So long summer

The best of summer is slipping away and we are gearing up for the start of a new school year.  I am back in the studio this week with so many exciting projects in the works, but which are all hush hush for now.  In the meantime, I thought I'd say 'hello' after a long break from the blog! Anyone still reading this thing?? Hope you are well :)

As summer slips along...

Sometimes it feels easier just to take my phone out and snap a quick shot of something that is inspiring me or to save a moment- instagram is just the thing, heh?  So the studio is slowly coming together- I hope to show some more photos soon, in the meantime, I've added a few things to make it feel more at home while I try to finish up my orders for the summer!  I have been on my own with the kids for a few weeks now- during the week Dean has had to work or been away at his camp, so my days have been busy with keeping the boys happy.  Not always an easy task, but an ice cream cone, a hike to Bridal Falls goes a long way!  And the Turquoise Boler- just my colour!  We haven't had time to take our family Boler out on the road this summer yet- hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will take it out with us on the road!  It's too bad our Boler really only sleeps 3, but oh well- we do have a tent and the boys are still keen to sleep in tents;)!  

Hope your summer is going swimmingly!

Yarrow days

I spent my teen years in a town about 1.5-2 hours (depending on traffic) from Vancouver called Yarrow.  It's a pretty little town with Vedder Mountain on one side and the Vedder river on the other.  My parents still live in the same house so this place holds lots of memories for me. Most of my summers as a teenager were spent at camp, babysitting, working at an apple farm picking apples, 'studying' for music theory exams by the river with my very good friend Kathleen, or tubing down the river with friends (and almost drowning a few times).
Last week my boys spent the week with my parents in Yarrow, going to a kids morning camp in town, taking  horseback riding lessons for the first time and going swimming.  They had a great time while I worked hard in the studio trying to finish up some orders.  My birthday was last week so I managed to have a low-key day at home while the kiln was cooling and then we had a little cake with family when we picked up the boys on Friday.  I'm slowly creeping towards 40 and must admit that I almost forget how old I am sometimes... is it 36 turning 37? or 37 turning 38? 
It's crazy to think that this is now the view from the backyard of my parent's place now.  That field used to be filled with hazelnut trees that fell ill to disease and were recently cut down.  Such a shame...here's a photo from this past spring where you can see how big the trees were.

Happy Summer

Well Summer has officially begun despite some hesitation in the weather department.  The boys will have their last 3 days of school next week until summer holidays start for them and I'm scrambling in the studio to finish up the wedding registries and a wholesale order before the renos begin on the new studio!  My official move-in date is July 15, so we have  a couple of weeks to paint and put in a new floor- a new larger window will have to wait for another time.

I managed to get to Gailan's studio sale last night with Kelly and came home with one of those great bracelets that she is now making.  It was nice to see a few people that I hadn't seen in a while- some really great ceramic people that graduated from Emily Carr around the same time as me who are still carving out a career as ceramic artists.  Super inspiring!!

Have a great weekend!

the last hurrah of Summer

We managed to get away for one last road-trip up to Vernon.  It's a 5 hour drive through amazing mountains to the Lake Country- where the climate is dry and hot. There are orchards everywhere and we managed to come home with a bunch of fruit to make jams and just eat fresh.  I won't have time much time to make the jam though (that's Dean's job), as you can see, it's been a very productive summer.  This is only half of the vases that were made this summer... a 'little' order I've been working on that will be ready to ship early October.  Details to come soon:)!  In the meantime, I'm trying to work on some of my 'regular work' (non-vase related) so hopefully I'll have my online shops stocked up again soon!
Thanks for hanging in here- I'm hoping to get back into a regular schedule of blogging, with 'real photos' (not just i-phone photos), and real content soon.  School for the boys doesn't start until next week so they are hanging out with their Dad at home this week, getting the last of their fill of lego playing and back-lane scootering with the neighbours.  Hope your last week of summer is great!

Island Garden Party & Art Opening

Last summer my sister introduced me to Strathcona Press, a letterpress home studio and gallery run by Jen Van de Pol and Adrian Robertshaw and this last weekend we had the chance to go back for their opening of a photo and letterpress exhibition with photography by Gregory Crow.  The exhibition featured images taken in an old building in Saskatchewan while Adrian and Gregory were out filming there this last spring.  The lovely light and minimal scenes of 'institutional yet homey' spaces were pared with letterpress descriptions that added to the narrative. 

It was so good of Jen and Adrian to include us in their Garden Party for guests that had traveled out from the city to be around for the show.  Their amazing house (full of antiques, beautiful art and found objects from all over the world) and picturesque yard made it a beautiful setting to eat garden-fresh salads and sip on wine. 

For more images of Strathcona Press' gallery and their vintage letterpresses, check out this post by 'any spun thread'.

I'm off to the beach today with the boys and friends to beat the heat, find crabs and make mini rock sculptures in the driftwood.  It finally feels like summer in Vancouver and it's suppose to stay like this for a while now.