Fungi

I found an old copy of 'Edible Fungi' that my sister had in her bookshelf and poured over the illustrations.  And then on a walk with the boys I found a myriad of mushrooms in the forest, mostly in dark corners so my photos weren't so great.  Nonetheless, I wasn't about to test my new found knowledge.  With so many being poisonous, I would only trust an expert to compare the illustrations to the real thing, confirming that yes, indeed, this was one that could be eaten!

A little Island time

 

Living on the Island seems so ideal.  My sister and her family live in Nanaimo, but in a little secluded spot, where they can keep chickens and a couple of goats, at the end of a street where an old apple orchard used to grow, with salmon spawning in the creek on their property.  It's hard not to love the Island, although to walk across on the Ferry for our family of 4 (a not quite 2 hour ride) not including overnight parking is close to $100, so we don't go visit as often as we'd like.  Next time we visit, we are going to try to get to 'Shack Island' a little lagoon that you can venture to during very low tides where old fishing shacks from the 30's still stand.  On our trip home we saw a pod of dolphins playing in the wake of the Ferry.  By the time I got out on deck to take some photos the dophins were much farther out, but the sunset and sky nearly took my breath away.

To the Island we go!

It's been a busy long week of late days at the studio.  Dean's been doing all the school pick-ups and dinners so I can stay late and get my work ready for my up-coming shows:  the Eastside Culture Crawl and the One of a Kind Show Vancouver.  It's because he'll be away a lot in the next 2 weeks, so I'm trying to make up for what will be lost time.  Ahh the juggle. 
We haven't been to Vancouver Island to visit my sister and her family since May or June, so we will be going over, just for the night and Saturday, to spend a bit of time with them.  This photo of the arbutus trees (tree on the right with the red bark) and moss was taken last fall- it's such a beautiful tree that is naturally growing in the pacific northwest coast. 
Have a great weekend!

Creating Texture

 A few weeks ago my niece and her friends came by the studio for a little pottery party to celebrate her 15th birthday.  Before they all arrived I pulled out all my tools for some handbuilding that we were going to do- wooden stamps, rubber stamps, cookie cutters and cutting tools.  I liked how inspiring they all were and started thinking again about how I could bring 'stamped' patterns into my own work. 
It had me thinking back to the work I did in collaboration with my friend Disa MacKay last year.  I don't know that I've posted the final pieces  here, but here's a few of the hand-built with relief patterned vases we made, photographed professionally so that they look really lovely.  The patterns we used were all hand-cut, without using any commercially made stamps.  If I remember correctly, our 'paisley' inspired pieces took the longest and were the most complicated to make. 

Now available at Anthropologie

 Well it's kind of remarkable to see my work up on the Anthropologie website!  From start to finish this has taken months of work, with everything handmade by me in my little studio in Vancouver (huge sigh of relief that it's all done!!).
Besides my Striped Bottle Vases, there are 2 of my paintings available for purchase through the Anthropologie website!  It's exciting for me to see a new painting from this year, entitled 'Train Tower', along with one of my favourite paintings from a few years ago called 'Red Stairwells' on their site.  

Please do have a look on their site to check out the work.  The vases should be available at an Anthropologie store near you soon!

Irodori, I'm impressed!

I'm in total awe today by the clay work of Irodori- such beautiful and well-executed patterns!  I love when I get totally impressed by someone who works in clay- where something surprises me, makes my jaw drop and has me wanting to see more.  That's all coloured clay put into a patterned block and rolled out- it's so remarkable that the shapes aren't getting distorted in the process.  That takes a lot of skill, patience and practice!  Wish I could read japanese and could purchase something...

On a Sunday in October

About a week ago the boys and I went on a great walk/bike ride, enjoying the bit of sunshine against the fall trees.  This is the kind of weather that makes me love where I live.  Ask me in about 3 months time when it's been raining for 5 weeks straight and I might not be so keen, but for right now, it's just so beautiful. 
I've been neglecting this space for a while.  I'm not online or on the computer very often these days.  For starters, the busy season has me ramping up my efforts in the studio and I get home, with clay splattering over my cloths, the boys hungry for my attention, and few precious hours to spare.  I've been wanting to read before bed and put my mind on other things, not just work and that's been healthy for me.  Frankly, my life has been rather quiet lately: a lot of introspection after a great amount of work completed, long conversations with friends who need me to be a good listener, and time spent doing things as a family have all been more of a priority.  All that being said, I will be stopping by here a couple of times a week, sharing some new work, up-coming shows, along with the occasional ramble from my heart.  I do hope you'll hang in here with me...

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. 

I'm ending the week on a positive note- I finally tackled a few more things that have been hanging over my head (namely accounting), and got caught up, thanks to help from a friend.  It was seriously a daunting task.  I know that this is something that's supposed to happen weekly or monthly, but sorting receipts has been the very last thing on my to do list, never to be crossed off.  And then it got out of hand.  Mounds and mounds of shipping receipts that I couldn't even imagine trying to record and sort through.  Mental block hit, and this last week I had the brainwave idea to get Kat to come in for help.  She helped me pack all the boxes to send to Anthropologie (they have arrived! not online yet) and she really is a wiz at being organized.   So, along with finishing up all my local shop orders, I feel as if I have a handle on things once again.  More or less, that is.  Until I realize that I don't actually have anything ready for my holiday shows... all in due time. 

I'll be in the studio this weekend with a bunch of 14 year old girls.  Our niece is celebrating her birthday and I offered for them to come to the studio while it's still bare, to do some making.  I have a feeling it's going to be full of laughs and giggles.

Have a great weekend!

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.

Saying goodbye and hello

We celebrated my grandpa's life this past weekend and, as sad as it is to say goodbye, it was a meaningful time to think back on a life well-lived.  My grandpa has passed along many gifts my way- I still play his violin that he gave me years ago after he stopped playing.  Not only did I inherit some of his actual paintings, but his gift of making (pottery, painting, carving) is something that was passed along to me.  For people who truly lived off the land, raised 6 children, and were faithfully and happily married for 66 years, my grandparents have left a remarkable legacy.  My heart is with my grandma, who just moved into 'town' and into an apartment this week- so many changes for her all at once. 

Speaking of family, we also got to see my little nephew again.  It had been a couple of months since we had seen him and in the meantime he's been walking and talking.  It didn't take him long to warm up to my boys- his cousins.  By the end of 2 days he was running back and forth between them with arms wide open, smiling and laughing and saying 'hi'.  What joy!

Along the ride

How are you, dear readers?  I hope well!  

I've been really thinking things through lately.  You know, thinking and planning the next leg of my journey.  It's hard not to get through a massive order, complete a project I didn't think was possible a year ago, and not wonder what will happen next.  I've been thinking about if I could take on more, or if I need to re-think the whole process of my production again.  It's been a good time of soul searching, talking to people and other ceramic artists and mostly, trying to wrestle with some big questions about the how and why I do what I do, and what I want to do next.  

I guess I feel as though there is a little clock ticking in the back of my head.  It seems pretty obvious that for me to keep this pace up would mean eventual burn-out.  To expand my studio and to take on staff would move what I do into manufacturing and managing, and that's not really where my heart is either.  I really like that I have a 'studio practice' that allows me to make work that is affordable for people to own. I also love that I created a method to re-create my designs into collections, however I'm not using traditional manufacturing methods that would speed this process up.  It still takes me about 3-4 days to glaze a kiln-load of work.  Full, long days of many steps and lots of attention to little picky details.   The reality is, that it's costing me a lot more to produce what I make then it used to.  My time has become more valuable and I'm not entirely sure how to reconcile this with what will come next. 

I don't have any deadlines.  Nor do I have a guidebook.  I'm looking at different ceramic artist's careers and thinking about what I like about what they seem to have.  And then I'm shifting that into whether that fits with my work and career path.  Such an interesting and difficult career path to be on, being a maker and designer these days... there really is no 'right' way, is there?

Ponies and grapes

It's the season of bounty and we are gathering, making and storing for the winter now.  My boys are at the stage where they are eating more then me and seem eternally hungry (ie asking what supper will be while they are eating lunch).  I don't buy all organic all the time (too expensive!), but am conscious of where my food comes from and how it was grown.  It's such a tricky balance where it seems like a luxury to afford what is good and wholesome for hungry boys.  And this fall I'm trying to think as creatively as we can to make healthy, relatively inexpensive meals for our family that both satisfy and nourish their growing bodies.  Part of this includes going directly to the farms or farmers to buy our food. 

 The grapes in the vineyard behind my parent's place aren't quite ready yet.  Last year was a bad year- mice had nibbled away at the roots of many of the vines and there hadn't been many grapes, so we felt like we missed eating these grapes.  This year it looks like a bumper crop, except that we need about a week of sun to ripen the rest of it.  We'll be making grape juice and then also grape jelly out of these grapes that lasts us for about a year.  It's so amazing to be able to make and bake out of what grows around us, isn't it? 

And the ponies were just an added bonus.  How cute are they. 

It's the friday before Thanksgiving weekend and I'm at home today, catching up on all things computer-related, with my mind spinning and my body slowly starting to decompress from the last 3 months.  It's been an intense period of production for me: I shipped and dropped off over 500 pots this week!  That's a lot of pots for my 2 hands (with a bit of help from a couple of other hands here and there) to make in my little 300 sq ft. studio, and as you can imagine, I'm asking myself how I can possibly keep this up and where I can possibly go from here. I had a really significant conversation with an amazing ceramic artist this week and am processing some much-needed insight into what a career as a ceramic artist in today's day and age can truly be.  Mind-boggling actually!

The day Steve Jobs suddenly passed away was also the day my 93.5 year old grandpa passed away.  His passing was sudden, and yet not sudden.  He had fallen and ended up in emergency.  He seemed fine and he was himself, but he had a bit of pneumonia.  No one seemed alarmed and so he had told my grandma and parents to go home, have some dinner and come back later.  And an hour or so later he had passed away.  Just like that.  Of course we all would have wished that he was surrounded by his family.  That we all had been able to say 'goodbye'.  That's the part that's hard. 

I'm due for a good relaxing weekend off from the studio but I'm anticipating being back here a little more next week, now that things have calmed down a little in the studio.  Have a great weekend!

A day of design

I managed to get to a 'design double feature' on Saturday with Amy- we attended IDS West and then headed over to Anthropologie for the Design*Sponge book launch.  It made for a great afternoon and evening- apparently we weren't the only one's who's schedule managed to fit in both too- Janis from Pinecone Camp has some amazing photos of both events on her blog!

There were some booths that stood out to me- if you click on the photos it will link you to their websites (except for the 6th image, which I forgot to get a card from).  It was also nice to meet Zoe from Fleet Design, a ceramic artist here in the city who's path I hadn't come across yet, while also checking out a couple of furniture designers who have studios upstairs in the building from me: Kurve Studio, by Enrico Konig and Kurt Dexel. 

The Design*Sponge book launch was also a good evening connecting with people as well.  I did manage to get my book signed by Grace herself and highly recommend the book!  I ran into the duo behind Banquet who design such lovely prints, stationary and other paper goods- there really are a lot of talented people here in Vancouver!  Too many to mention without sounding like I'm name dropping- when really it was just lovely to meet them all.  It's not very often that I get out to these events with life and family and the studio keeping me so busy.  It reminded me that my 'role' as an artist and maker is more then just making and then selling my work- it's also connecting, not only with customers, but with other makers, designers, artist, photographers, and bloggers.

This week my big shipment of work leaves the studio- the packing is almost complete! I can't wait to have my studio back to 'normal'.  I'm also looking forward to taking much of Thanksgiving weekend off to celebrate birthdays and our anniversary, along with spending time with family!