green to yellow

I'm trying to get myself geared up for my 2 up-coming shows, and I must admit that it's hard to think about Christmas and holidays with this kind of weather. We are probably due in for a bunch of rain soon, but in the meantime, it's been lovely during the days, colder at night, with only a hint of frost.  The apples are starting to turn sweet, and we are going to have to get a hold of some more soon. 

I always find that fall feels like a good time to hash out new designs and ideas that have been stirring while all the other production has been going on.  Although this year my designs are getting more complicated and less efficient in the glazing department.  Glazing a kiln-load of work is taking me a whole week, when it used to take about 3 days, partly because I'm working through design ideas, but also because my process is just that- slow.  This does not bode well for me when it comes to wholesale orders.  I feel the pressure of needing to get the work out faster and smarter, and even cheaper.  It's an interesting thing to think through- how much wholesale (ie double the amount of work) can my business sustain.  I'm sure there are some good formulas out there for how much direct sales/wholesale/e-sales is a good mix- it would be interesting to know what that should look like. I guess finding the 'perfect formula' is somewhat subjective, but it would be at least nice to know.

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!!

Why I do what I do

I've had my head to the grindstone the past few weeks, madly working away on a number of large wholesale orders for Galleries before we go on holidays.  It hasn't been the easiest of weeks- long hours, glazing problems with my one and only commercial glaze (the red glaze on my poppies has been crawling), re-firing and re-making in order to fill the large orders for my galleries.  Ceramics is such a labour-intensive and often frustrating process- pulling out 'almost perfect but not quite' pots from the kiln time and time again can really get to a person after a while. 
In between the wholesale orders, I've had some smaller orders from clients who came to me with special requests- a 13th birthday gift for a budding young artist, a custom order from a bride for her wedding party, a wedding gift for a repeat customer, and a special birthday gift for a daughter who is generally hard to buy for.  In the midst of the wholesale orders that I feel pretty bogged down about, I feel like the whole reason I do what I do and I make what I make is for these customers that come my way, tell me their story, and ask me to make something beautiful for them to give to someone special in their life.  What a huge honour it is to be able to use my hands every day to create something that someone out there will use everyday!