A few weeks ago a blogging friend & fellow artist, Shawn McCann, purchased a couple of my porcelain vases from my Etsy shop. Of course I was flattered that he purchased my work, but I was even more tickled when he sent a photograph of how he was using one of the vases. While I envisioned a luscious spring or summer bouquet tucked into the vase, I was so pleased to see that he has re-purposed my vase to use as a receptacle for his paint brushes. Thanks Shawn! Check out his blog and his growing illustration portfolio when you visit.

Meanwhile, I’ve been experiencing a bit of a spiritual crisis. Well, not exactly a spiritual crisis, but more of an awakening. As I continue to listen to Oprah and Ekart Tolle discuss, A New Earth, I’ve begun having some a-ha moments and am moving forward on some thoughts that have been finding a way into my consciousness in the past several months.

If you’ve been around awhile, or at least since last winter, you’ll remember my rants on Walmart, consumerism, the environment, etc. If you’ve only recently started reading my blog, consider yourself lucky! I decided to stop ranting, and instead let all those thoughts mill about my brain fermenting into something tangible – some way for me to make sense of my thoughts and my actions. It’s still not lost on me that while ranting about stuff, I make stuff and I sell stuff.

I’ve always felt that as a responsible citizen that it is my duty to help make this world a better place to live. What’s that old saying, “If you’re not a part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem”?

Meanwhile, a new blog friend, Noelle Horsfield and I have begun a conversation on the very subject. I’m so thankful to the medium of blogging for bringing people all over the globe together who might not otherwise “meet” one another. Check out her website to see her whimsical ceramic creations concerning “all things dog”.  I’m also a little jealous of her – she lives in Maine, a place we lived before moving to land locked Colorado.

So what are some of the things I’m going to do to contribute? I originally toyed around with the idea of having a percentage of sales go towards a charity. I nixed that idea, and have instead decided to jump into the micro-lending program and help entrepreneurs in third world countries become self sustaining and to break the cycle of poverty. I’m researching various micro-lending programs and it seems like Kiva is one of the top contenders. They’re a non profit group that helps regular people like you and me connect with people who need a little extra capital to go into business for themselves or to expand their businesses. They have quite a few success stories and next to no loan defaults. Of course, I’d love to help a clay person, but right now, I’m searching for a woman or group of women in need of capital who work in an arts or crafts related field. Stay tuned….

In other news, I was flipping through my recent issue of Sierra when I came accross a blurb about an article originally published in San Franscisco Magazine (though I can’t find the original source) that mentions a new affliction, “eco-neurosis”. It seems as though a number of people are experiencing an assortment of stresses related to global warming. I wonder if that’s part of what is bothering me? Do I need an eco-psychotherapist to help me overcome my neuroses?

On that note, have a good weekend,

~Cynthia

14 new porcelain boxes and counting…

I had a pretty relaxing past few days over the long Memorial Day Weekend – hope you did too.  I managed to squeeze a little work into my weekend, but not much.  I recently discovered that I can download audio books onto my iPod Nano and that my local library has audio books for download.  I’ve temporarily grown a little weary of the music I’ve loaded onto my iPod and have taken to being read to.  I’ve also become a podcast junkie.  I’ve been listening to Oprah Winfrey and Eckart Tolle’s online workshops covering Tolle’s new book, A New Earth while I work.  Hours pass, and I’m transported to a different place.  Now I need to buy the book so I can really follow along.

Cherry Blossoms and Frog

Here’s a few of my newest creations that are almost created stream of consciousness as I listen to all of life’s true possibilities.  I’ve made a list of themes and have even invited others (mainly my daughter, husband, friends and sil) to weigh in on other possible trajectories.  I have repeated a couple of boxes that have already found their way into the world outside of my studio.

Meanwhile, I drove up to Evergreen, CO to pick up remaining work from the Fine Art of Craft show that closed on Friday.  I sold a few pieces which made me happy and I transported the rest home which will be added to my inventory for the Summer Art Market in a few weeks.  I agreed to donate a piece of my work to be auctioned off this summer at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in August.  Wouldn’t you know it, the piece I planned on donating (see below) is one of the pieces that sold!  So now, I need to make another or donate something else.

Sand dollar and Snake Boxes

I spoke with the owner of CO/RK Gallery  in Denver last week who saw my work at the Potter’s Guild Sale in early May.  She’s interested in carrying my work, however, I told her it could be awhile before I have some available.  I was also introduced to the owner of the Evergreen Gallery by my friend Mary Cay at the opening of the “Fine Art of Craft Show” who was interested in carrying my porcelain boxes.  So, I have a few things to follow up with in the next month or so.  Funny thing is as I listen to Eckart Tolle and some of the things he talks about, I find myself feeling a little disenchanted with selling stuff.  I know I need to reconcile this with myself before I end up selling everything I own and running off to save the world. 

My husband’s waiting in the wings for the computer – so must go.  Plus it doesn’t help that he keeps interrupting my train of thought.

~Cynthia

Trimming Faux Pas

While I was getting ready for the Potter’s Guild show in April, I made a grave mistake. It’s one that many novice clay people make and apparently one that I make too occasionally when I’m in a hurry. If there’s anything I’ve learned about myself it’s that I can’t rush because it results in mistakes! When I was cleaning the other day, I happened upon this non-functional porcelain bowl that was previously destined for the gas kiln before I trimmed right through the bottom! Doh!

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been making little porcelain boxes which start out as slabs of clay. I don’t normally wedge this clay up unless I’m throwing, so imagine my surprise when I saw brown clay swirled into the creamy white porcelain clay. I complained to Mile Hi – it’s apparently from the first batch when they’re making it and are switching clay bodies. You might remember that I don’t use brown clay at home since I don’t want to contaminate the white clay I use. It’s easy to do. I decided to take a deep breath and left the swirls intact.  It’s okay that it’s not what I expected – oh, what’s that Japanese term I’m looking for… maybe, “wabi-sabi“?

Work in Progress

These 6 boxes above are still in progress. The lids have been cut off and I’ve added knobs, feet and also an embellishment to the front of the boxes to hide the little notched section. My goal for the Summer Art Market is to have 20 of these boxes of varying sizes. I sat down with my sketchbook and decided to make a list of themes that I’d like to explore. I divided it into botanical and animal/insect/bird sections and each box has a theme that I’ve dictated based on the knob. Most of these will get additional painted details in the next week or so.

My favorites are the ones with intricate knobs such as a crow…

The chicken…

And the monkey (though he is a little scary)…

Meanwhile, I finished constructing 8 more boxes in various sizes and will cut off the lids and begin adding the knobs & feet today. I have 6 more boxes to construct to make my goal of having 20 in time for the Summer Art Market June 14th and 15th. I’m not going to have much else this year, however. Early next week, I might throw a bunch of mugs and bowls – but that will be about it.

It’s Memorial weekend here in the states – we’re going to host a BBQ and basically take it easy. Well, I’ll be working just a bit on these boxes – but at my leisure. I only have one thing I HAVE to do. The show in Evergreen closes tonight and I’m going to make a drive up to the mountains and pick up my work tomorrow. I wonder how much sold???

Have a great weekend,

~Cynthia

Studio Clean Up

I went into the studio yesterday to work, only I couldn’t find anything I needed including tools, boards, rulers etc. This was a clear sign that my studio space needed to be thoroughly cleaned. I made good progress and hated to stop, but stop I had to in order to make it to my last kid’s clay class of the school year. I loved teaching it – but I am looking forward to more time to make my own work this summer without the extra demands of teaching. Plus, the last 2 kiln loads resulted in exploded pots despite my best efforts of pre-heating the kiln and firing slowly.

The kids always took news of exploded pots stoically, like a badge of honor. Funny thing is, there was one kid in class who always purposely tried to construct his work so that his would explode. When we made rattles, he made a rattle shaped and designed like a grenade. Ironically, it was always the other kid’s work that exploded – not his.

I’m not exactly done teaching for the summer. I’ll be teaching 3 week long kid’s workshops at the Art Student’s League of Denver and 1 kid’s workshop at Anderson Ranch Arts Center this summer – but all 4 will take place at their studios so I won’t be hauling things back and forth to mine.

Many of you know that I don’t have running water in my humble garagio. I need to show my handy father in law photos of the Cink! Not having running water is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it forces me to conserve and a curse because well, running water would make clean up so much easier.

As I started cleaning up my space yesterday, there was no water in my “sink”. My sink is basically a large rubber tub and when the clay sludge gets close to the top of the water line, it’s time to start fresh. I spied an empty bag of dog chow and had an aha moment. The bags are water proof and this one even came with a zipper at the top. I emptied the sludge into the bag and put it outside where I hope it will dry in the next week so that I can dispose of it.

If you’re a clay person who has no running water, what do you do with your sludge? I do recycle my clay – but this stuff is all residue from cleaning up, glazing, sanding and contains both low, mid and high fire ingredients.

Milestones

On Monday, my husband and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. Hard to believe that it’s been that long. I met him in high school in Stuttgart, Germany where both of our fathers were stationed at the time. We got married when I was 23 in 1989. In a sense, we have sort of grown up together which is a cool thing. There’s not a lot I don’t know about him.

On April 28th, I missed my blog’s 2 year anniversary. How did that happen? Last year, I celebrated in grand style and did a giveaway. There’s always next year! I’ve enjoyed blogging tremendously over the past 2 years. It’s become a part of my routine to both write posts and to read other people’s blogs. I love how the network of blogs allows for the possibility of new connections and interests by simply clicking on another’s links. What did I do before I discovered blogs? Well, I had more time for one – but I wouldn’t trade more time in exchange for giving up blogging. I enjoy it.

That’s all for this morning,

~Cynthia

P.S. I have exciting news about a possible new gallery – stay tuned…