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!

First Thursday and Art Attack this weekend!

My studio in the Northrup King Building will be open all weekend for Art Attack, Northrup King Building's huge yearly event - over 200 artists, one location, four floors. Start your holiday shopping early with unique handmade gifts from local artists. Or, find something amazing for yourself!

First Thursday open studios • 5-9pm tonight

Art Attack Hours:

Friday, November 6th • 5-10pm

Saturday, November 7th • 12-8pm

Sunday, November 8th • noon-5pm

I hope you'll stop by! I have lots of new ornaments and some fun new seasonal plates and vases.

1500 Jackson St NE; Studio 394

Minneapolis, MN 55413

www.northrupkingbuilding.com for directions and event details

612.598.2248

First Thursday & Ornament Super Sale-October 1!

Since I'm currently up to my neck in new 2009 ornaments in various states of production, I decided it's time to do a one-night-only super sale on some of my discontinued styles of globe ornaments before I start putting the new ornaments out in November. I generally don't mark these down since they're really time-consuming to make and decorate. The clearance globes will be priced at $18-$20 depending on style (normally $36-$38). This is a great reason to stop by my studio this Thursday night (October 1) from 5-9pm for First Thursday in the Northrup King Building. Enjoy a night out with great art throughout the building (also free parking and refreshments...what more could you ask for?)