compassion. to be the essence of who we are.

Oh, and I'm doing the 365 project again (you can see 2010's photos here. I can't wait to get back up into the studio tomorrow morning when school starts up again.

Have a nice week!

happy new year!

2010-12-31T12:00:00.002-06:00

2010 has been a big year for me. Sales have been slower than in years past because of the economy, which means that purchases are intentional. People who are buying my pottery are really thinking about their purchases, weighing them, choosing to go without other things in order to buy my work. I appreciate each and every one of your purchases this year. I know that everyone has a choice in how they spend their money. I'm so grateful for my customers.

I also feel like my work has progressed in leaps and bounds this past year. I feel like I'm more consistent in some areas and able to take more risks in others.*

I'm delighted with the pieces I made based on Diana Fayt's techniques. And I love my new pitchers inspired by silver hollowware. I did a little more handbuilding this year, and because my arms are bothering me, I anticipate doing even more in 2011. If my throwing days are limited due to tendon pain in my arms, I'm not throwing things that I don't like or I've grown tired of.

The egg cups! Oh my- the Southern Living response has been tremendous. I'm just tickled by that.

It's been quite a year. I have some plans for 2011, some new ideas to try, some new marketing ideas, too.

Happy New Year friends! Be well, safe, and happy.

*I just finished my 365 photo project/play-a-long here. Not sure if I'll do one in 2011, but I'm glad I did in 2010.

it's out!

2010-12-28T11:08:00.000-06:00

I've been holding a bit of news close to my chest for a while, not completely certain that it was going to happen, but it did! look!

I'm just as tickled as I can be! I'm in Southern Living!!! The cups are, of course, over in the shop. I'm ready to make more this week as I can fit in the time.

When I got an email from the editor for the "Made by Southern Hands" column at the end of October I screamed my fool head off. Many of my friends have known about this for a while, but I didn't want to spill the beans too early. We got a call from a relative on Christmas Eve telling us that her copy had come in the mail- I picked up my copy at the grocery this morning.

I hope you had a lovely holiday- we did- and this just caps it off!

holiday home, the overview

2010-12-17T14:06:00.000-06:00

The first room you come to in our home is our living room. We don't have an entry hall per se, but we've arranged things so that the space is somewhat divided between the sitting and entry areas. The sofa usually faces the (non-working) fireplace. My decorating style is somewhat "empire-in-decline" meets thrift store- all of the furniture is old- either bought at antique auctions, passed down, or purchased at thrift/shabby antique stores and loved up. There are a lot of books, asian pieces passed down from my inlaws or picked up at estate sales, some art by people we knew when we worked at a gallery, and the furniture, by and large, is comfortable but slightly formal. We really live in this space, so I kept the decorations limited to the tree and the mantle.

You can see that the living room adjoins the dining room- the colors and style are similar, and the decorations are pared down to the advent wreath on the table, our advent calendar on a sideboard, and two of the sparkly wreaths you saw earlier on the china cabinet and window. I don't typically keep a table cloth on the dining room table- I prefer bare polished wood. This table (a 1940s mahogany duncan phyfe model) is one that we bought the first year we were married at an antiques auction for $100. The four chairs were an additional $100. Both are much worse for the wear- we came home one night when our house was babysitting central to find a tonka dump truck and 18" of its tracks running down the middle of the table. I think in the coming year I'll paint the table and chairs rather than cringe every time I see a new scratch. The dining room is the exact center of our home- I'm embracing the battering we give in and the life it hosts. My favorite decoration in this room is the ceramic creche that my great grandmother made. I found it in 2001 when we were clearing out my great grandparents' home. This was packed away in an old wooden box in the "junk room" where she used to paint poured ceramics. The pieces had already been glazed- everything was there but the Christ Child. I used it as-is for years until I found an identical piece at a community center where I taught children's pottery. I inquired if the ceramics lady had the baby and offered to buy it if she did. She gave it to me and I glazed it. I didn't get the color quite right, but I was happy to have the completed set. My boy set it up this year- I can really see the influence of his years in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

And so, Christmas is a week away. The tree is up. We'll hang our stockings next week and begin to wrap gifts to go under the tree. There are cookies to bake, some last-minute gifts to make, and yes, still cards to send out. If you celebrate, I hope your Christmas is filled with brightness and joy, and that everyone's new year brings good things.

Be well, everyone.

holiday home, II

2010-12-15T12:04:00.000-06:00

As I said previously, I do try to keep things centered during the holidays, but every girl likes the tiniest bit of glitz! I have only 3 wreaths for the house- sometimes there's one on the front door, sometimes there isn't. This year I've hung a homespun felted and jingle bell swag that we received as a Christmas gift last year. There are also some bells from my husband's childhood home in Turkey, and a strand of beads and bells I picked up years ago in a little border town market in Mexico. I love the bells ringing every time we open the door.

But the glitz- I stumbled on a half-bushel basket of old old glass ornaments when I was in graduate school (lower left)- for a long time, those were my only holiday decorations. I displayed them in a giant silver punch bowl, hung on evergreens, and now, they're in a small silver revere bowl on my mantle. There are a few votive candles scattered around them, and the old 1940s round mirror I picked up one trash day reflects the cheer. That's about all I need on the mantle.

The three wreaths were all made during my Martha Stewart fandom heyday. I'm not sure if I made them all the same year, but I may have. The red glass bead wreath came first- I remember searching for and then cringing as I purchased $50 in red Czech druk beads ten years ago. I generally hang this between the living room or dining room windows. This year it's in the dining room.
The glass ball wreath came next. It is really on its last legs, but it's my boy's favorite wreath. I may have to glue the balls to a foam or straw form next year, because I like it too. It hangs in the window over our kitchen table.

The final wreath, which took forever to make, is also a MSL project. It came out of one of the holiday books and isn't on the website, but I made each leaf out of silver-lined glass beads, arranged them in clusters of three, and wired them on a circular wire form. It almost always hangs on a mirror or on the china cabinet, in front of my silver collection. I am a sucker for silver hollowware and old serving pieces- I enjoy using them, even in our decidedly simple and casual lifestyle.

I would like to have one more wreath, based on this one. A neighbor gave me quite a lot of reindeer moss, and there are huge mossy areas along the greenway in our neighborhood. I think I'm going to wait until after Christmas for this project, when the days are dark and dreary and I need a bit more green around me.

I have one more photo for you at the end of the week-
see you soon!

holiday home tour

2010-12-13T12:28:00.000-06:00

my dear friend Mama Urchin is hosting a holiday home tour and asked me to play along. Because I have a teensy house (well, the part that is heated with radiators, my best friend during the cold months is about 1200 sq ft), I try to keep things simple. And as a person of faith, I want to focus on the holy more than the glitz.
The Episcopal church (and many other liturgically-based churches) "celebrates" Advent - the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas- before the great Celebration of Christmas. Advent is a time of preparation and seeking the light in darkness (in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Isaiah 9:2- "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light"- is the basis for much of our work during these four weeks), so light plays an important role in how my family celebrates advent.
I'll start with the bottom right photo, as it is all about Advent. The first Sunday of Advent we make a wreath at St. Mary's Cathedral. It's an all-ages event. I missed it this year, but my boys brought one home. Some churches use purple for Advent, some use blue. We've recently switched to blue, which I'm happy about because, well, I'm not a fan of purple. The pink candle, which we lit this week, is for Mary. The next photo is a fun one- our advent calendar is based on the free bird pattern offered by Spool. From the Sunday after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve, we add a new bird. Originally I only made 24 birds -this year I need to make a few more. I used wool and cashmere sweaters -either purchased at a thrift store or moth-eaten ones from my house- to make these sweet little birds.
Next to the birds, this stationary wooden creche is one of my favorite holiday decorations. The priest who was my campus minister came down to Mississippi to perform my wedding- he's done the same for several women I graduated with. The summer I was pregnant, he traveled to Israel and sent this olive-wood creche as a baby gift when my son was born right before Thanksgiving. When he grows up and has his own family, I'll pass it along to him, but it is very meaningful to me.
The star on our tree is a Moravian Star. In Moravian households (and in Germany, PA, and Winston-Salem, NC, this star hangs outside, lighted, from the beginning of Advent until the beginning of Epiphany. It represents the star of Bethlehem- that great light. My college, Salem, was founded by Moravians, so this is a special symbol for me. For many years I had a white star that we hung on the porch, but it died last year. This paper one from an imports store will do for now, but I plan to replace it soon.

Later this week I'll delve more into our Christmas decorations- the tree is up and lit and I am slowly adding wreathes to the windows and other festive bits around the house. But for now, I'm taking it slowly and anticipating the great light to come. Be well.

goodness gracious

2010-12-12T14:38:00.000-06:00

I know now that I absolutely made the right decision to cut back on my expectations of what I could accomplish, pottery-wise, this holiday season. In the past week my house has been struck by the flu (little boy was down for 5 days, which meant that I was pretty busy during that time) and a pot that had cracked due to thermal shock (read, I opened the kiln when I shouldn't have) spontaneously exploded two weeks later, cutting my hand pretty badly. We spent Wednesday afternoon at the doctor's office getting the cut glued back together (I love advances in medicine sometimes) and I realized that I needed to scale back even further. So this week we spent a great deal of time cozied up on the sofa, reading, drinking warm tea and cider, decorating the tree, resting, getting well.

I do have one tiny little holiday offering in my shop. I've been making these little nest ornaments this fall- I had a few dozen for sale at events in town, and there are ten over at etsy. The nest is thrown and altered; the eggs are hand-formed. I kept back quite a few to use as package toppers. They make me happy.

It has gotten so cold here - today's high is 30, the low is 16. For the next few days Memphis will be colder than New England. I don't remember December ever being so cold here- I'm wishing for a wood stove and cranking out wool sweaters and fuzzy mittens to keep my family warm.

I hope you have a good week- be well.

right now

2010-11-30T15:46:00.000-06:00

right now I am sitting at the kitchen table, glazing a fern platter. I'm feeling a little under the weather- you know, when it's just starting and you know that you can stave it off if you go to bed early and take care of yourself? That's where I am.

But it isn't entirely unpleasant. I'm watching the little sparrows (and occasional cardinal, finch, and rascally squirrel) at the feeder just outside the window. I'm listening to a history of the world in 100 objects, wishing that there was a companion book to the series. My favorite episode so far is the one I've just heard- about how the image of Buddhism- the young, seated Buddha- is the one we think of when presented with the idea of Buddha. But really, they're all just fascinating.

I've just had my very favorite tofu curry soup (so spicy, so rich, so full of veggies), delivered by a soup fairy (thank you, thank you Jess), and am smelling the warm mingled spiciness of my umpteenth cup of chai and gingerbread warm from the oven. Homework is being completed beside me as I work. A little later, once I've cleaned off the bottoms of my pots, I'll get into bed with more tea, knitting, and finish watchingthe Gleaners and I. I'll wait to fire the kiln until the morning.

I feel so much relief since re-adjusting my holiday business plans. And I thank you, friends, for your support and understanding. It means a lot.

plans and changing them

2010-11-23T08:47:00.000-06:00

Hi. How are you? I haven't been in this space much because, honestly, I've overscheduled myself. After a solid year of working as hard as I can to keep my family financially and emotionally afloat during unemployment and morale crises,* I'm tuckered out. It's been a year full of amazing highs and seemingly bottomless lows, and I am ready to re-prioritize.

I have focused most of my production for local markets this year- two shops I'm thrilled to be associated with, my local farmers market, and my long time customers, friends, and family who live in and around Memphis. I've really neglected my online customers and my Etsy shop this year. I had big plans for listing things online near Thanksgiving, but low- Thanksgiving is this week and everything I've managed to make is either for local stores and shows or a really big thing that's coming up in mid-December, completely unrelated to the holidays. I think, realistically, that I won't be able to do a big update this year. If you were counting on it, I am so sorry. One of my 2011 habits-to-work-on is to update Etsy once a month.

Today, though, the idea of adding ten more honeypots/berry bowls/butter crocks to my to-do list makes me want to find a new profession. I was thinking yesterday as I was cranking out 15 of the same little item that ten years ago I'd grandly thought that I wanted to be a production potter, and how fulfilling and wonderful that would be. Now that I almost have become one, it is wonderful, and it is incredibly gratifying to have people tell me how much my work means in their daily lives, I'm realizing that it's also really, really physically tiring.

So. I'm letting myself off the hook for a holiday Etsy update. I'll put up some of my birds nest ornaments by Dec 1, because I did make those specifically for etsy, and I'll share my big news (the reason for the production pottery) in a few weeks. I hope you have a peaceful, family-filled Thanksgiving. And if you're shopping this weekend, I hope you'll make an effort to support local small businesses. The families that run them will thank you, as do I.

*Happily, thankfully, blessedly, my husband found a new position almost one year to the day after his layoff in November 2009. It is a good fit for him, an I'm grateful that it came along when it did.

7

2010-11-19T08:23:00.000-06:00

my little one is 7 today. We began the day with chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate syrup (seven of them), and I'm making gingerbread cupcakes with maple frosting for his urban-forest hike birthday party tomorrow. Also doing a little trimming and glazing.

Have a good weekend, friends.

2010-11-15T14:46:00.000-06:00

The sale this weekend went so, so well. I sincerely thank everyone who came out. I know you have a choice in where you spend your money and I am deeply, deeply thankful when you choose to support my business and my family with your hard-earned dollars.
I did something a little different this year- I had a "soft" opening Thursday evening for some area moms- it was good to get set up early and have Friday free from the usual pre-sale stresses. I think I'll be repeating that.

The weekend was capped off with the mortal release of someone who had been both a friend and foe. I went to visit her early this morning- she was no longer cognizant, which was a blessing, really. I spent a short time with her, did my other errands, and came back home to a phone call that she'd passed soon after I left. I'm grateful that we were able to have peace with one another, grateful that she is no longer in pain and conflict. Beginning my day with a release like this one is odd- I'd planned to have a quiet day; now it is more so.

This little porcelain cup is one of my favorite things- I bought it in Sewanee, TN, and can't remember the artists' name any more. I keep a beeswax votive in it to light when I pray and meditate. Today has been a very meditative day.

Peace, friends.

Annual Open House

2010-11-09T11:11:00.000-06:00

I'm woefully behind on getting out postcards for this event, but given the fact that this is 1 of 4 in the next month, I don't feel too too terrible. So. If you're in Memphis, please come on over on Friday and Saturday (5:30-9 Friday, 10:30-4 Saturday) to see the pottery. There's slightly less than I've had than in years past, but again, this is sale 1 of 4.

Okay. Time to finish glazing.

Have a good week!

chickens and the egg

2010-11-07T14:52:00.001-06:00

new chickens- big golden buff orpington is Merigold (named first for Merigold, MS, secondly for her color). She's at least 8 lbs. Big girl.
Next to her is "Speckles," a barred rock. She's medium size, no larger than my sweet pet chickens. These ladies aren't tame. Yet. They'll come round.

and one of their eggs- I think it belongs to Merigold. It is extra, extra large. Edna's egg, to the right, is a regular large grocery-store sized egg. Merigold's was twice as large. I thought it might have been double yolked, but it wasn't. The yolk was large and a big asymmetrical, but not fully double. They haven't gotten hang of the idea of nest boxes yet- this was on top of a stone in the yard.

I'll be back later in the week with some pictures of pottery, I hope.
Have a nice week!

covered up

2010-11-03T12:02:00.000-05:00

so so much is happening around here. good stuff, crazy stuff. I've got some pretty big news to share soon, and I've got production deadlines for shows and gift orders for the holidays. My little kiln is running twice a week and the big kiln is going at least once a week. My sister in law saved the day by picking up several hundred pounds of clay for me last week when she was in Nashville- I've been going through almost three 50 lb boxes every week.

Gary is covered up in freelance work, I'm covered up in pottery, there are school, scouting, and sport functions, and WOW- upcoming shows and sales.

Here's my schedule in brief:
Nov 12/13 Home Sale
Nov 28 Tsunami's Annual Holiday Art and Artisan Sale
Dec 4 Trolley Stop Market's Artisan Showcase
Dec 11 Memphis Farmers Market Harvesting the Holidays

Somewhere in there I'll be doing a big Etsy update. In between those we have some big family birthdays, a 7 year old birthday party, Thanksgiving, and everything else that we do as a family.

And tomorrow? We're picking up two new chickens.

See you soon, folks!

sneak peek

2010-10-28T07:45:00.000-05:00

holiday 2010 ornaments.
see y'all later!

quiet

2010-10-24T16:52:00.000-05:00

I am, I will be, I want to be, a little quiet around here for the next week or so. I'm working on building inventory for holiday sales- my own pre-holiday home sale on Nov 12 and 13, a ladies' night before that, a post-thanksgiving sale, and another thing or two in Memphis. And a big etsy update, as well.
I'm excited (always am) about new work and have a harder time cranking out the things that people actually "need," like mugs and bowls. I'm making those too. Honeypots, butter crocks, colanders and tumblers. You know, the things that sell and bring in my income. I have a lot of pots to make in the next few weeks.

Today I'm not making any pots- I need to bisque fire, and it has been rainy so I've made bread and tomato soup. I went to see a new movie (I hope there will be more info up at this link later) screened at the Indie Memphis film festival. I wish that this movie were a book so that I could read it again and again.

ok. see y'all later. hope you have a good week!

oh, hello

2010-10-15T11:07:00.001-05:00

I'm still here. I went camping. It was awesome. Good food, good company, beautiful surroundings. It couldn't have been better.
Re-entry has been what it always is- kind of tough. The first day you're refreshed and then real life comes crashing back down. There's homework to do. Luggage to unload and put away. Laundry, bills, and, if you're me, pottery that has to be fired and glazed *right quick like* so that you aren't behind. And I am behind, perpetually, but that's ok. I'll never be where I want to be, production-wise, because I have unrealistic expectations of how much I can do in a given time period. I do a lot, but it isn't quite what I think it is.. That's also ok. What doesn't get done isn't earth-shattering.

There have been some good things, too. New ideas I'm working on. A new project I'm feeling extremely lucky to be in on from its inception. A finished pair of socks (I like 'em bright) and 2/3 finished sweater. 40 something jars of tomatoes in the canning pantry and a really really nice stash of tomato jam and pickled okra. More freelance work coming in, new things opening up.

There are three dates left for the regular season of the farmers market.Believe it or not, I intend to put up *one more box* of tomatoes. No, they won't be the best or tastiest or whatever, but this winter, I'm not running out of tomatoes. Yes, I have a problem. And I'm fine with that. I'll be there this weekend and on the 30th. And at the holiday sale on Dec 11.

Speaking of problems, I pulled this little individual teapot-thing out of my seconds box in the basement. Hubs was ill yesterday and I needed a teapot that wasn't a full-on teapot for his preferred small cups of tea. I'm not sure why I thought this was a second (actually, the lid isn't quite where I would have liked it to be, but nothing is perfect), but I'm glad I pulled it out. When we're both working at home, we tend to have a lot of tea. I think this will be in use a lot.

finally fall

2010-10-04T10:07:00.001-05:00

The weather's finally cooled down. As much as I looked forward to summer, I really never thought it would end.

This weekend I went camping with some good girl friends- it was fire-less because of the drought we've been having (I think we're on day 40 without rain), but the weather was crisp, the breezes were plentiful, and the skies were amazingly full of stars.

Once home, I made a batch of spicy tomato jam (and I do mean spicy) for gifts and for the pantry. I have another 7 quarts of quartered tomatoes on the stove, and this evening I'll finish up my last box with as many pints of marinara as I can eek out. Last summer I canned 2 boxes of tomatoes- maybe 10 pints of puree and 12 quarts. This year I've gotten almost 4 boxes of tomatoes- I have no plans of scrimping on my tomatoes or running out.

Outside the kitchen, it is time to really ramp up on the making. I'm participating in a "trunk show" type sale at a friend's home, my own pre-holiday sale (Nov 12 and 13), a Thanksgiving weekend sale, and the Memphis Farmers Market second annual holiday sale. Plus I plan to have a fully stocked etsy shop for the first time in, oh, who knows when. So, folks, it's time for me to get rolling- I've already begun making pomegranates. And I'll have lots more butter crocks and honey pots. I can barely keep those in stock, and I'm grateful for that.

Have a great week, y'all. I'm off camping again at the end of the week with some really dear friends. I can hardly wait. See you next week!

checking in again

2010-09-29T12:17:00.000-05:00

Time just keeps passing.
The etsy show last weekend was a three-ring circus. Very well attended, good publicity- there seemed to be some buzz.

I just put these four bowls up in my shop.
I haven't been making as many this summer as in years past. I do plan to have more in November, right before Thanksgiving, for holiday giving.

I finally got my little kiln plugged in and fired it on Monday. I'm reserving it for small batches and my drawn-on pieces. The big kiln is running right now with some re-glazes for the weekend.

I've been asked to make some sacramental/liturgical items that might appeal to men and boys. That's something big to think on, design-wise. Color-wise, I know just where to go. But it is the motif that has me slightly stuck.

Ok. Back to work.
Have a nice week, everyone.

sneak peek

2010-09-23T10:01:00.000-05:00

some tumblers and honeypots for Friday night. What doesn't sell will go on etsy. If there aren't any left (wouldn't that be nice!) I'll be making more.

Is it fall-like where you are? Mid 90s here again today. Next week will be cooler. I'm ready for crisp. And not the dry, parched crisp we've had all summer, either.

Happy day!

yippee!

2010-09-19T17:59:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I shared some images of my new work on facebook and flickr. I really couldn't be more pleased with them. So much so that I grabbed this pitcher and called it "mine," not for sale. I'm really happy with my application of this technique. I feel like it is reminiscent of Diana Fayt's, but it is more me than simply aping her style (which I love but couldn't even begin to aspire to). When I was getting ready for her workshop I found a photo that I altered and drew to become this bee on a blown-out pussywillow branch. A friend copied it for me and made reductions and enlargements to work from. As soon as I saw the copies I knew it had potential to use with an almost wallpaper-like repeat. Although I'm not a great fan of wallpaper per se, the repeated motif really appeals to me as a design element on pots.

So. After two or three seemingly disastrous firings, I think I've gotten the hang of how to do this. And I am so, so flipping happy about it. The workshop was a fabulous experience, but to have come away with a new way of working is even better than fabulous. I feel like I'm (almost) always pushing forward in my craft. Heretofore my work has been focused on the form, not the surface design. As many of you may know, I have HATED glazing for several years. I never thought surface design would capture my attention (outside of laying a fern into the wet clay to create a glaze-able impression or stamping a word into the body of the piece, both of which I still love).

I'll have a small selection of these pieces at the Etsy Memphis sale next Friday at the Jack Robinson Gallery. I'm excited about them. I hope you will be too!

Have a great week- I hope I'll be back in this space on Thursday to give you a preview of more work I'll be showing Friday night. Take care.

goodness

2010-09-15T16:30:00.000-05:00

Hi. It's late afternoon, after a busy day. I'm a little beat. I ran this morning as dawn was breaking- it felt good. Then I spent 4 hours in the studio, throwing and drawing bees on pots and I'm tired and sore. I have a large pot of black beans on the stove that I'm about to turn into sliders, although I'm not sure we'll eat them tonight.

Even though it is 95 degrees today, fall is in the air. Yesterday I found bits of orange in the garden- rose hips, pyracantha berries, and some late milkweed blossoms. I'm grateful the humidity has slipped away.

I thought I'd share some very good things with you. You know the event I helped to work on? We exceeded our goal of $4000. That was so so wonderful.

I found a new magazine that isn't for everyone, but I'm excited about it. We've been simplifying and self-sufficient-ing more and more around here so it's right up my alley.

I'm planning a camping trip with a dear friend and her family next month in the TN mountains. SO excited about this.

The local response to our Etsy Memphis sale has been so encouraging. I'm working hard on some things to unveil next Friday!

I hope you're well and happy. Have a good rest of your week! Back to the sliders for me.

a big to do

2010-09-13T13:35:00.001-05:00

This summer my good friend Papatya and I started talking about promoting etsy artists and artisans in Memphis. We've been talking about it all summer, and now it's here. The wonderful Lisa at the Center City Commission found a great space for us and 12 other etsy artists. I am so grateful for her help! This is a one-night-only show full of all kinds of vintage and handmade goodies. Early holiday shopping, anyone? If you're in town and out and about, I hope to see you there!

events

2010-09-08T08:05:00.000-05:00

good morning. has the back-to-school business set in for you yet? social events, sports, charity? It certainly has over here. I have one special event I'd like to tell you about today.

Amazing Grace (sorry, it's a facebook link) is a fundraising event for a family that is dear to my heart. My friends Wendy and Kalki adopted a sweet little girl a few years ago. She has Pierre Robin Sequence and has had 16 surgeries in her short 5 years. She's scheduled for two more in the next two months. You can only begin to imagine the expenses associated with that many surgeries. I can't wrap my head around it.
Some friends of the family have gotten together to arrange a large fundraising party tomorrow night at the Trolley Stop Market, my good friends' store and restaurant. $10 donation gets you in the door- unlimited pizza and entertainment, and there's a large silent auction filled with gorgeous works of artists (musicians, writers, and visual artists) and artisans. This is the piece I made for the event.
If you're in Memphis, I'd love to see you there. If you're away, look around on the facebook page, and if you feel like giving, I'd thank you.

Have a lovely week. I've got more things to tell you later in the week, but for now, I'm off to help with this event.

results

2010-09-03T09:24:00.000-05:00

Here is the first batch of pottery I made from what I learned at the Diana Fayt workshop. There's some definite potential here. I love love love this bee motif (I found an old old photo of a bee feeding from a blown-out pussy willow blossom that I've drawn and altered to use). The text, "l'abeille bonne", means "the good bee." I think I like that almost as much as the image.

I'm both pleased and upset by this batch, but I'm going to compare this effort to learning to bake bread, or to knit a sweater. This is a learning process. The first loaf of bread you make, even following the best recipe, isn't going to be as good as the 100th loaf you make.
And y'all know I'm a big knitter, right? Knitting is something that I do JUST for me and occasionally for beloved friends or family. But the first sweater I knit doesn't look anything like the sweaters I knit now. And my first sock? e.gads. So this pottery, using this technique, is similar. I had wonderful instruction but I had several user errors along the way. The first bisque firing way over-fired and vitrified the pieces so the glaze wouldn't stick. All of these pieces that were in that firing are pretty rough to the touch- with one exception- not glossy/glassy. The design shows through just fine, but the finish isn't where I want it to be.

The second bisque firing was fine, really, except that I didn't take it to the proper temperature. A bit too low, this time. When I started to apply color to the design it soaked in to the piece with a speed and intensity I didn't expect. This little aqua pitcher was, well, black. I glazed and fired it anyway, and it is fine, but much darker than I'd intended. The white pitcher next to it also has problems from user error. I meant to glaze the interior white- a thick, glossy, opaque glaze- but it spilled over, and since the outside of the pot was black-ish anyway, I just kept going. The design is almost completely obscured by the glossy opaque glaze.

Lessons learned: First, babysit your kiln and don't let it over-fire. my last two firings have gone much better because I paid attention to the time. Second, follow ALL of the directions at first. Third, some pots are just for learning, not for sale. The honey pot and two of the little vases are ok to use, but the others are far too un-glazed for real use. Or to sell. It's ok. I'm still learning.

moments of grace

2010-08-26T21:32:00.000-05:00

last week after my kiln debacle(s) I decided to take a nice long run with my dog after dropping my boy off at school. I headed into it happily, hoping to burn through some tension. Just as I started the last leg, one mile from home, I tripped on a sidewalk crack and landed on both knees, right underneath someone's sprinkler system. I got up, kept going, finished firing the kiln (glazing the vitrified pieces didn't really work), and got ready for the market on Saturday. Saturday was miserably hot. I left early. And I decided to take an extended internet break. I'm still on it, technically, because life has been consistently kicking me in the shins. And I'm terribly, terribly tired of it.

I think one of the best ways to get out of a slump is to count your blessings. And as tough as it has been, I can't say that there haven't been good moments. A friend and I have been planning a one-night sale featuring etsy sellers from Memphis. We're so close to finding a location. She also rehabbed my bike. My sister in law passed on her old trail bike to me several years ago. It needed a bit of work and I didn't have the know-how. And I hadn't been on a bike since, um, 1997. Before that (1997 was a single bike episode), I hadn't ridden my bike since maybe 1987. Yesterday I took my first bike ride in 13 years, and the first time I've used a bike with gears or hand breaks. I enjoyed it immensely. I have dreams of riding though the paths at Overton Park, which is a stone's throw from my neighborhood. First I need a helmet.

Another friend has been really involved with a new farmers market in town, one that serves an area that could easily be called a "food desert." Every week for the past three weeks she's been bringing me pounds and pounds of produce. Okra, squash, tomatoes, lima beans, corn- and I've been able to pass the surplus along to people who could use it. The okra (one week there was easily 3 gallons of okra) has become pickles- pickled okra is one of my favorites. Lima beans and black eyed peas have been blanched and frozen. I've been in high vegetable heaven.

And this picture- Edna laid her first egg today. I watched her carefully build her nest (they don't like our egg box, for some reason), step into it, and lay her egg. This evening we had huevos rancheros for supper- made with our own organic eggs. Soon we'll have enough eggs to share.

I'm still working on making pots, trying to build inventory. And I'm heading back off-line now, and into a book. I've got a list of books as long as my arm that I'm interested in reading. Right now I'm half-way through Out Stealing Horses: A Novel. Really enjoying it. Also on my list is Lucky Jim and March. And I'm trying planting my fall crops by the moon phases. Just to see if it makes any difference at all.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, friends. I'll be back in this space soon.

grrrr

2010-08-19T09:13:00.000-05:00

here's a tip if you're just starting out or if you've gotten lazy about your firing. Keep a log of how long it should take you to fire your average load. If it usually takes you 9.5 hours to bisque under normal circumstances and the kiln's been running for 13, something's wrong. Maybe the little cone that sits in your kiln sitter has melted and stuck to the sensing rod so that the kiln keeps firing to cone 7, leaving you wondering if you should try to glaze the now-vitrified pots or not. I unloaded my kiln (including one shelf that warped, so maybe -probably- the kiln got closer to cone 10 - that's 2300 degrees, folks. I usually only fire to cone 6, which is in the 21-2200 range. this load should have shut itself off at 1800.), test-glazed a few pieces, and went back to bed. Yes, I called it a day and slept until school got out.

I've noodled around for some tips and tricks on getting the glaze to stick and I'm willing to try them, but the problem is that once clay has vitrified- meaning that it is as hard as it can get and the pores in the clay are closed- the water in the glaze doesn't absorb back into the clay. Usually you dip or brush wet glaze onto a piece and all of the water is sucked into the clay. When the clay is vitrified, the glaze- and water- just sits on the top of the piece.

Yes, I still feel pretty peevish about the entire thing. So my plan of action is to test a few pieces and run the kiln again tonight to see if the kiln sitter will work or if I will need to fix it- which would be a handy thing to learn to do. It's always something, isn't it? And I'm going to put a log up next to the kiln so that I'll know how long each firing should take and watch it more carefully.

Yes. My pieces from Atlanta were in this load. I lost one of them- the color that I'd used turned completely black. Not pretty. The other ones seem to be ok. So this setback, trip-up, whatever is a learning experience. I'm going to stop being so irritated by it and pick myself back up and carry on.

I'll be back.

break!

2010-08-16T08:44:00.000-05:00

the heat has broken. Finally. Our low tonight is supposed to be 73. I'm firing the kiln, finally, including the things I made at the workshop in Atlanta. And not a moment too soon, given my inventory issue.

Have a good week. I'll see you at the end of it!

It's August.

2010-08-12T19:59:00.000-05:00

It's been an exciting week over here. First week of the first grade (it's been just great!). First egg from our little flock (after wondering if my chickens were indeed the type that produced eggs). My grandparents have moved up from Louisiana and there's been a hurry-scurry to get their space ready for them.

Oh, and the vapors of hell have ascended and rest heavily on Memphis. Our daily highs have been 100 and over. It hasn't been below 80 all week. And the humidity, which I jokingly refer to as "gracious" has become an iron fist in velvet gloves, clutching at our lungs. It's hard to get a breath during the heat of the day*. I'm beat. And wondering if I can manage to post anything here more than once a week. I think we can live with that, though. Don't you? Because fall is on its way, and we'll all have more energy.

But isn't the egg pretty? My boy was so excited about it. Ready to check again for eggs roughly every 12 hours. Our other hen (Edna) will produce a brown egg- speckled or not, we'll find out. Our old araucanas laid greenish eggs. Pearl is an araucana. I bought a beautiful speckled brown egg earlier this spring- I still think of it, glaze-wise. I'm not much of a fan of brown pottery, but this speckled tan was really lovely. So I'll be working all of that out once it's cool enough to fire more regularly again.
I have been making pots all week and spent a few hours last night drawing on them. I'm very pleased with what I've made and eager to finish them. They are tucked away in the kiln, along with the pieces I made during the workshop with Diana Fayt. These pieces feel more like me, and I'm happy with that. And I'm close to being out of my regular stoneware, so I moved into porcelains again this week. I made porcelain mugs and honey pots, a few vases, several eggs. I have plenty of stoneware in my reclaim buckets, but they need to be rehydrated and wedged. I had a jones for throwing this week, so porcelain it was.

I'm at an all-time low in my inventory. It's nice. But scary. Really scary. No mugs. No berry bowls. One honey pot. No butter crocks. I have work made, I have work made and fired and ready to glaze. I just can't fire it. First break in the heat and I'll crank the kiln right up.

I hope that you'll see this form again after firing- it's a new favorite of mine. It's familiar, but I'm not sure where it came from. I made this pitcher earlier this spring, and when I was cleaning it up in preparation for glazing the bottom of the handle broke off. I glaze-glued it back together, hoping beyond hope that it would stick, but it didn't, really. The crack is both clearly visible and wonky. I couldn't bear to throw it away, so now it's my chicken feed scoop. Pampered chooks they are. I've made several pitchers that look like this- labeled with "syrup" for some friends, and "lait" for the general public. I expect I'll be making more.

Hope your weekend treats you well.

*If you aren't from the South and you've heard us talk and wonder why we talk slow, move slow- it's because it is too damn hot and humid to do anything fast, especially in August.

branching out

2010-08-06T19:07:00.000-05:00

I had the very best lunch today. Curried tofu salad sandwich with organic homegrown tomato, basil, and spinach. Tomato-basil pasta salad. Rosemary-dijon potato salad (it was really nice and zingy, but sadly, not on my plate when I took this picture). I had a LOT of good food in Atlanta, but this lunch beat it all, hands down. My good friend Wendy recently started a catering and made-to-order business, and she asked if I'd like to try my hand at food photography. I jumped right in.

Goodnight Gracie Specialty Foods , first, is delicious. Second, it's affordable. Wendy focuses on spreads, ready-to-go dinner-type salads (think Tabouleh or Thai Sesame Noodle Salad), savory cheesecakes, salsas- things you can build a meal around with what you've got in the fridge or pantry. If you're in Memphis, she offers specials every weekend- you can get the dish on facebook. She also caters full meals, picnic baskets, and most intriguing to me, savory cheesecakes. I'm ordering a tomato cheesecake soon.

I really had a ball taking pictures of her delicious dishes. Bonus- she asked to use my pottery for the shoot!

I lucked out with the farmers market on Saturday- I'm under the pavilion again. So grateful for the shade and ceiling fans, and so ready for this triple-digit heat to break.

I hope y'all have a nice weekend. I'm working on getting a new-to-me little kiln set up so that I can fire smaller (thus lower amperage) loads and keep my sweet air conditioning on. And school starts on Monday- so my summer break ends, too. See y'all next week!

learning

2010-08-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

home home home. I am so happy to be home. This trip was fabulous. It could not have been better. I met wonderful people, learned so much, reconnected with friends I hadn't seen in a dozen years. It was good. But I'm a homebody, and I'm happy to be home.

This photo is a blur (ahem, intentionally) because the weekend felt a bit like a blur. It went by so quickly. Diana Fayt is a tremendous artist and a generous teacher. I feel fortunate to have been able to learn from her in this workshop in real time. She gave me a lot of
advice when I first dipped my toes into blogging, flickring, and selling on etsy and has been a very real mentor to me. Meeting her in person was really wonderful.

Here's a little sneak preview of what I worked on at Mudfire. This workshop was a challenge for me because I'm such a "dipper." Most of the fun of pottery to me is in creating the form. I try to get over my distaste for the glazing process. Decorating the pots- drawing on them- was work. Drawing is intimidating (especially when you're drawing on a piece of pottery!), but it's a learned skill. A skill I've let sit and rust over the years, but one I'd like to brush up on. I am pretty smitten with this image I drew from an old gardening photo of a bee visiting a blossomed-out pussy willow. I think I'll continue to play with this motif as I explore this new surface technique.

so. back to real life. school begins on monday. there's trip laundry to sort out, suitcases to put away, a pantry to refill. And my stars but it is hot in Memphis. Daytime highs of 103 and nighttime lows of 85 mean there's no pottery firing for the foreseeable future. No matter, it will wait.

I hope you'll enjoy the rest of your summer. Thanks for reading my ramblings.

ha!

2010-07-27T08:40:00.000-05:00

so I say I'm taking a break and I can't stay away. just REAL fast- yesterday I made my annual batch (this is 1 of 2) of fig jam with rosemary and lemon. I bought tiny quarter pint jars for gifting. I needed to have one to take to my excellent teacher, and to be honest, I was afraid that they'd spoil before I could use them if I didn't do something NOW. It's super yummy, not too sweet.

Oh, you'd like the recipe? If you don't know how to can, you could freeze it. But you CAN can. Just make sure your jars are super clean (put them in a large stockpot with a towel underneath and bring to a boil as you're making the jam. Take 'em out with tongs. Throw the lids in a small saucepan and simmer) and you have a big stockpot.

Fig Rosemary Lemon Jam
mashed figs to make 4 c
1.25 c sugar
1 box low-sugar pectin (I use Pomona's Pectin, it's low sugar, but I have to get it online)
1/2 c lemon juice (or more. I use more)
grated zest of one lemon (again I use more)
3 sprigs rosemary, destemmed, but not chopped

boil it all up. Ladle it into your jars, leaving 1/4 " headspace. Wipe the rims of your jars clean, screw on lids and rings, put back into your boiling stockpot (if you don't have a canning jar rack use a kitchen towel in the bottom) and process for 10 minutes (start timing when it begins to boil again).
Take the jars out and let cool on a towel-covered cutting board. The lids should ping. If they don't ping or suck in, keep in the fridge. This made 7 quarter pints and 3 half pints. I have some more figs in the fridge that I may use to make a fig/thyme/onion jam with after my class.

ok. have fun. be well.

gob-smacked

2010-07-23T15:02:00.000-05:00

has been my state of mind lately. Sometimes it seems like everything happens all at once. Good things, crazy things, inconvenient things, happy joyful things, things that make you want to just go back to bed. There are some wonderful changes and events afoot, and a few hurdles to cross before they happen. I'm trying to stay in an optimistic frame of mind but sometimes the daily grind makes that difficult.
But I'm focusing on the good.

I told you about the tomato farmer who gave me six lbs of lovely beautiful heirloom tomatoes that he considered culls? And I turned them into beautiful summer-flavored tomato sauce? Six whole pints (that's six instant suppers!)? I made him this tomato mug. I did my usual leaf-imprint, but while thinking about this class I'm taking next weekend, I decided to write "tomato" in the really-too-dry clay. I say too dry because if the clay had been a hair closer to leather hard rather than completely dry (it was completely dry), I would have carved a bit deeper, which would have left more room for the glaze to pool into and the word would have shown up more. Which is to say, at all. But I am thrilled with the potential. And totally excited about the class.

Other things in the works- weddings. I have a love-hate relationship with facebook. Love that I've been able to reconnect with so many college friends I haven't heard from in years. Love the instant communication with in-town friends. Really, I love the exposure it's given my business. I just hate the (self discipline I don't have) time suck factor. But one of my little sisters* from college is getting married at the end of August and I'm making her wedding party gifts. And we reconnected and she saw my work on Facebook. It really really makes me happy.

Did I mention I'm taking a class with the lovely and talented Diana Fayt? And I'm completely over the moon about it? She is very much a mentor to me, and I'm tickled to get to learn from her in person, not just in the over-email-advice-seeking capacity the internets provides. Photos of the workshop to come.

OK. This weekend I'm at the market. It will be hot. I will have fewer things than usual. OH! But the really good news is that the tent and shelves and everything fits neatly into the car with the seats folded down. I was overjoyed when we did our "test pack" earlier this week.

So have a lovely weekend, I'll be back in this space in August. I'm giving myself a break for the class and clearing those hurdles I mentioned earlier. Think good thoughts, will you?

*I went to a women's college, Salem, in NC. It is a very small school, and there are "sister classes"- ie freshman/junior, sophomore/senior. My little sisters and I were close but had lost touch, so it's wonderful to reconnect and play a small role in one's wedding.

goodness

2010-07-17T21:48:00.002-05:00

I really don't know where the time goes. Last week went by in a blur, but it was full of good things. First, I did get the 850. It isn't a wagon, but the seats fold down and I'm hoping hoping I can get all of my market gear in - shelves, tent, etc. I really mourned velva-the-volvo's passing. But I'm hoping that she has a future with someone else.

I threw quite a bit. I made lots. A whole kiln load. All good. And I experimented with plates. That hurt my arms, so I put the idea of wheel-thrown plates out of my mind. Can't do it without pain, so there's no reason to entertain ideas of doing so. Beginning to figure out slab-built options for plates.

I sauced and canned eight pounds of heirloom tomatoes. That a fellow at the market gave me as he was packing up. They were catfaced- you know, puckered, multi-lobed, a little scarred, full of character, if a tomato can have such a thing. Really yummy sauce made from organic tomatoes. Free organic tomatoes. So I made this farmer a tomato leaf mug. I'll show you later this week.

One night I stayed out for an extra hour with a friend and I realized that she is one of my life mentors. It is so good to have those kind of people in your life- people you can learn from just by watching, and conversation with them only deepens your understanding of their wisdom. I feel really blessed to be actively involved with a multi-generational group of women. I learn so much from my time with them.

And the figs are in. I'm picking three times a day. My largest mixing bowl is full of figs in the fridge. I'm looking for teeny giftable-size canning jars to make rosemary-lemon-fig jam. And thinking on how I'll fit in jam-making to my pottery (and swimming) schedule this week. The chickens like figs, too. That's fun.

Ok. I hope you had a good weekend and have a good week. I'll see you later.

It's a Monday. And other news

2010-07-12T16:21:00.001-05:00

It's Monday*. The good: We have gotten a goodly bit of rain, which I'm really just over the moon about. My boy is in an all-day camp out in the woods, which I'm also tickled about. I made more butter crocks today, and some crock-pot applesauce. And I just found that I've made my second appearance in my friends' (Emily and Molly)photography blog, Habit. I'm flattered to be included. I've been perusing the beautiful photos and snippets of days for over a year- this month they've invited everyone to participate through flickr. It is a thrilling to see one of my photos pop up while I'm checking my blog stream!

These tomatoes, by the way, went into a delicious cobbler that I've been playing around with for several years. Last night's version included goat feta, basil, and a cornmeal pastry crust. This is one of my favorite dishes- I always freeze several gallons of cherry tomatoes so that I can make this over the winter. It is one of my favorite things to serve at Thanksgiving.

I had a good market day Saturday- the best I've had since the opening weekend. I'm grateful for that, and grateful for the enthusiasm for the butter crocks. Several people have talked to me about making plates over the weekend, so I've thrown a few and am waiting for them to dry enough to trim them. Plates are hard work and expensive, but I'm up for a challenge. I don't think I'll be too upset if they don't happen, though. There is little that's as frustrating as opening the kiln and finding that your hours of work amounted to several cracked plates. Or berry bowls. Or whatever. Cracks are no fun.

I hope your weekend was good, and that your work week's gotten off to a good start.

*since it is Monday, here's my Monday story. I drove my old reliable 15 year old volvo wagon to the bank. I sat in the drive through, where velva-the-volvo entered her death throes. She passed out. In the drive-through lane. Gary had to come and give me a jump, then go to get the battery checked and find that she needs a new alternator. If she weren't 15, this wouldn't be a deal-killer, but she is. And I talked to my mechanic, and he recommended a test drive of another-but-newer- 850. Think good thoughts for us, will you?

weekend again?

2010-07-09T17:59:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how quickly the summer is going by. I'm doing less than I planned, but I always plan to do too much, so I'm ok with that. I've been swimming a lot. Every day, a lot. It is a joy.

On Tuesday I was getting ready to glaze my pots when I realized that I'd bisque fired several honeypots without piercing holes in the lids. Hmm. I'll probably make new lids for those pots, but I decided to make jam- blueberry blackberry- instead of glazing. I processed the blueberry butter, then made the jam. I have 17 jars of blueberry goodness in my pantry. I told myself that jam was less demoralizing than honeypots that wouldn't hold a wooden honey dipper. It turns out that there was another reason to wait to glaze- my friend and glaze helper called and wanted some pottery time. If I hadn't set my work aside, I wouldn't have been able to have her help. And I was so happy to have her help.

It is raining! Big wonderful fat drops. I hope it keeps up all night. This is the first rain my garden has seen since June 11.

I'll be at MFM this weekend. In the "T". With honey pots, butter crocks, speckley things, berry bowls. This coming week I'll have several of these same things in my neglected etsy shop. And my boy has an all-day long camp next week, so I'm planning to throw on the wheel every day.

I hope you all have a nice weekend. Thanks for your support, your friendship, your time.

july

2010-07-06T08:28:00.001-05:00

Good morning! I hope you had a good long holiday weekend.
This weekend I:
went picking blueberries with a friend and with some of my mom's friends. Picking on this weekend at a teeny-tiny family farm is my family's tradition. It's perfect, especially when the heat holds off like it did this weekend. I made off with three gallons. Then I made:

this. In the crock pot. It is yummy and easy. And still in the fridge, because I didn't get around to processing it. I also have a batch in the dehydrator. We love dried blueberries in our granola.

watched my husband finish up the nesting box for our chickens. The coop is finally all ready to paint and pretty up. I'm excited about this step.

Went swimming with friends on Friday and Saturday. Watched my boy dive into the pool and swim all the way to the shallow end. Watched him swim from the shallow end to where I was bobbing around in the deep end. Was mystified by his sudden progress. And realized that for the first time since I was a college student, I have a tan.

Took vows to simplify my life a bit more. Sometimes I try to do too much. When you try to do too much you (read: I) aren't happy or gracious or welcoming. Simple is better.

Bisque fired on the evening of July 4, listening to the sounds of neighborhood kids shooting off firecrackers. Today I'll start glazing.

Helped my mom finish digging up the heirloom plants at her old garden to go to her new house. She has some irises that belonged to my grandmother and her grandmothers. The teeny tiny daffodils from Louisiana are hidden deep in the ground and will have to wait until spring when they show their leaves again. And organized her new pantry, hung some plates I made before N was born on her kitchen wall, and washed all of our cars.

Started learning about planting by the moon phases. Interesting. I'm going to try it with a second batch of potatoes (even though it's really too late, I found some fingerlings hiding in my basement root storage) and those green beans that have dried up. There's certainly no harm in trying them again.

This week:
holding out hope for rain and cool temperatures
more swimming- practice after this week's swimming lessons
processing the blueberry butter
making blueberry-blackberry jam (oh, hello! jam!)
glazing. That part starts today.

talk to you soon.

making

2010-06-30T20:40:00.000-05:00

Hi. Several times this week I've caught myself sitting down, ready to write, but with little to say.

I'm making a lot this week.

Throwing and trimming and doing some slab work.

Tomorrow is my 10th wedding anniversary.

The weather's cooled down some. I'm very grateful for that (and for the 10 years).

Today I sat underneath the fig tree on our old metal glider with some iced coffee and a book, watching the chickens root through my newly-laid mulch in search of bugs. They found several and chased each other every time one found a nice juicy bug underneath the ailing green beans. Extreme heat (28 days of highs over 94 with high humidity- over 70%) has killed a lot in my garden.

There are still only 2 chickens.

The coop and yard are locked up tighter than Fort Knox.

I'll plant more beans when the temps cool down a bit. Maybe a second crop of okra in case they don't. The tomatoes are mostly in the front yard and they're doing fine.

I enjoyed the sitting in the shade.

ok. have a good rest of your week.

what's next?

2010-06-25T11:08:00.000-05:00

hello! How's your week been? Ours has been a little crazy. Plumbing issues (we have a fabulous utility company that took care of a leaking pipe in front of our house and then took exhaustive measures to trouble shoot and then fix subsequent problems. Lots of people moan and groan about public utility companies, but every person I've dealt with at MLGW has gone above and beyond the call of duty), heat (15+ days with temps hovering around 99- that's typical august weather, not june!) and firing to work out. Plus I've been thinking more about sustainability at home and in the studio. I made my own laundry detergent and have been exploring water conservation/reuse options that go beyond the rain barrels we have set up.

And pottery wise, I have some new things to show you! I've been playing with my letter stamps quite a bit- I have the large stamps I've had forever and a relatively new set of 1/4" stamps. First, this little "hello" was a test piece for a friend who wanted a butter crock in blue and yellow. I wasn't sure how it would work, and I was honestly afraid that the colors would run, but I'm pleasantly surprised with how it turned out.

And I am really really tickled with how these turned out. I have several salt cellars with lids (the one pictured lost its lid somehow and it didn't get glazed) and more honey pots that say "honey" instead of "miel". I like French best, but I'm making versions in English, too. What do you think?

I'll be at the market this Saturday and will have these plus the english honey pots. Whatever is leftover will go up in the shop on Monday. And I am definitely making more of these. I have a few other surprises to show you over the next few weeks- I want to have plenty ready to roll out the door before I introduce them, though. No sense in being a tease, is there?

Have a good weekend, friends

hot hot hot

2010-06-22T21:37:00.001-05:00

ok. no break in the temps. I have a smaller kiln on site, now I just need a new outlet to plug it in. This week (so far!) I've fired twice. Well, not this week. Once on Saturday, once yesterday. Both smaller loads, fired in the wee hours of the morning. I can load in the afternoon and fire the first two cycles (warm up- 2+ hours, medium 2+ hours) with the air going and then turn up the kiln to high and turn the air off as we go to bed*. The bisque firing was finished at 2am, so I turned the air back on when it was finished. The glaze firing I did last night took until almost 4 (I wake up every few hours to check on the progress when I fire through the night- a nervous wake-up habit), but it was nice to wake up for real in the morning to a cool rather than stifling house. Firing smaller loads means less time glazing (per session), which is very good for me. I'd rather work for three hours at it than six hours.

I hope to have some brand new things to show you before Friday. Fingers crossed. On Saturday I'll be at the farmers market. Saturday feels like a million miles away, but Monday already feels like a year ago.

I hope you're having a good week. I feel like things are settling down here a bit, which is good. Tomorrow I'm going to swim and work on the wheel. I'm looking forward to both.

*If you're new to me, I have an old house (1922) with old wiring (ahem. though not 1922, it still provides a limited amount of power) that doesn't allow me to run the air conditioning and the kiln on its highest setting. Once the air was on, a supplemental AC unit was going, and the microwave was on and we lost power. When we build a new studio we'll also put in a new/separate electrical box so that I can run both at the same time)

good friday to you

2010-06-18T12:54:00.001-05:00

I'm so glad that it is here. This has not been the easiest week on record- not a good week to be a Bridgman chicken. We're down to two hens. And they're flipping out just a bit. Funny thing was another friend had one of her araucana "pullets" turn into a roo, as well.

I'm slowly restocking my etsy shop- these teacups are there, and there are a few berry bowls up, too. I've gotten some really nice bloggy props this week. I really appreciate it, friends.

I'm working on figuring out how to fire during this heat wave we've been having. The solution involves borrowing a smaller kiln from a fellow potter-friend who is expecting her fourth child this summer. Ironically, the kiln used to be mine and went to live with a little old lady friend before it went to my friend who has it now. Smaller=less energy=I can run the air. Our lows haven't been much under 80 for the past two weeks, and the high humidity (which I usually love) means that it feels much warmer than it is. We're having August weather in June. And it's ok, but I have to have a production work-around. I can't not work just because it's hot, nor can I make my family suffer through nights of no air conditioning. (what did we do before this air-conditioned comfort? I'll bet that windows weren't painted shut- as they are in my bedroom- before the advent of air conditioning)

I hope your weekend is restful. See you on the other side.

Sunday

2010-06-14T16:34:00.000-05:00

What a weekend. It's hot like August right now and has been for almost a full week- high in the mid-to-upper 90s, high humidity. Now I like, even love our humidity. But at this temperature, the humidity means we have heat indices in the 100s. I've been craving some time in a cool forest, in running water. A respite. We had a very busy weekend - I had my day at the farmers market and we hosted our bookclub that evening. I'd planned to spend Sunday on the Mississippi River to have a day of cool and quiet.

It turned out that we needed the respite as Sunday began rather traumatically. I got up early, as I usually do, and let the chickens out as the coffee was brewing. There were only three. There were signs of a scuffle in the hen house. There were feathers outside everwhere. And then, to top it off, there was crowing. Quite a lot of crowing. Mary, a well-mannered black star hen, served as supper for the neighborhood raccoons. They ripped out the screening in the back of the hen house and I can only imagine what followed. And Petunia let us know for sure that she is not a she. We were devastated at the loss of our hen and disappointed to learn for sure that we owned a rooster. It was hot, it was humid, and we had a loud carnage scene to deal with. Respite, we doubly needed you, even though we knew we'd return home to the task of re-building and reinforcing our hen house.

We are fortunate to have a great state park, locally known simply as Shelby Forest less than 20 miles from our front door. It is so densely forested that a) the temperature is 10-15 degrees cooler there than in the city and b) our cell phones don't work in the park. There are two lakes, miles of hiking trails, and when the river is low enough (and it wasn't this time), sandbars to play "beach" on. Central to this artisan's interests, vast pockets of iron-rich sandy black clay line the sandbars and boat access ramps. We played in the water for a bit, dug a bit of clay, picnicked in the shade near one of the lakes and rested for a good part of the day. It was deep green, cool, breezy. Full of wildflowers and vast glades of ferns.

I'm still so sad about our chickens (plural because Petunia will need to find a new home- crowing roosters aren't popular with city neighbors), but I am glad that we went to the river as we'd planned. It was a beautiful, peaceful place.

I hope your week is a good one.

2010-06-11T10:09:00.001-05:00

Good morning. Last night we got some much-needed rain- everything is green and lush this morning under still-grey and heavy skies. The humidity in the air makes everything feel slightly tropical-I can almost imagine that I'm in New Orleans, sitting in old metal lawn furniture with a cold drink, waiting for a breeze to stir the air that sits heavy on your skin, like velvet. Some people find the humidity oppressive, but I've always loved how it is almost tactile and soft.

Over the past few weeks I've been spending more time on projects around the house than in the studio- I have a rescued butler's pantry (literally rescued, I found it on trash day on someone's curb) that I've been stripping years of paint and grime off it. It's nearly ready to paint. I made new covers for the cushions on the porch. The house got a deep clean (it's dog-shedding season- the vacuum comes out more frequently), and just yesterday we installed some new (to us, also repurposed items) huge planter boxes (4x2, almost 2' deep, and we have them set up so that they're waist-high) along the driveway in the back yard (our house is ca. 1922- the drive goes all the way to the back, where there was originally a small garage and now there's a carport w/ attached storage building that houses my kiln and glazing supplies) for more planting space. My strawberries have almost taken over half of my little kitchen garden plot and need to be moved, and I discovered that last year's tuberose bulbs tripled! I'm considering new window treatments for the den- I took down our old valances this winter and have yet to replace them- still thinking on that, but that little lift will be coming soon.
So, lots of house love, and last weekend we had quite a bit of company, including a special visitor and her two sweet kids. We spent most of her visit outside underneath our fig tree, enjoying the shade, our children playing in the tree house, and pleasant company. The combination of visitors, loving on our house, and resuming my morning runs through the neighborhood has had me really thinking about my home and my old neighborhood. Rachel's post resonates with me. I feel lucky to be where we are, in an old, established, modest neighborhood. One where people (mostly) love their homes but no one is ostentatious or trying to outdo. One where I can have a bottle tree in the front yard and no one gets bent out of shape by the enormous bamboo tomato cage sharing space with too-abundant flowerbeds- my neighbors laughed at that instead of being upset. Not to mention my chicken yard, clothesline, and rain barrels. I'm grateful for that (and realizing that more and more, I may be slightly on the fringe. I'm ok with that).
The last six months have been difficult- the economy has been rough on everyone. I'm taking a big break from feeling oppressed and worried to be grateful for our blessings and the small things that keep us going. I'm grateful for the big things, too, but sometimes it's the smaller things that add up to help me see the big ones I've been oblivious to.

And I'm working in the studio again. I've made several more "Beurre" butter crocks, honey pots that say both "honey" and "miel", lidded salt cellars, berry bowls, and bud vases, because these eight were among the last that I had. I made another dozen last night. I'll be at the farmers market on Saturday, out in the "T", from 7-1. If you're in town, I hope to see you there.

Have a lovely weekend, friends.