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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Big News!

I was invited to join a co-op of artists in down town Boise. The invitation came in extremely short notice so I am scrambling to try and get something together for the Grand Re-Opening in two days. It's a good thing I had some pottery sitting around waiting for this very moment.
I had some trepidation about this venture because it does come with a cost. I have to sell quite a bit of pottery just to break even. However, one never knows what can happen if one doesn't take a leap of faith. That "one" being me of course, a potter with OCD and anti-social tendencies. I am hoping through this experience to make a lot of new friends, to stretch and grow as an artist and of course, to prosper.
Anyhow, the most time consuming project today is creating special labels for my work and then inventorying every piece. It's not like I haven't done this a dozen times before but never on this short notice.

I was thinking something like this. First impressions are very important and I believe every detail counts while at the same time trying to make everything look effortless. Not sure if I accomplished that yet as this is just the rough draft.
You'll recognize the tea set up in my banner here, and Curlz MT has been my font for over a decade now.

Well I better get back to work because as I said I am short on time. I don't know if I have any Boise readers for this blog but if so here is the 411.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Time for a new stoneware set....

OLD SET







My husband has mentioned more than once that we need a new stoneware set. If I start this project this will be the third complete set I have made in the past 10 years. I do settings of 8 so a set consist of 8 dinner plates, 8 desert plates, 8 tumblers, 8 goblets, (I know..goblets are non-standard but they are just so fun to drink from, 8 large bowls, 8 smaller bowls. In addition I make a complete tea set with tea pot, serving tray, creamer and sugar pot. Pitcher and vase. Salt and Pepper Shaker and butter dish. I also do a crock with lid and at least two very large serving bowls.
Yes it is a lot of work and I am busy being a new mom, refining tatting patterns for two new books, making new tatting shuttles and a couple other secret projects! But my husband keeps buzzing in my ear so I've been thinking about the new design. What will I do?? I am toying with the idea of using colored porcelain. That will be extra work but I think will have a nice effect...but who knows? I may change my mind a couple of times from now until then.
In the meantime what will I do with the old set?

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A few changes

The older I get the more I hate change. Perhaps that is true for most of us. But I think I hate change mostly because I have experienced more of it than a whole room full of people put together. I have moved 50+ times in my life. I've lived in 9 U.S. states and 4 countries. People have waltzed in and out of my life quicker than some change their underwear. That is a lot of change.
But some changes are good, like the kind that indicate we are maturing as human beings and refining our skills. A lot of things in my life are starting to come full circle especially my work and family life, both inspiring one another.
All this leads to some slight changes involving my artwork specifically. I am no longer focusing solely on my pottery, I am also greatly involved in the tatting world. So I am balancing those things with photography, painting, glass and precious metal work.
For the last decade I have been MadMadPotter.Com. This past week my domain subscription expired. I wasn't notified and when I went to renew I ran into all sorts of problems and conflicts which I won't go into. In short I am now JUST MadMadPotter. No more dot com. If you Google me I come up first in all the searches so I don't need to pay tons of money for my own domain anymore. So Register.com you can take your overpriced service and all your fees and shove them you know where.
Anyhow, with a renewed sense of purpose I am expanding my repertoire to include all my interests and I shall share them here. So even though I will remain the MadMadPotter (notice no spaces in the moniker), I will be ever so much more.
Of course I will not be making any changes to my other alias LadyShuttleMaker. That blog will remain dedicated to my tatting endeavors and personal life stories.

Now on to the meat of the post, I would like to start with slumped bottles. This isn't a new idea, other artists have been doing it for years. I had some ideas to put my own twist on this particular endeavor. I have been slumping pretty much any glass bottle or jar I can get my hand on.

These turn into....

...these...

...and this...

...and this.

The spoon rest is one of my twists as well as...

this new design feature. Typically these slumped wined bottles are used as cheese boards, but I wanted to add my own flare. These can also be hung in a window for decoration.

As soon as I can get a group of these together I will be listing them in my Etsy shop.