Current projects and a little bit of drama

In conjuction with working on regular inventory and gallery orders in the studio, I've recently had some great special commissions. I'm just wrapping up one for the Arts and Science Council here in Charlotte. They're currenly in the throws of their fund drive, and commissioned me to make the gifts for the chairpeople of the drive. The first picture is the poster created specifically for this year's drive, and I was to design the gifts based on it. So, here are a few getting glazed, 2 finished pieces and small stacks of the finished product.

For me, no commission would be complete without a little bit of drama. While these are technically due next Wednesday, I gave myself a due date of this Friday, to make sure everything got done in time. I always make extra, just in case something happens that's out of my control (or I just plain mess up!). Well, they ended up ordering extra at the last minute which ate up my "just in case" pieces. Of course, as I opened the kiln yesterday, this was the face I made when I discovered that 3 pieces had major glaze snafoos:

Then I realized that I had enough time to remake the extras I needed...Here I am making more trays. Watch out for that belly! Yikes.

Yummy site....

I was rummaging around on the internet this evening, waiting for dinner to finish cooking, and I came upon this great site that I know is going to be completely distracting to me: http://www.reprodepot.com/

It's a website that features all sorts of goodies, but my favorites were the selections of fabrics of all sorts. I'm kinda a fabric freak and use a lot of different designs as inspiration for much of my work.

This swatch especially caught my eye. I swear I had a jumper or something in this pattern when I was 3! Oh, the memories.

Oh, things kids say

Wednesdays are usually a bit exhausting for me these days. I start off by meeting my friend Julie in the morning at the gym, doing the eliptical machine while reading smut magazines and chatting. Then off to teach class at Clayworks, tutoring at an afterschool program, back for a few hours of work in the studio and then back to Clayworks to teach an evening class.

I got a great little post-tutoring boost of energy today because one of my little students said something really funny. We haven't discussed the fact that I'm pregnant, so, I guess she was just trying to have my back on this one. As I got up to leave today, Tori gave me a hug from the side, looked up at me and said, "Miss Amy, I'm sorry. But your belly is gettin' kinda big." In other words, start focusing a little more during those workouts! Oh, the humility kids can create!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood....

....would you be mine, could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor? Oh yes, today marks the 40th anniversary of the first national broadcast of Mr. Rogers on PBS. I don't know about you, but in a family that didn't grow up on tv, this was one of the few shows we were allowed to enjoy. There was a great clip on NPR this morning, featuring good old Fred speaking to us adults, saying that he likes us "just the way we are." I think that's a sentiment that's easy to forget. Here's a link to a tribute to Mr. Rogers, recorded a couple of years ago on NPR.

Another reason it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood is that I've begun to notice a lot of plants have started to bloom. It doesn't quite feel like time for spring yet, but the dogwood trees and daffodils around here don't seem to care. We have some beautiful winter rose bushes right outside our front door that are in full bloom:

In the studio, I've been working on a couple of specific commissions, which are just about finished. While I enjoy creating something a bit different, I'm anxious to get back to making some of my "regular" work for some upcoming shows. In March and April, I'll be the featured artist in the Cabarrus County Arts Council gift shop, so that'll be the next project I'm working towards finishing.

V-Day

While I'm no culinary expert like my good friend Ron, I sure can work wonders with some box cake and sprinkles.

And, of course, we had to eat our dinner (I mean, pre-dinner snack) on some special plates! Awwwww. Look how sweet Brian is eating his cake.

I don't mean to get on a soapbox, but I will, being it's the day after cupid's rampage. While no marriage is perfect, many people say that it is hard work. I feel incredibly blessed that being married to Brian is quite easy. Not only do I love him, but I really like him too. So go have some cake if you love someone (this can include friends, family, a presidential candidate or animals over 5lbs)!

Oh yes, it's true!

Many of you already know this, and I don't know why it's taken me so long to post: but, yes, Brian and I are going to have a baby. This is the first picture we've taken of the whole process, so I thought I'd put it up since my belly's finally poking out. I'm a little over 5 months along and due in June. We're very excited, and not finding out if it's a boy or girl. A little while ago I thought it'd be funny to have a blog contest on naming the baby, but was a little scared of what may turn up. My dad keeps saying things like "Clay" if it's a boy. Yeah right.

Anyway, things are going well in the studio. Last week many of our Circle of Eight participated in the "Treasures of the Earth" show in Shelby, NC. The opening was fun- lots of people and great food. Tomorrow is the grand opening of Lark and Key, a new gallery in NODA that Julie, Jen and I are in- it's beautiful. They promise to have lots of people and great food there too (is there a pattern forming here?)- and a DJ. Should be a good time!

A little bit of redemption

After my goofy stamp debacle (see "Doh! & Duh!!!" post below), it felt good to finish up my plates for the Community Blood Center this morning. I was able to quickly remake some stamps, fire them and get them out this morning to use. They wanted me to work in my normal style, just basically sneaking in their logo as part of the design. I'm pretty happey with how they came out.

I guess plates have been on my brain lately, because as I looked around my studio, I had several other shelves with various plates on them. Maybe I've been craving sandwiches or cake!

Packing pots

About this time a year ago I attended my first wholesale show in Baltimore. For those of you who don't know, a wholesale show is one where artists set up their display and many gallery owners from all over the US come and make orders for the upcoming year. I was very blessed with a successful show and have spent much of my studio time over the past year filling orders for new galleries. It was a goal of mine to have a wider range of exposure, and I was able to do that as a result of the show.

Yesterday I packed my final order (actually, I may have two more orders if waitlist galleries still want the work) of the year. It felt good to see a giant list have the final X through the order to say it was shipped. I thought I'd share a little about my packing process, as I've gotten a little better at it (although I still occasionally have breakage- it's hard to completely guard against someone dropping your box, which happened last week!).

I first get all my pieces together and check the list to make sure I haven't overlooked any items.

Each piece will be wrapped well with bubble wrap, with the end taped so it doesn't come free. Masking tape or another colored tape works best because whomever is unpacking on the other end will be able to easily find the tape (rather than using clear plastic tape). I often tear off a bunch of strips because it's much more efficient than wrapping the piece, putting it down, tearing one piece, etc.Here's a pile of wrapped and taped pieces:

The final mess of bubble-wrapped pile. I like to have all the pieces out so when I'm loading the boxes, I can see what may fit in a little nook. I didn't take any pictures of the loaded boxes, but a couple things to keep in mind:

-don't stack plates flat on the bottom of the box. Instead, create a little nest with newsprint and stack them diagonally or on their ends. I will often add a little paper cushion in between the plates as well

-Fill all gaps between pieces with newsprint- you don't want the work shifting in the box

-add extra bubble wrap around protruding handles, feet, and spouts before wrapping the entire piece Always double box your work with at least 2" of foam peanuts in between. That's my gigantor bag of peanuts- 20 cubic feet!

I always overfill the top because the peanuts tend to break down through transport:

The process yesterday took a little under 3 hours (which is always longer than I think it will!). This was a particularly large order, so it took me a bit longer to wrap all the work. This all includes wrapping, packing, typing the invoice, creating a cd of images and info, dropping it off at UPS and a quick trip to Wendy's for a celebratory Frosty!

Doh!!! & duh!

This past week for me has been filled with random blunders and clumsy acts that have gotten me questioning if I need to just go away for a couple of days and start anew. This all culminated about an hour ago with the discovery that I had committed the ultimate mistake when making a stamp: I didn't create the mirror image, and thus ended up with a stamp that was opposite what I wanted (see the little swoosh going down to the left instead of the right)! DARN! DANG!

I'm working on a project for the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas: creating volunteer and donor awards for their 5th anniversary celebration. I have the pieces made and ready to receive patterns and textures that contain the CBC's logo of a blood drop. Luckily, I decided to test out my stamps really quickly before I went to town on the 12 platters and 8 vases I had made. Needless to say, I was much more careful when making the new stamps to do them backwards!

It a winter wonderland!

That's what a friend of ours used to say on the rare chance it snowed down here in the Carolinas. While it's only about a half an inch and will probably be soggy mud by the end of the day, I've always loved how beautiful snow-covered trees are.