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!

1-2-3, Pitcher!

I haven't done a lot of coiling recently, and I want to do another piece with Piers, so this weekend I built a large pitcher form and decorated it with leaf images. The model plant I used is featured in my July 11th post, sweetly creeping around Syma's bottomless vessel. I love plants with such rich, luminous foliage. So far, I have not decided how I want to glaze this piece. That can wait for a while...

On the left, I'm finishing the last major coil. This piece has 12 or 13 coils - I add a moderate amount of clay each time and pinch it upward, adding 1 1/2"-2" in height. Then I make small alterations to the profile. I don't use a potter's wheel or banding wheel to create the shape, as you see in the picture. The piece sits on a bat and I eyeball the evenness of the sides as I walk around the piece or reposition the bat. What I like about a large, symmetrical piece - balance and calm, significant but gentle interaction with its environment, and quiet containment of a large space - I try to translate into softly asymmetrical shapes. Since I keep the rough texture my fingers create while I pinch, the shape will never be "exact" (as it could be if the walls were smooth). Working on a stationary bat, I am less quick to "correct" every wayward angle and the shape becomes more suggested than precise.


Here I am defiantly pajama'd (because I can, if you ask why) working in the living room, finishing the leaves on the pitcher. I pretended this was a plein air excursion - visiting a plant in its "native" environment (ie, sunny windowsill). I'm usually not supposed to cart my clay around the house because I leave little shavings everywhere!

The vases in the corner are pit fired from earlier this year. (Click here to see them unfired.) The philodendron behind my head is a gift from Lisa Kohlhepp, who clipped it from a plant at the Breckenridge Brewery and rooted it for me a few years ago. The image of his first set of leaves is on another large pot I made, and it sits outside year-round, soaking up sunshine and moisture, just like the plant. These are the mature leaves - last year, I accidentally left him in my windowless kiln shed for a week and I thought I'd killed him! Piers chopped off all the leaves (the brown sadness that was left), and two weeks later these three giants emerged. This is also the plant with 3' aerial roots exploring our living room, inspiring me to make the wall piece Aerial Roots.

Here is a close-up of the leaves. Click it for a bigger picture, and you can see the leaves more easily. Now that I've finished forming and carving, I'll let the piece dry. Next is the firing and glazing stage, and then I'll turn it over to Piers to carve and attach a handle. Easy as 1-2-3!

Memorial Weekend Wedding!

This weekend Piers and I were in Bloomington, Indiana, to celebrate the wedding of my wonderful sister. I'd forgotten how uncomfortably muggy the weather is there. We left a snowy Colorado behind so the warm weather was welcome, but the humidity was nearly unbearable. What a great wedding, though! Piers did the photography and I danced the night away.

For everyone who loved my necklace, please check out Holly's website to see all her gorgeous creations. Also, here's a link for the woman in Breckenridge who made my handbag - check out a newer style.


The past few weeks I have been consumed with moving - out of the gallery and into my studio. I had to make a curtain for the loft at the gallery, so of course I made a pillow next, and had to remind myself to stay on track. (Anyone remember the book, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie?) I made three teapots and a pitcher last week, and since it snowed/rained all weekend, they're not even dry yet. I'm off to the studio for some last-minute smoothing now...

Prepping the Studio

We've been moving the house around to accommodate the new studio. Piers set up his office upstairs; here we are about to eat dinner on his desk:


Piers took some action shots of me painting:


We had some great news today: Instead of it taking another 3-4 weeks to get our beetle kill flooring, it'll be ready to be picked up tomorrow! Piers might be able to get to it this weekend, and then I'll move my studio in next week. I'm holding off on moving my kiln - maybe by the end of this month. It's more of a convenience than a necessity to bring it home, so I'll probably wait until June.
All of the changes have been very exciting!