Handmade for Japan Auction

Stunning bowl to be auctioned by Munemitsu Taguchi

There is an auction on eBay being organized by Ayumi Horie and friends with 100% of the proceeds going to Global Giving Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Relief.  Quite the selection of lovely ceramics along with a few paintings/drawings and photographs.  If you are looking for a way to reach out and have been wanting to purchase some beautiful hand-made ceramics the auction starts at 8pm March 24th and runs until Sunday March 27th at 8pm. (edit on the dates- sorry about that...)
There are a number of shops on Etsy also giving proceeds to various charitable organizations that are working in Japan.  Jan has posted a number of them on Poppytalk here.
I also appreciate what Ellen of the Long Thread said on her post about how best to help out.  

Happy Birthday Oliver!

My little nephew is a St. Patty's day baby- he turns 1 years old today! What a sweetheart he is!  It's so remarkable to see how much babies grow in one year. Yesterday I visited my good friend who just had a baby last week- he was so small and tiny at just 5 days old.  Looking at these Oliver pictures today made me realize how amazing that first year really is!
We'll be taking off for Vancouver Island over the weekend to visit with my sister and her family, and some good friends of ours.  I have a couple of orders to get out the door before then, but otherwise, things might be a little quiet around here. 
My thoughts are with Japan- there are a few auctions and fundraiser's I'll be highlighting here if you are looking for ways to help out.  Otherwise have a wonderful week and I'll have some photos and inspiration for you when I get back! 

rain drop love

Megan from Room6 has out-done herself with the window-display...
If you've had your eye on my striped vases- please swing over to the Room6 shop to purchase!  I have up-dated my Etsy shop to include the 4 vases (only 3 colours available) that I have left, but I won't have the whole collection in stock until the beginning of April now.  And my shop will be 'on holidays' from March 20-26, and then again from March 30-April 4th.

Room6: special delivery for nice people

One of the first shows I did when I was thinking about launching my new ceramic work, before it was officially 'dahlhaus', was at Room6.  It all started out back in 2006 with 'the red dot collection', a series of work inspired by a circular shape in my paintings that stood in for a connecting point between people.  For me, the series was all about connecting around the table as you passed around a bowl or a platter, and while the work was in it's really beginning stage of development, and I had only just gotten into my own studio, Megan at Room6 was generous enough to host the exhibition at her shop.

Room6 has been showcasing independent design from all over the world since 2005.  It's an ever-rotating mix of lovely products that make really great gifts for that special person in your life (oh, and you are special too!).  As you can see, I'm dropping off a whole crate of colour-wheel bottle vases that you can purchase through the Room6 website  or in person at the shop in Deep Cove!  I can't wait to see the display idea Megan has for them- I'm sure it will be amazing!

Spring Break week 1: Etsy finds

Desk organizer by Less and More

Pocket sized Sewing Kit by Polly Danger Notions

Playground Print by Dana Laymon

Dreaming by Cabin + Cub

Kitchen Notes by inhauspress

My plans for our first week of Spring Break include catching up on sleep, baking, sewing, making some art and playing with the boys.  I have a few things to do studio-wise but am keeping my work expectations a little on the low side.   Next week we'll be off to Vancouver Island to visit friends!  I'll be blogging here and there, and hopefully have a shop up-date...

More than broken pots

It's hard to know what to say or always what to do when major world catastrophes happen around the globe.  For myself, I only listen to the news on the radio or catch a bit of what's happening via the internet and often I'm a little delayed in my knowledge of what is happening.  There is so much going on right now- earthquakes and tsunami's, political up-rising and civil wars are certainly what come to mind off the top of my head.  I know that my life is not immune to such massive, life-altering changes, and yet, I find it hard to know how to reach out in each of these cases.  The 'power of one' seems like such a tall task, like me with these 2 hands of mine can't possibly do enough to help such huge problems and devastation.  I know that together we all can, and that each person doing their part to reach out can help even one other person. (The Canadian Red Cross is a good place to start.)

A few months ago I sold some mugs to a wonderful and lovely mom of 2 from Japan.  She actually bought 2 mugs, and then ordered 4 more and it was a delight to send them her way with such appreciation coming from her.  Yesterday I email her through Etsy to see whether she and her family were safe- and she replied right away to say- yes! They were safe and so were the mugs, much to her relief.  I know this isn't the case for many families in Japan or in New Zealand for that matter.  Not only is the death toll rising but also the absolute destruction showing that people have lost it  all. That many of their precious belongings, that their family treasures were destroyed.  It really makes one think about what matters most and what we hold dear to our hearts.

Have a Happy Weekend!

Photo in film via Sherri Koop Photography

My good friend and photographer Sherri Koop launched her new blog this week with the image above- recognize the cake plate? Beautiful! That's what it's all about for me- ceramics that celebrates life around the table!

Speaking of which- I am pulling out 3 shop-orders (2 new shops for me- tba next week:) from the kiln this morning and will be delivering new work to the Gallery of BC Ceramics and Crafthouse YVR today, so if you are heading into or out of Vancouver this week for spring break, be sure to check out my new lovely pots over at the airport!
I should also have a few extra bottle vases up for grabs on my Etsy shop this weekend- they have been a hit!  Check out some lovely mentions this week on Modish, Birch and Bird, and Somewhere Splendid (where they spelled 'dahlhaus' wrong, but put together a lovely plug nonetheless..:).  Thank you all!

A revelation in gray

Same gray glaze.  Different results.  Sometimes a smooth and satin-matt- consistent throughout, sometimes pin-holed and pocketed.  I've been wracking my brains all fall and winter trying to figure this glaze out.  I've wrecked countless pots on the attempts.  Ruined 3 custom teapots on it.  And sacrificed my level of quality control in some cases just because I felt so disheartened. Seriously beautiful when it's worked out, and so unfortunate when it didn't.
So I kept thinking that my kiln had hot spots.  That this glaze really doesn't like to be over-fired.  Or that it needs to be really thinned out.  Or that my recipe needed tweaking.  Just when I thought I had things figured out, I'd have a couple of great pots with this glaze in the kiln right beside one not so great pot. 
And last firing I finally figured it out.  Clay body.  I've been using 3 different clay bodies in the studio, one being my slip-casting clay body (image 1), the other being the original clay body I've used for the past 7 years or so (image 2)- I make all my bowls and large pieces with this clay body, and, the culprit: a porcelain clay body (image 3- look close: see the pin-holes?).  I had started using this clay a couple of years ago when my supplier for my other clay body went out of business and I could no longer get clay #2.  Then after a few months a new clay supply store, in a very inconvenient spot, opened up and started carrying my old clay body.   I quite like the porcelain for a number of reasons- my poppies have a sort of glow to them on the porcelain, but in many other ways, #1 being warpage, this clay body is a real pain. There are so many factors that go into a good pot- sometimes I forget that at the base of a good pot is the clay itself.  What a relief to know that I don't have to change much here- I just have to remember which clay is which.

Kiln is cooling today with plenty of striped bottle vases to go off to new shops and back in stock on Etsy!  I'll be announcing some new shops that will be carrying my work soon!

Weekend projects

I did finally get to sewing a tote bag out of fabric that I had dyed this last summer.  I used an Ikea cushion cover that had a broken zipper on it for the lining.  It feels good to re-use something for another purpose or another life. 
This weekend the boys and I took a trip to the Family farm.  Johnny has a school project that he's working on about documenting a family treasure- he has to interview someone about the treasure, take photos and tell the story behind the treasure.  So out of a few possibilities he chose a friendship ring given to his Great-Grandmother as she left Russia to come to Canada in 1924.  We looked through old letters from family that stayed behind during Soviet Russia.  One of her brothers who was thought to have died in a work camp during Stalin's reign was re-united with our family about 12 years ago, only a few years after the death of his sister. 
I particularly liked the wallet that the ring was found in- such a great design.  Each of those corner flaps opened up to a pocket.
And check out the 'Rules for the baby' Great-grandma Dahl got when she had one of her son's in 1949.  'Most important of all.  Leave Baby alone.'  It really is a wonder babies survived with advice like that!

First signs

Oh, spring is really on it's way.  The days are getting a little longer and there are buds on the trees.  And a whole lot of green stems coming out of the ground.  I know that this might be misleading.  That snow or cold or hail can come up any moment, but it sure feels good to know that these signs mean good things to come.  Did you know that Spring arrives here on the West Coast first before anywhere else in Canada?  Yes, it's true.  Victoria on Vancouver Island is usually first and then slowly Spring spreads across the inlet to Vancouver. 
So I've got a busy week, but will try to pop in here and there.  It's a week of glazing and sending off wholesale orders so I might be a bit busy on the studio front- and of course, it's the last week before spring break, so that means report cards and parent/teacher conferences (ie early dismissals all week) for the boys.  Sheesh. And this year our spring break is 2 full weeks. 

Lotta Jansdotter

 Lotta Jansdotter has a new blog as of January this year.  She also has some amazing tutorials on her new website. And a new exclusive web shop.  Just thought you all should know about that.  I might just be inspired to crack open my Lotta Simple Sewing book and make something this weekend! 

My view on a lovely day

With the menagerie of weather (snow, sleet, hail, rain, sun, clouds, wind, warm, cold- all in the same day!) we've been having in the 2 weeks, I thought I would post a very sunny, but cold Saturday in Vancouver 2 weeks ago.  It was stunning, with fresh snow on the mountains, a clear blue sky and the cold blue water.  It truly is a beautiful city that I live in and I'm more smitten with it the older I get. 
Hope your weekend is lovely!

ECU Ceramic Auction Gala 2011-Saturday night!

The details:

 

The Ceramic Auction Gala will be on Saturday, March 5th from 7:00pm to 10:00pm in the Concourse Gallery at Emily Carr University. 

Tickets to this event will be $10.00

Emily Carr University’s ceramic department will be hosting its bi-annual Ceramic Auction Gala, which will feature donated ceramic work from artists in the community, alumni and students of the department.  It is a great opportunity to engage with ceramic art works from established and emerging Vancouver artists. This is a student-run fundraising event where all proceeds raised help support educational field trips and lectures from visiting artists.

I can't quite remember how we raised money for special firings and trips when I was at Emily Carr, but I do recall making work to donate for sales and such, oh, all those many years ago.  I've re-connected somewhat with ECU a lot more this year than I have since graduating- partly because Kelly, my studio assistant from last summer, is graduating this year, and I've had the chance to connect with some of her fellow classmates.  I think there are a few students who pop by my blog regularly too. So this next bit is for them:)

One of the things about going to art school is that a person has the chance to build his or her skill level, knowledge level, and understand their own aesthetics etc. in an environment that is academic.  It's completely different then a business environment.  It is really great that in the midst of learning about the materials that no particular monetary value system would be placed on your objects for school purposes, because it gives you a chance to just make art for arts sake.  However, the moment an auction or fund-raiser comes up, everyone suddenly starts thinking about the money of it.  How much is the object they made worth to people out there?  Can I make money making my work?  So while these objects have generally been made without a dollar value attached to them- they've rather had an academic value or a material value or a personal value or a time value placed on them, suddenly, in time for an auction and sale, and one is wondering how much money the school can get for that item.  It can be seriously dis-heartening this close to graduating from school to have the numbers not add up to one's expectations.
Please know that whatever happens at the auction tomorrow night, that your work may  have a different set of 'values' than cold hard cash.  The value for you having made that work really can't have a price tag put on it.  Especially because you don't know the future of your career as an artist, and how that work might be the 'ground work' for all the rest of your work later on. 
I'll hopefully be at the auction, one of my low striped bowls is up for grabs and I'm very much looking forward to seeing a really interesting selection of work!

The days that follow

I quite literally have not been on Etsy's front page since July 11th of last year.  I was in a treasury that made it to the front page in December, but my item, being on the back end of the treasury didn't actually make it to the front page.  It's always remarkable how my stats go through the roof on a day when one of my items does make it to the front page, and yesterday, I had two items in 2 treasuries on the front page- one at 8am and one at 8pm.  Kind of funny.  All I can say is that I never look forward to the days that follow a front page appearance.  When I check my stats and the percentage of hits falls like 400% or something.  It's hard to come down after such a huge climb up...

I'm finding the new system for treasuries a little crazy- anyone else out there think it's a little nuts?  I mean, the open door policy on creating treasuries is, on the one hand good.  I think I've gotten more traffic through treasuries this way because everyone feels obliged to go and click onto a treasury with their objects on it and then they see other people's stuff and click on that, and then perhaps they it in a treasury and it has sort of a ripple effect.  But it feels a like it's a bit much, like over time, people are going to start ignoring treasuries because there are too many of them and they are over-used.  Maybe that's just my feeling- perhaps people will keep loving making treasuries despite the lack of constraints, but it did used to feel as though being able to make a treasury used to be a big deal.  Anyways, food for thought. Hope your day is swell!

Happy first of March!

Wow.  March already.  For some reason the shortness of February always seems to take me by surprise, and the month is over when it felt as though it just began.

Here's a little glimpse of one of the newer smaller abstract paintings that I worked on in January.  Sometimes it's hard to see connections between my architectural paintings and my ceramics.  This summer I had started on some small paintings with ideas that I then left it until January to work on again.  Something about the act of paintings re-surfaces in my clay work and vice-versa.  I find both practices integral to the way I work, and while the ideas out of paintings that come into my ceramics (or the other way around) can tend to take some time to be worked out, more often then not, the ideas are much more realized when they do.  I'm so much more inspired by the act of translating an idea, a shape, or colours in both mediums, even if one of the mediums doesn't turn out to be as successful as the other. 

On a totally different subject, I was pleasantly surprised to see one of my old ceramics instructor Joan Bruneau has a post on the Ceramic Arts Daily Blog, all about throwing/cutting & pasting.  I saw Joan last year at the Clay Symposium here in Vancouver where she re-inspired me to consider creating 'dynamic forms', and to re-consider form by creating little sketches or small pots to rework, cut and paste as possible examples for creating larger and more interesting forms.  Both posts are worth the read!