Posts Tagged “porcelain vase”

New Porcelain Vase, wheel thrown and carved, still green
I’ve been pretty productive in my studio for the past 3-4 weeks in anticipation of the Fancy Tiger Handmade Craft Fair coming up 1 1/2 weeks from now. It’s time to stop making work so that I can concentrate on firing and glazing my pieces - even this time frame is pushing it for me. I’m really fond of some of my new wheel thrown work which has a really sensuous organic feel to it and look forward to spending more time in my studio after the show to concentrate on exploring additional shapes and sizes.

Clay + Imagination= Art Monday’s class masks
Since I put my Tuesday’s clay class masks on my blog, I promised my Monday class that I’d give them equal billing. I can’t say enough good things about the work that all my students are creating! I also think that they’re really what’s behind my new found energy - a synergistic relationship if you ask me.

Meanwhile, I’ve slowly been going through all the Adobe Go Live Classroom in a Book tutorials so that I can create more of a custom website for myself without using a template based provider. I like my free Sitekreator site, but it has its limitations. I did just try out another pretty easy to use free website through Google this morning that is worth a shot if anyone needs a web presence. I was able to point one of my domains to Google and there are no advertisements whatsoever on my informational site that I am using to basically direct people to my main website. It’s also template based, check it out here.

To all my US readers, have a terrific Thanksgiving vacation - to everyone else all my best until next time,
~Cynthia

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Tags: Adobe Go Live, fancy tiger, google web pages, kid's clay classes in Denver, kids masks, porcelain vase, sitekreator

Eye Candy
I have no new photographs or projects to share with you at the moment other than the lovely photograph above that a gentleman sent to me of a vase that he had purchased from me last year filled with gorgeous zinnias from his garden. I loved the photograph and asked if I could share it on my blog - so here it is.

What am I up to this week? You may remember that I applied for a license to substitute teach in Colorado last year. Wouldn’t you know, I have a substitute assignment the entire first week of school here in Denver? Needless to say, I’ll be away from my studio for the week. I’m happy to report that I survived the first day, albeit somewhat tired to say the least. It’s quite a shocker to go from setting my own hours to working a set schedule and kids have a lot of energy!

On a side note, it looks like I will be selling some of my ceramic jewelry online at Asian iCandy - a retail site that features, you guessed it, Asian inspired clothing, art, accessories and jewelry.

I hope to peruse everyone’s blogs later this week… until then,
~Cynthia

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Tags: asian icandy, functional pottery, porcelain vase

An interesting connection happened recently. A gentleman in Michigan found my Flickr Photostream online and enquired about how he could go about purchasing some of my work. We’ve been emailing back and forth and it turns out that many of the pieces in which he is interested are no longer available. I directed him towards my Etsy Shop and he did choose the piece in the photograph above along with a custom order request. Yesterday he emailed me a photograph of my piece which is now in his possession. It’s interesting, because once the item leaves my home, I never see it again. I often wonder what people do with my work, how is it used, etc. Accompanying this photograph were several photographs of his beautiful garden. I can rest assured that gorgeous flowers will find a home in my vase. I’m honored that people think my work is a perfect compliment to their lives. It makes me very happy!

Meanwhile, I’ve been experiencing a bit of uncertainty in regards to my art career and if you read my last post, know that I applied for a job last week. Fast forward to a podcast that I listened to on Monday morning while I was out for my run and I had an ah-ha moment. Suzanne Falter-Barnes has a podcast on her blog with Andy Wibbels interviewing Seth Godin about his new book The Dip. It must have been a serendipitous moment, because it was exactly what I needed to hear right at that moment. Basically, in a nut shell, when faced with difficulty in your career (though the concept could be applied to about anything), do you know when to quit, or when to lean into “the dip”? Most successful companies know how to emerge from the dips stronger by being creative and basically just working harder. If it were easy, wouldn’t everyone be a millionaire? While the podcast is really geared towards businesses, as an independent artist, I connected to the discussion.

Seth also talks about being the best in your field - but don’t let that get you down. Best in the field is a matter of knowing your market and product - and there’s room for a lot of different businesses to exceed. For example he talks about the iPod. As a consumer, you either own an iPod or one of the other brands. iPod is a name brand like Kleenex or even Word, yet Microsoft’s MP3 player didn’t achieve stellar star status like the iPod - though it might have if it weren’t trying to play catch up with Apple. Anyway if you’re interested in hearing more, the podcast is free if you visit Suzanne’s blog.

Yesterday evening, I was invited, along with a handful of other artist’s, to Alyson Stanfield’s house to brainstorm book design for her soon to be published new book, I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s No Excuse Guide to Self Promotion. I think Alyson’s newest book will be easy to read and a valuable reference for creative people trying to craft a successful art career. Lisa Call stopped by on the way over to Alyson’s house and we drove up to Golden together. I really enjoyed the drive with her. It was a wonderful opportunity to talk with another artist about the day to day challenges of being an artist in today’s world.

My in-laws left town this morning and I’m planning on spending some time in my studio this morning. For some reason, the humble pinch pot keeps popping into my head right now.

Until Later,

Tags: alyson stanfield, andy wibbels, art biz blog, art marketing, colorado art studio, etsy, Flickr, porcelain vase, seth godin, suzanne falter-barnes, the dip