And Now They are Fired...

A couple of blog posts ago, I shared some sketches that I discovered in my ongoing studio cleanout. The finished plates just came out of the kiln and I'm really happy with them. I think they successfully reference the folk art quilt themes that inspire me but with a fresh, more contemporary twist and in my own illustrative "language." I read somewhere once, that you should never trace anything when creating illustrations but always redraw it free hand while referencing the source. This way it will always be translated through your own eye and hand, making it unique and special. This stuck with me and I always use this technique when creating my designs. The first batch of plates is available for sale here. 

A Warm Welcome to Our Newest Studio Mate...

She's here! We just moved our newest studio addition in today and she's big, blue and beautiful! We've been limping along for the last few years with a very old northstar slab roller that was demanding repairs and replacement parts fairly often. Another clay artist moving out of my studio building was selling this pristine, hardly used 6 foot Northstar slab roller and I decided to splurge and buy it. It has a larger roller, larger work surface and is much heavier duty than our old friend. I can't wait to start rolling slabs for more trays and tilework, but first I have to finish a round of glazing and fire a kiln full of orders this week before I get to play.

What once was lost...

I have been pretty good about sticking with my 15 minutes of organizing each day I'm in the studio. I'm starting to get past the surface clutter and move deeper into the abyss. It's amazing what I unlodged from hiding places in only about 20 minutes of studio purging and organizing this afternoon. The highlights:
• A whole batch of berry bowls thrown, wrapped in plastic, and then lost in the back of my wet rack. These must have been abandoned last summer in the third trimester of my pregnancy. Totally dried out...so sad!
• My little metal decorating turntable which I have been looking for since I got back in the studio this year!
• A plastic tub filled with cut out hearts carefully wrapped in between layers of fabric and plastic. These were an abandoned valentine's day project from TWO years ago. Also totally dried out.
• A stash of sketches, including these super cute oval plate designs that I never made. These were a treat to discover. I don't even remember when I drew these, but I think now that I've found them again they will soon find their way onto the next batch of plates! I love the one on the far right with the ruffly leaf and crisscross flower/pod design.

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.

Web Design Department? Oh yeah, that's me!

Minnesota Monthly • December 2008

Since I'm stuck at home with a sick baby (poor Winnie) I've been trying to get some website updates done! I scanned and uploaded my press clippings which have been sitting on my desk forever. I can't believe how long it took. Every time I do something like this I wish I could afford a web guru to do this stuff for me. If you haven't checked out my website recently, I've moved it over to a new host, big black bag, and completely redesigned it. It will give me the capacity to easily add some new services (like custom online gift registries for weddings, etc.).

Minnesota Monthly • December 2009

And they're out of the kiln!

Here are the first round of fired and glazes dishes from the molds I made in the workshop I took last month with Hiroe Hanazono. They have some imperfections and a few glaze problems because I was rushing them through to see how they would work out, but I am pretty happy with them. They're adorable and I am learning so much from trying the process out. The ideas are simmering of where I could take this and I'm already seeing some larger flower shaped serving dishes in my future! Now, just to find the time. These are not in the etsy shop yet, as they're only prototypes, but I did just list some cute new lunch plates here. As my 4 year old pointed out, they're just the right size for your peanut butter sandwich. He's now requesting some with "boy" designs: trains, dinosaurs, robots...It would be a different subject matter for me, but they sure would be darn cute. What would you like to see on your lunch plate?

First Casts!

I finally got a chance to try out the slip casting molds I made in the Hiroe Hanazono workshop I took earlier in the month. I haven't done a lot of slip casting, so the whole process always feels a little intimidating to me. Here are the molds full of slip, waiting to set up so I can pour it out.

Here are the first casts out of the molds! I definitely have some work to do on fine tuning my molds and forms, but I'm excited about the potential. It seems like it could be a great way to add some new more complex forms to my body of work. Now just to find the time...

P.S. Happy Birthday to me!!!!