Recent press!

I kind of fell off the blogging wagon last week (more on this to come) but wanted to start off the week with some photos of recent press!  My Striped Bottle Vases (which are sooo last season ;);), nudge, nudge) keep getting press requests, and what can I say, but that I am happy to oblige.  So here they are in the August issue of Style at Home along with the minty (albeit kind of turquoise to me) trend, and also in The Vancouver Province July 1st newspaper (you can read the article here).

I have to admit that I've been pretty up-front with people (including the reporter from the Province article) trying to dispel the myth that because I have work featured in a magazine or sold through Anthropologie, that I'm not rolling in money, like some may presume.  Perhaps I've been a little too honest about this, however I think it's really important to understand that people who are making handmade for a living probably have chosen this career because they love and are passionate about what they do, not because it's the most viable and lucrative business plan out there (because it's generally not!).  Making from scratch takes time, money, energy, patience, and even some hard-earned talent.

Sometimes I think the Etsy 'quit your day job' series creates the aura that anyone anywhere can quit their day job, stop working for 'the man' and create a hand-made business that can become an overnight success!  There might be Etsy shops out there that have been able to do this but probably at the cost of some integrity along the way.  I think it's important to consider how to build a long-term, viable career as an artist.  This kind of a career starts out really slow and evolves and grows really naturally as work and ideas are being developed.  In the end, this takes a lot of time and effort, which I trade for the satisfaction of knowing I did my best to create something beautiful and functional that can be used and enjoyed.

Cabin fever

I always think that it's good to just hunker down when school ends.  It just feels like too much work to get everything packed up the minute school is over and get off on a big trip somewhere, only to end up in traffic jams and rainy early july weather with cranky tired children.  So we stay home and play cabin at home.  The boys lounge around in pj's, curl up on the couch and watch movies in the afternoons, and then run around outside in between rainy showers.  Have I mentioned that it's been really wet and cold?  Well, it feels like March if you ask me.

This weekend there was a feature in the Vancouver Province on local makers and I was part of the article.  It was cool to see my work work displayed on an entire page of the newspaper!  I'll try to get  a pic of it here, since it's not online anywhere.  Also I picked up a copy of the August issue of Style at Home where my Bermuda Striped Bottle vase was featured amidst all things minty green!

And as for the new studio transformation that is currently taking place- I'll have the dramatic before and after pics when it's all said and done.  Dean and his brother painted the whole studio a fresh clean white slate yesterday- the ceilings and walls and by the window- it all needed to be brightened up.  Next up is the floor and then baseboards before it's ready for me to start in.  It's really fun to think about where I'll put things and how I want the studio to flow and work better.  I also think a change of scenery will do me some good.  Sometimes some new surroundings/things to look at can spark a new lease on creativity.