Mid-Summer Up-date and New Vases

Well it has certainly been quite a while since I have posted anything on the blog but there has been some recent newsworthy items along with a few batches of new work that is slowly creeping towards being on the website for an up-date again.  We are part way through summer and I just pulled a collection of new vase forms in the new speckled clay, perfect for wildflowers or flowers from the garden.  I keep envisioning them lining a large out-door table, filled with fresh pickings from summer gardens. I hope to have them available online and in shops in the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime I took a few home to enjoy and photograph. The speckled clay has been getting a lot of attention these days (check out the August issue of Canadian House & Home Magazine), but of course I'm still making heaps of my more classic dahlhaus work: the poppies, the stripes, the triangles and the herringbone designs, which were all standards in my spring shop orders. 

Speaking of shops- have you checked out the up-dated stocklists page on my website?  There are a few new ones to point out- the Museum of Craft in Design in SF was particularly exciting to make work for.  Also Poppytalk now has a storefront on Broadway just off Main st in Vancouver- it's a beautiful little shop and they are well stocked with the speckled work! I just finished a huge custom colour tea canister set for a new lemonade and tea shop called Sunny Side. Along with another painting commission this spring, things have felt quite busy in the studio.  I'm ready for a couple of weeks of holidays mid- August, but there is a bit more work to get through before then.

In other news, I wanted to announce that I'm a finalist for the Western Living Designer of the Year Award in the Industrial Design Category! I'm in great company so I wish everyone the best of luck! Along with that news, I should also take a moment to say that I will be at the Interior Design Show late September as part of the Poppytalk Curated Market.   I'll be back to say more about that but it should be an exciting fall with that kicking off more shows to come.

The boys are all doing great.  Summer is a busy time for my husband, Dean, who over-sees 2  skateboard camps at the beginning/middle of August.  My boys have been taking part of some summer day camps with afternoons spent at the local out-door pool.  We are looking forward to getting away as a family to visit friends, hang out at the beach and press the re-fresh button.  I hope you are able to do that as well! 

Until next time- but in the meantime, you can always follow on Instagram;)!

Happy New Year...oh wait. It's April already.

Oh the neglect!  Four whole months and not a word on the blog.  2014 has had it's highs and lows: if you have been following along on Instagram, you'll be pretty caught up with the good, the bad and everything in between. 

Around the 3rd week of January I was in a bike accident and I fractured my right elbow.  At the time, the doctor told me it would be months until I was back to normal and I just shook my head and said no way.  It can't be.  I have too much work to make. But here we are in early April and I just touched my shoulder for the first time in months.  I'm in Physio twice a week and my arm still doesn't fully extend.  So needless to say, I haven't spent long amounts of time typing on the computer.  All my energy has been in making the work that was on order and finishing up my website.  And writing applications, responding to emails and generally trying to keep up with everything that was absolutely necessary.


So thank you for understanding if you have come here wondering where I was.  We managed to take a couple of long-overdue holidays (Palm Springs in February and Portland in March).  I finished a painting commission (above), made 2 more paintings and then started my 2nd painting commission for the year, which I'm pretty excited about.  New work was photographed by Byron Dauncey in the beginning of February leading to the launch of my new website.  The bottle vase grouping image above even made it into the latest Uppercase Magazine.  Orders have been made and shipped.  More orders are in the works, and thankfully I can throw on the wheel again, albeit I'm a little slower and tire easily.  I take a lot of stretching breaks these days. 

That's about all I have for today but thank you for coming by here.  I decided not to include this blog on my new website for now.  Partly because I'm not sure how to add it without losing old posts, partly because I don't think I can keep this space as active as I used to.  The age of blogs seems to have passed, and while I still feel like it's a good place to have, it doesn't feel like I have the time for it like I used to.  I'm trying to limit my screen time while I'm at home- not only do I need to be more present when I'm home for my family, but I need to be a better role model for my boys with regards to how much time I spend online/plugged in and looking at a a screen.

Shop Up-date and a SALE!

My shop has a fresh new look along with some new photos from the mini-photography session I had with Vancouver Photographer Byron Dauncey last week!  I have been working on new vase forms and new designs off and on all spring, and was hoping to do a complete website over-haul along with a formal photography shoot and road-blocks just kept coming up with the timing on it all.  So I'm happy to report that there is always a way out of every timing mess- a mini-shoot, a new webshop design (courtesy of BigCartel) and it's all looking pretty good for the summer, if you ask me!

Please head over and check out the new work!  I keep seeing such lovely bouquets at farmer's markets or just on my walks in people's gardens so I'm offering a 15% discount on all the vases in my shop from now until August 15th!  Please use the code SummerSale for the discount- all the vases listed are ready to ship, with many of them being one-of-a-kind and in limited quantities!

Now for something completely different

There are times when I kick myself for making work that's so much work to make.   When I started
the dahlhaus collection, I wanted the work to stand out, to be recognized without having to turn over the bottom to see the stamp.  Using a complex glaze method (that I thought no one would be crazy enough to copy), I developed patterns and a glaze style that was uniquely my own.  All that to say that on the 3rd-4th day of glazing a kiln-load of work, my hands are tired and I wish I hadn't made it so complicated and hard on myself.  And then I pull out a glaze full of lovely patterns and I'm back to seeing why my work has stood out and is in demand and I love what I do.  I truly believe that work that is hard to make is worth making and really forges new ground within the history of a craft. 

All this to say, however, that there are times when I long for 'simple' and when I wish that that mere form and colour could inform the work.  Also the busyness of all the patterns all together can get a little overwhelming for me, and there are times when I think it would be nice to have a hit of simple colour in the midst of the patterns when they are all grouped together. 

So here it is, my slowly evolving colour-fade line of ceramics.  It's a small collection of work that I've been mulling over, occasionally deciding to glaze one or 2 pieces in a kiln load, just to see what I think.  This year I decided to be a bit more deliberate with this work.  I am in the process of thinking about a Rothco-inspired vase series with some taller cylinder vases, just trying to sort out how the lines and edges will over-lap to best create this work. With the images above, the bottom bowls are the first 'dipped' edges that I worked on back in 2010, and then last year for the blue and white show, I made the mugs, then before my last photoshoot, I worked on the vases and large bowl.  There are slight variations to how the white glaze meets the colour glaze that I was testing out.  Please don't hesitate to let me know what you think!

*Thank you to all those who have purchased teapots from my shop over the past couple of weeks that the Bon Appetit article has been out! I am glazing more teapots this week (and making more) and I very much appreciate the support of my work!

Triangle Party

I'm getting back to a few images from the last photo shoot, which I'm still trying to get onto the website in the near future.  It feels like I'm opening my Christmas presents before Christmas here, showing you all the good photos before the website gets it's yearly over-haul, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  These things all take time (and money)!

Since last year, I have continued with my triangle themed work but was trying to simplify the pattern.  I love the quilted pattern, but felt totally bogged down in the re-creation of the design for shops or to sell on my own.  If you know anything about how my designs come about, you'll know that this pattern is still a ton of tape, but that the triangles are a little bigger.  I simplified the colours, limiting it to the lighter shades of glaze that I have available.  We all know that glaze in the kiln likes to run vertically, this being a pattern that needs to be more precise and less 'painterly'.   Where the white glaze meets the coloured glaze is still a little fuzzy (which I like because it looks less like underglaze or decals and more like glaze), but less obvious then with the darker shades of glaze. 

Anyways, I'm still having fun with this design and am making a bunch of it to send off to The Flock in New Zealand! I have a few wholesale orders I'm currently working on and a huge project that I was doing a cost estimate for this past week.  We'll see if I get it in the end, but if not, it was one of those crazy opportunities that came across my desk that blows me away with the possibilities. 

I hope you are having a great week!

Welcome to the studio and new work!

Oh, there will be lots to share over here in the next little bit, but for now, just a taste of the great photos that Curtis Hildebrand took of my new studio and my work late December!  Curtis has taken my website photos since I started dahlhaus in 2007 and it's been great to work with him all these years.  I can really only manage/afford one photo session a year, so the photos we take really decide the work I make for the next 8 months as I use them for my online shops and wholesale line sheet as examples of glazes and designs.

Speaking of which, I have just sent off my wholesale line sheet to a number of inquiring and existing shops, but if you have a b & m shop and would be interested in carrying my work, I am now taking orders for spring! I'm looking forward to creating work for some pretty great shops this year, so drop me a line at heather@dahlhausart.com and I'll be in touch with an email and link to view my line sheet. 

Here's the set up to create such lovely photos- all done in the comfort of my studio!

Eastside Culture Crawl 2012!

Lots of pots are being pulled out of the kiln for the Eastside Culture Crawl that's happening this coming weekend, November 16, 17 & 18. I will have lots to choose from my floral lines, as well as a great selection of pots with new patterns and designs!  I'm really excited to get my new studio ready for visitors too- it's going to be a great weekend so please do come  by if you are in Vancouver!

The Eastside Culture Crawl is a 3 day studio tour and show taking place on the Eastside of Vancouver.  There is a large map in the insert of the Georgia Straight so grab one when it comes out on Thursday so you know which studios are open.  The beauty of the Crawl is that you are visiting working artists in the studios where they produce work.  There are over 300 artists opening their studio doors for the Crawl weekend- everything from painters and sculptors to jewelry and hand-bag designers, to ceramics, glass and furniture designers.  The whole event is free to attend! It gets quite crowded with parking on Friday night, so you might want to consider taking transit.  The Mergatroid Building (where my studio is) and 1000 Parker St. are the largest studio buildings in the zone, so if you just have a few hours they are great buildings to check out.  Of course, please do come by and say 'hello'- look for the turquoise door on the ground floor of the Mergatroid Building, 965 Vernon Drive.  Hope to see all the local Vancouver people there- it's such a fun event and worth the extra effort to come out!!

make, glaze,fire, repeat

 I feel like things are going a bit round and round in circles at the studio these days, as I am working so hard to stay on schedule for my up-coming holiday shows, along with shipping off the shop and gallery orders so they arrive in time for holiday shopping in stores.  It's a bit of a scramble to do it all on my own, but once I get in the rhythm, it can be fairly satisfying.  For the most part all my shipping to other shops is done as of yesterday.  Phew! It was a lot of work (and I have 2 more NEW Galleries to showcase here on the blog still), but all that remains is a couple of local galleries and then my 2 shows- one in November and one in December.  I hope to be able to take a good long break over the holidays and rest my weary hands, which have been worked pretty hard over the past couple of years.

Sometimes I feel like fall just whizzes by and I hardly have a moment to really enjoy it.  Other times I'm really glad to see the year coming to a close, marveling about the opportunities that came my way and all the work I was able to make over the course of a year with only my 2 hands, a whole lot of determination, skill, and the support of my family and friends.  I totally feel thankful to be able to document it here on my blog- thanks so much for stopping by.

You are so bluetiful to me....

Here's just a few of the images Curtis Hildebrand took of the work I'll be exhibiting in Toronto next week.  It's kind of fun to give you a sneak peek- although you may have already seen glimpses of this work if you are following me on Instagram (dahlhaus art).  I had a lot of fun making new work- I love the colour blue so it wasn't hard for me to think in blue and white, although I will admit, that I'm relieved to be able to add another colour to the mix.  As you can see, my blue glaze range grew exponentially.  Nothing wrong with that;-)!
Krystal was going to be photographing her work today, but in the meantime, check out the work she pulled out of the kiln the other day! Incredible- I love her drippy blues and the simple leaf shapes that she used on these pieces. I absolutely can't wait to see the whole show come together at Bookhou!

A bit of new

In the midst of scrambling to finish up a large shop order for the Gardiner Museum Shop last week, I started working on a few 'new' designs.  When I say new- often it doesn't quite mean re-inventing my wheel- usually it just means taking some ideas that have been stewing for a while and re-configuring them.  Like most artistic people I know, we get a little bored of the same old, same old, so for me, when my production starts bogging me down, I need to shake things up.  I think it's a healthy way to keep the creative juices flowing and not to put too much energy into just one kind of work.  Unfortunately in this economy, most shops are asking for the work they know will sell, so I am making work I've been making well for the past few years.  It sometimes makes it hard to justify working with new ideas and making new work when every piece I place in the kiln these days seems to already be sold. 
This is just one of the cups that came out of the kiln yesterday- I hopefully can swing in another firing before we take off for some much needed holidays next week.  I have been working with a new porcelain slip-casting slip instead of my usual stoneware slip (my wheel-throwing clay bodies have stayed the same).  Porcelain is always more challenging to work with- there was some warping but surprisingly no cracking.  I might use the porcelain for another round of casting with my new production moulds, but I'm not convinced it's worth the trouble.  The glazes look brighter and are a little more runny but the work feels more weighty.  Maybe that's ok.  It's hard to know whether other people will notice the difference besides that it's a denser, heavier clay.

I decided to head out to the Multiples Show at Emily Carr yesterday- taking in the sunshine and grabbing a bite to eat at the Granville Island Market.  There were a few interesting things at the ceramic show- although I was hoping for a little more work to look through.  There seems to be a big trend at the school to pair ceramics with wood- and most of the work was by Product Design 3rd year students.  Whatever happened to ceramic majors?  There were a few bowls that were wheel-thrown, otherwise everyone slip-casts. No glaze on the outside is still the norm over there- of course, a glaze fiend such as myself finds this pretty disappointing.  I think it's a shame when work looks too polished and finished when someone is in 3rd year.  This is the time to take risks- to try things in a big way without having to put a price on it.  Anyways, that's me and my opinion, so I should probably keep it to myself;)!
Hope your week is going well!

I have a lot on my plate

Just to let you know that the last of this small plate series I made last year is available on Etsy here.  It's my favourite of the bunch and hopefully I'll have more time to sort through some of these designs soon again. 

On my plate these days:

-upload the new images from this past November's photoshoot up on my Website

-finish up filming for the small 'how my work gets made' video (almost done!)

-finish up a line sheet for 2012 so I can respond to shop inquiries properly

-finish up tax stuff for 2011

-finish up shop orders for the Gardiner Museum Gift Shop, the Gallery of BC Ceramics, Coal Harbour Florist, and the UBC Botanical Garden Gift Shop...

-plan 2 weeks of Spring Break in the middle of March for my boys

-sort out transportation to NCECA 

-plan/make work for up-coming exhibit with Krystal Speck at bookhou in June

-work on a presentation of my work and process for the Gardiner Museum Gift Shop in June

-plan a studio sale for the spring

-not to mention the obvious pick up boys from school, make dinner, do laundry, plan things around Dean's work schedule etc.

So many exciting things in the works, so little time to make them all happen. 

photo credits: Curtis Hildebrand Photography

Glimpses of new

I just got some of the proofs of the photos Curtis took with me in the studio the other day!  We always seem to take one photo by accident with my hand or head half in the photo, making last-minute adjustments, but I kind of like that.  There's something about my hand being there that brings it back to being hand-made. 

Some day I hope to do a styled photo session, but for now, the simple grey backdrop accurately represents the work and documents.  I can't stress enough to people who are just starting out in their careers how important good photographs are.  At the same time, I sometimes see amazing photographs of work out there and then am disappointed when it comes to seeing and handling the work in real life.  So when I get feedback from people who tell me that my work is better in person then in my photos, then the compliment means so much more!

I have a small selection of new work that is now available in my shop here, and a little bit available on my Etsy shop.  I can no longer guarantee that it arrive outside of Canada in time for Christmas, although if you want a gift receipt to include in a card or want to bump up your shipping to courier service, just send me an email or convo.  I won't be doing a proper 'launch' of new work on my website until the new year so stay tuned for that!

One of a Kind Vancouver 2011

I'll be at the One of a Kind Show at the Vancouver Convention Centre West over the next few days! If you are in Vancouver, please do stop by- I'll be at booth H42!

Show hours are as follows:
Thursday-Saturday 10am-9pm
Sunday 10am-5pm
admission $12 ($2 off if purchased online)

And a sneak peek at just a couple new photos of work that will be available during the show!! Photos by Curtis Hildebrand photography

A quick preview

I pulled out my first kiln-load and quickly shot these photos on a dark day in the studio, but here's a sample of the work I had been glazing last week.  The tall striped vases didn't make it into this kiln firing, save one, but I've got some new work coming out of the kiln later this week and then more by Saturday of the Eastside Culture Crawl.  It's a bit of a scramble this year to feel like I'm going to have enough work for my 2 shows.  The emails of special orders and reserving work have started and I've already sold out of the short striped mugs I had made for this weekend.   

I had been really excited about trying different glazes as the 'backdrop' of my pots but I'm not as keen on it as I thought.  There are some things I like about it- I like the way the yellow and turquoise triangles play with each other, and thought it was a no-brainer to include a few little white triangles in the mix, but really regretted it when I pulled it out of the kiln.  On the other hand, the white mug with the greeny/grey triangles with hits of yellow, feels much more successful although I think it could be fun to play around with the colours.  Some of the edges between the glazes got a bit fuzzy and not so straight, partly due to the glazes I used.  I'm also not quite convinced about the reverse bottle vases.  I have now tried the turquoise, saffron and grey (which was a complete flop).  Maybe next time I'll try to pair glaze colours together...

New sketches out of the kiln

 Well I did get a few new 'sketches' of ideas out of the kiln this last weekend (please excuse the i-phone pics)!  I'm still sorting out which ideas might work out as more of a series, but I think there are some good little 'moments' here and I'm liking the direction that it's leading me to.  As I sit down with my process of glazing, I've been realizing once again the potential for how I come up with patterns and designs.  It's kind of exciting for me- this type of development of ideas and work feels very organically linked to my past work, but also pushing me in a bit of a new direction.  I can't deny the 'folk art' and paper-cutting influences this time around.  It's complicated with my process to get connected repeating patterns all around a vessel, but it's also kind of fun challenge.  Again, I don't use any decals, so my method of creating 'stencils' is done with me and a pair of scissors, for each glaze design.  I thought it would be interesting to embrace my 'scissor-hands' by referencing paper-cutting motifs, and I've been moving some of my work into folk-art motifs for quite a while.