Mornings...

Harley (my Siamese child) and I took a "walk" this morning.  I say "walk" because Harley likes to sit and observe more than walk and explore.  This gives me the opportunity to check some emails on my phone and drink some coffee out of my wonderful Lisa Bradley cup. I typically walk him in the afternoons after work, and we learned this morning that there are a lot more noises from squirrels and birds to make him agitated.  His leash is a new experience and I continuously have to console him, so after about an hour, we came back inside.  I sat down to reorganize my blog, and got wrapped up in it.  I have a lot to accomplish this weekend, so I will have to cut this blog a little short.







I got my first PO from Uncommon Goods.  They want 25 sets by the end of February for their online presence.  I told them I would try, so I need to go and make another mold, but before I do, look at what came in the mail yesterday...two gallons of glaze for the B/C sets.  By ordering a gallon on the darker glaze, I saved about $7 a pint! :)

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...

I get overwhelmed relatively easily. Take for instance, last Tuesday...coffee spills, non-punctuality, and obstinate students were only the minor details. I found out that Uncommon Goods wanted my birds and clouds plate and bowl set (yay!), but they wanted 375 sets by the summer. Half of that they wanted by April 1. That may not seem like a lot, but let me just tell you, it's something. The reason they needed so many is that they wanted to put my pieces in their catalog as well as online. This means that it would get a lot more exposure and theoretically, more people would buy it. The kicker was when I started to imagine shipping 180 dinnerware sets. I told the UG rep that I really needed to think about it, and probably drink a few bottles of wine before I could give her an answer.

Here were some of my thoughts after getting off the phone with her: This is a great opportunity. Do I really want to be a machine and produce all of those pieces? This could make me a nice sum of money. Will I have the time to balance all the deadlines I already have plus this? I could never get another chance to do this again. How the hell will I fire all those pieces?

Let's skip ahead a bit to my interview at Kobo that night. I was not on my game as far as organized thought goes. I think I made a good impression, but I was stressed out/overwhelmed and I'm pretty sure that showed. I know that letting gallery owners know that you're crazy busy probably isn't the best idea, but these things I can't always disguise, so honestly I'm willing to let fate be the judge of this one. I'm thinking it will take at least 3 weeks for them to determine if they want me or not.

Back to the UG...I told the rep that I couldn't do it. I sat down with Josh and he helped me realize that the number was something that I couldn't produce and it wasn't worth the stress or time. The rep emailed me back and said,

"I was thinking about this a lot and really believe in you and your product. I don’t want to pressure you and I really appreciate your honesty about your capacity."

She then proceeds to explain that the purchasing team decided that my selling price was too low. If we increased the price, this would decrease the number of product they would need. Instead of 375, they would want 288, and need 125 by April 7. In addition, I would get about $10 extra for every set. I reviewed the numbers again and decided to accept the offer! I wasn't even trying to negotiate, I was just being honest. 

I was really encouraged by UG's diligence and it reignited something within me. Instead of being stressed, I'm pretty excited to do this again. Currently, I'm making more molds so I can increase my production.

Among other things, I also have a summer group show lined up. I need to start producing some pieces for that, but while I'm making molds, I decided to tackle the wine glass. I broke the foot in half, but figured I'll fix the mold and trash the prototype. At least I did drink out of the glass first.

Lately...

I've been trying to set up a few money making adventures to fund my ceramic expenses.  They are all currently in progress, which does nothing to provide income, but hopefully they will be fruitful.

• I'm trying to set up an interview with Kobo gallery for this weekend.  Then I will have to deliver work to them so that the rest of the members will vote whether they like my work or not.  ::crosses fingers::

• I'm also waiting on Uncommon Goods to tell me if they want to sell my Birds and Clouds Dinnerware.  I sent them a sample, that I really, REALLY hope made it in one piece.  I was lazy with packing and now I'm nervous about it.  If they do vote on me, then my work will be in their Summer catalog. 

• My night class at Savannah's Clay Spot met for the first time last night.  It seems to be a really great and gifted group of individuals.  

• I also might get the opportunity to teach clay to middle and high school students in February during a week long workshop.  I will be teaching at Savannah Christian Prep School for their Art Blitz Program where various artist come and give workshops.  It's a pretty cool thing, and I seem to be getting a wide range of teaching experience lately, so why not add middle and high school students to it?

Also, I've started editing some photos from the work that I've been doing lately.  I'll leave you with a finished photo. :)

Something new for the new year.

Just thought I would throw this out there...

the ants have been permanently been placed. :)

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!

Final Merry Art Market

The conclusion of the Merry Art Market was the most successful yet! It was filled with holiday tunes, decadent treats, and the mingling of artists with their customers.  I think the best thing was that after the sale there were mimosas and bartering.  Talk about my type of afternoon! I got the most wonderful gifts, um, for myself. :D  Two wonderful wooden cutting boards, a wooden wine stopper, ceramic necklace, two ceramic cups and a bowl, a ceramic plate, and a ceramic candy dish.  Potentially, I will also add earrings and a purse to all this.  Greatest thing was that it was all handmade!  Oh and I wasn't completely greedy, a few of those things will go to other people.  Just a few though. ;-)  I don't want to give up all my goodies.

I also got into a cup show at the Baltimore Clay Works.  I also got a parking ticket, but that is beside the point.  Yesterday was a great day.  I will share a few images of the final table set up.

Merry Markets and Winter Whines

Hello, hello.  It's been a really long time, but I blame that on the Holidays. :)
A few updates:

Tomorrow night is the opening reception for the SCAD Small Works 2011.  I have a few pieces in the show this year.  It's typically a great show for the holidays because of the affordable nature of the artwork. 










Last Saturday was the first Merry Market.  It was quite delightful.  There was a lot of really great work that included: ceramic cups, plates, bowls, pitchers, teapots; wooden salt and pepper grinders and cutting boards; jewelry; framed stained glass; paintings; photographs; mixed media holiday ornaments and ceramic garden sculpture.  It was really bright and colorful.  I took a lot of photos, but I am only going to post a few.  All of the images are on my facebook, so you can view the rest there.  It is the first year for the sale, so in spite of our attempts to bombard people with flyers and lure them in with tasty cookies and cider, it seemed that after lunch, the crowd died down.  We are hoping that people were just waiting until the next weekends to spend all of their money on Christmas gifts. :)  I have ceramic ornaments in the kiln right now, that will hopefully make it out in time for the sale this Saturday.  

My table.

View entering Market.

Jessica Broad's table. She's so cool.

Overview of the sale.

Steve (wood), Stephanie (ceramics), and Jessica's (ceramics) table.

In other news, I didn't win the ceramic competition with Uncommon Goods.  I think I lost the voting by a good 200 votes.  Apparently, I really don't have that many friends. :D  However, I was contacted by Uncommon Goods this past week because they are interested in selling two of my pieces from my Birds and Clouds dinnerware set.  I need to make a few more molds before I can get started on the project, but I am really excited by the opportunity and interested to see how easy/difficult it will be to work with a company. 

And the largest project that is underway, is at work.  Alexander Hall is getting a makeover during Winter break, so that means lots of loud noises and strange smells that are not pleasant.  My old office was destroyed and rebuilt, and given to someone else altogether.  I am going to be moving into what is supposed to be a more awesome location come January.  Until then, the computer access has been weird, so the entries may not get any more consistent until I have a stable environment again. :)

Happy Holidays everyone and support local artists by giving the gift of handmade!