"Made in Minnesota" Ornament Show

I am once again participating in Clay Squared's 6th Annual Made in Minnesota Ornament Show and Sale. The sale opened on October 18 and runs through December 23 so there is plenty of time to get over there to check out the multitude of great handmade ornaments. The show features unique interpretations of the ornament by more than 25 locally and nationally recognized artists from Minnesota working in ceramic, metal, fibers, mosaic, polymer, fused glass, paper and more. Every year I go home with a few ornaments by other artistst that I just can't live without! I have both my flat cutout ornaments and my larger ball ornaments in the show. There is an Artists' Reception on November 1st 11am-5pm during which customers will 10% off their ornament purchases! Eli and I will try to stop by although he is a terror around so much breakable art.

Pumpkintime!

I think having a toddler is the best reminder to be in the moment. I tend to get stuck "in my head" worrying about everything I have to get done, worrying about whether my pottery is good enough, whether I will have enough work done for my shows, will I ever make any money or will I have to go back to a "real" job (although in this economy, what does that mean anyway?), etc. It's easy to forget to appreciate all the things that I should feel lucky about. I've got a healthy kid, a husband that puts up with my business/obsession, a cute (albeit tiny) house, and I get to go to the studio and do exactly what I really love. Eli constantly reminds me to be in the moment as he gets excited about the little things that happen every day. We recently went to the farm to pick pumpkins and he's been excited about it ever since. Every time he sees his pumpkin in the porch he yells "pumpkintime!" I'm going to try coming into the studio and everytime I look at my happy pots, yelling "potterytime!"

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.

Discover Tomato Red Turquoise

I've been listed on a gorgeous treasury on etsy curated by Vintage Embellishment. This is the first treasury that I've been included in. I like how it makes you see the piece in a new way. It also makes me think about how people select the items in their homes and closets that make them happy. I always hope that my pottery brings a little bit of happiness into people's days. I'd love to be sipping coffee out of my bird mug, wearing some of that great jewelry.

Meanwhile, I've been busy posting holiday ornaments for sale on my etsy page so be sure to take a look. Lots more to come as I get time to take photos and list items.

Serve it up...

Here are those new trays I posted about earlier after decorating, glazing and firing. I am really happy with how they are turning out and I can't wait to make more! There are a couple of sizes that would make really cute butter plates. I have some adorable tiny round ones in the next batch that would be great ring plates or teabag holders. I hope I can get a bunch of them made before the holiday sales hit. I'm also still up to my neck in ornament production. I posted a few to my etsy page so be sure to take a look.

MARQ Magazine

I was really excited to see one of my platters featured in an article in the October 2008 issue of MARQ Magazine (a local Twin Cities style publication) about "Playful Pottery." The piece in the photo is currently at FiveTwoSix gallery in St. Paul. Fun!