Busy, busy, busy....bzzzzzz

When I was a child I would complain to my Mom that I was bored. She would hand me a broom, a duster or similar and put me to work. I learned real fast not to ever complain about being bored. I also became one of those who never stopped moving.

Life has always been a never-ending place of discovery for me. I'm curious about everything and hope when I'm laying on my death bed that I'm puzzling over something interesting. I can't imagine, despite those young years, ever being bored.

I certainly have not been bored in recent months! Non-stop shows, lots to do with the charities I support, my wonderful family, creating new pieces of art, my art group, and on and on. One of the things that always seems to slide is marketing my art. Sigh.

I haven't blogged or updated my website in eons. Double sigh.

I am also, luckily, selling my new pieces fast enough that I'm not even bothering to post the photos anywhere ---- except when I take a quick snap as I take them out of the kiln. (The photos I included in this post are the exception...I have to take a few photos so I can apply to shows!)

My list of to-dos always has "photograph new work", an "update website"and "do a blog post" on it...always. Perpetual.

This weekend I'll be at Barefoot in the Park in Duluth.  It will be my first time at the show but I have heard great things about it. It's Saturday, 10 - 6, and Sunday, 10 - 5. I have perused the list of artists, checked out some of their art (many I already know) and I guarantee that you will love the mix and talent.

I'll also have some art in Peachtree City at Saville Studios this weekend. Kate is holding a "Starving Artist" sale this Saturday (9 - 1) and I've put in some pieces. All of the art will be under $100...all of mine will be under $50 (yep, typical me, I misread the dollar amount she suggested...). 

Weekend after next I'll be at the Hilton Head Island Art Festival. It's another first for me. The location is fantastic and I'm excited about this new show.  May 23rd & 24th, 10 - 5 both days.

Then I get a little bit of a break as my next show won't be until the end of June (Old Fourth Ward Art Festival --- one of my favorites).

I'm considering having an open house / studio early June. We'll see if I'm up for it or feel the need to take a break...

Top photo: History Written in Rust
Middle: I Can Handle It
Bottom: Trifarious

(I've been on a basket kick lately. I started with some smaller baskets and they have gotten bigger and more complex over time. I keep thinking I'm done with the phase but new ideas just keep popping into my mind.)

Two shows in the near future!

I'm looking forward to 2015. Last year was a great year for the most part...a few little bumps as always but nothing to mar the overall goodness. I think 2015 is going to shine!

This year I'm adding some new shows to my line-up, venturing a bit further out more often. I'll be sharing more about those shows as the times come closer but will let you know that I've already been accepted into two shows in Alabama that I applied to for the first time! Nice.

I have two shows coming up right around the corner. One is new for me, the Callanwolde Arts Festival (http://callanwoldeartsfestival.com/) January 23rd & 25th. There is a ticketed preview party on the 23rd, then the actual show on the 24th & 25th. Sat hours: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. & Sun hours: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

I went last year to check it out and was impressed. Great music, great art, excellent venue, easy access and parking. It's a very well-run event with top-quality artists. I'm proud to be included in the line up and am looking forward to seeing many of my art friends.

The next event is a local show that I help run through our art group (FAACE - Fine Arts and Crafts Entrepreneurs, http://www.faace.org). It's held the weekend before Valentine's Day every year in Peachtree City, GA.

Art with Heart Fine Arts and Crafts show will be Saturday, February 7th at St. Andrews in the Pines Episcopal Church, 316 Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree City, GA 30269. Hours will be 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

We have some outstanding artists who will be selling their art just in time for Valentine's Day shopping. It's indoors, too so weather isn't a consideration. Hope you'll come see me and all the other fabulous artists at one or both of these events.

Are you coming to my Open Studio Event?

 Saturday (tomorrow) Dec. 13th I'm having my first annual Open Studio Event. 10 - 5 drop in at my studio. Food, beverages, some clay to play with and plenty of pottery. Three of my art friends will also be joining me: Steve Boykin, painter, Noel Gilliam, painter & mixed media-ite, and Helena Marette, jeweler.

Luckily the weather is supposed to be beautiful! It will be sunny and reach 60 degrees. The studio has heat and the tent we're putting up will also be heated so it'll be toasty in the morning, too.

I have a kiln load I'm waiting to open...I did sneak a peek yesterday and all that I could see looked good. I can't wait to see all my friends and maybe make a few new friends. 

The photos are a kinda-sorta "before" of the inside of my studio. I cleaned it up recently for our annual Southern Hands Artist Studio Tour (SHAST), messed it up a bit (but not much) to make and finish a few pieces, then cleaned it up again for you. It went into shock the first time, now it's in total denial. I'm going to have to have a therapist stop by and talk with the studio. 

If you'd like to see a view of the outside of my cute little studio you can either find me on Facebook (Janet McGregor Dunn Hummingbird - friend OR Janet McGregor Dunn LLC - fan). or you can come by tomorrow.

I've run out of things to write to fill up the space. I could ramble some more but it would be meaningless drivel and I know you are already pumped about coming to see me tomorrow so there's no point in dragging this on any longer.

Let me know you read this tomorrow (only) and I'll give you 10% off your purchase of my art.

Details:
Janet McGregor Dunn Studio
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
614 Lester Road
Fayetteville, GA 30215
(Open by appointment only on other days)

Flipping back and forth...

Still Standing. Mid-Fire. Note the lip at the bottom. I added that to give a lip that
didn't have to be glazed, and would catch any drips. I was working with all new
glazes so wasn't 100% sure they wouldn't run. I would have made the lip even if I
planned to use low-fire clay as it "worked" with the overall piece. However, I
would have glazed the bottom of the pot if low-firing.

In recent months I've been experimenting with a variety of clays, flipping back and forth between low-fire (cone 05) and mid-fire (cone 6). Both have a whole lotta pluses and a few minuses.

I like the way low-fire majolica clay handles and works with my highly textured pieces. It isn't brittle when fired and doesn't form as many sharp edges as some other clays. I love the way the red clay marries up with various glazes, too.

However, there's a lot to be said for the wonderful glaze effects when working with mid to high fired pieces. I've found a couple of beautiful brown clays that I am enjoying working with.

I do find that my mind doesn't flip quite as easily between the clays. I'll start working on a mid-fire piece only to realize part way through that I really, really need to be able to glaze the bottom. There are options for glazing the bottom with mid-fired pottery, but if you don't plan ahead it just ain't gonna be possible sometimes. I sometimes squash the piece, rework the clay and move on to something else... or go grab some low-fire clay. Sometimes I'll adapt it.

Ramblin' Blues. Low-fire. Note how the glaze goes all the way under
the large, textured bowl. This piece sold.

Low fire has the advantage of easily being able to stilt works when they're fired. Being able to stilt a piece means it can be glazed on the bottom and it won't stick to kiln shelving. I've talked with some artists who have had success with stilting cone 5 and 6 glaze firings but I've not been brave enough to try. There's always the possibility that the piece will just slump over the stilts and be ruined. Not to mention it'll ruin my kiln shelf if that happens. Those things aren't cheap! I think I'd be more upset over losing the pottery than the shelves, though. I never do anything twice, just not in my makeup to be able to repeat myself.

One of the things I love about clay, one of the many things, is that it's a never-ending experiment. I can't get bored. In fact, my biggest challenge is not going in a thousand directions.

Art Studio Tour 2013

A group of ten artists in my county have teamed up for an "Art Studio Tour". We're going to open the doors of our respective studios and let the public come in.

The Tour will be held on Saturday, Nov. 16th, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. We'll have food, beverages, plenty of art and we'll be on hand to answer questions. Some of the artists are going to do demonstrations.

There is more info and a list of the artists, locations, at www.design29.com/tour2013

We're hoping it will become an annual event and that we'll add more artists. We're dreaming big! 

When my friend Andrea Boswell first proposed it I jumped on board enthusiastically. I'm still enthusiastic. However, it's a bit daunting at the moment!

I walked outside today and tried to see my yard, the outside and the inside of my studio with "new" eyes. Yikes! I have a LOT of work to do before the 16th. 

I just finished up my last outdoor show of the year and everything is still stacked in the garage. I broke some bones in my foot. My shop-vac broke (of course).

I have this long list of things I want to do before weekend after this one comes around. I want to put up some signs, organize, clean up the yard, trim some trees, set up my tent, figure out which pottery I want to put on sale, advertise the event... that's just a broad overview. I'm figuring I'll get maybe a tenth of the list done.

Oh, yep, there's some pieces I want to finish up, too.

And I'm taking a painting class so I want to set up a corner for my paints.

I thought I'd show you some "before" pictures today. 

Truthfully, those pictures were taken after I'd done a bit of cleaning. They aren't current. You can see the now-broken shop-vac in some of the pictures...

The studio needs to be pressure washed.

I keep adding to the list.

I won't bore you with all the things that have popped into my mind.

Come see my cleaned up, spruced up, prettified, studio on Nov. 16th. I will even wear my non-clay-stained clothes for you. 

The Wishing Tree

When I started on my Wishing Tree it was simply a tree-to-be. It was not yet a wishing tree. My cousin, a fabulous painter, came to visit, walked in and saw the tree before I had glazed it and said it reminded him of the book about the wishing tree.

After I did a bit of research, looking for the book, I realized that the tale he told me was for The Giving Tree. Knowing the way my brain works, he may have said giving instead of wishing. However it happened, as I layered the glazes onto the bisqued clay it I thought of it as a wishing tree.

There is a book titled "The Wishing Tree" by Marybeth Whalen about divorce, reconciliation and such. That is not what MY tree is about!

And there's an older children's book titled "The Wish Tree" by John Ciardi (1960s). The Wish Tree, children's version, is about the responsibility of wishes and taking care of gifts. The words carved on the tree are "Take Care of Your Wish". I may have to do another tree in honor of that book!

I found the poem I posted below on a poetry site and it seemed perfect for my wishing tree. I tried to find a way to contact the author but couldn't. I did post a link below that was on the page so you could read more of Reshika Ramprsad's poetry. He is from South Africa and writes some nice poetry.

The Wishing Tree (mine) stands roughly 7 inches tall and will hold water so you can start your own wishing tree (or just put a nice floral arrangement inside). As always with my pieces, the inside is just as important to me as the outside thus the roots travel into the interior of the pot. It will work just fine with absolutely nothing in it.

The piece was glaze fired multiple times with sand, matte and gloss glazes, glass additions and at least 12 or so contrasting glaze colors to attempt to give the appearance that Mother Nature does in her glorious works!

The Wishing Tree

Be fore warned and
Do not be mistaken
For many have
For this is no ordinary tree
It is but the wishing tree

Listen and pay heed
For this tree is the bearer of hopes
Dreams, wishes and desires
Give to it a little
And you will receive exponentially

For it has been bound together
With the strength and hard work of
Mother Nature herself
This tree listens and listens
Only to your heart desires
So wish upon this wishing tree

For its time too will approach for it to wither and pass
But know this much
That the wishing tree existence
Is beyond its physical state

For once you have wished upon the tree
It has been heard, registered and now nurtured
So wish upon your wishing tree

~ Reshika


Click here to visit VoicesNet.com to read the poem called "The Wishing Tree" by Reshika Ramprsad, South Africa

Playing those head games...

A few years back I decided I was going to do some faces, some figures, some people. I did two. This is one of the two.

I sold the other one --- it actually won some awards before I sold it. I was rather impressed with myself.

This one, I'm not so sure about.

I made it with a white clay, something I've discovered I do NOT like to work with.

I played a lot with the features but never quite felt like I captured the look I wanted.

After I made it I let it sit, unglazed. I didn't want a flesh colored piece. I didn't want to have the face one color and the hair another. I wasn't sure what I wanted.

I would pull it out on occasion, take a look, pull out my glazes and spend time trying to get just the right look for my girl.

Finally, I opted for a very translucent flesh-toned color. Almost a tan I guess.

I still wasn't happy.

It sat for months again.

Ultimately I got tired of looking at the face. She stared at me saying with much exasperation, "finish me, do something, anything!".

I was digging around in some old glazes and found a rainbow clear finishing glaze. It was so old I wasn't even sure if it would work. They no longer make the glaze and I didn't have instructions so I had to do some digging around on the Internet to find the right cone temp.

So, here she is in all her glory.

She's empty headed. I intend to fill the head with things. Not sure what kind of things yet, I'm still waiting on inspiration. Then again, maybe I'll just call it a day and pop her out at a show to see how she's received. She's waited a long time.

On my list of things to do someday is to take a few pottery classes that focus on the human form. My list of to-dos is a very, very, very long list. Usually the way I get to something on the list is a class or opportunity will drop in my lap, get in my face or I'll trip over it.

Due to the type glaze I used it's almost impossible for ME to get a good shot. In the last picture you can even see my old light box. I've moved on since that box. Yes, she's been sitting again for a while!

Searching for Atlantis

Waiting on the first glaze firing.

Making my sculpted sea pieces is a fairly long process. Searching for Atlantis is a rather tall "bowl" of sorts...it's not functional, definitely decorative.

I start by rolling out the clay, then tearing it into strips. Usually I shoot for a triangular shape if I'm making a bowl shape.

Each of the "flukes" (not sure that's an accurate term, but it's what I call them) is torn, textured, then rolled to form the funnel.

The "bubbles" are each individually hand-formed. Sometimes they take forever! Good music playing in the background makes the time zip by...

I usually use a form to semi-hold the bottom shape as I begin. Sometimes I just use clay to prop the pieces up for a bit. After I've been working for a while the clay holds up by itself to some degree.

I have gotten ahead of myself before and had the piece collapse! Not fun.

Atop the kiln, after first glaze firing.

The inside of my creations is just as important at the exterior. Even if I'm not making a sculpted piece I try to make sure the inside is interesting.

With these sea pieces the interior is often more important than the exterior. I want the eye to travel into the piece. I want to mimic the idea of looking down into the sea. Thus I leave spaces where you can look into the bowl from the sides.

When I've finished forming the bowl I start placing my bubbles. Again my goal is to leave the viewer thinking about the ocean, the sea. The bubbles need to float upward. It's not possible (without using wire or other mechanisms) to have the bubbles truly float, so I attach them on the sides of the walls in various positions, hopefully giving the idea of motion.

Side view after first glaze firing.

I want the piece to undulate like the water is moving it, hence the wavy motion of the flukes & sides. Sometimes I'll add extruded strings to further give the impression of movement.

After I complete the piece I let it dry for a week or so. Then it is bisque fired. The bisque firing takes roughly 12 hours. The kiln then has to sit for about three times that long to cool. I'm sometimes a bit impatient and can't wait... that doesn't matter much with the bisque firing as long as I don't open too soon. Open a glaze load too fast and the cold air can crack the glaze or even crack the entire pot.

After I finally unload the kiln, I rinse the bisque fired pieces, let them dry thoroughly, then begin the glaze firing process.

I glaze fire each of my sea pieces multiple times.

Searching for Atlantis has at least 10 - 12 shades of layered blues, greens, turquoise glazes. I fired the piece, then did it all again adding some glass on the second go-around, popping certain colors that I wanted to be predominate. As you can see in the various stages, the red color of the clay shines through. I wasn't quite satisfied so I did it again.

Below is the finished piece. You can still see some of the clay tones but the turquoise tones and the glass are stronger. The interior has even more glass to give the appearance of water.

I named the piece Searching for Atlantis as it something that people have dreamed about, believed in (or not), searched for and sung about. It's a place of mystery and, if legends are true, beauty. I truly hope you'll think that Searching for Atlantis is worthy of the name.

Though Gods they were
And as the elders of our time
   choose to remain blind
Let us rejoice and let us sing
And dance and ring in the new
Hail Atlantis
Way down below the ocean
where I wanna be, she may be

- Atlantis Lyrics, Donovan

Birth of the Blues

Birth of the Blues has been sung by greats such as Nellie Lutcher, Louis Armstrong, Keely Smith, Shirley Bassey, & my favorite: the trio of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr & Dean Martin.

If you haven’t listened to the Rat Pack with Johnny Carson (subbing for Joey Bishop at the time) go search it out on YouTube.

This trio of pieces shouted out the name they wanted! The Rat Pack was larger than life and the blues speak of the ups and downs of life. Hopefully my three pieces pay worthy tribute to both.

Multiple blues, hints of green and some tan tones on the patchwork of majolica clay. The tallest piece is roughly 10 in. high.

I hope you'll come see them in person at one of my upcoming shows or studio tours. - Janet

Oh, they say some people long ago
Were searching for a different tune
One that they could croon
As only they can
They only had the rhythm
So they started swaying to and fro
They didn’t know just what to use
That is how the blues really began
They heard the breeze in the trees
Singing weird melodies
And they made that the start of the blues
.
And from a jail came the wail
Of a down-hearted frail
And they played that
As part of the blues
From a whippoorwill
Out on a hill
They took a new note
Pushed it through a horn
Til it was worn
Into a blue note
And then they nursed it, rehearsed it
And gave out the news
That the southland gave birth to the blues!

Firing a load... pins and needles

I am firing my first full load of glazed Lizella pieces. I'm on pins and needles and will be until I open the kiln. I have some pieces in there that I really love. I'm concerned that the glaze may have seeped too far into the clay, that I might not have let it dry enough between glaze coats, that the glaze may not interact with the clay the way I want, that I may have the glaze on too thick in areas...

Yikes.

I'm not a worry-wart type so I'm not going to spend the next few days fretting and worrying, but it's going to be in the back of my mind.

Every kiln load is a learning experience. I don't want this one to be a bad learning experience!

It's kind of funny. I can remember when I first moved from paint to clay. I was so timid. I felt like every little scrap of clay that dried out was money down the drain. The cost of glaze seemed prohibitive. I was amazed at the cost of kilns, brushes, tools, books, classes.

If a piece didn't turn out well I was bummed. I saved my mistakes thinking maybe I'd figure out a way to fix them someday (ha ha).

Now I have a pottery garden comprised of plants and all those mistakes, broken pieces, pots with pitted or runny glazes and other strange experiments I simply didn't like. I reclaim clay when I can and add it to the soggy area next to the studio when I can't (it's amazing how long a piece of dried clay will retain its shape!). My glaze collection, along with all the additions, is extensive and I only think about cost when I do something stupid like drop a bottle or forget to put a lid back.

Lizella is making me feel like a first time potter again. Who'da thunk it would be such a big learning experience?

This first load is low-fire. I'm working on finishing up the next load which will be mid-fire.

Breaking the clay rules

I typically stretch or completely break all the "rules" when playing with clay.

I remember one of my instructors over and over correcting my tendency to paint rather than place glaze on pieces. "You PLACE the glaze, you do NOT paint the glaze" she would say in horror. I think if she could have slapped the brush out of my hand she might have done so.

I grew up painting with acrylics, oils, water color. The idea of NOT painting with glaze was completely alien to my nature.

It still is. I paint, I don't lay my glaze on pieces. So there.

Another one I was taught and ignore is the idea that you let your glazes dry between coats. Three even coats, blah blah blah. It makes sense when you're working on most pottery creations. You want even coats, you don't want thin areas, weak areas, blobs.

However, I blend and paint. I want my glazes to mix. I want uneven results. I often use 10 or 12 or 20 glaze colors to achieve the look I want. Of course, most of the time I make sure that there's plenty of coverage to protect the finished piece. Sometimes I want the clay to peek through so I deliberately expose or scrape off some of the glaze.

I don't dip my pieces. I paint and get into every little crevice with a brush or some other tool. It's painstaking sometimes but I don't want a solid color anywhere on any of my pieces. Sometimes I miss a spot because I use a lot of texture and layer my clay so there are often little areas that are hard to get into.

At times I look at a difficult piece before I attempt to glaze it I tell myself I have to think more about the glazing process when making a piece because getting into all those little creases and hidey-holes is going to be impossible. I don't listen to myself.

So now I'm working with Lizella, a Georgia clay, as I wrote about in my last blog. It is not a clay that lends itself to my penchant for glazing wet layer upon wet layer. The clay is more brittle than many (OK, all) I've worked with and it absorbs the glaze, weakening the clay. I've already chipped off some pieces while glazing because the edges were saturated with glaze and weak.

I'm learning. Luckily the pieces that have broken off weren't important to the piece and I was able to sand the edges and blend. And no, I'm not telling you which ones I chipped! You'll never know when looking at them.

I'm glad the breakage happened where it did as I can tell it would be fairly easy to have a piece break in half! Especially the way I man-handle everything when I'm glazing. I get so totally into what I'm doing that I don't think about things like fragility when I grab a piece and flip it over.

I've also had some of the additions, like the little balls I add or the flute, come off when glazing. I stick them on when making the piece with clay mixed with magic water. For all the times I've made pieces with other clay I've never had anything separate or not stick.

With the Lizella some of the pieces fall off and separate during the firing process. Some drop off when I'm glazing when they get too wet. Again, aside from one piece I'm puzzling over, all have been fixable, or leaving off whatever fell off doesn't affect the end result.

Today I'm heading back to the studio to finish up some glazing. I had to let some pieces dry overnight as they really were getting too wet to handle.

I'm not sure I'm going to survive my Lizella experiment! I love the idea of using Georgia clay, I love the way the clay is so versatile when it comes to range of firing temps. I think if the end result makes me happy I'll probably learn to adapt.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the pieces hold up when I glaze fire! I'm doing a low-fire load first, then moving onto all the pieces I made for mid-fire.

Photos: All the pieces pictures are glazed and await their final glaze firing. We'll see. The one that looks pink & gray is royal blue and black tulip --- there were a whole lot of tiny, tiny crevices and pockets so I'm kind of expecting to have to refire it.

Glazed...

Today was a glaze day. Lately a lot of my pieces have been multi-step processes. I've been putting one or more glaze colors on the pieces, letting it dry overnight, then wiping the excess off getting the piece totally soaked, of course. Then letting it dry again overnight... Then adding my final colors. Sometimes I do that last glaze coat and decide it needs some touching up so I let it dry overnight, then touch up. It's a long process, but I love the results when I layer up a variety of colors.

I finished up the piece on the left today, will be starting on the one below tomorrow. First I covered the entire piece in a dark brownish glaze, let it dry, wiped off the excess. Then I glazed the tile patterns using blues, aquas and other colors. I let them dry then wiped off the excess. Then I glazed the entire piece with a tan-ish glaze, making sure to leave some of the browns and as much as possible of the tile colors showing. Well, guess I'm not quite finished --- tomorrow I'm going to touch up some of the tile colors to make sure they pop a little.

I haven't quite settled in on the colors I'll use for the piece to the right. Usually I have a good picture in my head when I start making the piece but that one has been evolving. I keep thinking blacks, tan, brown but then my mind shoots over to red, yellow, blue, primary colors. I may fire the one above and let the one below sit for a while until the right colors "speak" to me...

The studio is a mess! I go like crazy for a while, then have to take a break and neaten up so I can start the messing up process again.

Playing around with a lot of glazes and using more than one kind of clay means I have a whole lotta test tiles floating around! I used to leave them laying out, grouped by color type (blues, etc.) but now have one of those plastic drawer sets where I keep them. For starters at least! By the time I've been out there in the studio glazing for a few days it looks like someone took the test tiles and threw them up in the air, let them land wherever!

Clay Dreaming

I wonder if I'm the only one who wakes up in the midst of building a pot? Some good ideas have come during the night as I slept... Sometimes I simply complete a piece I've been working on during a dream. Once in a while I come up with a color scheme for glazing a piece that's been sitting on a shelf awaiting inspiration.

This morning I woke up in the process of puzzling on building a coil pot. A HUGE coil pot. I stayed with it in that quasi-half-awake state for a bit, thinking about it. Then went "eh, not gonna happen" and moved on to thinking about my day. I think that may be the first time I ever remember deciding against what my subconscious mind tossed out at me during the night or waking moments.

I believe that idea may have come from some stellar coil pieces I posted a few days ago by 童建銘 on Facebook. I guess they've been rattling in my mind. They are fabulous. I'd post them on here but I need to check on copyright issues before sharing photos of someone's work. If you click on the link in the first sentence it should take you to a photo on Facebook but you may need to be signed in.

Here's his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003955542787.

I'm going to zap him a message and get permission to post --- you must see some of his pieces.

Well, first cup of tea is complete, time to move on to the list of things-to-do that I made after deciding not to do the dream pot.

My new pottery trees

In my last post I was tossing around ideas on how to show off my new series of hanging pieces. I've pretty much stayed with pieces that would sit on a shelf or table in the past although off and on have made wall pieces. Since I only had a few I usually just used a wooden plate stand to show them off or hung them on the ends of my shelf. With so many now I had to come up with a more "dignified" way to show them off.

I painted the shutters I mentioned, and the frames but it just didn't work for all the little pieces.

"Tree" is to the left, you can see the smaller one off to the right.

Cathy Spitz, who is teaching me how to do stained glass, found a couple of very cool "trees" at a local place that she uses to display her stained glass hangers at shows. It's made of welded metal, some rebar and other added metal, is slightly rusted and a creamy off-white paint. I loved her trees!

I finally took my butt over to the store a few weeks ago and... of course, they were closed. They're only open Thursday through Sunday. Long trip for nothing.

What made the trip that much more frustrating is that I got almost there, realized I needed gas, pulled into the gas station only to discover that I'd left my credit card and drivers license in my work out back-pack. I had to drive all the way back home, then drive all the way back over to learn they were closed. Ha. And yes, if I had known the name of the store I would have called before the trek. Possibly. It really never crossed my mind that a store would be closed during business hours.

I did go back the following week and found two perfect pieces to hold my hanging "dangles" (my term for the small ceramic pieces). I bought one large one and a small one. I would have gotten two big ones but didn't like any of the others.

Top of the large tree. Stands maybe 6 feet?

Turns out it's a good thing I didn't get two large ones --- they don't break down and the one I bought barely fit inside my vehicle once I've packed my shelves and pottery! Because they're metal I have to wrap the entire thing, too. Ah well, I think they look good. Usually my hubby is able to help with set up but he's been having some rough times so I had to do it alone on the way up. My son helped on the way home.

I seem to always take pictures as an afterthought and only when the lighting is bad, but I've included a few shots of my new trees. I took them while setting up for a show in Cumming, Georgia. I wish I had paid for electricity as the lighting was pretty bad. I talked with them about the lighting -- they were upset and apologetic. Someone had set the lights wrong and there wasn't a darned thing they could do about it. My pieces need light.

I put a piece of rebar between two of my shelf sets to hang some of the larger pieces. It was a happy accident that I found the bar, plan to buy another so I can do this again.

Little tree and one of the sheers I mentioned. Two shutters, too.

I backed the rebar hanging area with a stone colored sheer (straightened it out before the show started!). I backed the smaller shelf with a similar sheer to give me definition from the booth next to me. Not sure how I feel about the sheers. I like that they don't take up much space and they let light through. Not so sure that they look very professional. We'll see. Most shows I do are outdoors so they won't be needed.

I plan to paint my shelves to make them lighter as I mentioned in my last blog. I've been searching the stores for just the right color and texture...bringing home paint samples.

Anyone still reading? I was thinking as I typed that this may be the most boring series of blog posts ever! How many people are interested in the trials of getting a booth "just right"? 

Changing my display...

Well, it struck me that now that I'm doing more hanging pieces I am going to hafta figure out how to nicely display them.

In my booth it's fairly easy, however, in an indoor show I'll need free-standing "hangers" to display the pieces.  Given they're all different sizes it's going to be an interesting challenge. For me. Maybe not for some of you!

I have been wandering through websites, booth displays, and how-to articles for ideas. I have also been looking at what I have on hand. I want a tasteful display that is lightweight, flexible (as in, fold-able, easy to transport) and a good fit for my shelving and overall "look"...

I spent the morning sorting through the things I have stashed in the garage and out in the studio. I have a number of tall and short shutters that can be connected or painted. The big ones are not exactly lightweight but they are flat. They might look good painted, standing up at the back of the booth. The short ones would work on top of a table but you can't see through them so I'm wondering if they would block too much. On the plus sides, I can use both sides, they fold flat and I could paint them any color.

I have dowels --- thinking about adding some cup hooks to the back of my shelving, hanging a dowel and using it. I would need to also hang a back onto the shelves to avoid having the hanging pieces clash with the pieces sitting on the shelf. That would also only work when I have room on the back side of the shelve for people to walk. Maybe I'll save that one for an outdoor show. I rather like that people can see my art from both sides so not sure if I really want to go that route.

I also have a number of old window frames without glass. I am toying with making a free standing contraption. Not sure if I can convey the picture in my mind but I'll try. It would have a center pole with frames branching out, hinged somehow so they'd fold together. When standing they would form a Y (well, close enough, more like an X minus one leg ;-) with the pole being at the middle. I think that's an idea I might carry up to my Dad's for some ideas and help!

I like the idea of using the frames and shutters as it kind of fits with my basic design. You can see how I've used them in the booth shots I included, but they hang from the tent frame, something I won't be able to do in an indoor show.

I have three different size shutters, that's the medium tall thin one in the bottom picture. The smaller ones are hinged and can stand alone on a table. The larger shutters are about the same height as the tent walls.

I have a maybe five or six pieces of free-standing driftwood sculptures that I've used for smaller hanging pieces. They look good but you can't hang much and they can break --- plus I've found a lot of people ignore what's hanging on them and want to buy the driftwood!

I also have some stands that my Dad made for me --- you can see one in the bottom picture next to the window frame.

I'm thinking about changing the color of my shelves, too. Right now they're black. I like them black, but black absorbs light and my pottery does best with a lot of light given the way I mix colors, add glass, etc. They used to be natural wood but they looked a bit unfinished. I wish I'd stained them, but the idea of black worked for me back when I did it.

So, I guess I'll be outside playing with displays if they rain will hold off. I'm a notorious last-minute person. My next indoor show is next weekend so for a change I'm kinda-sorta ahead of the game...

Cheating on my clay...

I just put on my old stuff so I could go out and play in the clay, was heading out and decided to stop, share the thoughts that were rambling through my brain as I changed...

I started out thinking about the things I was planning to create. Pinterest has been a dangerous place for me as it just keeps my mind bubbling with ideas, many stemming from jewelry pieces surprisingly. I was flipping all over the place with various ideas for my day in the studio.

During the semi-planning my lips wrinkled and my nose crinkled at the thought of the clay I was using. I am cheating on "my" clay. Over the years I've settled into using majolica clay, love the feel, the way it does what I want it to do, the versatility, the way it interacts with my glazes... but off and on I get adventurous, or maybe just decide to expand my horizons a bit, and I'll grab a white or black or brown clay of some sort. I do love the look of a brown or black clay!

However, I end up disliking every one I try because it just doesn't work the way I want. It's too wet (yes, I do let it sit so it'll dry a bit), it cracks when bending or forming, it doesn't "take" my glazes very well or it simply doesn't feel right. Yet I do want to find the perfect brown or black clay, or even white clay, to break up the red run... And, to get some of the pure colors I'd like on some pieces, only on white clay will work. Unless I glaze white first, then use colors, a process that seems silly for my purposes when I could just use white clay. Some of you may be snickering at that one --- I am after all using majolica clay!

I'm determined that I'll finish up the clays I bought before going back to that stack of majolica sitting in the corner. I have even pulled out a bag before disciplining myself to walk over and grab a white or brown bag that's already open!

Don't get me wrong, I'm liking what I'm creating, but I can't do some of the things I'm aching to do from my idea book. I had great plans for the clays I bought when I grabbed them... but my fickle mind has moved on to my next batch of ideas and I'm ready to move on.

I don't think I'll be cheating on my red clay for a while after I finish up these batches!

To join or not to join...

I've been debating whether there are sufficient benefits to memberships in groups like the Potters Council, etc. to warrant the costs. I was a member of some national group a while back, let it lapse. I also used to take Ceramics Monthly, Pottery Making Illustrated and Clay Times. I've let them go by the wayside also.

I rather liked the magazines that had how-to articles, miss them but do have the ability to go on-line and look at pretty much anything I'd like. However, there's nothing like the tactile experience of opening a paper magazine... while sitting on the throne <g> or while eating... I even read in the shower. Can't take a computer into the bathtub when soaking in those bubbles either.

Curious as to who is taking what magazine, whether you're in a group (aside from local art groups), what your thoughts are. Has it helped? Why are you in the group?

I'm in two local arts groups, one I started partially 'cause the local art group raised their noses at the idea of "clay" as a fine art... but also 'cause I saw the need for an art group that would focus on the business side of the arts (hence, FAACE.org, Fine Arts And Crafts Entrepreneurs).

So, share, spill, lemme know what, when, why... I'm staring at a screen on my other computer that's open to Potters Council membership at $52 a year...