Birthday Month

Gifts are on my mind. The month of July is filled with birthdays in our family and in that spirit, let me extend a special present to you! Save 25% on any in-stock ClaybyLaura garden item you purchase this week. Use the code BIRTHDAY to receive the discount when you place your order.

Click on this photo to choose a bird feeder for your yard.

Sometimes I have a hard time picking a meaningful item to celebrate a special occasion like a birthday. Young children are pretty easy to shop for, but I often struggle to choose gifts for the adults in my life. Will they like what I’ve picked? Will they use what I’ve chosen? Is there something else I could have bought?

Watering cans can double as a vase to hold your garden's beautiful bounty! Click on photo to shop.

I’m the kind of present-shopper that tends to purchase a gift for someone in the moment. If I find a perfect present for a friend or family member, I will buy it on the spot. The purchase is not always dependent on a looming holiday or personal celebration. For me, gift giving is a way to show a person in your life you’ve found something that makes you think of them. 

Give the toads in your garden a a special shady spot! Click on this photo to choose.

Sometimes the best presents to receive are the ones we gift ourselves. What have you had your eye on lately? It could be lunch with a friend, a special pair of shoes or spending one-on-one time with a family member. Go for it!

Who doesn't like to see a lady bug bringing good luck to their garden? Click this photo to see them all!

If there’s a ClaybyLaura garden item that could bring some joy to you or fulfill a gift need, now’s a perfect time to purchase. I’ve restocked and updated my garden inventory online. Remember to use the code BIRTHDAY to save 25%! 

Custom Collaborations - You Make Me A Better Artist!

I often say I get some of my best ideas from my customers. It’s true. This is one reason I love to collaborate on custom pieces. Your vision, suggestions, likes, and dislikes guide me to new shapes, color combinations, and GREAT results I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. So keep them coming!

I've been asked to create some additional garden art for this backyard installation that I completed several years ago. We are working together to come up with some new shapes, colors, and designs to add to the existing display.

This December, I'll offer an ornament/gift tag making class through The Muse. This idea started at another craft workshop when Whitney (the owner of the Muse) created this fun piece out of one of the components of the wind chimes our class was making. We will decorate the holiday shapes with acrylic paints and Sharpie markers. Look for class details later this fall. 

Is there a particular shape or color you'd like me to make? I'm all ears! Fill out the simple form below. I'd love to hear from you!

It's All About The Style

I’ve been thinking about the style of my clay art recently. One of the biggest compliments I receive is when someone sees one of my pieces and immediately recognizes that it was made by me. It has taken me years of practice to get to this stage and find my own creative voice in clay. 

This past week, a pottery group I belong to has been discussing how social media has impacted copying and whether that is a good or bad thing. Some of the questions that have arisen include: "Does an artist want their work to be copied from Internet postings and then sold?"  "Is it okay for an artist to copy another’s work and sell it?"  This discussion has been another way to look at the origins of my own clay art and the creativity behind it. 

When I was first introduced to the Pinterest App, I was obsessed. I love looking at pottery postings and felt I was introduced to new work that I never would have been exposed to before. It upgraded the inspirational hard copy scrapbooks with magazine tear-outs I had previously created to an on-line version. 

In order to make art, it's necessary to gain certain skills. Copying those techniques and universal shapes over and over is necessary and allows a serious artist the opportunity to begin to experiment and tweak and develop their own voice. Confidence builds with each success and every failure. 

When I’ve taught a workshop or class, I’ve noticed that even when every student copies what I’ve demonstrated, none of them looks exactly like mine. They can’t. They may look similar, but not exactly the same. Each person brings their own touch to the clay. 

I like looking at social media to see what other potters are making. It does spark ideas for my own interpretation. Is that a form of copying? I think the answer is probably yes -- in a way. For me, social media is one of the tools I use to promote my own ideas and seek out what other artists are creating. It has opened up an entire world of discovery and I think that is a good thing. I don't like or want to have my own clay art copied exactly and then sold by someone else. That does not seem right, but if I can influence another artist to think outside of their own creative box, it's a good thing. That's how we all grow.

I look at originality as a building block. My creativity is shaped by all I have learned and seen in classes and on-line. I’m turning those ideas into something someone else can look at, recognize and say – “That’s ClayByLaura.”

Have you joined the club yet? Sign up now to get in on the special discount club members will receive for the month of July! It's easy. Click on the photo above. Fill in the information. Check your email. Respond to the email. That's it! You're in!!!

Reflection

As New Years Eve approaches signaling the end of one year and the beginning of twelve new months ahead, I like to spend time thinking about my life and my life’s work and set some goals for the coming year. Some people call these desires resolutions. I like to think of these promises to myself as building blocks – ways to improve what I’ve been developing over a lifetime. My classmate friends and I are turning 60 throughout 2016. It’s one of those ‘halt in your tracks’ age numbers. I think this significant milestone adds another layer of reflection to this annual ritual. I look back to see what I’ve accomplished in six decades and forge ahead to prove I’ve still got a long way to go!

As always, my time in the studio mirrors what is happening in my daily life. My creative plans for 2016 are specific and fluid. I have a few new shapes I’d like to attempt. I’d like to play with the finished surface of my creations. I’d like to pursue more fundraising items I’ve created for worthy organizations.  The unique gift/marketing items I've made for businesses are a big hit -- I'd like to create more of these too. I’ll continue to tweak my website to reflect the art from my studio and develop the way I sell on-line, in galleries and pop-up shopping opportunities. Overall, I’d like to attract the positive and decrease the negative in my life and my studio.

I've been catching up on some of my knitting projects these last few winter weeks. It's another passion I enjoy. I find it meditative and engaging at the same time. The unique design of my yarn bowls are based on my experience as a knitter. Most of the clay yarn bowls I've seen have a slit cut into them for guiding the yarn -- a design flaw in my opinion. My bowl shape cups the yarn, has two heart-shaped 'feeders' for multiple yarn colors and can be used for snacks or knitting accessories when not in use for stitching. In 2016, I'll work on a slightly larger version to fully accommodate two large hanks of yarn. 

I was fortunate to help fundraise for several worthy causes in 2015. These clay items from my studio not only attracted donations, but continue to be useful reminders of their cause!

I was fortunate to create a variety of totem stacks for people throughout the country in 2015. Each was a labor of love and a lot of fun to make! Do you have an idea for a custom totem? 

I'll continue to make tray and bowl sets in 2016. It's a popular and useful form. The fish-shaped tray was a new item in 2015. I'd like to play around with this design a bit more in 2016 to make it even better!

Garden art continues to be a source of creative exploration for me in the studio. I'm sure there are some new shapes to discover in 2016!

Bowls have always been one of my go-to shapes in the studio. This coming year I'd like to play with these shapes to create some dishes that can be used right side up and upside down. Stay tuned to see what I come up with!

Happy New Year! I hope you've had some time to reflect on 2015 and set your own goals and building blocks for the coming year.

Meaningful Messages

Lots of times when I create, I try to weave an idea and concept into a finished clay shape. The assignment for another recent totem project was filled with symbolic imagery to convey a sense of whimsical welcome at the owner’s front door. Each piece of the stack represents a visual message of warmth and hospitality to visitors of this residence. Once I have an idea of what I'd like to make, I often research a variety of imagery to spark my creative juices. 

Here’s the breakdown of how this totem came to be:

The base of this totem is a pineapple which has long been a symbol of welcome. The texture was created with the plastic webbing you often find securing fruits and vegetables in the produce department at the grocery store. I have a large 'cache' of texture-making materials around the studio just waiting for the right project! The butterfly resting atop an ocean-blue flower is representative of the Monarch Butterfly often seen throughout this southern isle. I use colorful wire and glass beads to complete this shape. 

Hearts are the universal emblem of love. This stack of three hearts spells out what these homeowners cherish -- Family, Friends and Home. 

The yellow bead-embellished flower embodies the South Carolina state flower, Yellow Jessamine. I've made other generic flower shapes in the past; this time I tried to mimic the shape of this particular blossom.  I knew I wanted to use the Palmetto Tree and Crescent Moon symbol of the South Carolina State Flag to adorn the top of the totem. Figuring out how to turn this idea into reality took some planning and experimentation. A visit to the hardware store produced just the right type of wire to suspend the moon over the tree. 

So there you have it. Another totem project is complete and in place! Do you have an idea for a personalized totem for your yard or indoor space?  Send me a message and let's start the conversation! I'd love to create one just for you! Take a look at other totems I have created here. 

Seasonal Sale!

Now you can purchase my creations directly from my website! To celebrate, I’m selling several of my in-stock garden items for discounted prices! This particular sale will last through the month of October 2014. If you’ve been considering a piece for your yard or garden, now is a good time to make that happen. My garden art can be outdoors year-round in all weather conditions and will provide a whimsical pop of color throughout all four seasons. Supplies are limited (as they say in the advertising world!) and the prices are low (with FREE shipping offers on most sale items). Go to the Purchase page of my website to get a full view of the sales items and clay pieces you can purchase today.

I have privately received positive feedback from many people about my blog and website. Thank you. Your input is important to me. Please continue to send me suggestions on how to improve and what you'd like to see me make. If you follow me on Facebook, please comment on, click the ‘like button’ and repost my website facebook messages to help spread my visibility. Posting comments directly on my Blog page and clicking the like (heart) button there is also helpful.

As always, thank you for your support!

Bowls are always useful. I'm making some new shapes and sizes of bowls in  my studio. These have the first layer of underglaze color and are ready for the first firing!

I hope to 'spread the love' with these little heart-shaped dishes. 

I received this hand-made journal from my artist-friend Pam Kessler. I met Pam when I lived in Hilton Head, SC. She was in town to sell her beautiful botanical watercolor paintings at the Bethesda Row Arts Festival this past weekend. I helped her set up her booth early Saturday morning.

Silver and Gold

Lady Bug Potstickers in process.

I'm in production-mode in the studio. I'm finishing up work for a trunk show at The Muse in Frederick, Maryland during the first Saturday event April 5. I'll have lots of my garden pieces available for sale and despite the rainy-snow we had this past weekend, I'm confident that Spring is going to make it's way here one of these days very soon. If you are in the area, stop by between 5 and 9 and say hello!

Life-long friends!

I did take time out to gather with a group of girlfriends I've know since second grade for lunch. We share a history and seem to easily pick up where we left off even though we don't all spend time together frequently. Our 'historian' Dawn likes to bring along long-forgotten childhood mementos she has kept including notes we passed in middle school and trinkets from our days in Brownies and Girl Scouts. These often spark memories, laughter and conversation about our past and how it has framed our present. 

For me, friendship is a pillar of who I am and what I do as an artist. And two of the things I learned in scouts long ago still echo true for me today. 

Dawn's Brownie  Beanie.

1. Treat people the same way you would like to be treated. 

2. 'Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold. A circle is round, but never ends. That's how long I will be your friend. '