perfect firing

I pulled these pots out of the kiln today, and I though they were perfect and lovely. The pieces are all orders going to different stores, and I had to take a picture before they are scattered all over the country. This eggshell glaze is one of my favorites, because it fires out consistently and always looks good. The texture is matte with the tiniest bit of sparkle to it, like a thick vanilla icing. This is what I call a "good boyfriend" glaze: looks great, always there, sweet as can be. And yes, I have my "bad boyfriend" glazes too: inconsistent, temperamental, unreliable. The only reason why I keep them around is because they are so damn good-looking, just like those boys I used to date back in high school... and college too!

this weekend

If you live in the Bay Area, you should come see me at the Contemporary Craft Market show at Fort Mason in San Francisco this weekend. If you go to their website you can download free passes, otherwise you pay the $7 entrance fee.

I will have plenty of those bird bowls, some dogwood bowls, and the cake stands with the little birds too. It's all very springy and pretty. And some lotus bowl sets, one particularly fetching small set in peach, which looks great on a green plate. If I had it together I would have a picture to show you exactly how great, but I've been glazing orders all day and I get totally one-track mind when I glaze. I don't know what it is about glazing, but I don't stop to do anything. I have to make sure I bring food and water to the studio or I don't even eat all day.

I'm really looking forward to the show this weekend because I just found out that my booth neighbor is my good friend Caramia of Hotcakes Design Jewelry. We are both always so busy that the only time we ever get together for dinner or drinks is during the shows in New York. We joke that we spend more time together in New York than we do in California, and it's not a ha-ha joke, because it's true. Knowing that she is my neighbor is a good omen; I'm predicting a giddy weekend with lots of sales flowing back and forth between our booths. And if we're not too exhausted from receiving people's money and admiration all day, we can have a drink at Greens on Saturday to celebrate success.

efficiency, pt 2

Those dogwood flowers are getting cranked out right now, thanks to my new mold:
I got the mold on Thursday and immediately started pouring it, and have made enough flowers in two days for two of my dogwood bowls. Not terribly efficient because the mold turns out two flowers at a time, but My Man at the Factory, Hector, is going to make me 5 more of these molds and then it's going to be raining dogwood blossoms. I also got a little mold made of my birds:

I always refer to Hector as "My Man Hector" because he has been making molds for some of my work this past year and I am amazed at how good the work comes out and how skilled Hector and his crew are. I never have been into the idea of having my work molded, I just love throwing too much. But the first time I went to the New York Gift show last year and took a bunch of orders, I came home and threw everything and had blood blisters on my fingers from throwing so much. I'll suffer for my art as much as the next person, but this was ridiculous. I sat on Hector's waiting list for almost a year before he took me on as a client, and it's really great working with him. It also totally changes what kind of orders I can take. I'm working with a client right now who wants 300 leaf platters for a hotel. A year ago an order for 300 anything would have made me insane with worry about how to pull off a big order like that. With Hector on my team, I haven't lost even a second of sleep, it will be totally taken care of.

Back to pouring more dogwood blossoms...

the life

The past two days I've spent cleaning and re-organizing my studio. I like my studio to be very neat, clean, and organized, and I'm always confounded by the fact that it frequently resembles a disaster area. I love cleaning my work space up, making it look like a very orderly & together person works there. I always promise myself to take the extra 10 minutes every evening to keep it looking pristine, and I always have hope it may happen this time. The first time I saw Diana Fayt's studio, I immediately went back to my studio and cleaned for like, two days. Her studio is what I aspire to: low dust factor, everything in its place, room to think and work.

I'm basically laying in new trenches. I'm anticipating very busy weeks and months ahead of me, and I don't think I'm going to have time to reorganize the studio again until next year. That sounds crazy to say, but that's how it is around here. Warp speed. I also interviewed a new assistant, part of my war plan. She doesn't know it yet, but she'll be heading up my calvary while I hole up with my wheel and plot my takeover.

Things just feel very calm right now. I've been re-designing my website to make it more interactive and give people the ability to purchase work and pay for it online. I guess that's called a shopping cart. I've also been playing with new shapes and ideas. I threw this weird looking thing the other day:

I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet, but something is going to happen. That's the mantra right now.

the importance of cups

I started throwing again last week, the first time since I dislocated my shoulder snowboarding a month ago. It actually felt good to throw, and I could kind of use my knee to support my elbow if I was having trouble holding it up. Even though there is a tall stack of orders, I didn't know what to throw. I didn't feel right just jumping into production throwing. Not only was I worried about my shoulder, I didn't think my brain could take it either.

I ended up just messing around all day, a luxury I haven't given myself in such a long time that I really don't remember the last time I threw clay just for fun. That is so sad, and as I write this I'm thinking I will never deprive myself like that again. I didn't keep most of what I made that day, just played around with forms and ideas. I finally threw some extra large tumblers for my husband, who has been begging me to make these for him for at least a year. I usually respond to him, (sarcastically) "I'll get right on that!" Doesn't he know there is always a stack of orders that comes first? God I am such a slave driver, and I wonder why I feel more like a machine than an artist sometimes.

I don't make a lot of cups, I've never been that inspired by them and I'm always way happier to get my cups from Christa, who is inspired by the cup and makes them better than anyone I know. But after seeing Gwyn Hanssen Piggott's cups, (I really can't stop talking about her) I've realized my lack of inspiration comes down to my own lack of imagination around what a cup can be. Also, how could I put off Andrew like that all this time? My sweet patient husband, who listens to me bitch all the time about how hard I have it, never asks me to get a real job that maybe has some health insurance, is always there to help me haul around clay and pottery, and pretty much rubs my shoulders whenever I ask? That man has a tough job. I don't try to be a difficult person or wife, but as Andrew says, I don't even have to try...

So, two resolutions: One, always make time to play on the wheel. Two, always make time to make Andrew whatever he wants, and cut the sarcasm.

redemption|reimagination

Redemption recently came in the form of an invitation to participate in the Summer 2007 Goshogawara Woodfire Festival in Japan. I'll be going off to Japan for the entire month of July and put up in guest accommodations with 13 other visiting potters and do nothing all month but make pottery, hobnob with my colleagues, and drink sake. Lots and lots of sake. In this moment when inspiration is so desperately needed, I feel like I've gotten a message from god. I have never thought that much about wood firing pottery until a few weeks ago when I went to see Gwyn Hanssen Piggott exhibit in NYC. Her beautiful pottery was wood fired and I thought how lovely it was, and maybe I should give it a try. Oh boy am I ever going to give it a try.

The drums of doom have ceased for now. I decided to cancel the New York Gift Show and it was an easy decision to make actually. When I thought about signing another contract to do the show I felt like throwing myself under a bus. When I thought about not signing the contract I felt light and happy. I'm following the light. The invite to Japan just cinches the deal.

Now it's time for re-imagining where I'm going with my pottery. I'm going to fill these orders I have and continue to work with whatever stores and galleries want to keep buying my work, but I'm not going to concern myself with hanging onto them or actively pursue getting new accounts for now. All I really want to do is make some really amazing, time consuming, labor intensive pottery and not think for a moment about what it's costing me.