yes, it's magic

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...