Glimpses of new

I just got some of the proofs of the photos Curtis took with me in the studio the other day!  We always seem to take one photo by accident with my hand or head half in the photo, making last-minute adjustments, but I kind of like that.  There's something about my hand being there that brings it back to being hand-made. 

Some day I hope to do a styled photo session, but for now, the simple grey backdrop accurately represents the work and documents.  I can't stress enough to people who are just starting out in their careers how important good photographs are.  At the same time, I sometimes see amazing photographs of work out there and then am disappointed when it comes to seeing and handling the work in real life.  So when I get feedback from people who tell me that my work is better in person then in my photos, then the compliment means so much more!

I have a small selection of new work that is now available in my shop here, and a little bit available on my Etsy shop.  I can no longer guarantee that it arrive outside of Canada in time for Christmas, although if you want a gift receipt to include in a card or want to bump up your shipping to courier service, just send me an email or convo.  I won't be doing a proper 'launch' of new work on my website until the new year so stay tuned for that!

OOAK Vancouver 2011

First off- THANK YOU to those of you who came and visited me at the One of a Kind Show Vancouver this year! I appreciate the support I've felt locally this year and am so grateful for how many people came by to visit my booth and purchase my pottery this year! Once again I'm ending the year with a pretty bare studio and the last bit of work that I do have will end up at the Gallery of BC Ceramics on Granville Island (so if you're in a pinch head over there) and there will probably be a bit to put online but not to arrive in time for Christmas. 

I'd also like to send out a big thank you to my good friend Kat who has been helping me out in the studio and at my shows on and off this fall! Kat comes from a fashion design and retail background and was able to help me pack and ship out the large Anthropologie order this fall.  She's oh so stylish around the studio and has a great laugh too.  Love her!

Otherwise it was amazing to meet some really talented people at the show.  I came home with some amazing work- a little art, some amazing jewelry from here and here, a great jacket and shirt while I coveted this jacket (so want it..)!  And of course, some pottery by the lovely April Gates!

One of a Kind Vancouver 2011

I'll be at the One of a Kind Show at the Vancouver Convention Centre West over the next few days! If you are in Vancouver, please do stop by- I'll be at booth H42!

Show hours are as follows:
Thursday-Saturday 10am-9pm
Sunday 10am-5pm
admission $12 ($2 off if purchased online)

And a sneak peek at just a couple new photos of work that will be available during the show!! Photos by Curtis Hildebrand photography

Strathona Charm

 Strathcona is indeed a charming neighbourhood.  It's a historic neighbourhood in East Vancouver that borders downtown's China Town and the industrial side of Clark Drive (near my studio).  Many of the older homes have been renovated in recent years, causing the price of real estate in this area to really jump.  Here are just a few photos that I took while I walked to Gailan's studio sale the other day from my studio.  I loved how the Robin just sat there while I tried to take photos of it, getting as close as possible.
Hope your day is going well! I'll be loading a kiln and packing up for my set up for the One of a Kind Show tomorrow.  It's almost show-time!

Gailan's home studio sale

I managed to get to Gailan's home 'studio' sale this weekend, and I'm so glad I did.  Gailan Ngan is a second generation potter (with her mom also being a painter) so pottery is in her genes, you might say.  Her forms are all wheel-thrown, with an emphasis on simple and minimal glazing that makes these pots perfect for serving food in.  Someone who was buying a stack of bowls beside me started talking about what he was going to serve in the bowls- perfect for a goulash or fish soup- and it's true, these are the perfect comfort-food pots.  I happen to really love the cobalt 'ink' splatters on some of her pots, but went home with a beautiful short celadon cup and bowl as a breakfast set.  Not sure I can part with it as a gift... I'll have to try them out first.
Gailan is now a mom to a beautiful little guy who is 3 and she recently had to leave her Strathcona studio, which she had been making pots out of for about 13 years (the owners renovated it into an apartment).  She now makes all her work on Hornby Island in her dad's studio during the summer months (along with gardening up a storm), and then is back in her beautiful Strathcona home for the rest of the year.

The count-down to the One of a Kind Show (December 8-11) is on this week!  Since I'm going to be so busy, I'll be closing up my online shops on December 8.  Incidentally this is the last day for regular shipping rates to apply to the US to get there by Christmas.  Thank you to all of those who have already been supporting my shops this month- I've been off to the post office every few days with some parcels and have felt like a little Christmas elf doing it.

So it's December... again

 I must be in the phase of life where time travels much faster then it ever used to.  Where a year goes by in the blink of an eye and here we are in December again.  Every year I feel like I'm on a freight train that starts out slowly but then picks up speed so that we are now barreling towards the holidays with what feels like a run-away train with no brakes to stop it.  Because as a potter, this is the only time of year I seem to actually turn a profit with what I make- where people actually come flocking to my booth, madly buying up my wares as gifts, and I can't seem to keep up with the demand for my work.  And all I want to do right now is get off the train and have this ride be over!

Well perhaps quite the opposite of the run-away train, we took the boys to the 'Polar Express' at the Train museum up in Squamish last weekend.  It's a pretty penny to go on a real, old-fashioned train, to drink hot chocolate and sing carols while listening to the story of the Polar Express over the intercom.  I think I'm so destination bound, that it was hard not to be disappointed that we didn't actually go anywhere- the train chugged along by the estuary to a loading bay and back to the station.  Of course, these types of things are never for the adults, they are always for the kids and seeing Santa and riding on a mini-train indoors while it poured rain outside was a lot of fun for the boys.  It's nice to have done something a little Christmassy around here, since my decorations don't come up at home until well after the One of a Kind Show (December 8-11). 

Things are back in their place

After setting up the studio all nice and neat so that over 3000 people could walk through my studio doors without being distracted by all the stuff I seem to have to store while I make, the house was a bit of a gong show.  A quick trip to Ikea the other night solved 2 problems I was having: one being no place to put all my office stuff and lacking in desk space since Dean and I are sharing 1 desk for our laptops.  Also the shelving unit will come in handy for my booth display at the One of a Kind Show, coming up in a week or so.  Thankfully I didn't have to put it together- it was in the 'as is' section and I somehow managed to fit it in the back of the station wagon along with the 2 boys.  Sometimes all it takes is some determination and creative woman-handling to get things done!

The studio is winding down for the year.  I finished all 'wet work', as in starting with a ball of clay work, so what I have is what I have. I'll be closing up my online shops in a few days as I get closer to the show so that I don't double up on selling all my stock.  Plus, regular shipping to the US needs to happen by December 8th  (the 16th for Xpress post- a little more $) so things are starting to get a little tight for time.  I've been getting lots of special requests for things that I actually do have in stock, just not up in the shop, so if you had something in mind, just send me an email.  If I have it available, I'll ship it off pronto, if not, then put it on your wish list for next year!

Okay, off to read with the boys, soak in the tub and drink some tea.

Gift Guides and more!

Well I don't have any of the lovely images that my photographer shot this past week yet, but I just wanted to stop in here before the weekend to say 'hello'! It's been a busy week at the studio, with me trying to re-stock some of these lovely mugs for the One of a Kind Show coming up in a couple of weeks.  There are a number of Gift guides out there that are featuring my work and I've spent the week packing up orders and shipping them off in the midst of trying to re-stock.  It's busy and I feel like a little elf dancing around the studio trying to get it all done in time.
Speaking of which.  Ceramics takes time, so if you were thinking of putting a little dahlhaus under the tree this Christmas, please note that my last firing will most likely take place early December.  I'm not expecting to make new work late into December, because I'll be planning a special someone's birthday party, getting ready for Christmas, and spending time with loved ones after my last show on December 8-11th.  So, please note that my shop is up-dated to include ready-to-ship items that can still make it in time for the holidays!!
Ok, off to the studio for the day I go- have a wonderful weekend (finally sunny out here- time to rake the leaves:).

Harper's Bazaar Gift Guide

It came to my attention this past weekend the my Striped Bottle Vases that are being sold through Anthropologie are part of Harper Bazaar's Stylish Gifts under $100 guide!  Although I'm not sure I would call them 'Retro Rose Holders', it's pretty exciting to see my hand-made all by me vases on their site beside all these big-name designers with made in china stuff.  CRAZY!!

Thank you!

Thank you so much to all of you who were able to come by my studio for the Eastside Culture Crawl this year! I was really blown away by how many friends came out especially to say hello to me! It's one of those events that seems to build onto itself year after year, as people become excited about the work that's being made and want to be part of it.  So thank you to all of you who came and visited and supported my studio! It means so much!

You are officially invited...

Here's a little glimpse of the main wall of my studio at last year's Eastside Culture Crawl on opening night!  With about 300 artist studios open in East Vancouver, it's an amazing annual cultural event!   I'll be spending the next few days working on the show, so please excuse my absence but if you are in Vancouver, come on down.  I'm at 965 Vernon Drive, on the ground floor at the end of the hall of the Mergatroid building.  Have a great weekend and don't forget to stop by! I'll post photos of the studio here next week!

Bookhou at Circle Craft

I managed to sneak in a quick visit with Arounna from Bookhou at Circle Craft this last Saturday.   It was great to see a table full of her beautiful hand-screened linens as bags and tea towels!  I'm thrilled to be working on a show involving myself and Krystal Speck later in Spring of 2012 at Bookhou so it was good to briefly talk about the collaboration with Arounna before it all gets started in the new year. 

Arounna and her husband John have a really unique creative partnership that never ceases to amaze me- they work seemingly effortlessly between art and then the more production side of their craft, successfully running a brick & mortar shop with rotating shows and workshops, keeping a busy online store, a blog, an online magazine not to mention their 2 young children!  I try to convince myself that if I owned a store front building in the city with a studio at the back and our home upstairs that I'd be able to get as much done as Arounna and John do, but I'm not sure I could keep up if I tried.

A quick preview

I pulled out my first kiln-load and quickly shot these photos on a dark day in the studio, but here's a sample of the work I had been glazing last week.  The tall striped vases didn't make it into this kiln firing, save one, but I've got some new work coming out of the kiln later this week and then more by Saturday of the Eastside Culture Crawl.  It's a bit of a scramble this year to feel like I'm going to have enough work for my 2 shows.  The emails of special orders and reserving work have started and I've already sold out of the short striped mugs I had made for this weekend.   

I had been really excited about trying different glazes as the 'backdrop' of my pots but I'm not as keen on it as I thought.  There are some things I like about it- I like the way the yellow and turquoise triangles play with each other, and thought it was a no-brainer to include a few little white triangles in the mix, but really regretted it when I pulled it out of the kiln.  On the other hand, the white mug with the greeny/grey triangles with hits of yellow, feels much more successful although I think it could be fun to play around with the colours.  Some of the edges between the glazes got a bit fuzzy and not so straight, partly due to the glazes I used.  I'm also not quite convinced about the reverse bottle vases.  I have now tried the turquoise, saffron and grey (which was a complete flop).  Maybe next time I'll try to pair glaze colours together...

Studio sneak peak & Up-coming Crawl

If you've been following me on Instagram (dahlhaus art), you'll know that I've been pretty busy in the making department at the studio.  My first kiln-load of work for my holiday shows goes in on Friday, with 2 more to follow next week- hopefully all just in time for the Eastside Culture Crawl. I've been doing this open studio event for about 5 years now and every year it warms my heart to see people in my studio space checking out what I've been working on in the past year.  I usually get the studio all dolled out (see last year's display here) and bake a few goodies for the opening night, so if you are in the Vancouver area, it's a show you won't want to miss!

The details:  965 Vernon Drive, Friday hours 5-10, Saturday/Sunday 11-6.  For show details, including all the other studios that are open, check out the Crawl website!

Rice Lake in Fall

 Sunday was a stunner.  It was a glorious fall day so while Dean headed off for a work trip, the boys and I went up to Rice Lake, a small little lake by the Lynn Canyon headwaters, quite close to our place**.  I had forgotten that people like to fish in this lake.  It was remarkable, really, the amount of people lining the edge of the lake, fishing for little fresh water trout.  The boys were keen to watch people pulling up fish, not so keen to watch the fish get bopped on the head.  Sasha thought it was a shame the fish weren't being kept as pets instead, giving me examples of ways to catch a fish without a hook so that you wouldn't hurt the fish. Oh that kid has a heart of gold, I tell ya.  These are the days I'll remember as they get older.   

**One of the benefits of living in North Vancouver is that we can drive Downtown and it will take about 15-20 minutes.  Or we can drive up the mountain with almost less time and we get to see this.  Best of both worlds, but sometimes depressingly un-affordable if we ever hope to own a house.