Acorn Fever

As I am feverishly throwing my acorn jars, They were featured on Miapella's Blog!

The acorns are very excited. Thank you :)

Fall Season is Here

Even in Sunny California, summer is coming to an end and I am really looking forward to fall and the holiday season. Lately I’ve been gearing up and making pottery like a mad woman. I’ve learned the hard way not to get excited about your pieces until they are out of the kiln, out of your car and tucked away safely on the shelf. Now it’s time to get excited. The glazes came out so wonderfully that I am still a little skeptical talking about them. Something had to go wrong somewhere… but it didn’t. So here we are. Off to make more Acorns!

My First Year on Etsy

I have celebrated my one year Etsyversary on August 30, 2008, and I have to say it feels good! I tallied all the sales I’ve had, all the Etsy money I’ve made and I feel a bit more seasoned as an Etsy seller. I’ve become a firm believer in re-listing and hanging out in the Promotion Forums, but above all providing excellent customer service and product. I’ve always been my worst critic and my goal is to double the number of sales this year. If you ask me how I did, I’d probably tell you I did ok. But if I reflect on it with an outside perspective (as much as possible), I realize I did pretty good! When I started this blog, one of my first posts was titled “Help me quit my day job” and I feel that I am definitely a step closer and Etsy is the reason. I am still at the same office job, writing this post from my office chair, but I somehow feel a sense of optimist even as our economy is in the shitter, still constantly inspired by Etsy interviews from sellers that have been able to devote themselves to their craft full-time, thinking that one day that will be me. With my classes beginning again this week, I am looking forward to this holiday season with new work and ideas and anxiously awaiting for that first kiln load to be fired, so I can continue to offer my pieces to the Etsy world yet again. I’ve since turned on six other fellow potters and friends to Etsy who are also having a good time. So if you’re reading this blog, and you’ve my customer, friend or just a fellow Etsy seller, thank you.

Exciting Prospects

With summer coming to an end, I’ve been pondering some new ideas and forms for the holiday season while being a new mama to my baby girl pug Mops. I am so excited about some new goodies I’ve been working on, that I had give you a sneak preview while they are at their leatherhard/greenware stage. These teapots are sort of a hybrid on my sprout vases. When I started working on the vases, other potters at the studio were intrigued by the idea of pulling the handle directly from the form while attached to the wheel. Personally, I haven’t seen a take on this idea or seen teapots that are similar to these. So if you see any let me know. I was told by one woman that they produced similar forms in ancient morocco, but I was unable to find any pictures. I know that if I claim them as original designs, chances are somewhere in the world a similar version exists (I hope not, because then I am a true pottery genius!)… and I don’t want to be like that one woman on the Martha Stuart show who claimed he petty coats were “the original”… umm lady, petty coats have existed long before you were born. These teapots are so much fun to throw and I love that they all have their unique personalities. To me, teapots in general seem very humanlike with their spouts and handles. My other recent discovery are these Acorn Jars. Now seriously… how cute are these? Stay tuned.

Before and After

As it turns out, my bisque firing was a success. The glaze stuck to my pots and went through the Cone 10 firing successfully, and some of the pieces are now on sale in my Etsy shop. Although now that I am looking at the two pots next to each other, there is something sweet and innocent about it being in white. Hmmm... something I will have to explore.

The Art of Art

I have wanted to make tribute to this person ever since I returned from Paris. I do not know his name, but he made such an impact on me during my visit to the Louvre. When I lived in N.Y. it was pretty common to see artists doing reproductions of master’s works, painting away for hours, but at the Louvre they were everywhere. I have always wanted to be one of those people, but as luck would have it, never had the time. It always put a smile on my face when I saw people work, but this was astounding. I watched him for at least twenty minutes and was completely in awe of the insane amount of detail as well as the fact that his copy looked exactly like the original. I loved him and that painting that day. His amazing talent, dedication and PATIENCE! So this makes me wonder how many people go through life, unassumingly making a difference in someone’s life without ever knowing it…
After my husband pulled me away, we went to see” the painting”…the Mona Lisa. That was as close as I got. A little disappointing I know, but it was magical.

I Finally Did It!

After much delay due to fear and anxiety, I have finally fired the first bisque load in my kiln that I've had sitting in my garage ready and able for the last seven months. With some fumbling and ten eaten cuticles later, Ta Da...I present to you my first Cone 06 firing. Everything survived with no cracks, and it makes such a lovely "ding" sound when you flick it with your fingers. Of course the true test will be when I glaze them and then we'll see if we'll live happily ever after.