The holiday season is like entering a different country. A country where your phone doesn't work because you're too busy to take calls and so are all of your friends, who are also buried under piles of orders. The food is terrible, and the natives are anxious, if not downright hostile. It's the most magical time of the year!
Aside from the terrible food-- I mean, whhhhhhy are there crappy, store-bought cookies EVERYwhere right now?-- I'm actually feeling pretty damn good. I've got this holiday thing down. I've only lost one order so far and I found it again before the customer knew I lost it. I had a plague of broken stuff, all the same item, going to different people, broken in the exact same way. Why why why? I have no idea. I just made it all again, packed it in big boxes, and moved on. I crank my Duran Duran station and I feel ever so slightly pleased.
Then, I made an amazing discovery. My red glaze has been cursed for a while now. I started having this problem where it was coming out with nasty dark spots that looked like bruises. So annoying. Someone ordered a set of nesting lotus bowls in red and they came out so bad, with bruises all over, that I immediately hid them away from myself so I wouldn't have to look at them, and cancelled the order with the customer. Then I pulled them out a couple of weeks ago and decided they weren't so bad, but there was some glaze crawling that needed to be fixed up so I ran them through the kiln again. The kiln overfired by a bit, and the bowls came out SHINY PERFECT RED. Bruises, gone. I discovered the cure, which is the red needs to get just a teeny tiny bit hotter than a perfect cone 5. I got so excited I added it as a color option to my new website. Yes, I will charge you more because I'm still nervous, but look at this gorgeous baby:
Aside from the terrible food-- I mean, whhhhhhy are there crappy, store-bought cookies EVERYwhere right now?-- I'm actually feeling pretty damn good. I've got this holiday thing down. I've only lost one order so far and I found it again before the customer knew I lost it. I had a plague of broken stuff, all the same item, going to different people, broken in the exact same way. Why why why? I have no idea. I just made it all again, packed it in big boxes, and moved on. I crank my Duran Duran station and I feel ever so slightly pleased.
Then, I made an amazing discovery. My red glaze has been cursed for a while now. I started having this problem where it was coming out with nasty dark spots that looked like bruises. So annoying. Someone ordered a set of nesting lotus bowls in red and they came out so bad, with bruises all over, that I immediately hid them away from myself so I wouldn't have to look at them, and cancelled the order with the customer. Then I pulled them out a couple of weeks ago and decided they weren't so bad, but there was some glaze crawling that needed to be fixed up so I ran them through the kiln again. The kiln overfired by a bit, and the bowls came out SHINY PERFECT RED. Bruises, gone. I discovered the cure, which is the red needs to get just a teeny tiny bit hotter than a perfect cone 5. I got so excited I added it as a color option to my new website. Yes, I will charge you more because I'm still nervous, but look at this gorgeous baby:
And really, that's all I want for Christmas: glaze that behaves.
Hello Whitney! I love how well you describe the process of being an artist. Adore it actually. And now I am even more excited to know what a big part Duran Duran plays in your life! I always wonder what other artists listen to!
ReplyDeleteLooking at that photo of those amazingly perfect red bowls, I have decided you need to be locked up in the psych ward! Who can possibly have the mind to make something that difficult! They are such a perfect picture of Christmas, just beautiful!!!! Love a good red glaze, my favorite color :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I see the words Duran Duran, the video of them on the sailboat always pops in my head! Here, this is for you, Happy Christmas!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3W6yf6c-FA
Yep love it! want one...or 5. Shouldn't be reading this right now, should be packing orders, but this is a great post, and awesome on you for figuring that glaze shit out! Hey so: does this explain the bad boyfriend celedon? xoxoxoxo
ReplyDeleteHappy holidays Whit! Glad to see somerhings never change. You still rock. Now you rock RED!
ReplyDeleteI just love Duran Duran, even though I loved them best when I was 13, and I do not like being reminded of when I was 13.
ReplyDeleteAnd Tracey, I've often thought how nice it would be to get committed for a nice long vacation at the psych ward, where I could make finger puppets for therapy and not be expected to take orders!
Too bad about the food - there are so many store-bought cookies around because people are too busy to bake cookies at home - they are too busy on the biggest scourge of mankind - Facebook - making pithy and pert comments like 'lol' and 'that's great!' to their online 'friends' to do anything REAL for the REAL people in their lives. They equate stopping at Sprawlmart and buying the bucket of 'holiday' cookies as the same as taking an hour or two to put something of themselves into a batch of homemade cookies, or banana bread, or anything.
ReplyDeleteI hate the holidays - my favorite day of the year is January 2nd, when it's all over.
but Conisto, how do you really feel :)
ReplyDeleteWhitney, that sounds like a dream vacation actually haha! I just popped over for another look at those yummy bowls!