Archive for March, 2008

Artist’s Date & Thank You

Published
by
Cynthia
on March 31, 2008
in Thoughts on Creativity
. 19 Comments

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The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Raise your hand if you’ve ever read or even heard about The Artist’s Way. I finally read the book about a 1 1/2 years ago and actually worked through most of the assignments. It gave me a tremendous boost and pushed me to move forward in making art my full time career, let alone avocation. One of the assignments that I never did do very well, is the “artist date”, mainly because I feel like my time is so precious between being a mom, wife, sub, art teacher that whatever free time is left has gone towards making art. Well, I’ve come to realize that by not filling my creative experiential cup, that I am in a sense hurting myself. I’ve felt a little stagnant in the past few months, and sure, winter may have contributed to the feeling - but I think there was more to it.

2 weekends ago, I took my daughter to see the Colorado Ballet’s Repertory Series performance. (See the review here.) Now, I’m not normally a ballet attendee so I didn’t have high expectations. The Repertory Series is a mixed program of different dances and the first one, “Leaves are Fading”, left me checking the time on my watch, wondering how much longer I would have to sit there. After the first intermission, however, I sat in rapt awe at the next 2 contemporary performances, the last one, “Straight Line to Never”, being a ballet like I’ve never imagined. To an unschooled viewer, it looked like a cross between modern dance and ballet - I loved it. I left the Ellie Caulkin’s Opera House thinking that I should get out and experience new things more often. I even felt a little more creative and had an urge to run home and get some clay out. So, Julia might have something here in regards to artists treating themselves to new creative experiences outside of their normal routines.

Thank you to everyone who voted in my new studio shot poll! 25 people have voted so far and it looks like it’s a fairly close race between B&W and then same pose but in color. Many of you stated that you liked the sepia toned image as well, but that’s not really an option for me since I want to change it. I’ve been playing around with photoshop a bit to warm up the black and white images a bit.

Meanwhile, spring break has ended and my family is back to a routine of sorts. My third clay class starts today and school is back in session for my daughter. I’m making good progress in the studio right now and hope to continue. I almost have everything made for the “Fine Art of Craft Show” opening on April 25.

Have a good week,

~Cynthia

Action Shots in My Studio - I need your help!

Published
by
Cynthia
on March 29, 2008
in Art Marketing and Shows
. 17 Comments

Last week, Alyson had a short blurb on her blog about updating photos of oneself in action in the studio to add to websites or other marketing materials. I personally enjoy seeing photos of other artist’s at work and of their studios and know that this has been on my to do list for quite some time. My current photo was taken in 2002 while I was still a student at USM - and was taken by a fellow student and photography major, Lisa Emery (a quick search on the web revealed no website or other info). I loved the sepia tones of the image, but it might be time to upload a new one. So yesterday, I enlisted the help of my daughter to snap a few photos of me working on the wheel. So where do you come in? If you have time, please take a look at the photo on my “about” page to see the sepia toned one and the three photos below, and then vote for your favorite. I can tell you that I’m leaning towards the b&w because the background is very busy - but, I’m interested in a general consensus.

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Black and white image

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Working on pot in color

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Looking up from work in color

Opinion Polls & Market Research


Meanwhile, I encourage you to visit AKAR to view the Yunomi Invitational Show and Sale. I tried yesterday when it opened and there were so many people visiting the site that there server crashed. I was a little disappointed today, that many of pieces from my favorite artists have already been sold - especially Cathi Jefferson’s work. I should have been more persistent. Don’t know what a yunomi is? It’s basically a teacup that is taller than wide with a foot - whereas, a tea bowl is wider than tall. There is even some work from some of my favorite ceramic bloggers in the show!

Have a great weekend,

~Cynthia

New Studio Tools & Volume Calculator

Published
by
Cynthia
on March 27, 2008
in Clay Studio
. 11 Comments

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It’s no accident that my new iPod Nano is reminiscent of one of my favorite glazes!

Last week, I celebrated my 42nd birthday - and I had been wishing for my very own iPod to use in the studio. I love it and am enjoying loading music and podcasts onto it to listen to when I’m working in the studio. Thanks Ron and Mom - I can now donate my old 1980’s Panasonic receiver! I have an old school shuffle that I still use when running, but it’s clunky when compared to my new sleek Nano. When I received it, I realized that I needed a little cozy to protect it when not in use or hitching a ride in my cavernous purse. I could have made one myself, but found a perfect one on Etsy from Squirrel’s Nest that I just adore.

30 inch maple rolling pin

New 30″ maple wood rolling pin

fresh slab

Rolled stoneware slab 18″ wide

Last week, I took a trip to Mile Hi Ceramics and picked up a 24″ maple rolling pin to use when I’m at home to roll out slabs of clay for my organic shaped bowls. They didn’t have any of the large silicone rollers in stock, but they had this one and an even larger 30″ roller - though I settled on the smaller one. I spent the weekend making some plaster molds for my drape molded bowls and am almost finished making the pieces for my first wholesale order.  On a side note, those of you with slab rollers must think that I’m living in the stone age!

Meanwhile, ever wonder how much pottery plaster you need for a particular form? There are plenty of worksheets out there that give you the exact amount of water to plaster ratio, but I was stuck on the math part - specifically trying to figure out the volume in cubic inches of the bowl I wanted to replicate. I found this great calculator that helped me tremendously without having to deal with pi or any other calculations other than taking simple measurements. I’m not a bad math student - but for some reason, the mere thought of using math beyond basic calculations makes me break into a sweat.

Danzig and Zuzu

Finally, I’ll leave you with this image of our new dog Danzig sharing the sofa with Zuzu - I think they’ve come to an agreement of sorts. :D

Have a good day,
~Cynthia

New Family Member…

Published
by
Cynthia
on March 25, 2008
in Life in General
. 13 Comments

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Danzig 6 years old
If you’ve been around long enough, you may remember that a little over a year ago, we had to lay our elderly diabetic cat, Helper, to rest. It was pretty traumatizing for the whole family, but we knew it was the right thing to do. Since last summer we’ve talked about adding to our family, but it was just talk. Over winter break, my husband said he wanted a German Shepherd. Our current dog, Zuzu is a shepherd mix and has been a wonderful family pet. I told him, I would never ever buy a dog from a breeder since there are tons of dogs available who need good homes.

I casually mentioned looking for a dog rescue - there seems to be one for every breed available such as Greyhounds that my friend Sarah up in North Dakota is involved with. Anyway, the next thing I know, my husband found the Front Range German Shepherd Rescue on the Internet and we applied to adopt a dog. We didn’t hear anything for a long time, and then this past weekend, things started moving. We arranged to visit a 6 year old male (considered to be compatible with an existing female dog) dog named Danzig who was living with a foster family. We all went to visit and he seemed to be a lovable dog - friendly, got along with Zuzu, and was gentle with my daughter. Next thing I know, references are checked and we’re driving Danzig home with us yesterday evening.

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Zuzu, 11 year old Shepherd Mix

As you can imagine, last night was a little stressful for both Danzig who is now living in his third home in the past month, and Zuzu who is just a little bit jealous of the new arrival. I think it’s going to be fabulous when everything settles down and both realize that he’s here to stay. It’s amazing that Danzig is so friendly - we don’t know a lot about him, other than he lived in a garage most of his life and when he came to his foster family, he was afraid to cross over the threshold to the house and had never seen stairs before - oh and he doesn’t like bicycles. He managed the stairs in our house, but the basement is pretty scary to him. Right now, as I write this, he’s sandwiched himself between my husband and the back of the sofa.

He’s got a good 20 lbs on Zuzu and is much longer and taller. I originally thought I could run with both dogs, but now realize it’s going to have to be one at a time since he’s so strong. I think Danzig is a pretty lucky dog to land in our house. I couldn’t figure our where I had heard the name Danzig before so like a good Internet sleuth, I googled his name. I think he was named after the heavy metal band Danzig who hail from NJ. Though, Danzig is also the German version of the Polish town Gdansk. I kind of think that the person who named their dog Danzig and kept them in a garage probably named him after the heavy metal band, don’t you?

Don’t worry, we will be taking all precautions to make sure everyone stays safe and happy. Luckily I am home most days.

Wish us luck,

~Cynthia

Bloglines and Can One Retail & Wholesale?

Published
by
Cynthia
on March 21, 2008
in Galleries and Shops, Technology for Artists and printing on clay
. 13 Comments

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Hand-built printed stoneware cup

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Original lino-cut used to print slab of clay for cup
 
Okay, so the two images above are really eye candy for this post. I don’t have the heart to post without adding a photo or two. Really, I’ve want to talk about Bloglines! Frankly, I don’t know how I’ve lived without this service in the past 2 years. Actually, at first, it wasn’t really a big deal. I started blogging and only really followed a couple other blogs. But, over the past 2 years of blogging, I’ve added about 60 blogs to my blogroll, not including the ones that you don’t see listed. It ain’t easy following that many blogs. A once pleasurable task became a formidable one… that is until I decided to add all my faves to my bloglines account. Not everyone posts every day or even very frequently - so to toggle back and forth to see who has posted and who hasn’t was a major pain in my a**!

Now, I’ve almost subscribed to all my blogroll via bloglines and I’m a very happy camper. I can login to my account and bloglines tells me who has a new post and I can take a looksie. If I’m moved to comment, I can transport myself painlessly to their blog and come right on back. I can’t recommend this service enough. A++

As far as the question of retail & wholesale, that may be a question for later - unless you want a super long post? Okay, well here it goes… I’ve had a couple of glasses of wine from the now glazed cup you see above (photo to be posted later) so I’m feeling a bit verbose, if you will… it is Friday night after all. I just got my first wholesale order yesterday - very exciting stuff. The buyer orders, I make. Pretty painless. Now, as a fairly new artist, I’m not making a ton of money on either wholesale or retail from my pottery. I make more money teaching clay to be honest. I’ve been reading some posts on the WSC website forums, which unfortunately you don’t have access to unless you are a member. Retailers don’t like artists having a foot in both fronts. If you’re retailing and wholesaling, some argue that you become their competitor. As an artist, I feel like if I were making a living wage from wholesaling, I would stop retailing. But, I’m not there yet - and I’ve got bills to pay. So, I’ve decided to do both. I’m not alone in this - there are several artists who both retail and wholesale.

I sell online via Etsy and I do a limited amount of in person sales at art festivals. I think the trick lies in creating a happy retail price point for myself that doesn’t undercut the retailer. I personally believe that people who shop online are not necessarily the same people who shop galleries and fine craft shops at various locales across the globe. I know I personally like to touch pottery before purchasing someone else’s work. I would have to know the potter’s work before buying something touch unfelt from someone online - pottery is a tactile experience for me. So, in that sense, an in-person gallery is ideal. I’ll take this moment to thank the folks who’ve purchased work from me online based on just a photograph or two.

I understand that with our current economy, galleries and shops are struggling since disposable income is limited for a lot of folks. So what are artists to do? I’m not at a point in my career where I can turn off selling in person just yet. I would, personally prefer to pay a higher percentage to wholesale an item than to consign one - consignment carries a risk to the artist, whereas, wholesale shifts the risk to the gallery. One has to totally trust the gallery or shop to which one is consigning work. What if they go out of business and keep the work? What if it doesn’t sell, and sits there indefinitely? So, with that said, I’m not keen on consignment other than for a special exhibit.

What do you think? I’m really interested in your opinion, as I’ve been thinking heavily about the topic. I haven’t posted new work in my Etsy shop recently as I sort out my dilemma - but I am committed to a special exhibit that includes a sale, the potter’s guild bi-annual sale and the Summer Art Market in the next few months.

Have a good weekend,

~Cynthia