The weekend

(I'm having trouble keeping up with my blog this month!)
Re-cap of the weekend*
We took the kids Saturday to a place called the Lazy 5 ranch in Moorseville NC. Its this place that has all these animals like buffalo, pot-belly-pigs, zebra's, lamas ect. They take you around in a horse drawn wagon so you can feed the animals out of your hand. Its pretty cool and the animals are beautiful to look at. They all looked well cared for and happy or else I would not go. ( on a side note I'm not a big fan of the circus or "fair animals" because they just always look sad to me............plus I have a phobia against clowns. You can laugh now........maybe another time I'll talk about that) Anyways, Joey got some cool photo's I'll post on here and it was worth the money to go just to hear the kids squeal.
Studio Work *
My studio is freezing! Joey only got half of my plastic walls up this weekend because we ran out of plastic and staples. For some reason we are having a cold October and it is just killing me to be out there in the cold. I've grown into such a whimp!! Of course, I did make myself get out there and trim some things, finished up salt and pepper sets ect. Things are also drying slowly because of the moisture in the air. Last night one of the cats drug in a skin of a squirrel and left it for me under my wheel. What a treat! We have an 80 year old neighbor across the street that likes to shot squirrels and pretty much lets his gun go off all day long. Its crazy but that is what you get living in a small town. He told me one day (after one of my cat had drug a dead squirrel into my studio and I was to chicken to get it out and asked for his help) that after he shots them and finds them he gives them to some guy who lives behind us and he eats them! Isn't that great!!!!!! Anyways, I'm telling you all this because I guess someone had squirrel for dinner and my cats found the remains.
Well, so much about talking pots............sorry.

Claytimes/Weather and Monks

Clay Times
I just found some exciting news on my email account this evening. Seems the letter I wrote to Lana Wilson is going to be published in the next claytimes that comes out. WOW, I'm feeling pretty good and a little geeky I guess. I do love to read those little snip-its they put at the beginning of the magazine where everyone either complains or talks about how good an article was. In Ceramics Monthly sometime people can get down right nasty with letter. I guess that is what free speech is all about. Anyways, if you get the magazine search for my comment to the "Mud Mama's" section.

The weather
The weather is really slowing me down this week. Its been damp and rainy. I love days like this for the most part because it makes my gardens look nice, I love to listen to the rain and it gives me an excuse to be lazy and just roll around in bed with my kids and keep my PJ's on for the good part of the day. BUT...my pots won't dry. I have no bats, I can't trim anything or put anything together and my studio only has half the plastic up so I can't put on my heater without wasting the heat. Tomorrow night I have a meeting with my Circle of 8 folks so I won't be working in the studio. Lets hope things get dry in one day so Saturday I can be somewhat productive! As a potter you are always at the mercy of so many other factors then just you.

The Monks
Today on the radio I heard this cool story about a new reality show on TLC. I guess it takes very cynical people or people who don't really enjoy other human contact and they make them live 40 days at a monastery. They interviewed one of the guys who had all these bad feelings toward religion and just trusting people period. It sounded very cool and it also talked about what monasteries in the country specialize in bread, wine or even the recycling of ink cartridges. Anyways, if I had cable in my studio, I'm sure I would be hooked on this show. Good thing I don't!

wed. log

Not a whole lot going on in the pottery world to really report. I've been throwing plates, bowls and salt and pepper shakers to fill some orders I have. I'm pretty eager to get these things done and move onto to working on my new stuff that I've been working on. I did get a call that my name finally came up and off the waiting list for a show in Shelby that I've done in the past. They've put me in a new building so I'm curious to see how my sales are. Most years I'm put between a lot of folks from the seagrove area and there pottery is pretty cheap so I think with my porcelain prices up against there stoneware stuff, I lose out a lot of times. But....We'll see.

On the mom front Quaid has been sick this week with yet another chest and throat thing. He was born with a collapsed lung so I think he tends to get these things a lot worse than most folks. Anyways, he's been home with the rest of the crew and we've just been lying low. I've been trying to work on Aydan tantrums this week. Today was a bad day for her. Nothing was going her way and she ended up in time out I think like 6 times. By the end of the day I just needed a break from her crying and screaming a called Joey to come home from the gym early. I figured she also needed a break from me. I think at bed time she tied a good one on for him as well. This age ( 3) just can be so trying on one's nerves.

So, tomorrow I'm off to teach my class in Charlotte and Friday I meet with my circle of 8 friends. Than on Saturday we are planning to take the kids to this exotic animal ranch in Moorseville;hope the weather holds out because I know they will love it!

Taking time to just be mom today.

I always give myself a day of rest after a show. What I like to do is unload pots and clean my studio to get ready for the next thing that I'm working on. Sometimes I do, but today......I didn't. In stead I spent time with the kids and planted bulbs. We put up Halloween decorations, they helped me dig and I played lego's and Playmobil with my son. I even made dinner tonight, which usually doesn't happen on the weekends because Joey has planned some elaborate dish he wants to try out. So, I had a good day just doing what most mom's do on Sundays, a lot of nothing that equals out to something for the kids.

Joey was nice enough to unload the car for me today and I had every intension of getting out to my studio this evening for "the clean-up", but here I sit and my bath and bed are telling me that , that is where I need to be, not out in the cold. For anyone who is not firmilar with my studio set-up( maybe I've talked about this before) I'm on our Back porch which is just screened in so in the winter we have to put on the thickest plastic one can buy and staple it all around my shop. It keeps the wind from blowing in and once I get my space heater cranking out there, it stays....Well atleast somewhat warm to work. I was telling Joey today that the older I get the more I just hate when winter comes and the thought of going out to work in the cold. When it get super cold I usually buddle up like I'm going out into a snow storm with hats and long-johns; the whole nine yards. I get a bucket of hot water to throw with and the tips of my fingers sometimes crack in the winter due to the cold and hot that I expose them to out there. I also take my space heater and sit it up on a chair aimed right at my hips for warmth. That is how I get through the winter months. You can bet that if I do ever get a real studio it will have a biggest heater money can buy! Tomarrow night the plastic goes up!

On to the next

I'm enjoying the relaxing Saturday evening tonight. I did the Barn Sale in Mathews today so its time for sleep and relaxing and start back in the studio tomorrow for the next thing that is due. The show was pretty good, but I think numbers where done from last year. I sold some big new pieces which of course really excites me but I was wondering if maybe I didn't have enough mid-range priced things for everyone that was looking. After every show I have to sit down and analyze what I think worked and what I didn't. You learn so much and then other times you have no clue how to call it. Anyways, everyone who came out to say Hi, I really appreciate the firmilar faces and encouragement. It makes those long days and short nights worth while.

I think I'll sign off and take a nice hot bath and get my book. Peace!

A feeling of peace

Here are the twins, it just so happens when this photo was taken they where back to being best friends and the fighting had stopped for a little while.

Today I feel pretty relaxed and peaceful. I have a kiln cooling and I'm ready for tomorrow. The stress is gone for a little while, I think Wednesday I was buzzing I was so wound up from all I felt like I had to get done. What a mess I make myself sometimes and wonder why I don't just get a regular job. But then I have a pretty good kiln come out and I'm back at peace with everything. Its sapose to be cool this weekend so I'm hoping that will make people think about Christmas gifts and my sales will be good. I'm not sure if I mentioned or not but our SUV( the Montero) started to die on us two weeks ago so we had to put a new engine in it because a car payment was out of the question at this time in our lives. So I'm in search of the big bucks to pay that off. My car is old but I really don't care as long as it runs. My priorities for things have totally changed and I know I don't need a new fancy car to make me happy, just one that doesn't smoke in the car pool line!
My parents are taking the kids for the night since we have to get up so early to set up the show. We are planning to go out to dinner and celebrate our anniversary that was on Monday. Both of us are looking forward to a bit or peace from the children. Have a good one!

Excitement on Wright Ave

We're having a movie filmed here in little old York and its on our street! A neighbor on the other side of the street a few houses down is getting paid $15,000 a day for filming in his home. The same director that did "Snakes On A Plane" is making a movie about an Asylum and I guess its a teen flick starring the kids that plays the creepy role in desperate Housewives( I have yet to see him around but I haven't been lurking outside that much). You wouldn't get over all the trailers and stuff they have to bring to film one little scene from the movie. They also used a house on another street down the way for more small scenes. I also heard that they used a lot of Winthrop University for it as well. So, like a said, a bit of excitement. The funny story to the whole thing is that we had a former neighbor who likes to do pranks on people call us up and say that he was from the film and wanted to use my pottery and backyard for part of the movie. Naturally I was thinking what horrible timing it is since I have a show but..................FREE MONEY! The next day we found out it was a prank and he got another neighbor of ours as well. ( I'm trying to think of something I could pull one him!) I'll have to post some photo's from our street.

So much going on!

Boy, everyday I can think of at least 3 things I want to post on here but finding the time to do it is'nt always the case. So here it is at 11pm and once I again I need to go get some sleep but since I haven't posted in a few days I thought I should quickly sit down and "empty my thoughts", so to say.

Potter world~I have a show next weekend so I am racing the clock. We really need the money so I need to have a good show. Today I finished up throwing so I can start the process of finishing things up and mass firings. I'm getting really good a pacing myself with trying to do more involved pieces at the beginning of my throwing cycle and quick things like vases, bowls and cups towards the end. I can quick dry these things and it takes nothing for me to crank out a bunch in a day. I'm also getting pretty quick with my glazing. It usually takes me from 7pm to about 11 to glaze a kiln load, if I don't have to many tops and weird shapes So............These last two weeks I've been trying everything I can to do some nice new items and still have my tried and true sellers. We'll see how it goes. I'm prying I have no more issues with my kiln.

Home life~ Everyone is good ...For the most part. The girls are really starting to fight more, which is driving me crazy and I think I need to invest in some more twins books.We are having a lot of issues with Aydan lately. She's hitting a lot, saying the word" stupid" and running away and crying whenever one of her siblings looks at her cross eyed. Quiad and McKenna seem to get along really well together and leave Aydan out of playing sometimes. This brakes my heart because she is the sweetest of the three of them and I think these issues she is having with them is causing her I act out. Once again, I need a new twin book.

World matters~ Boy has the news/radio and Tv really gotten my down lately. Between all the Mark Foley thing and the recent school shooting that all involve some form of abusing a minor, it makes me want to lock my kids up. It horrible that pretty much everyone who comes in contact with my kids I have to wonder if there is something sinister about them lurking in there past. Then I was watching 60 minutes last week and they had this story on there about a video and trend called "Bum fight". It was a horrible story about how these teenage boys go out and find bums to beat up on. I felt sick after seeing the whole story. To end it all on the computer news I read how in some country they have this form of entertainment called "Kangaroo fighting". Literally humans put on boxing gloves along with the animal and get in a ring and fight. Once again I felt sick. I"m starting to understand why some people just want to drop out of society and live where no one else is around.

Joey and I~ Well tomorrow is our anniversary. We will have been married 7 years, which seems pretty fast. We have no big plans tomorrow but in a month we have tickets to go see something in Charlotte. ( Seems we never have money on our anniversary).Maybe one day we can actually get away somewhere together.

Who reads this anyways???

I just got a "comment" from my super cool pottery friend Ron Philbeck. You know, Ron is about the only person that leaves me little notes so I always wonder who is out there reading my blog? Lost of people say they keep up with it and tonight I was curious to see how many hits I've gotten and I'm over 1000...pretty cool~ Anyways, If you do read this just every now and then do like Ron does and throw me a hello, some days I could really use it!

Work in the studio

I got to back work last night. Boy, we had a good weekend visiting with friends and family but like I said before, I could not wait to get back in my studio. I was chompin' at the bit in the car about all the things I need to work on for this month. At one point on our ride Joey was playing a silly game with the kids and trying to get me involved, but I was " in my zone" as he noted, lost in my pottery thoughts.

Anyways, I worked on some urns last night, trimmed and threw some platters, made some larger clam boxes( I've got big idea's for those), and threw some more bowls for the dinnerware set I'm re-doing. It turned out that my customer was not 100% sure about how the dish color came out; not what she envisioned so I'm re-doing the set. The good news is that someone called me the other day and said that she is interested in the set! So...Barbara, if your out there reading "the Pottery blog", I'll have the set at the barn sale!

I also can't wait to do another glaze firing to see if my kiln is still being temperamental. I think I need to start making some kiln gods,even though my kiln is just electric. I've underestimated all the things that can go wrong with an electric kiln ever since I started doing this kind of firing 6 years ago. In school it seemed that everyone stuck there noses up at the electric kiln. It was considered a kiln for "hobbyist and old ladies". I too was included in this group! Well I have since learned ( and the kiln gods have thoughts me a lesson) that electric firing isn't as "girlie" as I once thought. I have had a lot of ugly pots come out of the kiln that have proven to me that I don't know everything about ceramics!

Honoring Sid

I feel really humbled after going and being in the show at NC State this weekend now that I am back from the event. I didn't have a real grasp of what kind of event this would be so like I said, I was humbled. I thought for sure there would be a bunch of artists in this show. All in all I think there where only about 25 people in it. After I saw the names of who they asked to be in it, I felt really honored that I was in the show. I could count at least 5 more artists that I think Sid mentored or did a lot for that where not shown in the group. Anyways, it was very nice. The work was very good and they had a video/interview with Sid that I believe runs the whole time you are in the exhibit. I personally think they should of had more of Sid's work in the show but I guess they just choose pieces that meant a lot to him and the family. I can still see a huge cabinet in there living room that was filled with his crystal vases. Usually he would pick the best one out of the kiln and take it down to the house to give to Pat, his wife. The more I read about Sid in the brochure they gave out, the more I wished I had spent more time talking to him and not so wrapped up in my little world as a worker at the shop. He was very generous to people and several times he bailed me out of money issues or situation I was in. He really did do a lot to help crafts people keep going. I think he knew being a artists/potter was hard so he looked out for his own. I'm glad Michael Sherrill suggested they do a show for Sid there, he really did warrant the honor.

Off for the weekend

I just was finishing up some berry bowls in my studio this evening. I needed to get things to a stopping point because we are going away this weekend. I always, in the back of my head feel guilty about being away from my studio even though I know we all need a break. Sometimes I think that if I didn't have a family I would spend an enormous amount of time in there and be more obsessed about it than I can be these days. I know when I was in school I was at the art building all the time. I wonder where in my upbringing did this need to keep going and going happen. ( I'm sure a family member or a shrink could answer this one for me).

Anyways, we are going to Raleigh for a show that I'm in at NC State. I use to work at Cedar Creek gallery in Durham NC and the man who owned the gallery, Sid Oakley was also a potter. ( If you want to know more about that place get on line and read about how they started it from nothing......Good story.) Anyways, Sid passed away a few years ago and the gallery at NC State is doing a retrospective of his work. The name of the show is Sid Oakley, Artist, Mentor and Friend. Everyone who is in the show fits this description. In a way I sort of feel like I'm not as worthy as some of the other folks to be in this show but at the last minute Sid's daughter told me I needed to be in it. I was not potting at the time I knew Sid. I was just his employee at the shop. But Sid did take a lot of interest in my artistic back ground and gave me money and a reference letter to go to Penland one summer. Once I got hooked on throwing and decided to go back to school he did take an interest in how I was doing and would ask to see my pots. Finally at a show in Charleston Sc he did get a chance to look at my work and decided it was good enough to put in the shop. This was a huge deal to me since I use to help Sid and Lisa buy work for the gallery and I knew there high standards. So, I'm looking forward to going this weekend and seeing many people I use to work with that I feel very comfortable around and feel like I've known for years. It will also be wonderful for the kids to have a little vacation and see there grandmother and cousins. I'm sure by Sunday morning I'll be bugging Joey to get back home so I can get back to my studio.

Lana Wilson

Yesterday my Clay Times came in the mail and I saw that another article called Mud Mama's 3 with in there. I quickly got the kids infront of the boob-tub and ran to my bedroom to read the article. Once again, I just loved it and could relate to everything this women was saying. At the end of the piece it said that Lana would like to people to email her with there comments. I thought to myself that instead of writing something into Clay Times( which I knew I would never get around to doing) I would just email Lana to say Thanks. Of course when I started writing I had to tell her my whole story and gush about how I needed these so bad to feel like I was'nt alone. Sure enough she emailed me back to say "thank you and keep on pluggin' along". She also put that she sent my letter to the Clay Times publisher! I guess I'll have to be on the look out to see if it gets in there and I look like a big female clay geek!

This weeks issues

Here I am at 12:00 re-counting last weeks events. First I have to say we had a great day here at the house. The girls and I painted a bookshelf for there room( I'm "distressing" it so it did not matter how the paint went on the shelf, which is a must when dealing with 3 year olds and a brush). Quaid got to go hang out with his buddy Wils and then they came back here and we built a campfire for the kids and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. They had a blast. I also got some peace in my studio for a numbers of hours and this evening works some more while watching the movie "Elizabethtown"( which had a really good soundtrack) SO.....to the beginning of the week. Well, my dinnerware was due and my kiln was still messing up on me. Of course I was stressing out about getting it all my kiln before Monday and then my kiln, after I had fixed it, decided it still would not cut off on time. Thank goodness for pottery friends near by because I rushed a bunch of bisque ware to my friend Sandy's house for fireing. Long and short, it was not done by monday or even Tuesday because it would either shut off pre-maturally or not at all. I did manage to get most of the dinnerware out of the kiln but the large plates just bloated since they had been fired a bunch of times. Tomarrow i"m going to do a test run to see if I did finally fix the issue and then I will go from there. In the mean time I've been re-throwing the dinnerware just in case my customer does not like the set I have for her. I figure one way or the other all the pieces will get sold and I need to have this set come out the way she invisioned because I don't want her disappointed with it. That was my week! Here's one of the survivors of the kiln for you to see!

New vases

I had a customer awhile back open up one of my oval boxes and show me what a nice and interesting vase it would make so....I tried to make some. These are pretty big but I think I would have to charge a lot for smaller ones just because the time it takes to make them. Myself and some of my Circle of Eight buddies where discussing pricing the other day and I have to admit, I have a really hard time with it. Everyone tells me I price my stuff to cheap and this can make other potters a bit mad because they think your cutting them out of the market. I never do it to sell more, I just think when I get more published or do I dare say, a bit more famous in the pottery world, I can ask more for my work. Anyways, if something takes me a lot of time, I always ask more. If its something I can throw really quick like a mug or cup, I guess I ask less then I should. I know when I want to buy someone's work , I can only afford mugs for the most part so I guess I'm looking out for those folks that like my work but can't afford a big item. I'm sure one day when I have time to really sit down and figure up all my time that goes into doing what I do, my husband will be right in saying that we are making little money. Oh well I say, I love what I do and I don't want to do anything else but play with clay!~

Mr. Mom

People always are amazed when they find out I have three children how I get anything done. I always say I have a lot of help from my husband and I don't get a lot of sleep. This is the truth. ( You can just see how I've let myself go in the last five years for proof on that....But that is a whole nother topic for another time). The real backing behind all that I am able to do is because of Joey, he does so much around here. Sometimes when other wives are talking about how hard it is to get there husbands to just put the kids to bed for them one night, I'm usually just sitting saying to myself "wow, Joey does this every night". Sometimes he will joke how he would love to be a stay at home mom and in all truth, I'm know he could do this. In fact on Saturdays when I'm off to a show I'm always amazed at how clean the house is when I return and everything is in place. How does he do it!~ Here I am day after day and the as much as I try to keep it clean, its always in samples for the most part. Today, on top of dealing with the kids, cleaning the house he made a Terimasue for dessert with my folks! Ok, I'm really heading towards being "Suzi home-maker disaster". Anyways, I relies how lucky I am and how the kids are to have a Dad they are so in tune with and close too. Maybe I should write to Lana Wilson and tell her my story of being a mom and potter and how I do it.......Maybe I could get published in the next Clay Times article! On that final note, I think I need to go spend sometime with my hubby and sing his praises some more.

Lots been gonin' on!!!

I have had no time to get on my blog....so sorry but....I'm here now! I think I listed all the things that are coming up in my"pottery life",but there has been lots to do this last week as well.

One was a grant I was applying for. I really only did a 1/4 of the work on that, Joey wrote and organized the whole thing. I did have to get the budget together and make sure it got in on time so, it took up some of my time this last week. The second thing was The Circle of Eight show I just did today. This is a group of 7 other potters that I got together last summer. I got the idea from Linda Christenson, who is an amazing, funny, wonderful and down to earth potter that I met a few years ago at ECU. I was able to do a week workshop with her and picked her brain about being a mom and a potter and how does one get a head in this business without having to , well, kiss up to everyone basically. She had suggested I get together a group of my peers and get some shows going along with a support system. As soon as I got home I started calling potters I knew and had some connection to and the result now is Circle of Eight. We had a first group sale today and I was surprised at the turn out.....Pretty good! I'll get some photo's on the web soon from the show so you can see what a diverse crowd we are.
My last adventure this week is a dinnerware set I'm finishing up for a couple that now live in NewYork City. I'm getting down to the wire on this because my kiln was out of commission for a awhile. I'm pluggin along and hoping it turns out well so I can deliver it on Tuesday. Wish me luck! Wow, what a September so far.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I'm really to busy with life to be sitting here writing on my blog but.....everyone needs a break to do something relaxing...right? I did get to go for a walk this evening. It was great. I was just thinking today how when the weather is a certain way or there is a certain smell in the air it will remind me of places I've lived and all my 1000 walks around those neighborhoods. I love to walk. I use to like walking with my walk-men on and just get in the zone or my own personal bubble away from everything else going on around me. Sometimes when I've had a crazy day with the kids I really like going to a noisey store like Target. When I'm there I know no one will talk to me and I can just relax into my own thoughts with no interruptions. (How did get on this subject????)Oh yah.....walking. Its great for everything!

Well anyways, I had a show last weekend , which was pretty good and I have another one this weekend- plus a dinnerware set due so I'm swamped. Of course not to mention my other life and all I have to do with that! In the fall, craftspeople just have to hit the ground running to sell, sell, sell so it will make up for those slow months after Christmas. I always kick myself come February when we are broke and I haven't felt like I saved up enough to hold us over. My goal this year is to that just that. So................Off I go to bed to re-energize for tomorrows work load!

Shows coming up

Here's is a list of some shows I'm doing in the next weeks-months.............

This weekend( Sept. 9th) is ARTS IN THE PARK in Blowing Rock NC. I like this show, lots of great work and gives us a chance to get a way a bit and go eat somewhere good!

The weekend of the 16th of September myself and 7 more potters are doing a group show. I'll have to talk more about this little group of us but for now, just for the record we are called CIRCLE OF 8 and we are having the show in Charlotte. I'll put all the info on times and place the beginning of next week. Pretty cool postcard of our work I'll have to post.

SID OAKLEY, MENTOR, FRIEND AND ARTIST is at the north Carolina state art gallery and the closing reception is the 30th of sept. This should be a great show of various artists( lots of great potters) who knew Sid.....Including myself.

October 14th is the annual ClayMatters guild barn sale in Chalotte.

There is more, but for now, that is all I can think up to at the moment

Enjoying Labor day

Hi All. Hope your enjoying your labor day weekend. So far, we are having a nice, productive and not to stressful weekend.

Onto last week!
Here is a photo of a major pottery goof and a bit of lazyness on my part( I hate to admit). I have neglected to put visual cones in my kiln for, oh since Quiad was about one. In a gas kiln, its a must. In an electric kiln you get lazy and rely on the kiln setter. Well, I learned my lesson with this one. My kiln sitter slowly bent over the years and finally this week neglected to shut my kiln off at the temp. it was sapose too. Result......stuck pots. What a mess to clean up. I only managed to selvage about 9 things,some had to be smashed and the rest still have to be pryed off the shelves. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . Lesson learned.