Gearing up for a New Year...

As the final days that will bring in the New Year are quickly approaching, I'm feeling really good about what 2012 will bring.  I feel I made a lot of progress in 2011 for my ceramics career, and now that I have an understanding for applying to shows and displaying my pottery in fairs, I want to try to tackle even more projects in 2012.  I told Josh about a few of my goals last night, and he essentially told me that I should be wary of taking on too much.  I feel as if I've had a good amount of extra time on the weekends that wasn't spent accomplishing things; just me being very lazy, so I think I shouldn't be overwhelmed...maybe. :)

A few of the things I have lined up for 2012:

~I mentioned that I was accepted into a cup show in Baltimore, and I was also accepted into one at The Clay Gallery in Ann Arbor, MI.

~My gallery in Savannah has decided to not renew their lease on the space, so I am trying to sell my work in other places.  I applied to be a member of Kobo Gallery in City Market.  It's a co-op, so I have to pay a monthly fee if I am accepted, but I think it will be a good opportunity to sell my work.

~Jessica Broad and I are applying to an art festival in Hilton Head, SC in April.  We'll find out near the end of January if we were accepted. Before the Merry Art Market was finished, we took an image of our "booth setup." Check it out:

~I will be teaching at Savannah's Clay Spot on Monday nights again.  I already have 4 people signed up for their spots.  I'm pretty excited, because I want to try a new teaching style that I haven't used.

~I wanted to have 10-12 new portfolio pieces completed that I could submit for grad school applications before the Holidays were over.  I have started, but not finished a single one.  I have the ideas present, so I just need to sit down a make, make, make.  So that is on the agenda for 2012 as well.  I need to look into what the deadlines are for applications pretty soon.

~I also need to create work for 3-4 potential group shows. I actually just remembered those.

Those are a few of my resolutions for 2012, but to step back into this year, guess what came in the mail yesterday?!

I'm very excited to make a mold of this super sized wine glass.  Since my casting slip shrinks so much, I knew that I should find something larger than a normal wine glass to create my mold.  I got this along with a copy of Mold Making & Slip Casting by Andrew Martin- a book I've wanted for a long time.  I'm starting to realize that I'm a big fan of taking familiar objects and recreating them in clay.  I've pondered the idea of creating my own line of jars and glasses and selling them on Etsy.  There is another artist (Meredith Host) who has 2 separate lines of work that she uses for galleries and for art fairs.  I think these would be fun to decorate and sell.  I also looked into super sized martini and margarita glass.  I love booze! :)

I have a few things I want to finish before Josh and I pack up and head to Florence, SC, for Christmas.  I have half of a kiln filled with glaze/bisque.  I am trying to figure out my kiln loading/scheduling for using two clay bodies that fire at different temps.  Thankfully there are some cross overs (ex: I can fire decals on ^6 clay at ^04), so it shouldn't be that difficult, but I know that firing a glaze and a bisque in one kiln can have it's consequences. I'm venting the kiln (leaving the lid partially open throughout the firing), so we'll see how that turns out.  I also have some things being fired at Lisa's that are lovely little presents for some happy people.

Oh and I finally made a mold for a larger cloud plate for the Birds and Clouds Dinnerware.  I hope to have one of those and a bowl made for Uncommon Goods before the New Year, so they can decide if they want my pieces or not.

I hope that everyone's Christmas is exceptional and that the ending of the old year captures the hope and anticipation of the new.  Happy Holidays!