Seeing red

Yep, I'm seeing red... and I'm becoming addicted! I've always gravitated to earth tones and ocean colors. However, in recent days I've been experimenting with reds.

I started back at Christmas, making a few pieces to give and sell during the holiday season. Then I started playing.

Next thing I knew I had a nice grouping of red pieces with purple and green highlights.

I use red clay as a rule, usually majolica because of the feel and the way it moves. A lot of my pieces are created while the clay is nice and wet allowing me to shape it in ways you just can't do when it's firm.

I made some bowls, a pitcher and a few smaller pieces. After the bisque firing I covered the entire piece with a black that has some hints of color. I let it dry, then sponged off the surface leaving the color in the grooves of the texture and on select parts of the smooth areas.

Then I brushed two different reds onto the raised surfaces, two coats, leaving some minimal areas without any color at all.

Next I lightly brushed two purples and a couple of greens across portions. On a few I fired, I didn't think I had enough of the color that I wanted so I added more red, green or purple.

One piece is simply red and black. The red has white specks in it giving it an interesting look, especially since the black was added on top of the red instead of underneath.

Then I got in one of these whimsical moods that strike me on rare occasions (the rest of the time I'm just nuts ;-). I had picked up some glass at Davens in north Atlanta to experiment with so I combined my red mood with my desire to experiment and made a series of brightly colored hearts.

I used reds, blues, greens, yellows, and other bright colors. They were a pain in the tush as I made them without thinking about how difficult they'd be to glaze!

If you wander through the slide show you'll see what I'm talking about with the bright heart series.

I put little hand-formed balls on them, took thin strings of clay to define squares then glazed inside... Yuk. I also added glass inside some of the squares and other places I'd left hollowed out for the glass. I had to fire some of them twice to get enough glass in the areas to tell I'd used it. Then I lost a few pieces as I gather glass doesn't quite like the temperature I fired to in one load. It bubbled the first time around.

Next time I'm in the mood to make these things I'm definitely going to think the design through a little better!

The idea was to make some pieces that were quick and easy, those impulse buy type items that are always good to have around. Unfortunately the glazing took so long it was not exactly cost effective.

I liked them though. I do want to try some more of them at some point. During the summer I'll be gearing up for my winter shows and plan to figure out an easier way to glaze that type piece.

I've included a few of the pieces in the following slide show. Believe me, I have more ;-)

Winning 1st Place is sweeeet....

What a great weekend! I signed up a while back to do a brand new show in Thomson, Georgia, "Arts in the Alley" on May 8th. I really didn't know much about it, but my parents lived right down the road (OK, 45 minutes away ;-) and it was being held in the home of blues great Blind Willie McTell. A strong arts community, a cool show name, blues in the neighborhood and an excuse to spend time with my Mom (and Dad) on Mother's Day weekend... what could be better?

It's a fairly new show, this is its second year. I can tell that it's going to grow and there will come a time when people are fighting to get in. Marion Ivey did a phenomenal job with every aspect of the show. It was well organized, the entertainment was great and I had a lot of fun talking with he and his cohorts. What a nice community! I had a lot of fun and very much enjoyed the experience... plus some of my work found some new homes with people who really seemed to love my art. Although selling my art is special, I think some days that I enjoy soaking up compliments just as much if not more .

To give the show a permanent place in my "fond memory" category, I won 1st place for a piece of my pottery! It's always nice to win, and even better, it's nice to be appreciated.

You can't tell much from the photo to the left but I don't have time at the moment to take a better photo. This photo is one I took a month or so ago while experimenting with ways to photograph my work. It's looking down into the piece. It's titled "Treading Water". It's one of my absolute favorites. I fired it five times to get the glaze affects I wanted. 

The "bubbles" cascade inside and outside. It's "wavy" to emulate the ocean, and has "coral" type flutes. Ocean colors of course. You can't see the variations of the blues and aquas in my poor photo, nor can you see the lines of the piece... Ah well, one more thing I need is a good photographer who's willing to trade with luck.

I came home from the show with a nice 1st place plaque, a stunning basket by Delores von Rosen from Chappells, South Carolina and a few nice pieces from another potter at the show. I haven't unpacked yet so I can't give you her name. I will once I unpack and find her card. Delores teaches basket weaving and if she were closer I'd be heading over to take some lessons. She had some very well made basket ART, true art... unusual shapes, beautiful colors and excellent color combos.

I'm already gearing up for my next two shows... I'm still learning about which shows will work best for my kind of art. My work is what I'd describe as art sculpture. It's definitely not what most think of when they hear the word "pottery".

This weekend I'll be at the 42nd Annual Fayette Fine Art Show in beautiful downtown Fayetteville on the courthouse square (May 15 & 16). I'm not thrilled about the weather... it's supposed to be around 90 degrees! I'm in booth 36 if any of you would like to wander by and see me. It's a fantastic show, the first I ever did and one I'll always do as long as I live close enough. I won an award there my first year, too.

The Fayette show teams up with the Fayetteville Main Street organization and holds a number of different events throughout the weekend. They have the "Taste of Fayette" which showcases lots of local restaurants, caterers and chefs, plus a kids area with those big bouncy slide things and other fun activities for the kids. The Friends of the Library holds a HUGE book sale on Saturday, too. I'm a read-aholic so I'm a member and get to hit the show the day before the public. I'll cart away bags and bags and boxes of books.

The following weekend, the 22nd, I'll be in Buckhead (Atlanta) at another new show being held inside (yeah!) at the Old Buckhead Design Center. It's styled on a European market theme and will have arts, organic foods, events for the kids and other products. It's a last minute addition to my schedule. My son told me about it. He'll have a booth there so I thought it'd be fun to set up near him and if nothing else, bond. I'm trying to finish up a lot of smaller pieces as I think it's probably going to be more of that kind of show.

I don't do small pieces as a rule. Most of my work takes hours to make, not including the firing time. I need to get my butt in gear and get a nice portfolio and get my work in more galleries. My biggest problem in life is that I have way too many interests and don't focus on one well enough to do it right. I need a handler.

On another note, couldn't end without mentioned that they're having a blues festival next weekend in Thomson, GA. Go look up the McDuffie Arts Council or Thomson and Blind Wille McTell if you'd like to find out more... which reminds me!!! There was a very, very cool display by a wood worker at the Arts in the Alley show. Again, the card is packed or I'd tell you the name darn it. Anyway, he tracked down living relatives of Blind Willie McTell and received permission to use wood from McTell's old home. He makes gorgeous wooden knives and other items from the wood. He has prints of McTell playing framed in wood from the home. If you're a blues fan, you'll want to look this guy up and snatch up one of his pieces. Again, I'll share the name and info when I unpack.

Right now I'm heading to the studio to finish glazing some pieces I hope to have for this weekend's show...

They say patience is a virtue...

I say patience is a pain if it's forced upon you.

I have none when I've made a piece of pottery and I want it to be finished. I chafe at having to wait for a piece to dry so I can fire it. I sometimes rush a bit to finish up a few pieces just so I can fill the kiln.

Then comes the wait for the kiln to complete its cycle and cool down. Tick, tock, tick, tock... watch the clock... Well, not exactly as I took the clock out of the studio. I watch the kiln.

After it's finished and reaches a certain temperature, I find myself walking by the kiln to touch the top and gauge coolness. Or, if I'm working across the room I can't help but glance at the temp every so often hoping it's dropped low enough to open... (yes, it's well vented)

It's worse when I've made something new, something that I really love, or something that stretched my abilities.

The joy of opening a kiln is usually worth the wait though. I've said it before: it's like Christmas, only better 'cause it's stuff I made. It's a big hot container of presents, waiting to cool...

After I finally get to open the kiln (yes, sometimes a little before you're really supposed to open it), I then have to wait until I've glazed enough pieces to fill it again.

Impatient soul that I am, sometimes I can't wait and I'll use my baby kiln to fire a piece if it'll fit.

Experimenting with glazes makes the second round of firing even more tortuous at times. I can't wait to see if the new glazes or combination of glazes will turn out like I wanted.

I bet most of you who use an electric kiln are familiar with the extremely looooonnnnngggg wait for the last 20 - 50 degree drop? It'll go from whatever astronomical temp you reach down to "almost there" while you sleep... but those last few degrees from "almost there" to "OK, time to open the kiln" take forever!

Tell the truth... how many of you have cheated and opened the kiln, let in a little air, then closed it again hoping to rush that last little bit of time? How many of you have done it more than once because it didn't work the first time? I've never done anything like that, oh no. I know better. I really, really do, I promise. (Want to know how long my nose grew as I typed??? can't type ayn morrae, it's droopnng onaato th key bard...)

Yeah, yeah, I'm guilty. Often guilty. Knock on wood I haven't lost a piece yet due to my inability to wait, but I know it's just a matter of time so I've been working on it for, ummm, how many years? hmmm... impatient potters anonymous anyone?)

Seriously, over the years I've gotten better at being patient.

A little.

OK, not really. I've just learned to schedule the kiln firing, whenever possible, for the times when I know I can't get out to the studio for a couple of days.

As I type I'm looking out my window toward the studio wondering if that last piece is bone dry yet so I can fire up the kiln. Tomorrow morning I guarantee I'll be out the door first thing to check.

Patience is something I doubt I'll ever have in the realm of my clay world. Impatient Potters Anonymous indeed! Where do I sign up?

Recycled bowl...

Have you ever had an idea, followed it through, then been unhappy with the results? I had that one happen today.

I spent half the afternoon working on this really cool square bottom, round top with two necks. It was OK. It wasn't quite right so I started working with it. I added this and that, then took off that...

Still not right.

Kept at it until I finished, but I really, really just didn't like the finished piece.

Not only did it not look like I'd envisioned, it was just... I don't know... just not right.

I put it on a turn-table and spun it around. I looked at it from a variety of angles. I stepped back and again looked at it from different angles. I got close, eye-level, and turned it around.

I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it felt confused, junky... not right.

So, I grabbed a huge bowl, sprayed it so the clay wouldn't stick and I tore that sucker up.

It was so much fun! I made a bowl that grew out of the bowl shape I'd chosen.

It's not the first time I've recycled a piece I've made, but in the past it has generally been because the first piece fell apart or flopped.

I guess in a way this one flopped... at least for me. Then it flopped for real when I lit into it to tear it up.

Guess when I write about these things I should take some photos so you'll have an idea of the before and after. Of course, you're all artists so I'm sure you're good at picturing something in your mind.

I will take a photo of the bowl tomorrow and add it to this post, then you can see how close your imagination came to at least part two, the recycled bowl.

p.s. "junky" (used above) is not in the spell check dictionary on here. Hmph.

Waking the brain matter up, thinking about selling pottery...

Last night I wrote a blog that dithered around a number of subjects, one being having a "staple" piece of art to sell. I've always just blindly accepted the philosophy, or maybe it's more of an accepted business model, that you need to have low end priced items at shows. The thought process being that those are the ones that most will buy and those are the ones that will be your bread and butter.

It makes some sense for the standard show, although I think you do need to know the type buyers that come through a show also. If you're at a high end show and you have under $50 pieces you may find that you sell nothing...

However, for most artists who're doing an arts/craft type shows a large portion of those attending do so to hear the music, to have a family day out, to check out the taste of whatever city you're in, to hook up with friends, etc. They buy on impulse and aren't necessarily looking for a nice piece to take home.

I do a number of those crafty type shows. I enjoy getting out and meeting new people, hearing comments, talking with other artists, etc.

But in a blind flash of the obvious, it struck me this morning as I walked though my home, that I had quite a few pieces of pottery and art that I'd bought at shows from other artists. I usually bought the pieces because I craved one of their nicer pieces and couldn't afford to bring it to my home (where it obviously belonged). So, I bought a smaller pieces.

The sad thing is that I have a lot of those smaller pieces and I couldn't tell you the name of most of the artists. I can't attach the small "production" type piece I bought to a picture in my mind of their nicer work. I know the names of the artists whose work I still crave, or those I saved to buy...

As I reflected on that, I started thinking about how I view my own work. I started thinking about what a chore it is to me to do something over and over. I never, ever like to make two of a kind of anything and when I make myself do it just to make a dollar or two, then it's almost like I'm selling myself out.

I'm being someone that isn't me.

I'm compromising just to make a few dollars.

Money is nice, but it's never been my motivator. I could easily be one of those stereotypical starving artists (but am very happy I'm not ;-).

Continuing to think more about it as I sipped (OK, guzzled) my second cup of hot tea, it struck me that I usually don't sell the smaller pieces anyway. I may see a number of people walk into my booth and pick up a piece to see the price before someone buys, but I sell enough to be happy when I pack up most shows.

So, I've decided to say to heck with the business model. It's always been one of those little guilty twinge-types that stayed with me as I prepared for a show... knowing I need to stop doing what I really want to do so I can make some smaller stuff.

Picture me going to the studio and in my mind I'm stomping my feet throwing a tantrum because I have an idea or muse I want to follow but I hafta be good, I hafta do those stupid money-making-fillers.

Making pottery is a joyful experience most days. It's the high that runners talk about (and I used to have when I ran regularly). It clears the mind of clutter. It's better than yoga.

I needed to write that blog yesterday and I needed to clear my mind of the "hafta" clutter.

Refreshing. Freeing. Seriously. It is.

Potzophrenic...

New word for the dictionary . I have been flitting from one thing to the next this week in the studio.

I was on hearts for a bit, then made some vase type pots, then saw a magazine at my Mom's house with a cool quilt ad which inspired a whole other day of heart making... then had a midnight wakeful moment that sparked a wall hanging... then saw one of my old pots that I really liked which had me remembering the pitchers I made a while back and I made this nice large pitcher... then another heart or two just to balance my pot karma.

Potzophrenic for sure.

I'm excited about the pitcher. I think I'm going to spend a week doing some more. Then I have to get serious and do some glazing.

I have a few shows on the horizon so need to settle in and think "sales" for a few days a week if I can. I'm finding that my higher end pieces aren't selling as quickly as they have in the past at shows, but as always, people will buy the lower end just to satisfy that "hafta have my art" fix... so I must, I must, try to focus on paying the electric bills.

Most in the art business have their quickly made staple that gets them through most shows. The $10 - $40 piece that they pop out without breaking a sweat. It's uniquely theirs, but it's easy to make, easy to glaze and easy to sell.

Being the kind of person who can't stay on any one thing for long I haven't found the discipline to make those little pieces that fill in the gaps between the big sales. Even when I find something that's fairly quick & easy it has to be perfect... and so sometimes I'll fire a $15 item 2 or 3 times just to get the glaze right. Of course, then the $15 item becomes worth three times the cost and I'm losing money when I sell it, defeating the purpose.

Or I am so entranced with making something new, following an idea, that I never quite get around to making those business card holders or the thing-a-majig to hand on the wall. Boring. Work. Yuk. No fun when ideas are bubbling.

So, I make my hearts, then my vases, then my wall hanging... A

h well, someday some huge famous gallery is going to just hafta carry my art and Ceramics mag will feature me on the front page and my work will be in huge demand throughout the world and... and... Ya know, that'd all be nice, but I don't spend my time dreaming about things like that, I spend my dreaming moments thinking about what I'm going to do with that pile of clay waiting for me in the studio.

I think any artist will tell you creating is all that really matters. Appreciation is wonderful. Recognition feels very, very good. But taking your ideas and turning it into something concrete is an addiction, a compulsion and all the rest of it is just super nice icing on our home-made cake.

Busy day in the studio

I decided to do a series of hearts, something a bit different for me. I'm usually not drawn to something like that, but I started thinking about them over the holidays and had a few ideas I wanted to try.

I made "heart attack", "heart of steel", "cut to the heart", "twisted heart" and others... I plan to get out there again Thursday and improve on the designs, expand on the ideas. I'm not exactly sure they'll be suitable for Valentine's Day giving, but maybe I'll try a few more traditional offerings. I'm not a very traditional type person.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, no clay. I'm taking my three nieces shopping for Christmas and to lunch. Looking forward to seeing them (and my sister). I'll slip out to the studio for a few minutes though, have a few pieces that are under plastic, drying slowly that I need to check on.

I also made a couple of vases today. If you've read my previous blogs you know I'm just not the kind of person who can do one thing over and over, even if there's some variation. I had enough of hearts after a while, took a break and tried something else new. I like the way one piece turned out. I think I'll do a few more in the same line. It's sharper and more linear than some of the work I've posted on any of the slides you've seen (assuming you've looked at my work on Facebook and / or my website).

I have a tendency to do things you're not supposed to do when working with clay. When I first started playing with clay my mentor would tell me I couldn't do something or other... I'd do it anyway, knowing what I wanted. Knowing that what I wanted to do wasn't supposed to work made it a challenge.

I made some interesting "mistakes" that I still own and like. Quite possibly someone teaching art would turn up their nose at some of them! I won an award from a group of artists and instructors for a piece one year. At the next show the judge, a college art instructor, sneered at the piece... Turned out if it wasn't wheel thrown she didn't like anyone's pottery, but still it shows that art truly is a personal experience.

One of the beautiful things about pottery, or any art for that matter, is that it continues on long after a person leaves this earth. Looking at artistic creations tells you a lot about the person, their soul, their spirit. Given the names I gave to pieces of my heart series I have to wonder what it'll tell people about me!!! Nyahhh, ha, ha, ha, he, he... twisted she must be...

Good morning, deer...

Catching up on some office stuff, updating websites, checking on my ArtFire listings and my newest Hummingbird Hollow pages on http://www.artistsingeorgia.com/ (free for Georgia artists, plus they have sister sites in other states), reading emails, downing my second cup of hot tea, yada yada yada ad nauseum...

Sitting in my office, which is a converted sun room, I can see my studio. It beckons... but today it will sit silent, all alone. Well, all alone except any wildlife that wanders by! Today is my volunteer day at the Clothes Less Traveled, a thrift store. I'm on the Board of this fantastic non-profit. I love that we're recycling other people's stuff, then taking the dollars earned and giving to local charities... One of the most fun things in the world is to give! I volunteer once a month, usually end up sorting through donations (and buying more stuff that I don't need ;-). I get some great things for the studio in there at great prices, too.

Anyway, back to my morning 'cause I hafta get outta here soon:

I caught some action from the corner of my eye as I was playing with my Hummingbird Facebook account. A deer scampered across the yard. Grayer than normal, maybe they do that during the winter cold? Usually they're a nice tannish-brown. I guess the change is natures way of helping them to blend in? or maybe it's a thicker coat for the cold?

I grabbed my camera and popped a few photos of the deer, then glance toward the studio and saw three more. My movement in the window spooked them, two jumped into the woods, one froze in the middle of the yard.

I once got within a foot or two of a deer with a camera while hiking in the mountains. They freeze thinking you won't see them. Ha.

Thought I'd share my morning photos. Both of these were taken through my office windows (double paned with an outside screen, surprised I was able to get anything at all... especially since only the rain washes the things!).

My studio is in the background of one of the shots... that makes this have something to do with pottery, right? Oh, and those rocks behind the tree behind the deer? That's the beginning of my pottery rock garden mentioned in a previous blog.

From Pottery to Turkeys and Back

One of the things I love about my home and studio location is the fact that they're both located in an area where the wildlife is still around and part of the scenery.

The first year we moved here my studio was still under construction so I spent most of my time getting the home settled. I was delighted when I saw my first deer wandering across the yard, nipping at the trees, nibbling on the grass. I'd sit up some nights just to see if they'd cross the yard.

Then I saw my first wild turkeys! Wow, that was very cool.

Over the years I've enjoyed watching the turkeys grow, gotten kind of used to their habits and noises. They're pretty stupid birds in many ways. If I walk slow, they'll ignore me. If I make a sudden move they may run at me or run away. Many times I've stood near them for long enough to have wacked 'em all if so inclined (I'm not, I don't eat meat so prefer to watch ;-).

Being a want-to-be-good-photographer, I've taken quite a few photos over the years, popped some YouTube videos out there for the world to enjoy.

This year I was thrilled when Mama turkey first wandered across the yard with eight baby chicks. Off and on she brought them back to enjoy whatever it is they seem to like in our yard. Then they stopped coming. The latter half of the summer I wondered if they were OK, kept an eye peeled for them.

A week or so ago they finally came back, pretty much fully grown I'd guess, but still all together. That in itself is an accomplishment. We have foxes and human predators in the area. Most of the homes around here are on 5-acre or larger lots, all of us back up to wetlands and wooded areas that hopefully will never be developed. I hear guns off and on so know that "my" turkeys sometimes end up on someones dinner table.

For a number of years I had turkeys that would hang out on the front porch of my studio. I'd look up and see one or sometimes two on the porch peering through the glass doors. If you go to my website, www.hummingbird-hollow.com, you can see a photo of one looking through the door. I always knew I'd had a visitor or two by the amount of turkey poop waiting for me...

It's a great feeling to be enjoying myself in the studio while also enjoying whatever wildlife happens to end up outside one of the windows. I keep hummingbird feeders around the place, regular bird feeders, plus try to keep flowers and plants growing (but the deer seem to feel that most of my stuff is their personal smorgasbord...). I have chipmunks, squirrels, a couple of foxes and who knows what else. It can get kind of spooky at night when the automatic lights go on and I hear scrambling noises outside the window.

Given that I love to incorporate nature into my work, it's fantastic to have so much of the best of nature around me while I'm creating. Don't know how life could get any better... well, take I that back immediately as I guess I could come up with a huge, long, long list of ways to make it better if I thought about it for a second! However, life is good and I'm grateful for all the blessings.

(Not sure if you can really tell, but there's a turkey flying just to the left of the bird feeder in the tree in that last photo. All of the photos are of "my" nine turkeys, the top two were taken from the vantage point of my studio. I couldn't get them all together long enough to take a good photo.)

And the winner is...

The pot.

Yep, the bowl, the pot, the blasted thing won.

If you read my earlier post you know I was wrestling with a bowl, refiring, fixing, tweaking, refiring, etc., etc... 'cause stubborn me just refused to admit defeat.

I liked the design.

I liked the colors... at least some color incarnations... the color scheme has stayed roughly the same, but boy have the actual colors gone through a few transformations! Light one time, matte another, marbled, dark, you name it, I think I hit every variation possible in the turquoise / aqua family!

I finally pushed the silly thing past the limit of reasonableness and while it didn't blow up, the glaze rebelled completely.

It popped open into wide gashing, sharp holes exposing the raw clay! Yes, I went way overboard on this contest of wills.

It's so bad I can't even put it in my pottery garden. What's a pottery garden? Mine is a rock garden where I add my failures, pieces of my work that break and other found items from the yard.

I live on a 5-acre place that spits up all kinds of interesting things each time it rains. I'm just outside Atlanta, nowhere near the ocean, and the ground delivers beautiful seashells! I've found ancient shaving cans, cool pieces of metal and other interesting objects. I have a nice pile of glass going, and I'm saving all the broken tile to make a path in front of the studio.

I put the smaller "found" items in the garden along with my pottery, pop in a flower or plant of some sort and plant to let it go where it wants. I just started it at the beginning of this year so I expect to have fun over the next few years as I add things.

I dug up all the rocks from the yard, which is full of quartz, mica and granite pieces.

Next year I'll take a photo and share it with you, assuming it's worthy of sharing.

I suppose I could bury the pot in the ground so the outside edges, where the huge gashes are would be underground, but at this point I think the bowl is cursed. It wanted to die a long time ago.

The photo shows it in my trash can. Looking at the photo you really can't see how bad the glaze has popped and peeled off. The color is more of a dark turquoise than black, and it has lighter marbled bits which show as a light blue or white in the photo. The color of the clay is showing through around the fluted edges.

The outside is where I had fun with this one when I initially made it. There are horizontal and vertical strips on the outside. The horizontal end in a petal at the bottom curve. Ah well, I am going to do it again as I like the design, the flow, the curves... but I'm using a different clay. I think a lack of grog in the clay might have contributed to the inability to curve without cracking.

Whatever.

I'm going to do it again, despite losing this contest of wills.

ArtFire, Etsy and Selling

I've been playing around with ArtFire this weekend. I listed two items (whoopee) and plan to list more. I plan to keep you posted on how it's working. Many of my friends are on Etsy and like it, some don't. I have not tried Etsy, not sure if I will yet.

ArtFire has the benefit of having a free basic set up without too many bells and whistles so I can dip my toe into the water without laying out any cash. I like the no-contract, month-to-month bit if I do decide to upgrade. Set up was extremely easy, although I still haven't found where to add my Twitter, Facebook and blog links... they don't have a problem with linking to your website, blogs, etc. per their documentation.

Another thing I liked about it, although I can't imagine ever getting to reap the rewards, is a program where you get 12 friends to sign up and you get your upgraded account for free. The catch is that they have to sign up immediately for the paying account (only around $12 a month, flat fee, no percentages of sales, etc. from what I saw when I glanced through details). If they convert later, like I will if it seems beneficial, then it doesn't count toward the 12... Almost everyone I know would probably start out with the free Basic account, then upgrade. However, I'm going to pop the link on here, on my sidebar and on my website, see what happens.

Either way, if I sell something fairly fast then I'll upgrade. If I don't, I'll probably wander over to Etsy. I'm not sure my work is a fit at either of the two, will just have to see. Maybe as I get a bigger following people will check to see if I'm there.

Mentioning Etsy reminded me of something else about ArtFire --- you can import all your listings from Etsy into ArtFire. To my way of thinking, why wouldn't someone on Etsy want to be on ArtFire also?

I can't give you traffic estimates, didn't check. I do know that I popped my first bowl out there and had three looks by the time I got around to checking the next morning. Haven't looked to see if I've had more.

So, on to the grand ArtFire experiment...

My preference is to stay strictly in galleries, not sure if by having my work on-line that I'm diluting my strength or improving it or if it's a wash.

I'm also considering hiring someone to represent me to new galleries. I know it's probably better to do the work myself as I'm passionate about it and can answer detailed questions, so will see. I guess if I paid someone they'd be passionate about selling it, too! In this economy any time I put the word "hire" or "job" in a statement someone inevitably wants to know if I'll consider them.

I'm appreciative that my work continues to sell, despite the economy! I am very appreciative of those who love my art, those who keep coming back to buy more for their homes, offices, and friends. It's such a wonderful craft.

Register on ArtFire.com

Contest of wills... with a pot

Ever had a pot that is difficult, impossible, has a mind of its own (and it isn't a good one)? I am currently in the midst of a contest of wills with a bowl and I am not sure yet whether I'll win!

It all started with an idea for a bowl that moved sideways and upward. I wanted a nice smooth sectioned bowl that I'll have to photograph and show you... if it survives.

I was working with a new clay that unfortunately didn't quite lend itself to doing what I wanted it to do. I love working with red clays, this one is a tan clay. My students got a kick out of listening to me fussing at it and about it as I attempted to make it meld to my vision... After tweaking, letting it sit, coming back and playing some more, I finally made the bowl and it looked fairly close to what I intended. It only took a few weeks of working on it off and on between projects, which is already more time than I typically spend on a project, but it had already become a challenge, a duel.

I covered it and left it to dry very, very slowly.

I checked on it periodically and for the first few days of very drying it seemed to be holding up. Then I saw the crack forming. Yarrgggg... after all that work I was determined to make it work.

I tweaked, used some paper clay mix, tweaked some more and once again left it to dry.

It formed another crack in another place. I knew the top was pulling the thing down some, but I kept it in a full support while it dried, it shouldn't have been splitting. I've since learned that it's more the clay than anything else. (Side note: I adapted to the clay, made some other pieces, all cracked during firing or during the drying process so I only make flat, non-curved pieces with it now. I won't be buying the clay again after I finish the batch.)

Finally I had a finished pot, no cracks, ready to fire. I picked it up and broke off one of the pieces. I won't share my reaction... needless to say, I fixed it again. It's not visible, in fact the places I fixed are probably the strongest part of the bowl!

Luckily all that happened before bisque firing.

All seemed well through the bisque process.

Then came the glazing...

The clay absorbs glaze like a sponge. I checked to be sure I'd fired to the correct temp. I had. It's just a porous clay.

I thought though that my problems were at an end, couldn't wait to see the finished piece. Of course, the glaze crawled, didn't adhere to spots, and the colors weren't consistent.

I should have tossed the piece, but I had to0 much invested in it at that point.

I re-glazed and re-fired.

I re-glazed and re-fired.

I re-glazed and re-fired.

Somewhere in the re-glazing and re-firing I lost count.

The last time I re-glazed I included it in a batch of red pieces, which fire at a cone lower than the the glazes on the bowl called for, but I figured with all the glaze firings it wouldn't matter.

It did.

The glaze bubbled and didn't have time to settle so now it has these ugly big broken bubbles in places.

I'm firing it one more time at the correct temps. I'm going to hold the temp at the end and make sure the kiln cools slow to give the glaze time to settle.

If it doesn't turn out this time, it's going into my pottery garden... where it should have gone weeks and weeks ago, along with the entire batch of clay.

New colors, going vibrant!

Am on a roll with some new colors, primarily reds. Off and on over the years I've used some reds, mainly in small part for highlights or decorating edges. A while back I went to see Peter Max and had a burst of primary color pottery energy. It didn't last long as I lean toward natural colors, earthy tones, blues and similar.

However, recently I decided to experiment some with the reds that have been languishing.

Reds can be finicky. Part of the reason I haven't done much with them (aside from liking my earth and ocean glazes) is that the reds I use can't be fired the same way I normally fire. I have to get a big enough batch of work going to justify firing up the kiln. I haven't been in a red mood ;-)

Now I've found a whole group of my glazes that seem to work well being fired with the reds, although a few I had in the batch will need to be fired again so I won't be including them in the future!

The red glazes can't be close to other colors, they need a lot of oxygen and they have to be fired fast. Normally I fire slow and add a holding time at the end. Sometimes I ramp up slowly, depending on the glazes and clays.

I've been trying to figure out what the new color scheme reminds me of since pulling the first pieces out of the kiln. It was driving me batty as I looked at them on the shelf with the lights hitting the colors.

At my last show a number of us talked about the subject at different times. Everyone seemed to like the colors, but no one helped.

As I sat here to write this it hit me... remember when you were a kid how you'd take multi-colored crayons and cover a piece of paper? then you'd cover it entirely with black paint or maybe a black crayon? then etch through to make a really cool (or so we thought) picture?

Voila. That's my new pots. Of course, with these I've etched away a lot of the black paint!

You'll see hints of purple, green and lots of red in the new color scheme. I'm going to play with using some blues and other colors, but want the red and black to be the predominate colors that catch the eye.

The problem with these colors is that I'm not really sure how many people have color schemes that work with such strong colors. Howeve, as with most of my work, I make it like I want it and then hope others like what I created, too.

These pieces would make nice accent items, and as with most of my work, look best with lights hitting them, sunlight being the best.

On a side note, I remember when we were looking for a new house a few years back. We found one that was decorated in rooster. As in roosters that peck on the ground and make lots of noise if they're not pictures on a wall. Loved the house, but didn't care for a house that didn't seem to have a room without roosters. Even though the owners wanted to sell, they wouldn't repaint or sell to anyone who didn't like / love their roosters. I guess my new pieces would have worked pretty well with all the black and red roosters!

I think I'm gonna call the new group crayon resist.

Busy little bee...

Not quite as little a bee as I used to be , but I'm still busier than most bees these days. I needed a down day without a lot of pressure or physical activity to decompress after my shows so I took yesterday and worked on getting the pottery side of my personality set up on Facebook and Twitter. I have new accounts (Janet McGregor Dunn Hummingbird on Facebook, HHPotteryStudio on Twitter). I now have them all feeding (I hope) to each other in a way that allows this blog to feed to Twitter which then feeds to Facebook.

I just checked Facebook and I'm up to 85 friends already (thank you very much)! I'm on the hunt for good arts friends, plus friends from home and family who support the arts (or me!).

This blog is a test to see how it's all working... I've connected everything before on my political sites and my business sites, but it's been a while. I had to go searching through old memories to find the names of aps. One of my personalities is a computer geek. My multiple personalities also have multiple personalities.

Need to run out to the studio soon to check for damage. Had some nasty stuff running through the area last night, saw on one of my twitter accounts that areas of Georgia had storm damage. Doesn't look bad out the window, but we're in a heavily wooded area so there's a good chance we have limbs down. My studio sits in a little "hollow" surrounded by trees.

In recovery...

We've already established that I'm a wimp (if you read my previous post). These past few days have proven that I truly am a wimp!

While I had a wonderful time these past few days, I could live without the sun-up to sun-down set up, break down, packing, unpacking, clean up, whine, whine, whine . I need a Samantha nose that I can tweak and wiggle just enough to move all my work from home and studio to shelves, then back again. Better yet, from home and studio to new owner's homes... with payment, of course!

I am very happy with sales over the past few days. More importantly, I'm very happy with those who fell in love with a piece or two or three of my work and just had to take it home! I discovered a very long time ago that I love to create and I love to be appreciated. Money is what supports my habit, praise is what feeds my soul (along with the creation of a piece, I think I'd shrivel up and blow away if I couldn't do something artistically creative).

I enjoy making the making of each piece so much I sometimes think it might not bother me all that much to just have a huge, huge warehouse with tons of shelves to display the end products. Then I do a show or have someone stop over to buy a creation of mine and I realize just how much I enjoy having others see and appreciate my art.

I have a good friend who now owns maybe 5 or so pieces of mine. Whenever she stops by to see my work I drop everything and just follow her around to hear her comments, to "see" through her eyes. She makes ME appreciate the finished pieces!

Back to my whining and wimping... the end result was well worth the effort, so I can't really wimp and whine too much. I had so much fun with my fellow artists at our open house and reception yesterday! Plus, I made some new friends in recent days through the Saturday show and our show yesterday. No matter how tired I might be today (a whole lot extra goes into doing your own show when you're in charge of putting the entire thing together), I would do it all again tomorrow.

I laid in bed last night working on a way to have another event before Christmas, thinking about our Spring show, reviewing the past few days to find ways to make it go better, churning through ideas on how to display my work here at home so all those who've asked to see it before Christmas can do it without it being a big production, etc., etc., etc.

If it's not raining tomorrow I'm going to unpack the boxes left from the weekend and take photos of each piece as I do. My friend Donna Rosser, The Barefoot Photographer, put together a mock-up of a photo portfolio for me a few months back. I plan to get my tush in gear and capitalize on her idea... so many plans, so little time.

So much for recovery, I guess I'm happily addicted.

You're invited... Pottery Plus and St. Andrews Arts & Crafts Fair

I have been working my tush off, my fingers to the bone and whatever other over-used phrase that depicts non-stop "work", trying to finish up some new work for two shows next weekend.

I decided to do a lot of white clay Christmas pieces. Christmas tree decorations, platters, bowls and other things that I think will make nice gifts. I'm trying for a variety of sizes and price-points. A lot of the pieces are new for me as I typically like to be rather free-flying with my clay. I made some more "traditional" pieces (along with some not-so-traditional).

I also made some smaller items such as business card holders, soap dishes, etc. in my very favorite red clay. I have a batch in the kiln as I type... can't wait to see how they turn out.

I'm now firing my pieces multiple times as a rule to allow for more depth in the finished piece. I layer glazes, add colors, include textures and am incorporating more bright, vivid, underglazes.

Here are the two upcoming events I mentioned:

St. Andrews Arts & Crafts Fair Dec. 5th

I'll be participating in the St. Andrews Arts & Crafts Fair on Dec. 5th, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. in Peachtree City. This is a juried / invitation only event and I can guarantee it will be jam-packed with quality art! 316 Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree City, GA.

Pottery Plus Dec. 7th

This is my annual Christmas pottery show with a few additions. I invited some friends to join me this year! Helena Marette will be showcasing some of her jewelry, Susan Norton will share her fabric art, Fiona Dennis will fill the walls with her fabulous paintings and Gail Jensen will have some of her glass pieces on display. Of course, everything is for sale!

We'll have an open house from 11 - 2 (drop in, have a cookie, see the art, buy the art)

The main Reception will be from 6 - 9 p.m.

Hollingsworth House
Fayetteville, Georgia (Hwy 54 next to Stonewall Village / Fayette County Government Complex)

Visit my website for more info... www.Hummingbird-Hollow.com

Southern Palettes

I had a few pieces of pottery at the Southern Palettes art auction recently. It was a fabulous event! I think some of the works are still available. If you'd like to find out more let me know and I'll get your in touch with David Boyd Jr, OR you can do a search for The Heritage School in Newnan, Georgia. David is the art instructor for the school. You'll see some of his fantastic work in the slide show below (the "before" the auction shots, I'll add the "after" later). You can find his work at the Dogwood Gallery and Framer in Tyrone, Georgia (and many other galleries)... you'll find some of my work there, too.