Happy Happy Joy Joy!

This title and silly Ren and Stimpy cartoon theme-song sums up this past week for me.  July is a month filled with many family birthdays (including my own) and fond memories of Washington Warthog indoor soccer games where the song was played each time a goal was scored.  My husband was responsible for the team at the sports arena he managed in the suburbs of Washington, DC and our kids had roles on game days as a ball boy and cheerleader, so I heard the song a lot!

I fired a kiln filled with glazed pieces in the studio this week. Opening the kiln lid once the load of work has cooled is always filled with anticipation. I know how I’d like the pieces to look, but clay does not always cooperate, so there is always a chance for disappointment. Not so this time around!

Here is a photo of the commissioned bowl I've been working on. 

I am really happy with the results!

The chalkboards have worked out well. I'm already creating an updated version of this idea to include hooks to hold keys!

I was commissioned to make a cake plate. This is one of the ideas I've begun.

Here is another version of the cake plate idea. The holes can be used for stringing colorful ribbon.

My latest sweater is on display at The Knot House in Frederick, Md. 

Happy, happy, joy, joy, joy!

Bowls

Customers often ask me ‘what can I use this for?’ This is one reason I give out recipes with my work. Bowls offer such a variety of answers to this question – and lots of them are non-food uses. Most potters I know love making bowls. It’s a go-to shape for me as well. I can always find something to place in a bowl. I like having them out on a counter rather than tucked away in a cupboard. 

Bowls can help de-clutter. 

Bowls with holes can be used to wash and store vegetables or fruit. 

This set of triple bowls held my mother's desk-top items. I keep it in my office now as a memento.

By using a bowl on my bathroom counter, I can easily see my earring collection.

Bowls can hold precious collections.

I hope I've inspired you to think outside-the-box for bowl uses!

Favel

 In our household, the word 'favel' is used to describe sitting around doing nothing. I thought it was a Yiddish word. When I looked it up on-line, it had a completely different meaning and origin. This doesn’t deter me. I’m sticking with using favel to describe inactivity.

Overall, I’m more of a ‘shpilkes’ kind of person -- busy, hard to sit still, go, go, go.  I’ve learned through the years to try to temper that with some time to ‘favel.’ It’s a good balance to aspire to. Yoga helps. And I find when I can even out the need to be productive with some time to reflect it’s really the best use of my time.

I've been playing with the use of chalkboard paint on my work. 

This way, people can personalize their garden stakes according to what they have planted.

I've also been experimenting with chalkboard paint on a frame.

Tweak

The thing I continue to love about clay is the abundant opportunity to make subtle (or drastic) changes to my work resulting in a new creative avenue. I love the repetition of making a familiar form, but also enjoy altering the process to create something new and different in my clay vocabulary. Sometimes it takes a long time for the ideas swimming around in my mind to come to fruition – other times there are immediate results. Failure is often my best teacher. Here are some of my latest experiments in the studio. 

I learned about layering color at the Lana Wilson Workshop I recently attended. I made a bunch of test tiles to play with various color combinations.

Learning a new process takes time and patience. 

I'm often surprised with the end results of experimentation. I've learned to document the color combinations I've chosen carefully so I can recreate the ones that I like. 

Here, I've updated a technique I used in the past contrasting a solid color inside with a plain outside. Now, I chose to  highlight the outside texture of the bowl with some of the color. This is still a work in progress. I think next I'll play with using the color in the same way, but use a matt finish on the outside of the bowl to also contrast with the color and gloss of the inside. 

I was asked to create a series of pet urns for display at my veterinary practice Buckeystown Animal Hospital. I will make a customized pet urn for their clients on request. 

Do Over

Here's the second version of the bowl I made last week. I made the bowl form wider, added some texture to the outside and like the balance of the foot and bowl better than the first version. 

As a beginning potter, I kept every piece I made – good, bad or indifferent. Just to make a pot from start to finish was a goal. I think most people new to clay feel this way.

Now, especially when I’m making a new form or creating an idea from my head, the process to getting it right outweighs just getting it done. And clay can be very forgiving in the early stages before it is fired.  So after I have made a pot and it’s just not the way I want it,  I will break it apart and recycle the clay. No harm, no foul. This permission (to myself) to take a ‘do over’ has freed me to experiment and grow. It’s not always about just getting to the finish for me – it’s about enjoying the process along the way and making something I love in the end.

A trip to Michaels craft store for one item, often leads to some new finds for the studio! 

Oh! And I had my first ETSY sale this week! A recipe box similar to this now resides in Colorado! 

Compare and Contrast

I think what I’m about to say is a common thread for artists. I can’t help but compare myself and my work to other artists. Ego is wrapped up in each item I make. It is an expression of me. So once a piece is finished -- maybe for sale, a gift or just for my own use -- I feel it makes me vulnerable to outside opinions both positive and negative. Too much comparison can lead to self-doubt.

Over the years I have come to realize that all the influences, education and practice I’ve attained has evolved into a reflection of me in my work and how it is different.  This unique contrast is a really good thing. In finding my own artistic voice I’ve learned to appreciate that other artists make work that I cannot and vice versa.

Compare and contrast. Each helps move me forward in my art journey. And overall, that’s a positive!

Just off my knitting needles! The lace pattern was a bit of a challenge, but I love the results. 

I added my own personal touch to this sweater by including the lace pattern to the sleeves. The sweater is on display at The Knot House in Frederick, Maryland.

This custom bowl and square platter are ready for a wedding gift. 

This unique bowl in process is a gift for friends who own some race horses.

Spread the Wealth!

I  am starting my day with my new favorite coffee cup by Julie Wiggins, a friend and fellow potter from Charlotte, N.C. This photo is especially apropos because it includes two pieces of my own work I made while living in Charlotte where I first met Julie and many other wonderful clay artists. I didn't plan it that way, but noticed it after I took the picture!

I was out and about this week at several art-inspired events.  Not only did I end up with a bounty of creative endeavors and a chance to catch up with artist friends I haven't seen recently, I also gained some new art friendships along the way.

I had a fun evening catching up with Andrea, seeing her detailed and inspiring paintings, photographs and collage work. It's a beautiful show and worth a trip to DC!

The Frederick Festival of the Arts benefited from spectacular weather this weekend! This festive crab by Alex Benitez from Baltimore, Md. caught my eye and will find a perfect spot somewhere on a wall at home.

If I see a piece of art that inspires me, I never wonder where will I put it? Does it match what else I have? I purchase art because it makes me happy and always seem to have room to fit it in to my 'collection.'

Sunday I traveled to Virginia to reconnect with Julie and her pottery during a home show hosted by her brother and sister-in-law.  It's been a couple of years since we've seen each other. We were studio-mates at a clay studio in Charlotte in the 2004 -2005 time frame. It was fun to catch up and talk clay. Julie's newest work shows off her steady artistic hand with dabs of soft color. 

Each time I use this bowl, it connects me back to my friendship with Julie!

Not all art has to fit on the wall. Karin Birch makes all kinds of wonderful fiber art -- some of which I can carry on my body! The Muse featured her work during First Saturday this weekend. After I completed my clay demo there Saturday evening, I couldn't resist a purchase of my own. 

Buying art I love gives me just about as much pleasure as making it. It connects me to the artists, reminds me of a special day or event and helps a fellow crafter continue to do what they love. 

Love and Learn

I had a GOOD week of clay.

I completed and installed a new custom-Totem project. I like taking on a challenge of creating something unique and special which often means creating work I’ve never made before. In this case, the new shape I made were letters to stack and spell out the word LOVE. I’m pleased with the results!

The placement and message of these totems were made to encourage the proper 'chi' to this home and garden.

It's great when the image in my mind works out in the final results!

This past weekend, I participated in a workshop lead by Lana Wilson at the Lee Arts Center in Arlington, Virginia. It’s an incredible clay studio that has been around for eons – I had some of my early classes there back in the 70’s. This is the second workshop I’ve participated in at the Arts Center recently. One of my favorite parts of workshops is the lively group dynamic that develops along with new friendships in the clay world. 

Lana began talking and demonstrating at 10 am on Saturday and kept going strong for two full days. Between stories of her life illustrating her own personal clay journey, she shared endless techniques, tools and wisdom from her 40 ‘odd’ years of enjoying what she made. My head is still spinning with this bounty of new direction! This is what I LOVE about clay – it offers me endless possibilities and continual opportunity to evolve, change, discover, renew, recharge, reconnect and be Happy!

Here are some more photos of the workshop.

Lana layers a variety of colorful underglaze on wet slabs. (Note the colorful tape on her tools. It's helpful for finding them quickly!)

Layers of the color are scraped away with sharp tools to reveal the colors below. 

The slab is used to create a form.

This Box with working drawer was created with leather hard clay. Lana not only demonstrated her process of making this signature piece, but also her decision making process during creation. 

This non-functional teapot is another signature Lana Wilson creation. She reminded the class frequently to observe what she demonstrated, listen to her suggestions and then most importantly learn to use that as a jumping off point to discover our own clay voice. I'm excited to get back in the studio this week and play!