Throwing Frenzy!

Wow. After two weekends of Art Fairs I'm exhausted. Both shows went well, so now I am back to work throwing to get ready for Madison in the middle of July. Because the process of decorating my pots is so time intensive, I need to get things made quickly to allow time for that and to get everything fired. No matter how much time I spend in the studio, I can never seem to get ahead. I'm hoping to spend the 4th of July weekend in Northern MN with my husband's family so I'm trying to be focused now so that I can actually take a mini-vacation! I NEED IT!

One down...and it's crunch time!

Not the best photo, but here is a pic of my booth at Excelsior.
Thanks to my husband for the great new shelves.

Excelsior Art Fair this past weekend was really great! The crowds were large and enthusiastic. My booth did happen to be about 50 feet away from the bandshell which featured live music all weekend and it was REALLY LOUD! You just never know what you're going to deal with when you do an outdoor show. Still, despite not being able to hear anyone, I sold a bunch of pots and saw a lot of family and friends. And, luckily the weather cooperated and we didn't get the storms that kept threatening us. I was happy with how my new booth display worked out too. Now, I've been working like a crazy woman in the studio all week to get another load of pots glazed to restock for Stone Arch Festival this upcoming weekend in Minneapolis. It seems like there's never enough time to get everything done. I'm crossing my fingers for a good firing! If you didn't make it to Excelsior, stop by this weekend and see me at Stone Arch in booth #140. It's a fun Father's Day weekend outing. That area of Minneapolis has undergone redevelopment and there's a lot to do. Walk by the riverfront, take a walk across the Stone Arch Bridge and see the lock and dam. On the downtown side of bridge stop by the Guthrie and walk out on their lookout deck or visit the Mill City Farmer's Market (Sat.) or Mill City Museum. On a side note, they may start stocking my work in the Mill City Museum store later this summer or early Fall!

Hope to see you!

Sneak peek...

I just unloaded my glaze kiln and was happy to find that most of the work came out well. I'm really happy with the big bowl towards the back of the kiln. It has a fun bird image similar to the bird platter in my lost post. Plus, tumblers and small bowls that I really needed for my inventory. There are a few pots that I need to refire...I just can't seem to completely get rid of pinholes in a couple of my glazes. Still, overall a success and more pots to pack up for the weekend. Time to clean for tonight and run a few errands.

Art on the Lake this weekend

Fired Bird Platter. This was shown in process in an earlier post.

I have been a crazy lady this past week trying to get everything ready for my first Art Fair of the summer this upcoming weekend. I wish I could find a way to get ready for shows without getting so stressed out. I have a kiln full of glazed pots firing right now, and am trying to remember everything I need to take with me. It always SEEMS like a good idea to apply to a lot of fairs, but when they arrive I always wonder why I am doing them--it's just really hard work plus takes so much time away from the studio. My husband built two new shelves for my booth (these construction projects are always agony during the process but always turn out great) and I made new backdrops and signs, so we did a test run last night setting everything up. I think it's going to look really nice! It was a challenge trying to focus on it with our crazy 17 month old running around getting into everything, but we managed to do it with only one pot broken in the process.

Stop by the studio on Thursday night from 5-9 for our monthly First Thursday event (www.threeninefour.com) and have first choice of pots fresh from the kiln (assuming I have a good firing). Or, come out to Excelsior Art on the Lake this weekend and stop by my booth #01. It 's a fun show, right on Lake Minnetonka. This year they're having live music as well as the usual good art and good food. http://www.excelsiorartonthelake.com/ for more info.

Take a breath...

Pots waiting for new homes.

Now that Art-A-Whirl is over, I can take a minute to catch my breath before I jump right back into high production mode to get ready for June art fairs. I can't believe how many people came through the studio over the course of the weekend. I sold some pieces and had lots of interest in my work and process. People seem to love seeing where we work. It was fun to see friends and family. Overall there seemed to be a lot of excitement about what is happening in the NE Arts District and over the high quality of art exhibited this year.

Last minute rush...

Today was crazy trying to get everything ready for our big studio event this weekend. Somehow everything always takes longer than I expect. I could hardly wait to get in so I could see how my last kiln load of work turned out. You just never know until you actually open the kiln. I was thrilled with the results and have lots of new work to put out! The kiln gods must have been happy because my glazes looked great and it seems like I've resolved some of the problems I've been having my firings. Here is a vase that came out today. I'm hoping to get photos of a bunch of the other pieces before they leave to find new homes.

Art-A-Whirl this weekend!

I've been working like a dog trying to get ready for Art-A-Whirl this upcoming weekend. This is a huge studio tour throughout NE Minneapolis. Something like 500+ artists participate and crowds of people come through over the course of three days. We've been redecorating our gallery area to freshen it up and really make our new work pop! We painted (we somehow managed to find the wonder color that seems to look good with anything), bought and put together new shelves, are working on new signage and will be busy this week cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. I pulled a load of work out of the kiln last week, have a bisque in now and will hopefully get one more load of glazed work fired before we open on Friday night. I'm really excited about some of my new pieces and can't wait to see them finished. I'll be debuting new designs and new glaze colors. My studiomates will have new work out too. If you're in the Minneapolis area, be sure to stop by the Northrup King Building during the event this weekend. Tons of great art, great food and a LOT of fun.