Life, the universe, and everything

Hello, dear readers. It's been a minute since I've written. If you're still following this blog, then I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If there is just one person out there (and I hope there are more!), I am sending you my deepest love and appreciation.

My life has not progressed in the fashion I expected it to. Life seems fond of doing that. If you've been wondering what I've been doing during my little hiatus from art and the internet, I've been doing a whole lot of waiting, that's what. A whole lot of sitting and sighing and looking at stacks of boxes packed with all my belongings. Definitely a lot of moping and groaning.

I moped about my residency ending. I moped about being stuck in this house (which is not MY house) without my own car. I moped about our house (the one we were trying to buy), which we still have not closed on (and I'm resigned to the fact that we probably will not be getting it, because banks are dumb). I moped about not having a space to work in. Life. Don't talk to me about life.

I think I took some time to grieve, and to mourn some dreams that just weren't panning out the way I'd planned. I needed to do that for a little while, and to sort some things out in my head, before I could move on.

(One Sunday morning, the warm sun came up, and - pop! - out of the egg came a tiny, and very hungry caterpillar)

But finally, I said screw this! I realized that I'd put my entire life on hold because I was waiting on that house, and that studio space in the basement where I'd already planned out and lived the next 10 years of my life in my head. Enough! I decided to figure out what resources I had now, and what I could do today that would advance my life and get me making art again. Things do not happen for people who sit around and wait. I'd taken enough time, and now I was ready.

For the last two weeks, I've been cleaning, packing, organizing, and reorganizing the little guest house in the back yard of my in-laws, which we've been using as a storage space up until now. Every day, for about an hour and a half (while Maddy naps), and sometimes after she goes to bed, I went out back and cleaned and moved things and hauled away trash and things we no longer needed. I set up some tables, put up some old cabinets I scored from Freecycle (God bless that site!), and unpacked my old artwork to put on display.

After a lot of hard work, I made a little space for myself. I set up my wheel, which has not been used for over 2 years, held my breath, and turned it on...

Creepy alien bunny baby keeps me company while I work.

My lucky studio gator looks on. One day, I will paint him new clothes as I originally intended.

And it works! HOORAY!

I am really excited to begin making work again! I have big plans and dreams, and I hope you'll follow along with me as I make them happen. Clearing out that house made me feel strong, and capable, like I could do anything! (I think I understand why I have friends that love to clean and organize now!) I still have more to do, but my plan is to make it into a space that people could visit, where I could show off my new work, and you all could pop in and say hi and see what I'm up to. 

I went out there for the first time yesterday to work on some art. I tested out a new clay body from Laguna that I just picked up at Core Clay in Cincinnati, and I finished the mishima on these plates that I started months ago. I am committed to getting out there a little everyday, and I'm going to make and make and make as much art as I can, and it's going to be awesome.

30 days from today, I have resolved to launch a Kickstarter to help fund the production of a new line of work. I've got some ideas I'm flipping out about right now, and I want to dig right in. But before I launch, as a show of good faith, I want to get working now, use all the materials I have left, and get you all excited about what I have in store. Then, if you like what I'm doing, and you want to be a part of it, you can jump right in with me, and we can PARTY DOWN.

Stay tuned:D

Workspace

 I never show you pictures of my studio space at Beech Grove Clay Works because -

Well, because it looks like this:

But Kelly Daniels, whose blog I've been following since her Kickstarter for her Penland trip got funded, posted a picture of how messy her space is after just one week. And I thought Yay! I'm not the only one! And it gave me the courage to share my space with you guys.

And here is my old school Pinterest board;)

So my space is not hip or cool looking at all, and there's stuff everywhere, but I'm grateful to have it:D I kind of feel like, as long as I know where everything is, and I have a little space to work, I don't mind mess and clutter. I once had a teacher tell me that there are two kinds of people - people who are externally organized, and people who are internally organized. My keys may not hang on a neat little peg, but if you ask me where they are, I can tell you (usually) that they are under that pile of papers in the corner. If you try to clean up for me, I'll never find anything! Yeah, that teacher's quote stuck with me, because it made me feel less crappy about myself. I do try, but I'm just not a naturally neat person.


What about you? What does your workspace look like? Is it organized and inviting? Or a big ole' mess like mine? Which do you prefer? Which type of person are you?

Playing catch up

Everyone jokes now a days about how this generation is so attached to their smart phones and digital devices that they burst into tears if they can't find their iPhone for a day. I had no idea I was one of those people until I got my iPhone good and lost this weekend. It's been missing since Saturday morning, and though I haven't fallen to the ground sobbing yet, I really am kind of lost without it. I had no idea I was so dependent on that thing.

I managed to take some pics this week in the studio and of my girl outside enjoying the weather, and I thankfully uploaded them before I misplaced my phone. Argh! Now I have to actually charge my real camera, and I have to use the landline to make phone calls, and I can't check in when I go to the movies or check my friend's status messages every 5 minutes! HOW WILL I LET MY FRIENDS KNOW INSTANTANEOUSLY HOW MUCH I ENJOYED THE HUNGER GAMES???

Anyway, I spent some time catching up a bit on my own work at the studio after mixing a new dipping glaze and doing some test tiles. I didn't realize how much half finished stuff had piled up in my space. I made two scallop edged plates that I intend to decorate, and one of them is to commemorate Maddy's 1st birthday. We're having a real party for her April 1st that's a cardboard box extravaganza and playdate. Unfortunately we are antisocial people and only know a handful of parents with babies, so I'm thinking it's going to be a sparsely attended affair, at least by baby to adult ratio standards. I feel like going to the park and finding random people with babies, and just dragging them to our house. Here! Come play with my baby! Before she becomes an antisocial recluse like us! NO REALLY WE'RE NOT CREEPY STALKERS I SWEAR

I'll probably write again post baby party, as my mother-in-law and I are preoccupied with getting ready for that, plus this is the last week of the session at Beech Grove. Hopefully I'll be back with lots of adorable pics, taken with a real honest-to-God camera, and maybe even my phone if I can freakin' find it.

Btw, just a heads up: if you have the Find My iPhone app, it works great until you turn off your phone. Stupid phone.

The 12" challenge

Class challenge inspired by another pottery blog whose students set this challenge for themselves. I can't remember where I saw it, so if you're reading this and you just wrote a blog post about your students doing this, let me know so I can give you credit!

Turns out this challenge wasn't as easy as I thought! I threw one 12" bottle on Tuesday first try out of red clay, but it was pretty wobbly. Yesterday I used porcelain, and I've always struggled with getting much height from porcelain. My first try flopped, but I got it the second time around. Both the other students managed to succeed with at least 12 inches as well. Mike B has been throwing for years longer than I have, so he did the challenge quite nicely. It's humbling having students who are better throwers than I am! I'm looking forward to getting to that point where I've got 15 years experience under my belt.

My shiny new kiln

I got a new kiln last week, I'm so excited! I've been looking around for a smallish test kiln for ages, something just big enough for a few cups or for doing decals and lusters. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine from art school posted a status message about having a kiln for sale. I almost dismissed it, since I figured I really don't have much money right now. But I went ahead and asked about it, purely for curiosity's sake. Turns out it was exactly the size I've been looking for, and was within my means with a little creative budgeting. So exciting to have a kiln of my own again! While I know I have access to the studio kiln, it will be nice to be able to fire small things at home when I need to (like for those last minute deadlines I like to procrastinate on, heh.)

The nice thing about buying this kiln is that it not only helps me out, but buying it helped out a friend who was in serious need of some cash. I know he wasn't happy about having to sell his baby, but he was glad to know it was going to a friend. I even let him know I'd be happy to fire work for him anytime. I know what its like to not have a way to fire your stuff.

Haven't had a chance to fire it yet, but I'm hoping to get it going sometime this week, once I figure out where to put it, and where I can plug it in. I'll let you all know how it works out!

My purpose as a blog.

I've been giving this some thought, and I've decided what the focus of this blog will be (rather than aimless rambling, which is my usual tendency). I'm going to use this to document my process, both as an artist and as a small business owner. That might sound kind of stuffy, but hear me out.

I started going to school for art 8 years ago. I was first a painter, and then a ceramicist. At some point, I knew I wanted to make a living as an artist - I couldn't see myself holding a normal 9 to 5, and I'd always loved creating things, whether it was made out of paint or popsicle sticks. Towards the end of last year, I opened an Etsy store and began selling simple recycled ceramics online. I was just kind of tickled that I could take drawings of creepy bugs and octopus tentacles and whatever else I wanted, and pop them onto fancy teacups and thrift store coffee mugs. It also gave me an opportunity to draw, something I love but don't always do when I'm making stuff out of clay.

I really enjoyed being able to make some extra money with the Etsy shop, but I couldn't give it my full attention because I was focusing on my final year of art school. After graduating, I finally told myself "This is it. If you're gonna do this for a living, do it now, while you have the time. You have no classes, no job, and no kids. If you don't do it now, you never will." So, I set up my studio in the kitchen, put new stuff up on Etsy, and applied for a juried show (Oranje Indy 2009). I started researching how to make my online store better, and tips for art and craft fair displays. I started trawling thrift stores for ceramics, wheel throwing some pieces myself, and finding used objects I could fix up for my table displays at the next fair. And some of my serious art (not the thrift store stuff) actually started selling on Etsy (Woohoo! People like my work!)

I get really excited whenever I'm researching anything I'm into, so I've been a little obsessive with this whole starting a business thing. But I'm learning a lot as I go. I read up on microloans for new small business owners, and researched ways to make signs, banners, and the best place to get business cards made (my vote so far is moo.com, by the way - those mini cards are just too sweet!)

I'm looking forward to the day when I can look back on this blog's beginning and say to my husband, "Hey Nich! Remember back when you were screenprinting old t-shirts in a leaky basement, and I was wheelthrowing cups in the kitchen next to the litterbox?" (don't ask). I'll be able to see where I've been, both as an artist and as an entrepreneur. Hopefully I can find a balance between business and pleasure, and not lose my soul in the process. And hopefully I can share the things I make, what inspires me, and whatever new processes I'm playing around with as well.

And maybe someone else will come across this blog and learn from my mistakes, get inspired, and do something they love too.

So wish me luck! This is just the beginning.