The waiting game

It's one of those days where I'm waiting for my kilns to fire and cool.  There is no immediate gratification in the land of ceramics.   I've thrown a new bowl shapes and a few new mug shapes, made a bunch of new and old glazes and now I have to wait to see what will turn out.  Sometimes this waiting game gives me a little perspective between the heavy process oriented aspect of the work and the final outcome.  Sometimes I feel impatient with it, like I want to know what I did right or wrong now.  I guess it's a little like parenting a child sometimes.  
Johnny is growing so fast.  He's up to my chin for crying out loud.  How did this kid get so big?  Seriously.  We have our good days and our hard days.  Our days when we don't worry or fret about school, where he's gentle and kind, fun-loving, telling jokes and singing to himself.  Days where he's a real pleasure to be around.  And then there are days when I feel as though everything I say comes back to my face with an anger and a frustration that comes out of left field. 
For those of you that are new to my blog, Johnny was diagnosed with a learning disability last June.  His teacher in Grade 2 was completely baffled at how he would un-learn what he had been taught the day before.  He's a bright and intelligent kid and his reading and writing in particular didn't match up.  Last fall he was enrolled in a really great Literacy program for grade 3's with learning disabilities.  It ran from September to the beginning of December, there was only 7 kids in his class, one teacher and one Orton Gillingham Instructor.  Wow, did we ever see a difference.  The confidence that this program gave Johnny was immense.  It was hard work- 30-45 minutes of homework 6 days a week.  Spelling tests daily.  Lots of practicing and reviewing.  And he really improved.  His reading went a whole grade-level higher.  We saw a big improvement at home, his stress level and happiness level surrounding school really improved.  Unfortunately the program only runs for 3 months.  Now we are back in the regular school system and really struggling to keep up.  There are a lot of holes in the way the regular classroom operates that can be hard for kids who struggle with learning ie split classes, too many kids in the class, teacher sharing, too many extra-curricular activities... all of these things are probably fine for regular kids, but for someone who needs space and extra concentration just to learn the basics, these things just distract. 
So, what to do?  I've been researching options for next year already.  Grade 4 is supposedly a big year, there is lots expected of kids in this year.  I've looked into a school for dyslexia here in our area.  $19'500.  Yeah, not likely.  For grade 4???  I realize there could be scholarships but I really don't quite think that's going to cover it.  I think it might be more reasonable to look into a combination of Orton Gillingham tutoring and getting him a laptop for school.  If the frustration continues to mount I've even thought of home schooling him for a set time.  But for that I'd have to really scale back what I do at the studio. Hard decisions. 
Really at the end of this all, I know in my heart that Johnny will be a great person when he grows up.  He has so much going for him and school is really only a small part of our lives over-all.  And really, there's spell check for when he's going to get bogged down with the whole spelling thing, right? Everyone has stuff in their life that they will struggle with, some of us struggle with it early on, some of us later.  I just hope  (and pray) that we are giving him the tools to know how best to cope with his struggles now so that later in life he makes good choices.  Really, isn't that all a parent can hope for? 

Red Espresso

Red Espresso:  Rooibos tea espresso folks.  Tastes GOOOD.  No caffeine.  Antioxidants.  My new favourite late afternoon pick-me-up.  Seriously. You should try it.

Collection: Paint Brushes

A curious collection of paint brushes that were passed on to me leaving me wondering what they were used for.
On the topic of my newly inherited collection of art supplies, I wrote another guest post on the Sycamore Street Press blog about my 5 favorite 'hand-me-downs'. 

This interview makes me want to move to Berlin to find an apartment with beautiful wood floors.  I also love her idea of a Bread Exchange!
Speaking of bread- I visited Fredi Rahn at her home and studio on Friday.  Between being a potter, instructor and parent, she's been hosting bread making classes in her home along with making earthenware 'cloches' that act like a hearth-style oven in a regular oven.
Back to the Freunde von Freunde website (found via all the mountains)- my german is quite rusty, but their interviews and images of amazing spaces, art and studios are seriously inspiring.

Poppytalk Handmade Housewares

I'm part of the Poppytalk Handmade curated market this month and seem to be in very good company!  If you are interested in sprucing up your home in time for spring head over here!  You can check out my table or recently up-dated Etsy shop too!  I'll be putting in a kiln load of work this coming weekend so bowls will be back in stock too!

Weekend Project and a Happy Valentines Day!

Hello there! I hope you had a great weekend!  We had a few birthday parties to go to this weekend so during the days we kept things at home pretty low key.  Between making all the Valentine cards (we all pitched in) for the boy's class, baking bread, and doing the laundry, I actually managed to finish a quilt I had been making for Sasha when I was pregnant with him.  Yup, that's right.  7 years later it finally got done.   It really was a combination of not having the right sewing machine and the quilt being at my folks' place all this time because I had thought I might be able to use my mom's machine.  So years later it all finally got done.  It's quite a cheerful little quilt- of course I didn't know at the time if I was having a boy or a girl so I thought I'd go with primary colour prints.  Of course it's the size of a crib.   But no matter- Sasha thought it was quite cozy and it seems to suit his cheerful personality! 


I hope you have a great day- whether it's just a regular Monday for you or whether you are taking time to do something special with your loved one (s).  We keep things pretty low-key over here at our place, but I think some chocolate cupcakes for desert will be in order! 

I just bought my first $68 mug!

Ok, ok, don't judge me here.  I haven't bought someone else's handmade mug in years- mostly I buy espresso cups for the mister in my life because I don't make those very often and the mug cupboard is filled to the brim with my seconds, oldie goldies and trial mugs that won't be making it past the studio door.  Seriously, I do not need another mug in my life.  Well, except for Molly Hatch's mug.  Yes, I think I very much DO need her mug in my cupboard because- well, HELLO!! She's pretty amazing and I've been in awe of her work for, well, forever!

Last year when this post came out in Design Sponge I scoured internet land to see how I could possibly get a hold of one of these mugs with teacups on them.  Because of a little story that goes like this:  when I was in my 4th year of Art School, I found an Arts & Crafts Movement  book (don't remember what the name was) in the library and basically fell in love with pages of hand-drawn textile, wall-paper, glassware and ceramic designs.  There were also tea-cup patterns and tea-cup designs, which were really similar to the drawings on Molly's mugs.  PLUS, my mom has a very extensive teacup collection.  So, a teacup on a wheel-thrown mug is just my kind of thing. 

Which brings me to the other topic of discussion:  the high price tag.  For sure, this mug is worth every cent.  And I know a lot of other 'super star' ceramic artists who also have $68 plus mugs that are well worth the pennies saved.  So this leads me to a recent negative gallery/shop experience about the value of hand-made mugs.

This past December I got a very unsettling email from a shop that was trying my work out, that basically said my mugs weren't worth their '$40' price tag.  The  story kind of goes like this.  Gallery owner emails to say that my work isn't selling and that everyone else's work is selling.  My mugs are the highest priced mugs in his shop and a 'well-respected' potter (who shall remain nameless) came in and said they weren't worth the price.  So, long story short, my work is no longer in said gallery.  So it had me thinking, and worrying about my prices.  And frankly, being really mad that the going rate of mugs is so low that people don't value hand-made mugs nearly enough.  Mugs are really hard work to make.  They really need to stand out from everything else out there. I mean, you don't have to spend more than $4 on a nice mug if you don't want to- just head down to IKEA and buy the whole lot of mugs there.  They will all matchy match, be well-designed and last for years.  But if you are really looking for something special- something that becomes your mug that you use daily, the one that brightens your face every time you pull it out of the cupboard and make your tea in, you will want and need to pay a lot more.  And it will be worth every penny- I guarantee it!

The icing on the cake was in January, when I received an email from someone who had bought 2 of my mugs at one of my Christmas sales.  She wanted 6 more.  She had given the 2 away to friends and each time she gave one away she felt like she wanted to take it back because she realized how special they were.  So she decided for her birthday to buy 6 of them, just for her.  When she picked them up she said to me "You've figured out how to make the perfect mug- everything you've done here is so right!  I just love them!"  So there you go- shop that doesn't value my mugs! Maybe it's not me, it's you!

Being Outside

Vernon in winter is quite lovely- beautiful snow, country barns and horses, and the occasional deer or wild quail.  Jenny and I went for a walk to town and also a cross-country ski with 2 of the 4 kids.  We had a huge snowfall on the Sunday when we were there and the roads were pretty messy driving home.
Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me when about 11 hot air balloons were floating over us- by the time we had made it home and driven back out to catch a glimpse they were gone- except for the one that appropriately landed in the Landing Nursery driveway. 

Well Used

A little eye candy from the collection of art supplies I just 'inherited'...there is something quite special about looking through someone's old paints, especially when they are as well-used as this paint box was.  Unfortunately, not terribly well kept- much of the paints were hard and the lids were stuck solid.  But quite fun to take pictures of! (Check out the key/knife.  Pretty cool!)
Now that I've sorted the usable (there was plenty!) from the un-usable I guess I will have to paint in oils for a change.  I've been avoiding it for so many years, mostly because of the fumes and drying time.  I need more ventilation then I have at home or at the studio for starters, and then, I'll need to think about what I would paint in oils.  Oils kind of lend themselves to a more classical subject matter- a landscape, still life or portrait.  I think the last time I did any of those was in my 2nd year of Art school, so it would be really interesting to tackle them now.  I suppose I'd be quite rusty at the portraiture bit. As I recall, getting skin tones to be accurate was always a challenge.

House in the Woods

Here's a little glimpse of the house in the woods up in Vernon.  We visit our friends Marvin and Jenny with their 2 daughters that are the same ages as our boys.  They bought their home about 9 years ago and who have slowly, but surely, added their own personal touches to the home, renovating as they were able to.  It's a great house, with lots of views and windows to the woods outside, lovely high beams in the living room/kitchen area and their use of wood throughout is amazing.  Their table and benches and coffee table were made and constructed by Marvin by wood they had on the property and got from the neighbour.  Last year they renovated the upstairs and used another piece of thick wood for the counter-tops.  The bamboo floors throughout the upstairs balance out the dark wood of the walls and ceilings which were original to the home.  The new wood stove keeps the whole upstairs warm all winter long!  There is no shortage of wood in the interior these days.  With the pine beetle killing some of the trees on their property and around it, they have plenty of wood to warm their house, while also using the wood for their trim and furniture.  It's a very warm and cozy place- we feel so blessed to be house guests a couple of times a year to enjoy the place with them!

Guest post on Sycamore Street Press

Mountain Beanbags by Little Red Stuga

When a friend has a baby, you want to help out, right?  Eva and Kirk from my favourite letterpress shop had a little baby girl about six weeks ago and various bloggers and friends have been guest blogging on the Sycamore Street Press blog so that they have time to do all the things new parents have to do- feed, change, rock and cuddle their little new babes.  So being inspired by our family heading up to the mountains, I found some lovely things online that would bring the mountains inside! We had such fun, but more on that tomorrow...

We are off to Vernon to visit friends for a few days and I was quickly trying to organize all this art supplies, gathering some of the doubles of stuff I already have for the little girls we are going to visit and also trying to take  a few photos.  Well, Amber has decided she really likes to be where the action is, in the center of attention.  So the minute the camera came out, so did she, looking all poised and pretty with her 'white boots and scarf'. 
I'll be back here next week- hopefully the roads are good for us! We are looking forward to some good time up on the mountain skiing and snowboarding! H.

Marmalade Collection

Back when I was at college I was in a short-lived girl band called 'Marmalade'.  It's too bad it was short-lived, but the rest of our lives were before us and we all left town, ending up in various cities across the country.  Which is why this recent collection that I've received is so lovely.  Little jam jars, mostly marmalade with plaid tops and sweet old labels.  The jars themselves were used and saved by 2 artists, a mother and daughter, who have passed away (at 93 and 106...).  Somehow I've 'inherited' their art supplies and am taking some time to go through everything, finding many lovely things along the way!
Hope you are having a great week, I'll be back!

Back in stock!

Hello!  I have mostly up-loaded and re-stocked my web shop and Etsy shop with some lovely pottery that came out of the kiln on friday!   It's always a relief when the first firing of the season turns out well and all the orders I was completing can happily go on their way to new homes.  I made some extras which are slowly making their way into my shops.  In the meantime, the boys are home from school today and we are enjoying the sunshine! and a lovely visit from our little Oliver and my sister!  Hope you have a great monday!

Have a 'swingin' weekend

Sasha swinging in the sunshine in January!

I know I promised a shop up-date, but it will have to wait for monday.  The kiln needed extra time to cool down and I've got a busy weekend planned with visits and friends and fun.  While he's away, a girl must play:)
Have a great weekend!

Painting preview: Green Train Tower

I promised a little sneak peek at some of the paintings I was working on last week.  As a little preface, my current paintings deal with architecture and landscape as they pertain to memory and a sense of connection to a place.  I'm also interested in the concept of 'building' a painting's composition using the language of architecture.  Usually I find/remember a particular building, be it one I pass daily or one I've seen in my travels, and I decide to paint it.  I may use a photograph as a rough guide, but most often, I don't- I use my memory of the building to guide me along in the painting.  Thus, the final painting is a 'familiar' place that is both real and imagined.
The one above is my 'Green Train Tower' painting (about 80% finished), inspired by the train tower in the photo above that I see on my way over the bridge towards North Vancouver from the studio.  Most people driving over the bridge are too busy making sure they don't rear-end the person in front of them.  That or they are checking out the Upper Levels Hwy to make sure the traffic isn't too bad.  Me, I'm usually sneaking glances at the train tower and wondering what it looks like inside.  I also quite like the shape of it- rounded on one side, squared off on the other.  I'm slowly working on the background and haven't quite decided what kind of day I'm going to stick with.  A typical rainy day or foggy...