New Studio Layout

A few weeks ago, my friend Rachel stopped by with her boyfriend, and I asked them to help me move the piano in my studio. (Don't ask why I have a piano in my studio.) One of the casters is broken, so it's really helpful to have two or three people navigate it safely. Now I have a new space for my wedging table, under the glazes.

Rachel and Peter thought I was crazy not to center the table under the window, but I love this corner space! Clay boxes are up against the wall in two stacks (one for each clay body), misc items are shoved under the table (I promise I will deal with that stuff someday), and I face the window to wedge or perch at the end on my comfy studio chair.

Here's the piano in its new spot. (You can see in the mirror that this is right across from the glaze wall; the window is just out of the picture, to the left.) I finally hung up some colorful items I've been collecting: the scarf is by my friend Jenn and I bought it when I displayed her work in my gallery; the calendar is from my dad and displays larger-than-life photos of fruit with lovely Chinese paintings of birds and leaves in the background; the poster is from the Hyde Park Jazz Festival September 27, 2008, which is the date of our wedding and why I insisted on snagging the poster on our way through Chicago four years ago. I'm really showing off my procrastination skills with that one!

I took down the beautiful photo of the Maroon Bells I bought from Jesse so that I could paint a chalkboard on the wall instead. The chalkboard is really fun and useful for organizing different commissions and ideas for my different retail spaces, and I actually prefer Jesse's photo displayed on the piano. It's a more intimate setting for such a special piece.

Speaking of procrastination, I've finally started a 12-piece dinner set that's long overdue (some of the tumblers & bowls are drying on top of the piano and shown below). My client recently picked the exact glaze she wanted and I'm overjoyed by the results of the glaze tests. I think everything will turn out beautifully.

The covered piece with flowers on top is a wedding gift for my cousin Amy. Her one-year anniversary was in July, so I'm a bit late already, but it wasn't until May that we discussed what exactly she wanted, so I don't feel too far behind. The to-go mugs are for the Backcountry Herbal Apothecary in Frisco. Usually I stamp my mugs with their logo, but this time I'm playing with the leaf theme. Eventually I think I'll do a set of tea cups, each stamped with one of these images. Plus whatever other project ideas pop in my head, as per usual. It's a great logo to work from:

This is also a piece I should have made ages ago. I went off cell phone pics and a general description, but I'd never used a round butter dish before. Now that I've made one, I think it's a great idea! I want one for my own kitchen counter.

Finally, I'm working on two new pieces I absolutely adore. But I can't show pics yet because one is a birthday gift for a good friend of mine. He requested a specific piece I thought was too floral for his personality and decided to design something more gender-neutral. I feel so confident about the design that I'm making two in order to have one to sell. I hope they turn out as well as I imagine they will! But you have no idea what I'm talking about so let's just leave it for now. More to come, mid October. That's when I'll re-open my Etsy shop as well (my final procrastination theme for this post) with beautiful new pieces to sell!

End of Summer

On Wednesday we spent the night at Cottonwood hot springs in an impromptu, relaxing getaway. We drove back the next morning and, turning off the highway toward our house, we were greeted by the most gorgeous aspens: breathtakingly vivid golds, oranges, reds, and even a few stubborn spring greens. It was the peak of the season; this morning everything is still quite lovely, but not the stunning show I saw yesterday. I took a different route home this morning and snapped some photos with my cell phone.

This is my favorite view on the way home. I look forward to it every day.

An old abandoned house; a mining structure from the 1800s back among the aspens.

Summer is nearly gone. It's been a tragic, difficult season but also gorgeous, sunny, and filled with ceramics. Here are some of the more interesting commissions I've had the pleasure to make.

First is Lydia, a beautiful baby who celebrated her birthday in August. I enjoy making work for people I meet because I can make the right glaze choices for their pieces. Lydia's mother was completely uninterested in anything easily breakable or overly girly, but she wanted Lydia to have something special out of clay.

I made Lydia a free-standing name display. Hopefully she'll enjoy looking at it until she's old enough to play with it in a carpeted room.

Next, I met a woman at Alma Fest, Cynthia, who really liked a vase I had with blue flowers, but preferred dark pink flowers instead. I totally agree with her, the dark pink is a great choice!

I ended up making her two vases and they turned out quite lovely. Now I need to make her a bowl but we're both stumped as to how to glaze it. Then a week or so ago I had the pleasure of seeing a dear friend, Janie, who always comes up with interesting clay ideas. She doesn't work with clay at all but loves buying pottery and has a constant supply of "What if you tried..." or "What if you were inspired by..." I love her enthusiasm. For this visit, among many other things she showed me photos of foxgloves, pointing out how beautiful the inside of the flowers look. She thought it would be beautiful to recreate the look with glaze. This summer I bought and planted 12 foxgloves at work, but never thought of this myself. I'm excited to see if this idea can translate into something great for the bowl for Cynthia, using the colors above plus yellow or tan. (Stay tuned!)

Janie also encouraged me to make more tiny pieces, which I did at Alma Fest (and sold them all, thanks Janie!). She collects cream & sugar pieces, so I made her a set with a leafy tray (keeping with my leafy espresso and tea set style). She bought a nice blue bowl, a couple of heart bowls, and a hummus & chip tray. The hummus tray was, of course, Janie's own suggestion, and it turned out great!

This is not intended for large tortilla chips; it's wonderful for pita chips or crackers. Also, I made the hummus bowl nestle perfectly but it is separate if you want to heat it in the microwave (I'm thinking something yummy and cheesy) and for quick washing. The bottom section fits easily in the dishwasher.

In Breckenridge I brought new work to Mary-Anne at Magical Scraps Boutique: flowery mugs and coordinating stacking bowls. 

The mugs take forever to glaze, so I have to re-think the color choices. But they look so cute!...  I also restocked the Backcountry Apothecary in Frisco with more work and have some to-go mugs drying in my studio right now. I enjoy finding inspiration from each of these unique stores to put custom Wild Iris pieces on their shelves. Magical Scraps is a beautiful, cheerful space I want to fill with color and flowers. The Apothecary has supplements, herbs, and teas, and serves as the entrance to the Naturopathic clinic with massage and acupuncture as well. I make drinking vessels for them, usually inspired by or referencing their artsy logo. I'll have photos to share later.

Finally, I made a beautiful pitcher to celebrate an upcoming September wedding. My client, a dear friend of my mother's, told me the shape she wanted and then described her daughter's personality to me (the daughter and I were really close friends through grade school but I haven't seen her in at least 15 years). Maybe I've been well-trained by all the Project Runway episodes I watch, because I had a great time coming up with the right design for the pitcher. The first one I made (below) didn't dry well and when I bisqued it the handle popped off! I'm so glad it did, though, because I'm much happier with the second one.

My idea of carving the roses came about when I found an old flyer from a show I did in 2007. This time I used a similar technique as I did for the work in that show, but I created a much more delicate effect. I love the roses and I love the satiny glaze (poured on for a subtle layered look). As I always do for wedding gifts, there's something written on the bottom to celebrate the happy couple. 

Festival in the Clouds

It's that time again! Alma's 15th annual Festival in the Clouds is this weekend, with live music and vendors all day Saturday and Sunday. The music was great today and belly dancers performed in the grass in front of the stage. 

For pottery, too, things went really well. Mostly sunny skies, a cool breeze, and lots of sales. At 10 am, this is what things looked like:

Around noon, Piers unloaded the kiln and brought new pieces for display. A few of the new items are below, but there were lots more.

Hearts for my brother-in-law Jesse, who displayed photos in my booth last year but passed away May 25.

I've sold a lot of pottery! My booth is starting to look sparse. I'll look around for a few final items this evening to bring over in the morning.

Fingers crossed for another day with no rain!

Stackable mugs and pretty pansy handles

Springtime has brought rain and beautiful green new life. Meanwhile, we've had a terrible tragedy in our family and my dear brother-in-law has passed away.

I'm trying to spend time enjoying colorful glazes and making new work.

These mugs have been waiting and waiting to be glazed. It was really fun imagining a design to satisfy all these specifications: small size (8 oz or so), stackable, a handle that keeps your finger knuckles away from a scalding hot mug, and a stripe of color that makes each mug easily identifiable.

I really find these mugs to be delightful. The only snag is that the stripe was meant to be blue. These came out rather green with blue underneath, which may or may not be okay, I'll find out soon enough.

I feel blue enough for the both of us, Mug.

Restocking Salida

Work, work, work. (That's a good thing.)

I've actually managed to take a couple of photos of my progress, although there's tons more. I always seem to be behind on taking photographs and then I "promise" to do better... At least this time I have a follow-up from April's post of lost pieces: at the end of this post you'll see the shorter ribbon vase I only previously showed as greenware.

Sugar bowls & creamers, plus regular bowls & a new ribbon vase.

Way cool casserole dishes. I glazed the one on the left already and I love it!

On Monday, I drove down to Salida to visit my dear friend Nikki's gallery, Eye Candy Art & Treasure. Nikki displays vintage pinup images amid the jewelry, painting, photography, pottery, etc. (hence the name Eye Candy). Some of my dear friends display their art here as well.

 How much fun to enjoy a hot day. It snowed last week in the mountains.

I brought some new work to display. There's a lot of bisqueware lounging around my living room that I should probably glaze...

I love my new bowls. They're soooo much fun to make. Nikki chastised me for not bringing more! I'll glaze more soon and then Piers can bring them down. He's volunteered because he'll get a chance to soak at the hot springs on the way home...

 

One Pitcher, Two Handles...

One day in February I dropped by the gallery in Fairplay and chatted with a lovely couple from Georgia. They bought one of my favorite pieces, a tall pitcher (24") with a beautiful aspen handle carved by Piers.

A philodendron vine meanders out of sight

I directed the couple to a local shipping store, confident that the shippers would safely pack and ship the piece to Georgia. Unfortunately, the machine that creates a foam form to cradle the art was not working that day and they used bubble wrap and peanuts instead. Sadly, the pitcher arrived in two pieces.

The customer emailed us photos of the broken handle and Piers began work on a new one.

It must have taken a lot of force to snap the aspen!

Lonely handle piece...

I packed and mailed the new handle this week. The new handle is even lovelier than the last and I can't wait to hear feedback from my customers. Oh yes, and I'm eager to see photos, too!

The new handle is a little thicker than the original. Click for a larger image.

The darker stain offers a striking contrast with the incised metal.

Not enough photos!

I've been sending a lot of cool pieces out the door without taking any photos. Here are a few unglazed shapes:

I can track down a couple of these tomorrow; here are some nice photos I have now:

Mini leafy cups & saucers

These require an extra firing so they weren't ready when I packed up all the other pieces.

Who wants to make espresso?

Here's a new planter for our lemon tree. His roots were poking out of two of the four holes in the bottom of his plastic planter and we had to use heavy-duty cutters to free him! There are no holes underneath my planter; instead, they lead out to the built-in tray so I'll know if any roots start to emerge.

He's getting big already, and tough -- a thorn drew my blood this morning! Now how long before we see some lemons??

I'm back!

For the past four months, I've been off the radar. This has been my charge, Ella: part horse, part puppy.

Great Pyrenees + Bernese Mountain Dog = Great Bernese

Kind, caring, loving, and a general joy to be around. But thank goodness she's back with her real family. Large puppy, very large lesson in patience. Ommmmmmmmmm.

In February, my cousin visited from Brooklyn for my birthday. I picked out birthday stargazers, which we arranged spectacularly in my double-vase:

Since Ella left on Monday, I'm forging ahead with my ceramics. Here are a few examples of colors and shapes for mugs for an upcoming commission. I'm thinking the black with a stripe of blue will look excellent! This particular black has a bit of light blue where it pools - see inside the second mug from the left? I don't love this blue-green where it's thick; I prefer the underlying blue color as opposed to the mossy opaque green.

These are going to Coyote Creek this afternoon. I hope the sunny weather brings lots of shoppers!