Holiday Shopping Saturdays at the NKB

My studio will be open the next three Saturdays! Stop by December 3, 10 and 17 from Noon-4pm. Other studios in the building will be open as well. Shop handmade • Shop local! Help keep NE Mpls a vibrant arts district—we really appreciate your business!!!!
I have a great selection of pottery, art tiles and ornaments available.
Click here for a list of studios open Dec. 3 in the building.

Seeking Studiomate!

We're looking for a studio mate in my ceramics studio. Please contact me if interested or pass on if you know someone that may be looking in the Minneapolis area.

From Inspiration to Decoration

I get a lot of questions about how I get my ideas and develop my ceramic designs. While I get a lot of my source material for the illustrations from vintage quilts and textiles, I am always looking for bits and pieces of inspiration everywhere. I like to take little visual treasures that strike me and reinterpret to be fresh and new while still speaking to the original material. I thought I'd share my creative process on a new plate design from inspiration to final fired art piece. A while back I picked up an old coffee table book on trees at the thrift store and loved some of the illustrations showing the tree bare and with full leaves.

I spend some time sketching to come up with a design that I'm happy with and then draw a final sketch at the scale I need for the piece I'm planning to put it on.

Then I make a pattern using a piece of clear vinyl shower curtain liner. This way I can see through the pattern to place it on the piece and can reuse it over and over without it wearing out.

Once I've transferred the design, I "stitch" it onto the plate while the clay is still leatherhard and add slip dots for texture. Each stitch and dot is applied individually, by hand. I don't use any kind of roller or transfer or stamp like many people assume.

After drying, I then paint on underglazes, bisque fire, stain and wash, glaze and fire again. My process is time intensive and has MANY steps to achieve the result I want.

The final plate after firing in my electric kiln. I'm calling this design "Winter into Spring". I think I may apply it to some tile designs and it's also making me feel inspired to create a four seasons series in the future.

Hope this helps show the work that goes into making a piece of my handmade pottery. It is a lot of work, but it is a labor of love and it's worth it when the first fired pot comes out of the kiln.

You can find them for sale here in my etsy shop!

Or, visit my studio for First Thursday in the Northrup King Building, studio 394 this upcoming Thursday, June 2 from 5-9 pm. Check out the new sculpure garden outside the building and enjoy a Root Beer Float courtesy of the building. Then come in and enjoy looking at some great art.

It's Art-A-Whirl This Weekend...and I'm up on my Soapbox

This upcoming weekend is Art-A-Whirl 2011 in Northeast Minnepolis. Art-A-Whirl is the largest open studio and gallery tour in the United States. We are super lucky to have such a diverse and energetic art community here! When you come to Art-A-Whirl, you are seeing artists studios, seeing how and where the work is made, talking directly to the artists and often buying directly from the artist or at least close to the source. This is a really fun, interesting and unique event. Most of the artists spend months making work and getting ready to invite the public into their studios and galleries.

I usually try to be an optimistic and cheerful marketer, but I'm just going to get up my soapbox for a few minutes. Most of the artists I know work HARD and spend long hours designing and making work, marketing and selling. And often selling for less than our work is worth. Yes, we are very lucky to get to do what we LOVE, but it is our job and most of us can't just do it "for fun"...we actually have to pay the bills and make a living. And, unfortunately a lot of us are feeling the economy just like everyone else and are struggling.

So, if you value having such a rich art scene right here in Northeast Minneapolis, now is the time to come out and support us. Come to look around, talk to us, and hopefully spend some money. You can feel good about spreading the love around in your local community and ensure that we're still here down the road making beautiful things for your homes. It would be a really boring place to live if the only places left to buy art were big box stores.

Event Hours:
Friday, May 20 • 5-10pm
Saturday, May 21 • Noon-8pm
Sunday, May 22 • Noon-5pm

More information:
Northrup King Building (Find me in studio 394)
www.emilydyer.com

-Emily

May Giveaway - Win a Berry Bowl Set!

I am doing my first ever giveaway this month! How do you use my pottery/tiles in your home and daily life? Customers are always telling me about that favorite mug that they fight over, or how that vase looks just perfect in their living room, but I rarely get a chance to see it. I'm hoping to put together an album that I can pull out when I get that perpetual art fair question, "Well, I just love it, but what would I do with it?" Send me a digital picture showing my work in your home, on your table, or otherwise in use, and get entered in my May giveaway. You will be entered once for each image submitted. Submit as many as you like. By sending me your photos, you are agreeing that I may use them on my blog, facebook page, website or in-studio (of course, anonymously, without your name or other personal information listed.) Include your name and contact information in the email so I know where to find you if you are the winner, and also any other story or note about how you use my work. I will be taking submissions through the end of May and will be drawing the winner on Friday, June 1, 2011. Email submissions to: emily@emilydyer.com. Or, you can also drop off prints or a cd at my studio or mail them to me at: Emily Dyer; Northrup King Building; 1500 Jackson St. NE, Studio 394; Minneapolis, MN 55413. I can't wait to see them!!!

Spring Studio Clean Out Super SALE!

I am cleaning house, or rather, studio! It's time for all those imperfect but-still-lovely seconds, older pieces and mismatched pots to find new homes. I need to clean off my shelves to make room for new work and new ideas. I usually only do this once a year, if that, so make sure to visit my etsy shop and get them at sweet prices while they last. Whatever is left will be available in my studio on the First Thursday in April (April 7 from 5-9 pm, Northrup King Building, studio #394). My studio mates will be clearing work out too! Part of the impetus for this purging is a renewed commitment to getting things in order. I'm taking Alyson Stanfield's online Get Organized class this month and hope to make some headway taming my habit of piles of paper everywhere and email overwhelm. With the chaos my two little guys create in my life I need to do anything I can to keep things simplified and organized. I've already listed some sale items in the shop, and will keep posting throughout the month.

Art-A-Whirl • May 14-16, 2010

Join us in our studio for Art-A-Whirl 2010, the country's largest open studio tour sponsored by the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association. Here at the Northrup King Building, Art-A-Whirl is a chance to gain free admission into the working studios of over 200 artists working in nearly every art medium. You could spend a whole day in our building and still not see everything. Free parking. Plus, studios and galleries will be open throughout Northeast. Come get to know this rich arts district.

Friday, May 14th – 5:00-10:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 15th – Noon-8:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 16th -Noon-5:00 p.m.

I have lots of work on the shelves as I've been stocking up to get ready for summer shows. Stop by to see what I've been up to! Also in my studio, #394, terra cotta sculpture and encaustic works by Claudia Poser, whimsical ocarinas by Lucy Grantz and mosaic work by Linda Mix Yates. Also, see a series of new collaborative mosaic works that Linda and I have been working on using my handmade tiles.

Most studios serve refreshments, and the Magic Bus will be outside the main entrance of the building for more serious food! Or, try some of Northeast's amazing eateries.

Northrup King Building
1500 Jackson St. NE • Studio #394
Minneapolis, MN 55413

www.northrupkingbuilding.com for directions and building info.
www.nemaa.org for event details.

Hope to see you there!

Think Spring

Yes. I guess I am really tired of the long Minnesota Winter. No one prepared me for how much longer the winter would feel with a toddler, either. So I'm living in denial of the mountains of grey, dirty snow by making unapologetically springlike work in the studio. I've been playing with some new imagery including new flowers, strawberries and butterflies. Here is a series of canisters that are in process. Picture one is leatherhard work drying with stitching designs impressed. Picture two shows the canisters after they've been underglazed and bisque fired. They still have to be glazed and fired again. I'll post the finished product sometime next week.  I have been making lots of new work and it's really nice to be able to do some new stuff without the pressure of immediate show deadlines. 

If you're looking for a fun evening out, tonight is First Thursday in the Northrup King Building. Studios throughout the building will be open from 5-9pm. I have a ton of new work on display, including some valentine inspired work that would make the perfect gift for your sweetheart. 

Hope you'll stop by--I'm in studio #394!

Open Studio December 13 -- NKB Holiday Art Market

My studio (#394) will be open this Saturday, Dec. 13, from noon-5pm for Northrup King Building's Holiday Art Market. Stop by for snacks, cookies and hot tea. This is a wonderful, relaxed shopping atmosphere a far cry from the mall. Our studio features my pottery, tiles and ornaments, Lucy's whistles and Claudia's terra cotta sculpture and jewelry. Find lots of other unique locally made gift items throughout the building.

As a special treat, my father-in-law will be stopping by to add to the festivities by playing accordian music for your enjoyment. He'll start playing at around 1:30 and play 'til he's tired!

Also, put your name in a drawing to win one of my handmade ceramic globe ornaments. I'll be drawing the winner after the shopping hours on Sat., Dec. 20. Hope to see you!

A Little Bird Told me...

that studios will be open in the Northrup King Building this Thursday, Dec. 4 from 5-9 p.m. as well as Saturday, Dec. 6 from 12-5 p.m. Stop by my studio (#394) to do some holiday shopping in a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere away from the malls. I'll have a good selection of dishes, ornaments (including these sweet little birds) and some of my new tiles. Find lots of other great gift ideas throughout the building! We'll have snacks, cookies and hot tea.

Holiday Art Market at Northrup King Building

Tomorrow afternoon is the first day of the Holiday Art Market at the Northrup King Building. A number of studios throughout the building will be open for special holiday shopping hours on Saturdays in November & December. Find unique, locally-made items in all mediums and price ranges. Stop by our studio for great clay gift items. I will have a great selection of dishes, holiday ornaments and tiles. Claudia Poser will have terra cotta sculpture and jewelry. Lucy Grantz will have an assortment of her whimsical ocarinas.

Saturday, November 29th, 12 - 5 PM
Saturday, December 6th, 12- 5 PM

Saturday, December 13th, 12 - 5 PM

Saturday, December 20th, 12 -5 PM

Special: Saturday, November 29 only! Receive 10% off any purchase over $50, plus sign up for a drawing to win a gift certificate (no purchase necessary). Specials apply to purchase of my work only. I will be having some kind of one-day only special during each Saturday event. Watch for details on my website.

For a list of artists/studios that will be open during the Art Market, visit:

http://www.northrupkingbuilding.com/holiday-shopping-minneapolis.html

Hope you'll stop by!

Holiday Sweets

My first batch of round globe ornaments are out of the kiln and while they're an amzing amount of work for such a tiny piece, I just love them! I strung them today and they are pretty darn cute. This batch is already pretty much spoken for, but I have more in various stages of completion. I will definitely have them available in early November for Art Attack (our fall open studio tour happening Nov. 7-9) but hopefully sooner.