Monday, October 31, 2011

Dia de los muertos


The beginning of November marks the beginning of the spanish folk holiday celebrated by many cutures as "Day of the Dead" where cultures host a week of celebration in remembrance of family and friends who have passed on.

Being in the Midwest, we don't have as many authentic celebrations as say, the south west.

This holiday first intrigued me by the bright colors, and skeletons having a good ol time, and not letting the whole "death" thing get in their way of a lively celebration. It's something TABOO that most people in the United States won't understand, but as an artist, I've come to appreciate this folk traditions and beliefs of the Latino Culture, because they tell a story of many things that are often held at a "hush-hush" tone.

The majority of the work I sell features the Day of the Dead theme with the beautiful Catrina, and her romantic suitor dawning a top hat, and his devilsh grin. I don't have pictures of my pieces unfortuantely, but I do have pictures of me at POR VIDA, which was held in Columbus, OH and celebrated pieces inspired by Dia De Los Muertos, and how many of the artist cope with death.

In other exciting news: WE'RE GETTING THE KILN! Horray-hurrah! We had an overwhelming vote of support through e-mails from board members after I replied to mass e-mail about how beneficial the kiln would be for classes, and teaching!

I can't wait to see the kiln, and get it up and working!

The official board meeting is on Wednesday! I'm extremely excited! :D

It's quite funny after I typed that, because I realized that I have to pick up my finished pieces from Mayco on the same night, so my excitement turned into, "OMG WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!???" lol

I really need to start using my planner more. :)

Ooooh! Lookie what I found! A finished piece that goes with the theme. I started this lady back in July!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Viva la Art.... but not so much for the kiln.

Once more the kiln is out of commission. This makes the second time this year. The darn thing apparently won't "shut off" even after the kiln sitter has flipped down.

I know... I was confused, too.

Anyways, while I'm on hiatus, the board at the art league I work out of will be voting on using emergency funding to purchase a used kiln off of another board member's Aunt. I also inquired with this board member that if the board voted down the request, then I myself would personally buy the kiln and house it at the Art League for their use until I get my own studio. Win-win for them either way.

But, either way, they need one. I will be teaching some ceramic classes come spring time, as we have been receiving a lot of requests for adult clay classes.

I am excited for what the Houston House Arts Center will be doing for 2012. We're pretty much revitalizing the way we do classes, and are adding more events to our agenda in hope of gaining members, and having more outreach to the community.

There has been talk about one of the closer Arts Centers a county over possibly closing up shop due to lack of funding, which makes me extremely sad. I say, if you have to teach painting out of a shack, then do so. Arts in the community is so important, especially to children and young adults who cannot receive the freedom to express creativity with the watered down school art class agendas. Not to mention many schools have cut their art programs all together, because of financial issues.

I didn't mean for this entry to turn so sappy, or political, but I stand highest for arts, because promoting creativity in the young minds of today equals a future of innovation, and different thinking. It means the difference from followers, and creators.

The last thing I would want in life is to be stagnant, and be around stagnant people.

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Back to ceramics.... I have some really nice pieces made up from Mayco, which will be glazed this week! I'm so excited!! I can't wait to see the final product!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Tips

I'm no stranger to Ceramic Arts Daily's site, and I post a bit on their forum, because many professional potters seem to lurk there, including the Potter's Guild President, Chris Campbell, whom I wrote a short entry on a few pages back.

I'm a humble beginner to many on there who have decided a full time career of potting, and many have degrees up to their masters for ceramics.

I savor each and every little tip from business ideas, tax codes, potting techniques, which tools they like, and one tip that was given to me by an advanced potter. Potter's need to take a photography lesson.


In Today's market they're simply not just potters anymore. They also take on the role of book-keeper, accountant, advertising agent, market analyst, promoter, and to make sales anymore you need to have an online store, which includes photos. That is something that potters of the past never worried about aside of having their work published in a paper, or in a book, but it was a great tip I never would have thought of.

Etsy, and personal shops require excellent photography to help seal the deal for many folks. Who would want to buy a tea-cup that's lit too dark to see, or is too blurry to see the details? Not many, that's who.


Potters, ceramic artists, and other arts and craft entrepreneurs have taken on their own photographic challenges, and in that challenge, someone smart came up with the idea of a Photo box/tent. A small fabric box, with a few holes cut in it for lighting.

These sale for $50 and up depending on what size you want.

Well, this is where it gets exciting. After surfing around today I discovered someone was thinking that same frugal way that I was, a made a tutorial on creating your own photography box.

You can find that tutorial HERE.

So, while my dreams of a Nuwave oven will be put on hold for a few more weeks, I'm thinking that a new DSLR camera may be in my future very soon.


Sunday, October 9, 2011

Art Crawl


Art Crawl was good to me last night, and I sold some of my original day of the dead pieces that showed in the exhibit. So, it looks like I'll be back in the studio keeping busy!

Time flies when you're throwing on the wheel! I finished up a couple of pieces on Friday!

If you happened to have stumbled upon my blog from a business card, then please 'Like' my official page on Facebook, so you can keep up with updates, my blog postings, and any information on sales, or exhibits! I don't post ALL the time, so don't worry about me spamming up your front page with useless crap. :)

Check it out ...... HERE!

I'm working on getting my photos back from my photographer to get my ETSY store posted soon. Keep an eye peeled for my store launch! I'll have plenty of pieces to sale!

I hope everyone is enjoying, or enjoyed their weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!