barbara donovan

Misc Observation And A Cup Show

2012-02-14T19:00:00.000-06:00

Happy VD

Huh. Just realized it has been about a year since starting this blog. I knew I wouldn't be an everyday blogger -- you folks that do that amaze me -- but once or twice a week I figured would be doable. Or not. Seems I'm doing well to post something once a month. Just not sure anyone needs to see yet one more poor photo of my work in progress, and isn't that what FB is for anyways?

Speaking of FB, not long ago my mind was wondering around as I was working in my studio, and I thought, "Ya know, this Facebook thing isn't the time suck I thought it would be. It's not too bad." Thought some more and then realized it wasn't a time suck because I hadn't posted anything to my pottery page in probably 10 days. *Sigh....failing at facebook. Some of us are apparently just social media impaired.

Anyway, so we finally made it downtown to see the 8 Fluid Ounces cup show after missing the opening. Chip the recovering potter turned health care professional had to work late that evening and by the time he dragged himself in the door, neither of us had the energy to rush downtown, and we both agreed having a glass of wine out of a handmade cup would suffice for the time being.

This is about a third of the show. I like the way they painted the shelves and walls light green this time around to set off the cups. (click on photos for larger view)

LSU School of Art Glassell Gallery, Shaw Center

And in no particular order...

Charity Davis-Woodward

(Perhaps if this wasn't so yellow, you could
see the color and detail... Sorry
Heather.)

Tanya Casteel
(Who doesn't love brightly
colored cephalopod cups)

Kyla Toomy

Kristen Keiffer was the juror and while most cups were functional, there were some sculptural ones too...

Leslie Kathryn Hinton
"Limboyzd"

Craig Clifford

Robert Lawarre
"Electric Green Jester With

Inflamed Birthmarks"

Jacqueline Mersereau Lincoln
"Drink the Rabbit Wisdom"
(Yep. Hold by the ears and
drink out of the head)

There were some cups from potters I recognize from blogs so it was cool to see their work in person

Kyle Carpenter

Jen Mecca

Judi Tavill

(left) Zygote Blum aka Fetish Ghost

And still more.....really, it's a big show. There are soooo many more.

LeAnne McClurg Cambric
"Runny Bunny"

Michaelene Walsh

Kurt Anderson
(The one on the right is MINE. I'd been wanting
one of Kurt's mugs with a handle so Yay.)

Andrew Cho

Andrew Cho
"We And Us"
(I really liked these too. Now if they
weren't sold AND had a handle...)

Whew. Time for a tiresome pet picture....

The bad dog does a little reading before bed

Alright. See y'all next time.

Getting Back To It

2012-01-14T11:28:00.000-06:00

Hey all. Had a nice little holiday break. Good friends from other states came to visit and thank heavens for that or I might have never cleaned up the house from holiday pottery marathon neglect. The neglect extended to studio and even though I haven't done the great studio reorganization of my dreams, I did manage to resurrect it from the depths of "health hazard" and make it functional again. I've been back to work on pots over a week or so now since we know those Valentine's Day conjoined bunny zombie mugs aren't going to make themselves...

Joined at the heart...get it?

Don't be scared. There will be cute ones too. Look for new pots in the shop late January.

OK, backtracking. Earlier last fall, I demonstrated at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA. It's a small university off the beaten path between (sort of) Baton Rouge and New Orleans with clay facilities (and an art department in general) bigger schools would be envious of. I'll tell y'all all about it one day if my technological ineptitude subsides, and I can figure out how to download the free photo editing software to resize the giant JPGs sent to me from that day that my easy everyday photo editor doesn't want to do. N0rton Antiv1rus gave it a big green happy "this software is safe :)" check mark while 1nternet Expl0rer said, "Derp, this is scary, so No...no you can't". ANYWAYS....besides demo my current throwing, altering, carving, decorating thing, I also showed students some straightforward brushwork which I haven't done in quite some time and without all the carving and opaque colors (This is where those photos would have come in handy...). I'd forgotten how fun that could be and in order to round out my inventory for a last mid December sale, I made a kiln load of these types of pots. The simpler (more simple? simplified?) process was like being on a carefree little pottery holiday, and I enjoy their more gestural quality for a change.

small Dog Loves Ball bowl

Shot glasses.....or double shot glasses actually

Broken Hearted Hog juice cup

Bear And Cupcake mug. I should probably
think less about cupcakes...

Assorted juice cups not limited to juice of course....

squeeeee....so painfully cute.

So who knows. Might be time to change things up a little and combine the detail of the carving I like with the more gestural brushwork. Stay tuned....

Switching gears. Our holiday visiting friends David and Valerie brought lovely things (art) when they visited. One of those wonderful things was this:

18 x 24 acrylic

We had asked David to paint for us a family portrait however he saw fit and since we're one of those annoying childless couples that treat their pets like their kids, this portrait features the bad dogs. We are the lowly peasants begging at the mercy of our less than benevolent bad dog overlords set around the 1500s in the time of Henry VIII.

detail

Our sneaky smart white bad dog is a Thomas Cromwell type character, and our dear dopey brown bad dog is the muscle. And look...

detail

....we still get to be potters in this late middle ages scenario and have apparently unlocked the mysteries of perfect and consistent reduction red glazes. We love this painting and couldn't be more pleased. Thanks David.

Alright, finally it's time for a tiresome pet picture:

She sits like this all the time, usually not looking at you, and stares

blankly off in other directions. Can't you just picture her

wearing the helmet from the painting? Empty headed and

awaiting her orders...

Alright then. No New Year's resolutions to share here, but I have a few goals in mind to work on. Are your eyes glazing over at this point? Mine are....so let's save that for another post. I'm not quite ready to put things in writing and then be held accountable anyways.

See y'all next time :)

Is It Really Mid November Already?

2011-11-17T11:41:00.001-06:00

Here we are. Already the middle of November and the time of year when I realize how behind I am in studio and just thinking about my custom orders makes me want to hyperventilate. In fact, I'm off to find a paper bag to breathe into just as soon as I finish this post. We've been renovating the kitchen for the last few months and that's been more of a distraction than anticipated, but it's all good.

It'll get there......

The kitchen this past August. Fabulous!

....you know, hopefully. I mean, sure, the rest of the house that we emptied the kitchen into looks like we're living in an episode of "Hoarders" as well, but my studio always looks that way so I should be accustomed, right? Actually, the kitchen has come a long way since that picture from August, and it now functions.

The kitchen late October.

There are still all sorts of odds and ends to finish, and the 'hoarders' look is still going on in the dining room and living room, but I'm sure we'll get to all that just as soon as I get around to making the bull nose tile and a bigger sink for the little bathroom we renovated several years ago. Finishing home projects is somewhat over rated I think or at least that's what we like to tell ourselves.

But enough about all that. A few weekends ago I went to to see Lisa Orr demo at the now one year old Red Hot Center For Clay here in big BR. (Incidently, the drawing on the Red Hot home page is me. I was so pleased that Leanne who runs the place drew me younger and thinner than we both know I am :)

Lisa Orr

As someone firmly committed to overworking everything I make, Lisa's free and easy method of working was refreshing to watch. It's unlikely I'll be slip trailing recklessly anytime soon, but it's still energizing and leaves me pondering sprigs and reexamining glaze options.

She is down to earth and entertaining, and as a studio potter, pragmatic about making a living as well. Aside from her pots she has a line of house numbers that sell quite well through a catalog and now on her website. When asked by some why she'd want to do that, she reasons that the successful house numbers line helps support her family and the pots she wants to be making.

So all in all it was good to get out and watch another artist work and listen to her thoughts and theories and chat with other potters and a good time was had by all.

Plus look.....I got this purdy new mug:

Purdy Lisa Orr mug I got.

And speaking of getting new things, I got these a week or two or three ago:

I'm kind of smitten with the purdy mug I got HERE. It's a fabulous combination of rustic wood fired goodness and cool graphics, accented with the right amount of fun and golden bling. The glasses, well, I'm less smitten and the jury is still out. I've been very nearsighted since very young, but these are my first pair of progressive lenses since I could no longer ignore the maddening fuzziness that comes with...ahem...age while trying to see, read, or work up close. I've gotten used to the trippy wave action you get if you're looking down and then move your head from side to side. However, I still can't seem to get the hang of looking through the correct area of the lens when reading or working closely on pots which was kind of the whole point of getting them, right?! Someone who has these please tell me I'll adjust and say it like you mean it.

Moving on...Ok, this is funny or at least to me it is. A local gallery asked me to participate in a show called "Steampunk" and this is what I made.....

Steampunk Buns Vase I & II

...because as we all know, it can't be steampunk without top hats, goggles, and gears...heh. I brought to the gallery the taller vase. I'm looking forward to seeing what every one else contributes.

Hang on. We're almost through. I'll be adding some pots to the on-line shop this week starting today, or maybe Friday, depending on my hyperventilation situation. Here are a few...

And you know what's next....

Tiresome pet picture

That can't be comfortable can it?

Alright, see you next time.

October Blog-o-sphere Think Tank

2011-10-20T11:00:00.000-05:00

What's this about? It's " A monthly group blog of a light nature, simple easy topics :)" The group is made up of different people from different areas of life (so not just artists) and on the 20th of every month we'll write on the same topic and post (hopefully) at about the same time. Sounds like fun, yes? Links to the participating members' blogs are listed at the end of this post.

October Blog-o-sphere Topic: What's your favorite season and why?

I suppose the easy answer would be spring. With our mild winters, Louisiana stays fairly green year round, but it's always nice when weather warms and all things dormant start to wake up, grow, and flower. The real answer for me, however, is Autumn. True, we have no lovely fall colors to speak of. The live oaks keep their green year round, and trees that do lose their leaves do so with an underwhelming transformation from green to crispy brown without much fanfare. Rather, it's the anticipated change from Summer to Fall that I think we all here start dreaming about in July. With temperatures in the 90's F from late May through September, the relief brought by the first cool snap of Fall after months of unrelenting heat and humidity goes unmatched. Waking up to the mid 40sF this morning left me with a practically delirious sense of well being.

Another thing that kicks the three cheers for Fall up another notch is this:

The satsumas are ripening!! Satsumas are a hybrid citrus (so no viable seeds) comparable to mandarin type oranges that tolerate cold and grow well in these parts.

The "sweet tree" is especially sweet this year.

The previous owners of our house planted 3 trees that

ripen in sequence from October to December, so we are never

without this time of year.

Sadly, one broke during hurricane Gustave three years ago...

Chip dramatizes our sorrow at the loss of this tree for

your viewing pleasure.

It looks like a great crop this year...

Even down to two trees, there are plenty to carry us through to New Years Eve.

Think fresh squeezed satsuma juice and vanilla vodka.

We like to call them "satsumanillas". Perhaps not the best name

as it sounds like a particularly nasty brand of food poisoning.

You'll have to trust us on this one. They're delicious.

The bad dogs like them too. Um...the satsumas, I mean.

Not the satsumanillas.

Allright then. Visit the other blog-o-sphere think tank members' blogs to see what they're thinking:

Andes Cruz: http://www.andescruz.wordpress.com/
Kathryn Cole: http://www.kathryncolejewelry.blogspot.com/
Natsuko Hanks: http://www.jewelrybynatsuko.blogspot.com/
Beth Cyr: http://www.bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/
Diana Fazio http://www.metooiguana.blogspot.com/
Thomasin Durgin: http://metalriot.blogspot.com/
WATTO: http://www.wattoonline.com/news

Now Where Was I

2011-10-14T17:50:00.000-05:00

Ok. Took a bit of an unintentional hiatus from the blog. One minute I'm blathering on incessantly about custom orders, SEO, and Etsy tweaks, and next thing you know it's been 2 months since I've posted anything about the pots at all. Apparently I forgot that I kind of enjoy this, and I'm surprised at how easy it was to tra la la la ignore it completely. So let's try again.

Let's see..... Finished cousin Sally's unfortunate menagerie of all my favorite critters bowl...

Hi Sally! We're coming over to YOUR house next week!
YAY!

This is what happens when you're related to me and fail to be specific about what you want . Let that be a lesson.

What else..... Added new wee sized 8 ounce mugs to the on-line shop.

They're a bit less labored over in color and detail and therefore priced accordingly.

I think of them as good for afternoon coffee when you need a pick me up but not so much that it keeps you awake at night

Another friend thinks they're perfect little whiskey drinkin' cups...

You know, she has a point. If ever a handle might come in handy, it'd probably be for whiskey drinkin'....

And hey....they're just in time for zombie season...

And finally, there is this.... During a momentary lapse in judgement and at the risk of causing hell to freeze over or a disastrous shift in the space time continuum, I got on facebook...!

Never thought I'd see the day, but this is where it is. I'll be using my pottery page to post pictures of new work, work in progress, links to blog updates, and whatever else might be considered relevant studio news. Still, there's no worries I'll be spamming up your newsfeed since I can barely remember to answer my e-mail much less maintain a prolific stream of status updates. You can LIKE my page at the right if you're so inclined so I don't have to be all lonely and friendless forever. (Thanks to all y'all who like me already :)

Alright then. It's all over except for the tiresome pet pictures:

I wish I could sleep this well

That's it. Happy weekend. See y'all next time.***

***uh huh. See what I did there? Loaded up the post with pictures and spaced it all out a bunch so it wouldn't look like I'd hardly written anything. It's sort of like back when you were in school and you'd stretch a 5 page paper into 8 pages by moving the margins way in when you typed it.

September Blog-o-sphere Think Tank Group

2011-09-20T11:00:00.000-05:00

My friend Ande has formed a group from friends known mostly through the internet who blog. The group is made up of people from different areas of life (so not just artists) and on the 20th every month, we'll write on the same topic and post (hopefully) at about the same time. Sounds like fun, yes? Links to the participating member blogs are listed at the end of this post.

September Blog-o-sphere Topic: What's Your Favorite thing about where you are located?

So Louisiana has its issues. Seems like we're on a never ending race to the bottom with Mississippi in just about every category. Still it's home and there is still stuff to love. Like the food.....

I'm a fan. Of course it wasn't always so. I remember being at a restaurant not long after my arrival to this strange strange place in 1979 with my family and Dad orders a tray of boiled crawfish.....wait, what? I remember crayfish from Ohio, and they were tiny creepy little creatures you might find in the oak leaf filled outdoor stairwell entrance to the basement and as a kid, the proper response was to run screaming up the steps and away from it. When the crawfish arrived that evening, I was appalled and had to get up and go sit at the other end of the table. But eventually you adapt, and before you know it, 12 or 13 years later you're hosting your own wedding reception crawfish boil and nobody here sees that as particularly odd.

And then there's the music.....

Cajun and Zydeco music are a wonderful thing. The late Beau Jocque is probably my favorite zydeco artist. In 1999, Chip and I went to see Beau Jocque And The Zydeco Hi-Rollers at the Zydeco Festival in Opelousas, Louisiana. Sadly, he had to cancel because of a death in the family. Even more sad, He passed away from a heart attack at 47 just one week later. We still regret never hearing him play live (it still hurts a little bit now thinking about it), but his album "Pick Up On This!" remains our go to music for road trips every time.

Visit other blog-o-sphere think tank member blogs to see what they favor about where they live:

Andes Cruz: http://andescruz.wordpress.com/

Kathleen Krucoff: http://mysticalmythicalmetalwork.wordpress.com/

Mary Watson / WATTO http://www.wattoonline.com/news

Wendy Kelly http://www.wendykianakelly.com

Thomasin Durgin http://metalriot.blogspot.com

Andrea Bell: http://feathersfreesiasandfishingtackle.blogspot.com/

Stephanie Nocito Clark http://www.thethinkingsofacoldweathergirl.blogspot.com

Come For The Bad Photography, Stay For The Tiresome Pet Pictures

2011-08-13T19:24:00.000-05:00

Hi All. So lately I've been blathering on with only marginal coherency about tweaking my Etsy shop to be more SEO friendly. The artist who started this thread that I mentioned last post (kidding...I'm not going to link that...it's just the previous post) has started a blog called Market My Shop . Check it out and follow if you're so inclined, or pass it along to those who might be interested. Lord knows I'll continue to bore y'all with details of my feeble attempts at all this, but why not get the information from someone who seems to know what he's talking about.

In the studio, I'm following through with my plan to work on small batches of pots from start to finish to improve the turn around time for new work for the shop. I finished carving pots today and it's become obvious I made way more than the small kiln holds but not enough to fill the bigger kiln. Derp. This might take some practice. Ok, part of the reason I over shot the mark is that a number of pots are custom orders and thus spoken for (not a bad thing), but I still need plain ole inventory so I planned for and made too much that all have to be finished at least to the point of underglaze decoration before they get too dry, and this will slow things down. I can decorate them bone dry, but the brush sticks (ick) and scratching into the pots when they are bone dry kind of makes my teeth hurt.

Speaking of custom orders...

My father-in-law asked me to send Cousin Sally a gift. Since she already has a number of my things, I asked what she wanted me to make, and silly girl, she was naive enough to leave it up to me. She said she liked the wild hogs, Virgin Marys, sugar skull kitties, and scary fish, so of course I took the opportunity to put the menagerie all together on one piece.

Sorry Sally.....don't lie. If yer scared say yer scared.

Then there is this:

Yeah. That's a conjoined zombie crow and cat coffee mug. Clearly a brainstorming e-mail conversation gone horribly wrong. Hard to imagine what type of apocalyptic virus could have caused that. *snicker. I get to make the funnest (um...I don't think that's word) things sometimes at my friends', family, and customers' expense...

Alrighty...that's all I got. Oh wait. The bad dogs got new tags...

I love them..

them too.

Ok, now that's all I got. See y'all next time.

Etsy Tweaks Part II

2011-08-06T17:12:00.001-05:00

Ok then. It's been about a month since the last Etsy Tweaks post, and I know you've been waiting breathlessly to hear how things have been going. I added pots to the shop but not so many as I'd have liked. There's been a bit of "failing at everything" going on around here, and the most recent kiln load was

rather underwhelming and riddled with seconds. Ok, maybe not riddled, but there were too many. It's all pretty minor stuff, but a flaw is a flaw, and they are seconds none the less. Needless to say I'm building up quite the treasure trove of discount ware for the next studio sale which will make my local customers happy so at least there's that. I always point out the flaw to them as they purchase to be sure they realize, and they just laugh and look at me like I'm high. I do love my customers. I'm not kidding. They're great.

Anyways, about those tweaks. I'm backtracking some. After reading this thread in the Etsy team April's Army forum, I'm sucking it up and following this advice for making my item titles more SEO friendly. Although I felt changing, for example, "Large Double Bun Coffee Mug" to "Large Double Bun Coffee Mug (Rabbit, Bunny, Blue)" was good enough, I've edited it again to "Large Rabbit Coffee Mug With Conjoined Rabbits With Blue"

or something like that. Apparently it's important to try and use the keywords buyers are most likely to search with in the start of your title. For me, I'm pretty certain that would be "Rabbit Mug" rather than "Double Bun". I'm doing this, however painfully boring to me, with most all my item titles now. Of course I'm still way to stubborn to change the sweet/snarky, funny to probably only me item descriptions. Just can't. I have, however, worked on my tags as suggested in that same forum thread to include the keywords I think buyers would be most likely to use when looking for something like I make.

So....Is any of this working? I have no idea. Ok...I have some idea. According to my shop stats...(If you don't know where those are, hover over "your account" in the upper right hand corner of your shop page and fine "shop stats" in the drop down menu. For help understanding shop stats, try slogging throughTHIS)...where was I? Oh yeah. Is any of this working? According to my shop stats...um...no. Most everyone finding me is finding me once they are already on Etsy using Etsy search. If they are finding me through Google, it's because they are searching using my name so they're already looking for me specifically. Kind of makes sense as so many of my sales in the last couple months are return buyers so bless their silly/snarky/cute pottery loving little hearts. I'm not kidding. Thank you.

So anyway, I'm pretty sure all this brings me right back to the last Etsy Tweaks post when I said I needed to "get some freaking pots in the shop". I think not having enough new work regularly being added to my shop isn't helping. From what I understand now, renewing listings helps keep you relevant in Etsy search,

but doesn't make any difference with Google search. New and Often seems to be a key here. I tend to do a shop update dump of 30 or 40 pots over 3-5 days and then it's nothing new for a month...or um, 6 weeks... or you know, whenever.

Ok so summing it up, this is what I'm going to do now:

1. Keep messing with my titles and tags. I don't know...maybe "Large Rabbit Coffee Mug With Conjoined Rabbits With Blue" should actually start with "Rabbit Mug, Large with Conjoined Rabbits With Blue". After all, if I wanted a rabbit mug, I'd probably start searching with "rabbit mug" and not necessarily "large rabbit coffee mug blah blah blah".

2. Improve my turn around time for new pots and avoid shop update dumps in favor of regularly listing new work a bit at a time. Making smaller batches of pots start to finish and firing in my smaller kiln will help with that to start.

Ok my brain hurts again and happy hour is fast approaching so lets close it out with some positive news of shameless self congratulations.

I reached 400 sales in my shop yesterday. Ok it's not as impressive as

THIS or THIS, but it's more than I anticipated when I started selling

pots on line summer two years ago. So yay for that.

Oh wait...

Did you really think you'd get out of here without a tiresome pet picture?

See y'all next time.

July Blog-o-sphere Think Tank Group

2011-07-20T11:00:00.010-05:00

Summer means lots of fresh homegrown basil to make pesto for Chip and I. Even when we fail to live up to our own spring time gardening hopes and dreams as the homestead reverts to default survival of the fittest mode, there are always pots of basil tended with loving care growing on the back porch.

In September 2008, Hurricane Gustave blew through Baton Rouge packing a wallop that downed trees and left the capital city without power for more than a week (11 days for us; longer for others). While most post hurricane meals revolve around room temperature stable PB&J once perishables have been eaten or purged from dark, warming refrigerators, occasionally a gem emerges out of necessity. With no electricity for the food processor, ice for the ice chest in short supply, and cheese wedges to use up, Chip fearlessly drew his best knife from its wood block and coarsely chopped available ingredients until Chip's Hurricane Pesto became a reality. Chopping ingredients by hand made for a chunky texture that we decided was superior to the processed smooth variety of pesto he'd been making. Pistachios replace pine nuts because, well, that's what we had, and we decided that ingredient was a keeper too. He is back to using the food processor because it's faster but pulses it lightly to keep it coarse as with the first hand chopped batch. Pinning Chip down to specific amounts for the ingredients was tricky since he generally wings it to taste each batch, but here goes:

Chip's Hurricane Pesto

2 loose cups of basil

1/2 cup shelled roasted pistachios

1/8ish cup Asiago cheese grated

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated

2 big cloves of garlic

olive oil

Even if you're using a food processor, mince the garlic by hand first since you won't be processing the pesto smooth and big chunks of raw garlic can be a bit much. Add all ingredients except the olive oil to the food processor and pulse a couple times until you have a coarse mixture.

Add the pesto to 1 pound of cooked whole wheat penne pasta (or whatever you like) and then add however much olive oil you prefer.* Serve topped with chopped home grown tomatoes.

Enjoy!

*If you aren't using the pesto for pasta or even for right away, transfer it from the food processor to a container and then cover the pesto with a thin layer of olive oil to soak in and keep fresh. Makes a good pizza topping too!

You can visit other blog-o-sphere think tank member blogs to see what they're cooking this summer:

Andes Cruz: http://www.andescruz.wordpress.com
Brad Severtson: http://hammeringoutaliving.blogspot.com/
Kathleen Krucoff: http://mysticalmythicalmetalwork.wordpress.com/

Shannon Koochin: http://thebassplayersdaughter.blogspot.com/

stephanie clark: http://thethinkingsofacoldweathergirl.blogspot.com
Laura FLavin : http://modernbirdjewelry.blogspot.com
WATTO: http://www.wattoonline.com/news

Etsy Tweaks, A Show Opening, And One More Thing

2011-07-08T20:03:00.001-05:00

Alright friends. I've had a hard time making myself update the blog lately, so I'm not going to think too hard and just barrel on through. Coherency and proper tenses will be questionable at best, although I promise to at least use spell check.

First Etsy. Sometime around early May, my shop became invisible and views and sales fell way off. Trying not to take it all personally that perhaps everyone had finally gotten sick of my ~~shit~~ pots, I ventured down the creepy basement steps to the Etsy forums to have a lurk around. There was great whining and gnashing of teeth over the situation, but general consensus was it all had to do with changes Google made with search and relevancy (I only barely understand it all and clearly not well enough to explain it so you might want to google it :) I lurked some more and then lo and behold found THIS right there under my nose on Etsy regarding search engine optimization or in Barbara speak, "ya know...get found". Turns out your shop name description, shop announcement, listing titles, and first few lines of your listing description are all pretty important now. So this is what I'm doing:

1. Updating my shop name description to better reflect what I make. I changed it from "Fine Art Pottery" (Stop laughing! I used to make more serious work) to "Handmade animal art pottery by Barbara Donovan". I know, not dazzling, but I changed it on the fly and will come up with something less awkward later.

2. Updating my shop announcement for the same reasons and to include my name and key words describing my work that people might actually use in a search. You can read it HERE.

3. Updating my listing titles to more accurately describe my item. This annoys me a little because I like some of my titles, but I think I can work it. So for example, instead of "Large Double Bun Coffee Mug", because really, who searches for rabbit mugs using "Bun", I'll use "Large Double Bun Coffee Mug (Rabbit, Bunny, Blue)". Notice I get the necessary key words in while stubbornly maintaining use of "Bun" just because I want to.

4. Update the first few lines of the listing item description to better describe the item. OK, No. I'm just not doing this. I rather like my funny to probably only me sweet or snarky first line of the item descriptions, and I'm not changing them to some dreary keyword loaded dry description. Sometimes you just have to draw a line no matter how pathetically self indulgent and the other changes will have to do.

5. Get some freaking pots in the shop. My sales are always better with a full shop which for me is 3 to 4 pages or 70 to 80 pots. Even pots that have been hanging around for a while start to sell when my shop is full.

I have a few thoughts about renewing existing listings for visibility on Etsy and adding new items, but I think I've babble quite long enough and my brain is starting to hurt so lets leave it for another time.

Changing subjects: Show opening at the Shaw Center in Baton Rouge Saturday night. It's time again for the LSU School of Art Summer Invitational. This summer the theme and title is "Decadence".

Tons of art and great fun to be had by all. Malia the gallery director and her crew always do an amazing job with little budget of making way too much artwork look amazing in the space. Most of the cups above are my contribution to the mix. Get yourself one before they're gone and more importantly, so I don't have to pick any up at show end!

And finally, just when you thought this post might go on forever, This was me a week or so ago:

And not long after:

Locks of Love takes gray hair. Who knew?

Alrighty then. Happy weekend. See y'all next time.

Keeping Myself Amused

2011-06-19T17:46:00.000-05:00

Anyone spending a fair amount of time on Etsy probably can't help but notice trends in items and imagery that hang on often for months at a time. Trends with a phenomenal amount of staying power have been cupcakes (can't argue there; cupcakes are delicious), woodland creatures (super...right up my alley), and mustaches (wait....what?). In the interest of keeping myself amused, sometimes I can't help but join in the fun in my own way.

Yay! All your favorite trends together at last on one piece of pottery!

Recently, however, there's been a fracture in the cupcake mustache dynasty giving way to....

Yes! That's Right! It looks as though "beard" is the new mustache, and "pie" is the new cupcake. The woodland creatures are still trending, but it seems the fox is on shaky ground. Darn....

....and I just added foxes to my repertoire. If bunnies lose favor, I might as well pack up the Etsy shop and go home. heh heh. OK, sorry....I really gotta get out of the studio more...

Speaking of studio:

The carving marathon is currently underway and this is about 3/4 of the lot ready to start. Want to know my dirty little clay secret? I don't love to throw. I only like it. I don't dislike it, and yes, it can be enjoyable I guess, but throwing is a means to get to this point in the process for me. Where as I like conditions to be just right when I need to do a lot of throwing (preferably morning, good music, etc), I can assemble and carve pretty much anytime and enjoy it. Looks like it should be a good week ahead :)

Time again for tiresome pet pictures. This is Brutus, the latest pet addition bringing us to a grand total of two bad dogs and two outdoor kitties.

He came to us skinny and starving, but as you can see, we've remedied that, and his stress levels seem to be under control. It took a couple months for he and the bad dogs to come to terms, but we're all one big happy family now. Brutus has appointed himself chief greeter of the reptilian wildlife visitors:

Brutus and the slider

Brutus and the speckled king

Imagine my surprise when I shooed Brutus away to let the snake be on its way, it slithered up into the wall of the laundry room. Certainly made trips to the washer and dryer more exciting that week.

Alrighty then. Time to get back to it. See y'all next time.

Updating The Shop And Some Other Stuff

2011-06-04T16:59:00.001-05:00

OK, I'm back. Did y'all miss me? What? You didn't know I was gone? Well, I wasn't really gone, but was a bit under the weather last week and didn't feel like meeting my "update the blog once a week at least" goal. You know the routine -- not blah enough that you can't function, but blah enough that it slows you down, and you feel pretty put upon about the whole thing. Anyway, the pots got fired and the SHOP got updated. There is, of course, the cute stuff....

The odd stuff....

And then the cute odd stuff....

And then there is the Coupon Code. I haven't done one of these before, but I joined another Etsy team, Studio Potter Archive, and low and behold, showed up as "Thursday SPA Featured Potter". So if you're in a shopping mood, go visit HERE and get the coupon code for 15% off your purchase, good through Monday, 6/6, or maybe a little longer if I forget to deactivate it. How's that for shameless self promotion.

Outside of studio happenings, the bad dogs and I have made the switch to summer hours which means we walk the long walk in the morning now before 8am and spend about an hour working in the yard (um...usually) before studio to beat the heat. I don't so much garden as run damage control with weeding and pulling vines my main focus, but one day I hope to get my act together and garden again with veggies and all that. In the meantime, I settle for small excitements like the hydrangea flowering...

How fun. One pink flower on an otherwise blue hydrangea. I didn't know it could do that on the same plant.

And look...

This beautiful pendant arrived from Canada this week to brighten up my day, week, and month. I made a really great trade with metalsmith extraordinaire Andes Cruz. Kind of feel like I got the better end of the deal! Thanks my friend.

Let's see...what else. Oh yeah, we got a new cat!

We call him Mr. Bitey.

Alrighty then. We're having 100 F days and the worst drought around here in 30 years, and a thunderstorm just conjured itself up out of the oppressive heat and humidity, so I'm going to go enjoy. See y'all next time.

***A little FYI. Blogger won't let me leave comments right now on my own blog and most others, although occassionally I seem to be able to trick it into letting me leave one annonymously, but it's hit or miss. This has been happening for about two weeks. (I'm trying not to take it personally as Blogger's critique of my writing skills :) Thanks for stopping by and for your comments if you're able. I'm still reading and enjoying your blogs even if I can't say so!

May Blog-o-sphere Think Tank Group

2011-05-20T11:00:00.013-05:00

The following quote from Chuck Close made the rounds a while back. I found it on another clay blog, and while I haven't seen this exact version while looking again today, the others are similar. Perhaps Close just likes to deride "waiting for inspiration" at every opportunity as there are numerous inspiration quotes by him floating around out there. Anyway, some folks liked it, and some hated it probably because the opening line is a little obnoxious. I'm picturing old Chuck growling, "Inspiration is for amateurs," and flicking his cigarette on the ground in disgust. Actually, the "amateurs" part isn't what interests me. The rest of the quote is:

"Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work and the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will, through work, bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never dream up if you were just sitting around looking for a great art idea. And that a belief in that the process, in a sense, is liberating and that you don't have to reinvent the wheel everyday. Today you know what you will do, you could be doing what you were doing yesterday and tomorrow you are going to do what you did today and at least for a certain period of time if you can just work to hang in there, you will get somewhere."

I'm one of those who liked it. I didn't like it out of some misguided disdain for seeking inspiration - do whatever works for you - but because artistically, I'm not a natural. There is no good reason that I should be a potter today except for a willingness to keep at it and believe that pots I could feel ~~good~~ OK good about at least sometimes would eventually emerge if I just kept working. Hunting for inspiration doesn't work for me. If I ever expect to come up with another idea or even just cure a bout of studio apathy, I have no choice but to just show up and start wedging*.

Visit the other blog-o-sphere participating member blogs:

Andes Cruz: http://www.andescruz.wordpress.com/

Brad Severtson: http://hammeringoutaliving.blogspot.com/
Kathleen Krucoff: http://mysticalmythicalmetalwork.wordpress.com/
Wendy Kelly: http://www.wendykianakelly.com/
Mary Spencer:http://www.wattoonline.com/news
Stephanie Clark: http://thethinkingsofacoldweathergirl.blogspot.com/
Laura Flavin: http://www.modernbirdjewelry.blogspot.com/
Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/
Thomasin Durgin: http://metalriot.blogspot.com/
Shaun Young: http://shaunyoung.ca/
Kathryn Cole: http://www.kathryncolejewelry.blogspot.com/

Natsuko Hanks: http://jewelrybynatsuko.blogspot.com/

(*for my non pottery friends, "wedging" is a way of kneeding the clay to prepare it to use)

Making Peace With Cute

2011-05-16T15:06:00.000-05:00

Recently I was talking with an artist friend at an art fair here in town, and she mentioned that she hates it when people call her work "cute". Cute isn't really the right description for her sculpture, and I think sometimes art fair patrons simply want to make a positive comment of sorts and don't always have a wide range of accurate adjectives in their art observation repertoire kit. Still, as a maker of frequently and sometimes painfully cute pots, I get it. Cute is kind of a four letter word in art, and it used to bother me too. I spent years consciously working to keep my animal imagery in a more serious realm through graceful lines and stoically expressionless creatures. They were nice pots, and it's all a journey and all that, but I'm happier making what I make now. I enjoy the process and the imagery keeps me amused. Truthfully, I don't actually TRY to make cute work....

...well, ok, except for maybe the kitties...

...and seriously... all those hearts....what's up with that?

I think if anything, the poor critters look nervous, puzzled, or annoyed with each other half the time as opposed to cute.

Heh...I get a kick out of the interaction between the animals when pots are displayed together.

The pots reflect what's going on in my head, and I'm making things I want to see. Either that or I'm spending way to much time by myself.

Ok, really? Conjoined bunnies? You want to see that?

Why yes. Yes I do.

It's something or another about combining cute and odd and is it still cute,

but that's another story.

So sometimes I'm going for pretty; Often I see them as humorous;

And if I trip over "cute" along the way there, well then I guess they'll just have to be cute.

Ok, see? Now THAT'S cute.

New pots in the SHOP this coming weekend. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

See y'all next time.

A Happy Yesterday In May

2011-05-06T17:36:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, Chip the recovering potter and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. We've been together 25 years, and sometimes it's hard to remember when we weren't.

My goodness...look how young we look. Me with my long curly perm and Pier 0ne drop waist dress (yep, Pier 0ne once sold clothes way back in the day), and Chip in the same clothes he might have been seen bar tending in any given night of the week. I sent him out to shop for something new to wear for our big day, but the trip was futile....bless his ADHD little heart. Anyways, it was a wonderful time. Lots of friends and family attended. We had our good friend ordained through the back of a magazine to perform the wedding and a crawfish boil reception immediately followed his proclamation, "I now pronounce you married. Let's party!" So the rain held off, the crawfish were awesome, the keg floated, and a good time was had by all.

Some of you know from this, I have a history of making my husband gifts for special occasions, and this anniversary is no exception.

What doesn't say "I love you" like a commemorative plate with conjoined hogs sharing a heart. I guess sometimes it seems like we're joined at the hip. What can I say? We enjoy each other's company.

Anyways, thanks to my best friend and love of my life for the best 25 years. Let's go for 25 plus more.

Cheers!

Getting Nothing Done

2011-04-29T18:45:00.001-05:00

Friday already. The week flew by. I was busy all week...I'm sure of it, but seems like there isn't much to show for it. I guess some days, or you know, weeks, are like that. Still, the "animal halves" lidded jars from the last time have been decorated.

As have these....

And then there are these....

So maybe I accomplished more than I thought. I just didn't finish what I thought I would so that equates to dramatic palm smacking of forehead and great gnashing of teeth all the while dramatically lamenting, "I got nothing done!" ....I like it. Ok, I'm going with that.

Lastly, Paul Kowalchuk of Studio Potter Archive was kind enough to include me in his article on Etsy top potters. Modesty instilled by a catholic midwestern upbringing forces me to question my inclusion, but I'm grateful none the less. Paul describes SPA as a privately held collection paying homage to the studio potter and as a work in progress. You can check out his article HERE.

Alright then. The LSU baseball team is on TV in minutes and there's a Shiner Bock calling my name. Happy weekend. See you next time.

Back To Pots In Progress And Tiresome Pet Pictures

2011-04-22T17:39:00.000-05:00

After two group blog posts in a row, I thought it'd be good to end the week with studio stuff. The small lidded jars with animal figures are well under way.

I guess they aren't so much animal figures as animal torsos or would it be busts? They do have heads after all. I think busts technically end after the shoulders, so maybe these are animal halves (really? animal halves?).

OK, maybe the front jar above might count as just animal heads. No shoulders or legs present.

It looks like the hog at right is the only full figure. The rest are animal halves. Hmmm....sounds a little macabre. I should probably leave that off the Etsy descriptions. Anyway, moving on. The pitchers have their handles and have been carved too.

The pitcher above on the right is darted where the handle is attached. The idea was to give the handle more of a defined area to snuggle into, but I think it might be a little awkward where it bumps out at the bottom. I think I might prefer the one on the left that is simply altered by pushing in where the handle is attached. Less over worked maybe? Snort. Ha Ha Ha. KIDDING! All my pots are over worked. But the dart still looks like an obvious alteration just because I can that doesn't really enhance anything. I also think I like the continuous surface up to the rim on the pitcher at left as opposed to the larger defined rim on the bunny pitcher. Did that make sense? I can't seem to find my words today.

I've mostly pulled handles off the rims of pitchers previously, but wanted to start using the the same style handle I use on mugs. The handles might be a little over sized this go round. I don't think it's that bad visually (or is it?), but functionally, they might be harder to lift and pour when filled if they stick out like elephant ears.

I think, I think, I think. How 'bout some tiresome pictures of the fur babes!

This is Puj0ls, one of the dear little outdoor kitties, helping me photograph the basil (mmm....pesto) and the fire pit. I'm allergic to kitties and never thought I'd have a cat, but she showed up as a wee little kitten so of course, I had to feed her and then it was all over. She is indeed named after the ball player Albert because before she officially chose us, she'd always show up MEOWING when we'd be on the screen porch watching the Cards beat my team, the Astr0s at the moment Albert came to the plate. OK, that and the fact that Chip, the recovering potter, and our friend Valerie have the combined sense of humor of 12 year olds, and they thought naming her what sounded like pooholes was the funniest thing ever. *sigh.

The bad dogs awaiting their walk....

Alright then, see you next time. Happy hour is fast approaching and them pots aint gonna decorate themselves.

And happy bun day too.

April Blog-o-sphere Think Tank Group Blog

2011-04-20T11:00:00.025-05:00

Having a mind like a steel colander, my favorite book is often narrowed down to the last book I’ve read. I can name plenty of books I know I’ve enjoyed, just don’t ask me for a synopsis as you’ll only be disappointed with my stammering incoherent loss for words. The most recent book I’ve read is Just Kids by Patti Smith chronicling the relationship between Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe and their devotion to each other and art in late 60’s and 70’s New York. I found their drive and determination, the whole 'showing up in New York with nothing' to start living for their art to be an amazing story. I’d call it inspiring as well except I like having a house with a bathroom and things like that, so I'm probably not cut out to follow the path they took....uh, not that there is great demand on the NY art scene for potters who carve puppies and bunnies and kitties on their pots anyway. The who’s who of artists, writers, and musicians they encounter in their assent to fame is fascinating too. Before reading this book I didn't realize Smith was first and foremost a poet and visual artist before a performer.

Still, while Just Kids is a good read and fresher in my mind, I think I have to go with Wise Blood by Flannery O’Conner as favorite. It has been a couple decades since I’ve read O’Conner’s southern gothic novel featuring Hazel Motes and his Church Without Christ, but phrases and images in the book have stuck with me over the years the same way one might repeat favorite lines from a movie. Perhaps it’s the twelve years of catholic school and a transplantation to the deep south that took years to acclimate to that are part of the draw. After all, how can you argue with “nobody with a good car needs to be justified” or forget images conjured up by a high rat (high rat?) colored car and Motes’ glare blue suit. I still visualize the suit as being the same glare blue as my bedroom in a particularly dilapidated student apartment I was living in when I first read the book. Taking a trip over to wikepedia to refresh my memory has me realize I’ve forgotten a good bit more than I thought. I think it could be time to dust that book off again.

Visit the other Blog-o-sphere member blogs:
Andes Cruz: http://andescruz.wordpress.com/

Kathleen Krucoff: http://mysticalmythicalmetalwork.wordpress.com/

Brad Severtson; http://hammeringoutaliving.blogspot.com/

Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/

stephanie clark: http://www.thethinkingsofacoldweathergirl.blogspot.com/

Wendy Kelly: http://www.wendykianakelly.com/

Andrea Bell: http://feathersfreesiasandfishingtackle.blogspot.com/
Shaun Young: http://shaunyoung.ca/

The April Talk About Blog

2011-04-15T11:00:00.038-05:00

I'm a member of the Handmade Division team, a supportive network of Etsy artists working in a variety of disciplines. Each month those members who choose to participate will write about the same topic. You can read the other members' blogs by following the links at the end of this post.

The April Talk About Blog topic is: What's the most precious handmade or sentimental gift you've received and why?

My mother was a creative person. She attended art school, although like many women of her day, she directed her creativity toward her family life once married. She embroidered lovely needlework pictures and pillows and keepsake ornaments that I still have today. An accomplished seamstress, she sewed countless beautiful dresses and outfits for her five daughters for occasions ranging from the first day of school to the high school prom. A trip to the fabric store to pick out fabric when it was your turn to be sewn for was a wonderful thing. Yet it's these mugs I remember from my childhood that I treasure most.

Mom decorated these at a "paint your own" style ceramics class she attended with neighborhood ladies.

Eventually they disappeared as years past and her cabinets filled with my ceramic efforts regardless of skill level. Many years later and long out of school while home for a visit, I found them hidden away, unused, in the back of a cabinet. They were as pretty as I remembered, so artfully painted, and I asked if I could have them. She was both surprised and pleased that her daughter, the potter, would want them.

She has been gone four years now and with her absence, they have become almost too precious. Their use is less frequent as breaking one might break my heart. Still they make their way out of the cabinet at notable times. They must be used because that's what potters do. To use them is to feel the connection and remember and be comforted.

Coffee with Mom

Participation is a wee bit light this month, but...

Visit other Handmade Division participating team member blogs:

Andes Cruz http://andescruz.wordpress.com/

Rickson Jewellery: www.RicksonJewellery.blogspot.com

A Little Whining, A Few Pots, And A Bit of Spring

2011-04-11T17:23:00.000-05:00

Last week was a bit lackluster in studio. Between the tax time need to gather a years worth of disorganization together, all the procrastination that goes with that task, and the general malaise that settled in, I have to admit that productivity might have suffered a bit. Waaa. Let's move on, yes? So, I threw some pots to round out the next kiln full. Sometimes I tend to get sucked into focusing on just what sells: mugs, big mugs, mug and cups, cups and mugs, more mugs, more mugs than that. I haven't made pitchers in a while so I threw a few of those.

A few pitchers with base of bunny jar looking on.

Same pitchers after altering.

The left and right pitcher are just squished around, and the center

pitcher is darted.

Adding to the mix, I also threw a bunch of small lidded jars that will get animal figures, or maybe just their heads (wait, what?) on top. There were also the usual last minute custom request mugs to squeeze in. Lucky for me, I like to make mugs.

So lastly, Spring is definitely here with Summer hot, literally, on its tail. The azaleas put on a nice show, but are already finished for the year.

I spotted my first stinging caterpillar of the season the other day.

They aren't aggressive but often materialize in such numbers that you're bound to step on one or grab a tool with one crawling on it and then.....Ouch. There are numerous home remedies for the pain and swelling that range from slathering it with butter to peeing on it. The sting, not the caterpillar. Um...ick. I choose to suffer.

And on that note, see you next time. Oh wait....one more thing.

Happy happy bad dogs. This makes me smile.

A Very Small Fundraiser, Part II

2011-04-08T17:26:00.000-05:00

The very small fundraiser for Japan from last post went well. All eleven mugs sold in about a week, and I was able to make a donation to Americares Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami Relief for $215. The buyers were a combination of friends, return customers, and some folks new to the shop as well.

So THANK YOU to all who were able to participate.

I appreciate your generosity and support!

A Very Small Fundraiser for Japan

2011-03-29T14:15:00.000-05:00

I'd like to do more, but this is what I can do....

I made some small mugs for my on-line shop with 100% of the $18 asking price going to AmeriCares for their Earthquake And Tsunami relief efforts. AmeriCares has received a 4 star rating from Charity Navigator, an independent charity evaluator.

There are 11 of these little eight ounce guys. I wanted to keep the price affordable and perhaps encourage those on limited budgets to play along. It's a bit of an experiment. If I sell them all, it's more than I would have been able to afford to donate on my own.

If it doesn't work, well, I guess everybody know what they're getting for Christmas. Still, it can't hurt to try, right?

I'll let you know how it all works out. Fingers crossed. Time to walk the bad dogs. See ya next time.

Visit my on-line shop HERE

Slow Learning

2011-03-23T15:52:00.000-05:00

Unloaded a glaze kiln last Friday and took pictures, did the inevitable editing, and started listing in the Etsy shop. It's a bit mind numbing, but I amuse myself thinking up clever, snarky descriptions for the listings that in the end, I know better than to use. I don't mind it actually. I enjoy seeing the shop updated and watching the sales start rolling in.....or, you know....dribbling in as it were.

So anyway, here is the FAIL piece from the last post all finished and fired up fancy like.

TA DA!

Nope. Still a fail.

I knew pretty early on it had issues, but yet continued to trim, assemble, add big strappy handles as camouflage for poor proportions (it kind of worked...what? no? ok then), carve, decorate, and finally fire it into glorious ceramic permanence. After all these years I know that piling on the embellishments can't save a weak pot, but I tried it anyways. Again. Time would have been better spent throwing more parts, experimenting, tossing the clearly misguided. In other words, taking the time to work the ideas through before rushing to the finish. Ah well, some of us are slow learners.

And fortunately it's breakable.

But wait.......

I just knew it could be saved!

Naaa.

If you want to see some stuff that made the cut, visit my shop HERE.

Like Watching Paint Dry

2011-03-11T18:51:00.000-06:00

Finished decorating a kiln load of pots yesterday, and now I'm going to try to be a grown up and not rush the drying or fire them damp. It's porcelain which can be finicky, after all. Ok, I might fire them damp. I can only be so patient.

My big kiln isn't that big so this will fill it. Mostly. Probably wasn't super careful about

making the right size pieces for a good fit.

Bun and bees bowl...

A couple loving cup inspired vases.

These pots should be finished some time next week...

Wow. Except for this one. What a colossal FAIL. The base is too wide and the handles too ridiculous for the size of the body. The camera angle makes this less obvious, but trust me on this one. It belongs in the slop bucket. I'd toss it right now, but I'm feeling another blog post coming on about no amount of embellishment being able to save a bad form. We'll see.

I'm not entirely sure what this is all about, but these conjoined animals have been showing up in my sketchbook and here they are. Clearly, I'm trying to scare off my established customers that look to me for CUTE. I don't know. Still kind of cute.

Uh oh, they've migrated to coffee mugs.

Bayou Madonna isn't paying attention and Kitty is rolling her eyes at the

whole conjoined animals thing.

Alright then, happy weekend and see you next time.

Featured

2011-03-07T08:14:00.000-06:00

Suzy's Artsy-Craftsy Sitcom blog has featured my zombie kitty coffee mug in her Monday Etsy Madness kitty inspired post.

You can visit her blog HERE . Thanks Suzy!

The Yard and Yard Art

2011-03-01T15:05:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, summer tried to rear its ugly head as the thermometer hit 86F IN FEBRUARY. I realize those of you shoveling snow have little sympathy, but living in a climate where daytime temps park in the 90s from June through September, we're just not in a hurry to zip through spring. Fortunately, it dropped into the mid 40s last night and today it's....OK don't throw anything at me....65 and sunny. Beautiful. Heading outside I was extra excited to see the japanese magnolia finally starting to flower.

We just planted it early last summer so this is its first time flowering. I love the look of the bare tree flowering before it gets leaves. Of course this lovely symbol of spring also means my nemesis, the asian jasmine, will start growing again too.

Actually, it never really stops growing down here. It only slows down during the winter. It's not an ugly vine, but it's incredibly invasive and difficult to corral. People plant it as ground cover without realizing it will grow up the side of the house, into the trees, and swallow everything in its path. Ours came with the house. You can't get rid of it without creating a Superfund site or taking a back hoe to your property, but mowing, pulling, and digging up provide temporary relief. I let it get out of control (again) and need to launch another counter attack. For now though, it's sunny and 65 and I'm just going to look the other way and la dee da dee da dee da....you're not a problem if I don't see you!... and save it for another day.

Finally, in the yard art department, who doesn't need a big pink bunny in their front yard?

We got this big bun from Leanne McClurg Cambric when she got tired of having him in her front yard. She made him as a class demo years ago. His head lifts off and for a fleeting moment I thought about using him inside to store the dog food, but how could I deprive my husband of the joy he gets from giving directions to our house as "we're the last house on the left with the big pink bunny in the front yard."

Every month the neighborhood civic association plants a "Yard of the Month" sign in someones yard in recognition of a yard well done. We think this might finally be our year :)

Time to walk the bad dogs. See ya next time.

PLATE IT UP

2011-02-24T10:20:00.001-06:00

The 100 Artist Show: Plate It Up, presented by the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery and benefiting the Craft Emergency Relief Fund is still accepting bids on plates numbered 91-133 until 5:30 pm PST, Friday, February 25. Get more information to bid or just admire all the donated plates HERE. After Katrina (and Rita) tore through the gulf region in 2005, CERF came to the assistance of many artists in Louisiana, Mississippi, and beyond. I feel privileged to have been able to donate the plate below to the auction:

#113 Sourpuss

Mary Lou Zeek has also done a wonderful job of compiling a Plate It Up! book through Blurb and you can view the whole book HERE.

Dead Dogs

2011-02-18T15:08:00.000-06:00

You see it's all part of the bad dogs' cunning plan. If they remain completely

motionless around the bird feeder long enough, those thieving squirrels are bound

to return, and WHEN THEY DO.......!!!!

happy weekend y'all.

The February Talk About Blog

2011-02-14T11:31:00.001-06:00

I recently joined the Handmade Division team, a supportive network of Etsy artists working in a variety of disciplines. Each month those members who choose to participate will write about the same topic. You can read the other members' blogs by following the links at the end of this post.

The February Talk About Blog topic is: What's the most romantic piece you've ever made and why?

I’ve never been accused of making romantic pots. They’ve been called cute, sweet, funny, the dreaded “interesting”, and in some cases irreverent or downright sacreligious. But romantic? No. Still, I make gifts for my husband of 20 years often enough and because I make them specifically for him -- not pulled from a studio shelf full of inventory -- perhaps the accumulation of these little gifts might be described as romantic.

Sometimes the goal is to make him laugh and revolves around one of our many

inside jokes.

Often they acknowledge his latest obsession.

Other pieces celebrate our little family consisting of the fur babes and us.

(yes, we are one of those tiresome childless couples who

treat their pets like their kids)

At any rate, this stack (and this isn't all of it!) isn't getting any smaller regardless of its

breakability. My hints that maybe some of the older pieces of questionable quality could

move on from our home are ignored. He holds onto them all, and many are used often.

I suppose the stack will continue to grow...

This weekend he baked me cookies even though he

DOES NOT BAKE!

How cute and sweet and better than "interesting". Kind of romantic too I think.

...Happy Valentine's Day

Visit the other Handmade Division participating team member blogs:

Rickson Jewellery: http://www.ricksonart.blogspot.com/

andes cruz http://andescruz.wordpress.com/

Jewelry by Natsuko: http://jewelrybynatsuko.blogspot.com/
Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/

The Periodontist, Lunch, and The Handmade Division

2011-02-11T09:34:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I visited my nemesis, The Periodontist, and after an excruciating hour in the chair in which my teeth and gums were "attended to" within an inch of my very existence, they praised me for my extraordinary oral hygiene and gave me a pass until next October. Okay, she is actually a wonderful doctor employing really nice and capable hygienists who never fail to ask about how the pottery is going and compliment my shoes. Seriously, a pretty fair amount of shoe talk goes on probably to distract from the looming dental "attention". Anyways, I headed home after an hour of pure fun and as lunch time rolled around I was fairly hungry but still feeling quite tender from the morning adventure. So this is what I had for lunch:

Yes, PB & J cut up into small bites and a cup of milk. I don't think I've had a lunch that looked like that since I was four years old. In case you potters out there are curious, the plate is a late 80s Linda Arbuckle majolica sandwich plate from her time teaching at LSU. The mug was made by husband Chip, the recovering potter, probably late 90s during nursing school since it looks all about his sense of humor (yeah that's a chicken of the classic rubber chicken variety) and not much like the beautiful but squeaky tight functional stoneware pots he made for a living.

Finally, I recently joined The Handmade Division, a supportive network of Etsy artists aspiring for more with their craftsmanship and a great group to get to know. The artists come from a variety of disciplines, but jewelers make up most of the group. Their work is gorgeous and amazing, and I'm still trying to figure out what possessed them to ask me to join. I'm guessing they needed to up their silliness quotient. The Handmade Division has opened an Etsy team shop and you can get a sneak peak from the Etsy Mini at right or visit the whole shop here!

Featured

2011-02-09T11:47:00.000-06:00

Sugarsticks Parties has featured my coffee mug in their "Quirky Valentine's Day" post!

You can visit their blog here

Thanks Y'all!

Pots In Progress

2011-02-05T18:21:00.000-06:00

I think I love carving on pots the most.

Add a little (okay, alot) of color.

Sometimes I don't know when to stop :)

Some are so sweet they almost make your teeth hurt.

You can see them finished here!

Let Me Show You Around

2011-02-03T18:51:00.000-06:00

Thanks for checking out my first ever post on my first ever blog. I suppose I should show you around the place.

This is my little Katrina silver lining studio built in 2006. It came to be after our home was smacked by a tree the morning Katrina blew through in August, 2005. It was a difficult experience mainly because of the insurance company, but we counted our blessings because way way more people had it way way worse. Long story short, the awesome architect/contractor who rebuilt the squished side of our house was able to conjure this up from the damaged pre-existing RV port. It's not the largest studio I've ever had, but it has heat and AC and running water and I love it. It looks a little dreary because it's winter and yes, I know the cypress needs another sanding and sealing. Those are my bad dogs looking out the door.

...and this is the studio back porch. My husband Chip, the recovering potter, built the deck. If he had his way, the whole yard would be filled with floating decks and seating areas even though the heat, humidity, and mosquitos make sitting outside somewhat undesirable during the summer months.

And this is my work table. Holy cow, what a mess. I'll show you the rest of the studio another time.....perhaps after I've cleaned up.

See you next time :)