These were the plates I was commissioned to make for Paul's mom. They are my first set of plates and it took me almost two and half months to complete them. It's almost like giving away a little piece of me, so it's hard to part with them. The entire process was arduous but I have agreed to make a set for Reed and I,  but because of the amount of time and effort that goes into this, I'll have to really push myself. 

This round has been glazed Matte Tan Orange on the outside, one with an antique white inside, and one with a Falls Creek Shino inside, which looks like a glossy brown. I will be thrilled if one of these combinations is a winner so i can take a break from this floating blue streak I'm on and try something new.

Rewind

It's been a while since my last posting because I've been very busy with various projects- all related to Art education and some to pottery. I'd like to post the most recent work I've been doing including some unfinished pieces and some complete. A lot of this work is glazed in floating blue because of its success rate. It can be hard to branch out when you know you have something good.

10 Things that make me happy. 11 things..

Thanks to my friend Catherine 'Fraisedesbois' at http://fraisedesbois-edelweiss.blogspot.com/ I have decided to follow her lead and www.dinosaurtoes.blogspot.com/ 's suggestion to write down 10 things that make me happy on my blog, because why not!? I have so many more than 10 but I'll start with that..

1. It wouldn't be quite right if I didn't start off my list with Pottery because afterall, that is what My Heart Makes. Pottery makes me so happy that I want to do it forever and forever.:) It is the harmony that has brought everything together in my life and excites me every day. I dream about it, think about glazing when I should be concentrating on my breath at meditation class, and wonder how I could define my style while I'm on the the bike at the gym. Addicted you think? So worth it.

2. Flowers make me very happy. Seeing pictures of flowers (such as the ones on Catherine's blog:) are neat, drawing flowers is also really fun, and just admiring them in the spring is bliss. The flowers that my beloved brings home for me much more than he probably needs to is true bliss. I just love um.

3. Good music is decadent. Also the moments when I discover a new song or artist and a little spark goes off in my brain of amazement is just wonderful. Like the time Reed took me to see the Stars in concert for the first time and I thought I was in love.

4. Daydreams make me happy. When I get lost in a lovely thought and just go with it and let my mind just give in to the fantasy world of what could be, that's the best. It's like for 5 minutes I'm somewhere else and it feel real.

5. Cute cuddly adorable animals. I never outgrew it. Those posters I used to line my walls with when I was little of little bunnies, fuzzy kittens in hats, and shaggy puppies hugging, they still make me very happy. If you want to instantly light me up, show me a cute animal. My little fur ball Bella makes me happy, especially when sits on my lap or reluctantly lets me hold her. She's becoming more sociable every day and it's quite amazing.

6. Picnics and lying on a big blanket in the sun. I guess this automatically expresses my love for spring too..

7. Speaking of seasons, I adore Autumn. The colors that come with the changing of seasons is just incredible. I wish i could just bottle up my love for autumn, occasionally unscrew the cap and just breath it in.

8. Reading a good book makes me very happy, but then sad when it has to end. I adored all Truman Capote books especially Music for Chameleons and Breakfast at Tiffany's, The History of Love by Nicole Kraus, and the Wind-up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami. It's so amazing when I can find a book that I just love and then ever better when I can suggest it someone else to read.

9. Having a day out with my mom. We have done a lot of things together that are favorites like going to art museums and to dance performances but one of my favorite rituals is also my number 10 favorite thing.

10. High Tea. I love good tea, and adore scones and clotted cream. Even though I don't eat much dairy, I make an exception when I go out for high tea on special occasions. Tea & Sympathy in the West village makes you feel lux like Maria Antoinette with pink cake and beautiful antique tea pots, if you go to Harrod's in London, or the four seasons you get the royal treatment. I don't care where it is, Real High Tea is like a dream on earth.

                                          


11. This list wouldn't be complete without my favorite person in the world. Reed makes my life amazingly happy. I love traveling with him, wandering the streets, hiking, and simply relaxing.  We go on all these adventures together and they are always memorable with Reed. He is the icing on my cake of life. :)

Studio Assisting!

I was handed the most amazing news in my pottery-making life last week. Lisa of the painted pot asked me to become a studio assistant! This is going to change my life and teach me all the things I need to know to work in a studio- Amazing! I have my own shelf now for storage, full use of the studio and perks! Lots of perks! I am going to learn how to mix glazes, use the kiln and all the good stuff. It's really fantastic and I fully intend to take full advantage of this position. Here's a photo from some recently finished mugs from the same style I designed in the last round. Hope these come up just as well!!

Cargo Collective

Thanks to my talented boyfriend I have professional looking photos and a temporary website to showcase my portfolio/ resume and grad- school statement of purpose! This is a fantastic site. It has helped me to look at my work in a different way and to feel proud of the work I've done.
Click here to view my Portfolio
After I get a bit more work done, I'm thinking I will get a permanent site for my work and perhaps try to get some commissions. In fact, I am proud to say that I have my first commissions right now. My very good friend Paul has asked that I make a set of plates for his mother so I am working on a set of six dinner sized plates in Floating Blue. They're due to be ready in approximately a month and a half- I wish I could produce faster results but with all the limitations in the studio this is what it has to be. Either way, it's a great opportunity. I was also commissioned to a do a mug for Reed's mom and I'm thrilled...hoping the commissions keep coming. It's very exciting!!

Art vs. Craft

I'm so excited about this round of work, I woke up this morning at 6:30am and couldn't go back to sleep!! I am proud to say that I really feel that my work has gone to the next level. If you know me, you know that I usually practice modesty, but this is a shining achievement that even I will admit out loud. It's also amazing because in all the years of making art, this is the first work that I can confidently say stands on its own as well made, and beautiful, without it's maker needing to give an explanation. This brings up discussion on Art vs. Craft. A topic that Reed and I continue to converse about. Right now, I look at my work as both art and craft, and I consider myself an artist. But it will be interesting to see how that position evolves in my life as I continue to make work.
I should note that the weight of these are so light and even, you can tell that the overall form has been a huge improvement on my part. Also, the foot (base) on each mug and serving bowl, are the cleanest, and most professional looking, I've ever done. (I will try to post a pic later of the bottom of these pieces) Unfortunately, these are not the greatest photos and you can't see the brilliance of the color, but take a look. There will also be a forth mug coming out in the next glaze fire to complete the mug set.

Kings Cup

The glaze fire turned out so well! I choose to do sets of two to test the colors. I'm thrilled, as always by floating blue, and the glossy white is really beautiful, and not so manufactured looking as I feared. Randy's red actually turned out redder than I expected, which was fantastic!

These teacups are my pride and joy for the moment. A feat that is difficult to achieve in this unpredictable world called pottery. I salut this work but instead of tea, I think I'll cheers with a cup of hot chocolate!

Cup of Tea

I am proud to admit that I'm producing my teacups rather quickly- be still my heart I think my studio is finally firing my work. I am on my way out the door to see if these new tea cups have been bisqued and if so, I should I have a total of about 8 tea cups to glaze.

I may have mentioned that I loved glazing, and if I did, I will admit I really only love it when the glaze turns out well. My last round wasn't so hot. I fired a set of bowls in Calico and boy did they surprise me! I was so let down by the turn out of these, it was like a slap in the face. I mean seriously, these bowls were really nice. Nice shape, nice weight, very close in size, but the glaze just ruined it! So prey for me. These tea cups are my babies.

Please Gods: hook me up with a successful glaze fire, or I don't know what I'll do..

Item #1

Enter collection item number 1: Tea Cups

I am working on sets of oversized tea cups and saucers. Who doesn't find these sweet and endearing? But also, it makes me wonder what ever happened to tea time? maybe we never really did that in America, but we should! I for one love a good cup of tea and the only way I could only enjoy it more would be with nice warm english scone, some strawberry jam and clotted cream. But if your on a diet like I am now, and I can't exactly indulge in my favorite delectables, how about indulging by using a fabulous and worthy tea cup and saucer. It's not exactly the same, but at least it makes tea-time more fun.

Set the table

It's all about sets. I'm on my way to making this into a handmade business so i need to make sets. Everything looks better in sets because you can outfit an entire table. Not that I don't like the idea of mismatching pieces, but they somehow still need to be cohesive together. I am working on making pieces as close in size and shape as possible, and I think it's finally working. But one thing I am finally embracing is allowing each piece to be slightly different because naturally by hand it's impossible to make each piece exactly the same and anyway I want to avoid it being manufactured looking. That's part of the beauty of the hand made.

Floating Blue

These cereal bowls turned out perfectly. The floating blue glaze was a complete success and they are very close to being completely uniform, all fitting comfortably stacked. This is for sure an achievement for me being my best set ever and first set of bowls. Getting a great result is the best feeling because there are more chances than not that the work won't turn out the way you planned. I must have waited 3 weeks for these to be fired after I glazed them and I don't even want to think about how long the entire process took considering the speed my studio runs the kiln. I guess the wait only makes the positive result feel that much better.

Presentation

How do you make a vase look really good? Just like this: Add some amazing flowers. Actually, I was just having a conversation with a fellow potter in the studio about this. Sometimes the work speaks for itself, but often it's the presentation that really grabs the attention. You can try and sell a vase without flowers, but when you add the flowers a person can identify with it, envision it in their home, in the foyer greeting them as they arrive home from work , or on their dining-room table; the icing on the cake of an almost set table.

I've often noticed in interior design mags that the spaces they shoot may be attractive but it's the stylists who really do the magic adding the flowers, objects and changing the light. This was always my favorite part of the design process. Thanks to my thoughtful boyfriend Reed and his contributions to my constant desire for flowers, I have been able to take my vase up a notch in the world and really make it look fantastic. :)

Greek Inspiration

Reed and I took a trip to the MET where we both felt inspired. We spent most of our time with the Greek and Roman ceramics and I focused my attention on the painted patterns and the shapes of these ancient yet very contemporary looking objects. I feel inspired to start exploring these throughout my own work. I am drawn to these patterns and textures and can certainly learn a lot from the shapes that were created for functionality and ceremony. Even though we've been to this section before. We were struck by how modern these looked and how they could easily be created today and never given a second thought.

Before and After

The most satisfying part is looking back on the process. There are 3 significant stages of ceramics. The wheel throwing phase, the bisque phase and then glazing. Because the process requires so many stages its easy for many things to go wrong which makes a finished and successful piece feel that much more gratifying.

Coffee Break

Seaworld and matte brown win again!

I am actually having coffee in one of these as we speak. I think the new ritual is to try them out before giving them away to get the entire experience. They begin as 1 1/2 pound mounds of clay and slowly become a finished functional piece of art. I'm proud of these because sets are difficult to create. They're all slightly different but I think that just helps emphasize the hand made-ness of them. And the way things have been going lately, you never can tell how the glaze will turn out and if it will drip or crack.

I am definitely inspired to create more sets and give them as gifts for the holidays. But I better get going because the holidays are quickly approaching and the firings are moving at the same glacial rate.

Shiny and New

I'm thrilled that some of my pieces came out of the kiln. These turned out nicely. The seaword glaze only dripped a smidge on my mug and the other glazes worked perfectly. Only sad news was my serving bowl somehow ended up skewed, I'm guessing by the heat. Firing is such a mystery. What does happen in that kiln.

Firing takes patience

More pots waiting to be fired: I am attempting two sets of cereal bowls. And all the while I am STILL waiting for my mugs and vases to come out of the bisque fire. Unfortunately my studio has an extreme wait time for firing and I have now been waiting since the 2nd of the month for those items to come out of the kiln. These new items will have to wait a possible long while to be fired, so I guess Ill just keep throwing in the mean time.

Love you can eat

Though very small our first miniature crop is here! They are delicious, ripe and lovely, and will make for a nice snack with Reed's homemade hummas. This is quite thrilling.

Inspire

These will definitely be sketched and hopefully applied to something ceramic. Thanks to Reed..