Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Brakes.

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”


After a lot of consideration, and time constraints, it hit me the other night that I should probably put a hiatus on doing any crafting events, or festivals till next year.

I had such a feeling of being overwhelmed, and then it hit me that I would be freaking out for the whole month of October trying to get banners made, find table clothes, small platforms, getting stuff bubble wrapped, finding packaging, and getting all the smaller business necessities like finding a laptop of tablet to carry to shows, making spreadsheets, and all that fun (boring) stuff.

I'm going to devote a lot of my sales for the rest of 2011 to my Etsy account, and at The Houston House Arts Center during exhibits. I'm excited to see some of the feedback on my pieces from the public. So far, it's looking positive, which is helping me get a long.

Speaking of Exhibits my pieces will be featured at an event the Houston House is doing for the Festifair/Covered Bridge festival. I guess they're having a large tour bus coming through, and a plus is that we have some people from the Fair committees jumping on board to help support us, which brings a lot of excitement. The whole thing has been a huge learning process for me, and I'm glad I can devote time to something I have a passion for.

Anyways, the show is September 10th. I kilned my Grandma's piece last night, and I'm crossing my fingers that it's still in a single, solid piece, and not blown to bits. Tonight, I'm going to glaze it, and pop it back into the kiln again.

That's another thing lately, I've been wanting to mess around with Stoneware again. I've been wanting to build, and even wheel throw again, but with my schedule, it's forced me to put any thought to creative adventuring on the back burner. In a way, the overwhelming feeling is start to turn stifling.

I'm taking a break, and calling for a New Year's resolution to really get my business rear in gear come 2012, so I can enjoy the rest of my 2011.

--P.S.-- My wheel throwing classes start in a couple weeks. HORRAY! I've never met such a nicer bunch of ladies so excited about teaching ceramics!! :)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Back to School!



All the kiddies are doing it, so why can't I?

Well, I am. I'm going to be taking some simple classes for wheel throwing and glazing, which are two things I REALLY need to improve on, seeing I have not had formal education in either, and everything I have learned is from pure reading, and experimentation.

I can't tell you how thrilled I am about this, because I'll be taking classes from Jen Harnetty, an editor for Ceramic Arts Daily, which is like my online web bible for ceramics, and she's posted some techniques on the site, that I'd really love to know about, or at least ask about.


A piece from Jennifer Harnetty.

On to other things:

This is DO or DIE week, people. My deadline is next week, and I'm running behind, because of being held hostage at the Houston House for Auditions, and form signings for a play I'm involved with. Part of me wants to act like a mean troll and carry all my things to the basement are start working down there.

You know, Potters can be really angry and agitated people. I think I understand that frustration for the fact they're under deadlines, and a lot of them have no social life for the fact they're always stuck in their studio.

The next two days will be nothing more than firings.

I'm crossing my fingers on this show, because I'm not seeing too many ceramic artists at these shows, which means they haven't found out about them, or their pieces were not appealing to the alternative crowd.

I have business cards that have been ordered, and should be here soon, and come October I'm going to be worrying about packaging, bags, stickers, and all that other good stuff on TOP of having to make more pieces for bulk. Thank-God I don't wholesale at the moment. HOLY CRAP, what a headache that must be!

SOME EXCITING NEWS!!
I love the colors of Dia De los muertos.

Well... sorta. I've been getting some great feedback on my finished pieces. I have some Day of the Dead pieces with a man, and his lady skeleton on some of the pieces, and the President of the Art League was showing the Houston House to a Doctor, and she said the Doctor asked about pricing on the pieces, and seemed interested.

I can't tell you how that bumps my confidence up. I was there a few weeks going, "Who's going to buy this crap!? I feel so mediocre!"

I'm ready! Lets DO THIS!!


Thursday, August 18, 2011

Can ye fathom the ocean, dark and deep...



....where the mighty waves and the grandeur sweep?

And where squids and whales sleep.

I've finished another series. and they're now nestling in a nice warm kiln... unscathed and not cracked.... hopefully.


Did you know, that I am uneasy about squids and octopus, and I get satisfaction in conquering the beasts of the sea when I bite into some fried calamari on an Asian buffet?

Octopus and squids are weird. I was traumatized after watching something on the history channel about how they have these giant beaks, and can literally snap through a thick metal cable, which they then compared to a human bone.

Still not creeped out?

They're smart... REALLY smart, from the way they attack their prey, and plan their dinner. Screw Moby Dick. I am afraid of squids and other tentacle beasts of the ocean deep.

Why do I paint them and draw them? I don't know. I don't have a phobia, but rather a genuine uneasiness about them. Either way, I am excited to see how these turn out.

Also, here's another shot including two other pieces that are prepped to be refired after testing some glaze out. I'm pretty excited about them as well.



Thursday, August 11, 2011

Back to basics

I'm not going to lie. August is my crazy month in which my schedule is immensely overloaded.

Not to be snooty, or irresponsible to obligations temporarily, but this is one of those Oprah "live for you, and you alone" pep talks. Mine just isn't on a daily basis... JUST until September.

I have some inventory built up, but I'm probably going to cast of couple more pieces before I feel satisfied enough to start selling. My biggest thing for September is kiln time. A lot of these pieces are getting bisque fired, then clear coat fired. Kiln time takes a lot of my evening, because I have to sit around wait for it to ramp up.

I got around to hand building again last night. I can't tell you the last time I sat down to work on a handbuilt piece that wasn't a sculpture. I made a floral pot dedicated to my very own Mammaw in West Virginia. It didn't hit me till the piece was nearly finished, and I felt like it was missing something, so added some small rosettes on the left side of the piece in which I wanted
to dedicate it to her, because of her enjoyment of growing roses and flowers, and to the fact she worked as a florist.

I can't ever look at a bright pink/fuchsia rose without thinking about my Mammaw.

This piece is called, "The Florist" and I plan on entering it into the members exhibit for the Covered Bridge festival come September.

A side view of the handle, and
rosettes.


I think this is why I am so partial to hand built pieces, and I feel more of a connection to them. If I lose a porcelain cast piece, it's nearly not as overwhelming as losing something that took a considerable amount of time to construct and put creativity into.

Okay, and now, but not least: GLAZE PARTY!

I've been busy cleaning out underneath the cabinet! Once these are finished, I may sell them. There's nothing I'm really dying to keep out of this bunch. Maybe someone else can appreciate them! I'm excited to see the pieces once they go through the kiln!!



Friday, August 5, 2011

Lovely ladies




I'm still using my victorian lady bust template on a couple of pieces. I popped these into the kiln last night. Hopefully, they turn out ok!

And just for fun. Here's a picture of a chair I painted over at the Houston
House Arts Center back in the Spring. It was based on a Gibson Girl print. It's still not finished. I think it's in the basement being friendly with the black widows.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Blue period


Picasso had his blue period, so it should only be befitting that my pottery came out blue. However, my intentions were not to convey sadness, despair, or poverty behind my work. In fact, it was pure accident.

Hallelujah, the kiln I operate out of is fixed! After some test runs I decided to load it up with all of my porcelain casted greenware pieces that I painted an underglaze on, and give it a whirl. I had also forgotten that I had mixed some stain into a couple of the pieces when I was slip casting.

Well, to make a long story short, everything has a blue tint to it. I like it, because it mimics a rustic speckled look.

Since this was pure accident, then I'm certain I'll never be able to recreate it.
Ohio bowl.
I also have a suspicion that the kiln is firing a little bit hotter than expected, or it's ramping up too quickly, because I noticed on this load that a vase I had made for my Grandmother completely slumped over.
Also, I noticed that all my pieces were so smooth like they had a small hint of a gloss to them, but I had not added a clear coat to any of them. This to me is a sign that the kiln might to firing too hot, too quickly, so I'm going to venture out this evening, and by Cone 4 pyrometric cones to see if firing it to a lower heat will cure my problem.

I've been firing all of my pieces to Cone 6, which is considered high firing, which is more common for Stoneware, than porcelain, but I was assured that the porcelain slip I was using could go up to cone 6. Anyways, these pieces will all get a nice clear coat, and then be fired to a low temp, and then they should be good to go! HORRAY, finally some completed pieces!

Fur Sho'-

I have a lot of deadlines coming up soon. I have to get some pieces completed for the Member's Show at the Houston House Arts Center, and then I have a deadline at the beginning on September for an alternative craft show that will happen during the winter holiday season.
Pinup bowl-bisque fired.
Maybe it's a good thing I wasn't able to finish for the deadline for Crafting Outlaws, because I found out over 190 people applied to be a vendor, and they're only picking 50 people to represent. A lot of those people will most likely be vendors who were grandfathered in from previous years, and who have sponsored the event.
Birds on a wire.
OH YEAH---- I almost forgot! If you have a Facebook the you can 'LIKE' Little Black Dog Pottery now! Cool, right?

Click HERE for Facebook.

I have FINALLY, set up an Etsy store for purchases!

Click HERE for my Etsy Store!


PROGRESS!!!