Studio sneak peak & Up-coming Crawl

If you've been following me on Instagram (dahlhaus art), you'll know that I've been pretty busy in the making department at the studio.  My first kiln-load of work for my holiday shows goes in on Friday, with 2 more to follow next week- hopefully all just in time for the Eastside Culture Crawl. I've been doing this open studio event for about 5 years now and every year it warms my heart to see people in my studio space checking out what I've been working on in the past year.  I usually get the studio all dolled out (see last year's display here) and bake a few goodies for the opening night, so if you are in the Vancouver area, it's a show you won't want to miss!

The details:  965 Vernon Drive, Friday hours 5-10, Saturday/Sunday 11-6.  For show details, including all the other studios that are open, check out the Crawl website!

on my side of the fence

I've had to step back on the blogging front here this past week. I'm so busy, working hard, long hours to be on schedule and to keep up with everything while Dean is away.  The boys were at the family farm for a few days and I was able to pool together a few lovely people: my sister, my good friend Kat, Sarah and my cousin, to help me out with the most tedious and repetitive part of my glazing process- the stripes. I'll be firing my first of 6 glaze loads to complete this order I've been working on... so much work.  In the meantime, a lot of my local galleries are starting to send me orders to finish up the summer with.  Not only do I not have a lot of spare work in the studio, but I also don't have any room or energy to make anything besides this order until September comes, even when they are expecting and asking for me to send the work asap.  Since when did pottery get made asap?  
I often straddle between worrying that I can't possibly keep up with the demand for my work verses being concerned that people won't be able to afford what I make, considering all the financial crises and budget cuts.  I hesitate to push my little studio into a bigger space with more equipment and a full-time assistant in order to keep up production, and yet I am at full capacity with just one order right now.  It's clear to me a few things have to change for me not to burn out, but I'm not quite sure what it will be yet.  I'm just taking it one day at a time and trying not to feel too overwhelmed by it all.  

Keeping motivated

 It's my birthday this week and things are being kept pretty low-key around here.  My boys are at my folk's place all week while work continues on the largest order I've ever filled.  It's not for the faint of heart these large orders.  It's a whole lot of intensely physical work and I've been going to bed with sore muscles from all the lifting and pouring of molds in my little studio. I'm so grateful to have Sarah with me in the studio this summer- her energy and enthusiasm is certainly helping me stay motivated to keep at it.  At the rate we are going, we'll only have 1 more week of slip-casting, and the rest of the summer will be glazing, glazing and more glazing.  If all goes as planned, the bulk of the order will be finished by the end of the summer (and by the time Sarah has to go back to school), so I'm just finishing up the last bits in time to send it off early October.  By then I'll be full-on in Holiday mode.  Phew, what a year!!

photos:  The waterlilies at the studio are blooming again!
I remembered I had this photo kicking around- circa 1981 or 82.  Love the wallpaper, and clearly, I am ready to party!!

Re-grouping

I'm taking some time this week for things non-studio related.  It's been good to meet some friends for tea and breakfast, pick the kids up from school and take them to their swimming lessons, and go for a run perhaps more than once this week.  I really need these time, times to re-group.  To think about what's next, reflect on the past, and just be in the present. 
It's been nice to have Sarah in the studio with me over the past month.  She's been helping me in the studio once or twice a week.  Having an extra set of hands is a welcome change- the work seems to move much quicker than usual.  At the same time, I'm always reminded of how many little nuances there are in my work that I do without thinking.  Those little details that I've learned from figuring it out myself- from trial and error, and then trial and error again before I get it right.  It's hard to pass those things along to someone new without sounding like I'm being 'uber' picky.   But all in all, I think it's been good.  Having help and all. Especially when my hands have been feeling tired.
I sometimes wonder how potters who've been potting professionally for 40 years do it.  Making pots is hard on the body.   It's hard on one's back and shoulders, arms and hands.  So far I count myself very fortunate to have had strong hands and wrists to begin with.  Most likely practicing violin for 4 hours a day in my late teens made the transition to ceramics much easier on me. Clearly I'm not 18 anymore.  And I'm starting to feel it. 

Mountain to lake

Hello June!  Wow, did that ever happen fast! Six months into 2011 already...
So a couple of weekends ago we made it back to Princeton for Dean's yearly staff conference.   The boys and I rode the Zip-line from one side of the valley over the lake to the other.  We went on boat rides, the boys swam in the pool.  They played hockey with their friends and my hands took a much needed break from making work.  I didn't take as many photos as I usually do, but I liked the pairings of these ones: Sky to mountain top, mountain to lake.  Not perfectly matched up, since I wasn't really planning it out when I took them, but there is something about the topography that is similar in each one.
**In the studio this week:
 With all my spring shop orders finished, I will be focusing on getting ready for Renegade, which is a mere month or so away.  I've got a few things sorted out: getting there, where to stay, where to ship to, & hopefully how to get the work to the show from our friends' place.  There are just a few more details to sort through.  It's tricky doing a show across the line.  Apparently there are a lot of rules, which make it nearly impossible to do this sort of thing.  Anyways, we shall see how it goes. 
In other news... supposedly Canada Post is going on strike.  Tomorrow.  So this affects my shipping rates and time-lines until the strike is over.  I will be shipping via UPS in the meantime- this means extra time for me at the post office filling out forms, and extra costs associated with shipping. Good times!