OOAK Vancouver 2011

First off- THANK YOU to those of you who came and visited me at the One of a Kind Show Vancouver this year! I appreciate the support I've felt locally this year and am so grateful for how many people came by to visit my booth and purchase my pottery this year! Once again I'm ending the year with a pretty bare studio and the last bit of work that I do have will end up at the Gallery of BC Ceramics on Granville Island (so if you're in a pinch head over there) and there will probably be a bit to put online but not to arrive in time for Christmas. 

I'd also like to send out a big thank you to my good friend Kat who has been helping me out in the studio and at my shows on and off this fall! Kat comes from a fashion design and retail background and was able to help me pack and ship out the large Anthropologie order this fall.  She's oh so stylish around the studio and has a great laugh too.  Love her!

Otherwise it was amazing to meet some really talented people at the show.  I came home with some amazing work- a little art, some amazing jewelry from here and here, a great jacket and shirt while I coveted this jacket (so want it..)!  And of course, some pottery by the lovely April Gates!

Things are back in their place

After setting up the studio all nice and neat so that over 3000 people could walk through my studio doors without being distracted by all the stuff I seem to have to store while I make, the house was a bit of a gong show.  A quick trip to Ikea the other night solved 2 problems I was having: one being no place to put all my office stuff and lacking in desk space since Dean and I are sharing 1 desk for our laptops.  Also the shelving unit will come in handy for my booth display at the One of a Kind Show, coming up in a week or so.  Thankfully I didn't have to put it together- it was in the 'as is' section and I somehow managed to fit it in the back of the station wagon along with the 2 boys.  Sometimes all it takes is some determination and creative woman-handling to get things done!

The studio is winding down for the year.  I finished all 'wet work', as in starting with a ball of clay work, so what I have is what I have. I'll be closing up my online shops in a few days as I get closer to the show so that I don't double up on selling all my stock.  Plus, regular shipping to the US needs to happen by December 8th  (the 16th for Xpress post- a little more $) so things are starting to get a little tight for time.  I've been getting lots of special requests for things that I actually do have in stock, just not up in the shop, so if you had something in mind, just send me an email.  If I have it available, I'll ship it off pronto, if not, then put it on your wish list for next year!

Okay, off to read with the boys, soak in the tub and drink some tea.

OOAK Penelope Brown

Slowly I am getting back to 'normal'.  It's amazing how much a 4 very long day show can take out of a person.  I don't normally talk to hundreds of people each day. So I found myself wanting to crawl a little back into a shell for the past few days while recovering from what was an amazing show for me.

Anyways, I wanted to get back to blogging a bit with some of the lovely stuff that was at the OOAK show, some of which I bought, some I didn't, but the first was a silkscreen painting by Penelope Brown.  I love the process she goes through to get these paintings.  It's so great to see the layering of colours and how they overlap and become other colours.  Very fun, bright and cheery, I fell in love with her Parakeets right at the get go.  So it has come home with me and looks like it fits right in above my mantle with my collection of tiles (Xenia Thaler, Jasna Sokolovic, vintage tiles from Spain... you get the idea).  Here's a little video of her process that was on her website- so great to see how many different screens she is using just for one image!

Penelope Brown from Penelope Brown on Vimeo.

For more info check out the Penelope Brown website!
 

A quick booth shot after day 1 at the OOAK

A quick shot taken by Dean (all candid-like)... I've had a great first day packing and visiting with a great crowd that came by for the One of a Kind Show's first day!

An Exciting Day!

 

We were very fortunate to be able to catch Karen Magnussen, former Canadian Olympic Figure Skater and silver medalist in the 1972 Olympics, carrying the torch through our neighbourhood today!  She continues to coach and train figure skaters locally and it was really wonderful to see her carrying the torch!  I'm starting to catch Olympic fever especially after Jan's post over on Poppytalk!

Along with the Torch excitement we've had, I also have received great news about some of the shows I've been applying for this year!  This spring I'm starting with the Blim Markets at Heritage Hall in March, April and May (hopefully I can keep up with this schedule).  The Markets will be on the 4 Sunday of the month from 11-4pm but I'll keep you posted.  I'm still waiting to hear back regarding my summer market schedule, but I'm really thrilled to be doing the One Of A Kind Show in Vancouver December 9-12 at the new Convention Centre!  I'm also a proud recipient of their New Artist Scholarship- so exciting!