the dove series

I think it's the coo-ing that thy do, that simple song of a majestic dove, the magical gentleness that calls my curiosity. I've watched them for literally hours, how they share the household duties of nest building and egg sitting, and take turns foraging while the other stays home.

One speaks and the other listens. They mate for life.

Sometimes it seems that my imagination takes wings with them as they soar to that nest in the pines. They own twigs and grass and each other and not a single other thing. I  imagine this in my clay pieces, where doves are gathering, more every day! My clay doves are informed by my winged beauties, and by Leonard Cohen's music where pathos is a prayer and comfort runs deep.

Artisans Gallery Team

From top: ring by Markhed, vest by LoveandKnit, pottery by oneblackbird, clock by PaulaArt,   painting by StudioZen.

As the snowstorms raged and birds clung to our feeders like jewels of life outlined by white death, I dreamed into existence the Artisans Gallery Team on Etsy, in partnership with the talented and intelligent MerrittHyde. Okay... maybe it wasn't quite that simple or graceful, and yes, it took hours and days of endless lists and secretarial prowess (which I possess in scarcity) but in the end I see a team of extreme talent and professionalism that exceeds my original vision. If you visit the team blog or search the team tag, agteam, you will see what I mean!

We are a juried team of artisans of distinction, vetted by peers for excellence in design, skill, presentation, integrity, and customer service. Our team will offer buyers an online experience akin to shopping in a gallery by creating a marketplace of high quality, exceptionally skilled artisans. As an international team, with volunteer translators, we are a network aligned to promote the goals of the Handmade Revolution, to connect and support each other across language and geographic barriers, and to recognize and encourage professional standards and unique artistic voices.

I hope that you will sense, as I do, the individual artistic voice of each member, and find joy in discovering the members of our team.

separate and unique magic

I'm in the Voter: Valentine's Gifts for Her. These are my thrown white bottle vases as a set. The tallest one is a full 12". I love how majestic and Zenlike this set is. I love to use them with flowers because you really only need a few to create magic. Look at what they do for carnations- what Charlotte on Sex and the City called "filler flowers."

Rather than cram a handfull of rare blooms into one vase, the bottle vases let each one glorious individual life reveal its separate and unique magic.

I'd love your vote!

Special Delivery: Share Your Love

 

I am in love with 2D collage, and when the scrapbooking craze started, it had me at hello. When I ran across Etsy's call for Valentine's Day cards to be delivered with Meals on          Wheels, my neglected piles of paper, pens, and punches cried out to be used. So here are some of my offerings, being mailed to Brooklyn today.

I wanted to do something that used my pottery, and I work hard to stage my photos for every season, so I printed out small pics of my bowls with the M&M hearts for each card, using the pithy phrase 'you "bowl" me over.' Then with punched hearts and circles, torn edge strips and mats, I created individual little collaged  cards.   I also used hand writing and doodles so that they look handmade and one of a kind. I love knowing that they will brighten someone's day.  

I once visited a large nursing home on Christmas with the Holiday Project, which was organized around knowing that suicide is high on holidays when those who feel left out of the merriment  experience depression. We were singing a rendition of Silent Night that would no doubt give Simon Cowell nightmares, when an older gentleman said, in a croaking voice, "Merry Christmas." The staff dropped jaws, and one nurse cried. The man hadn't uttered a word in 20 years. 

Acts of kindness are powerful. More than we might think.                                                                                     

my work is interfering with my drinking

My husband invited me to a wine tasting event at The Wine Studio of Asheville. Sounds good to me; I love wine, and we keep a nice collection. Then I started trying to recall the last time we'd uncorked a new bottle, and it hit me. We've practically stopped drinking.... how the heck did that happen??!!??

By late last September, my Etsy shop got on steroids somehow. My husband took on a full time job- less flexibility than free lance consultant- and continued to pack and ship my pottery after work. I was working 10 hours in the studio and spending 4 more hours managing my shop. Dinner became a quick sit down event, and our ritual glass of wine got lost in the manic energy to get on with business.

Furthermore, Friday evening used to be wine and cheese night, or saki and sushi. My husband and I either snacked in bed while watching a movie, or ate by the firepit and then laid in the hammock talking into the dark hours. This now seems like a distant memory, although I'm sure we did it last July sometime.

My work is interfering with my drinking. There. I have admitted that I have a problem. Sure, I have tons of cute photos in my Etsy shop, like the one above, but my cabs, merlots, and pinot grigios are neglected.

Connection #4

The brilliant woman behind the Etsy shop, marysgranddaughter, stopped by my home and studio when she was in my town. Cindy met with her publisher in Asheville, and came with her beautiful daughter and mom. They were also touring an NC college, which makes her Connections series exquisitely autobiographical. As she writes in her description

"This series explores the connection between mother and daughter and the equally joyful and painful process of a child getting ready to leave home.

"Connection no. 4 is embroidered in slate and plum and dusty olive on beautiful homespun linen that is between 80-120 years old. There is a red and blue thread connecting the hearts of the two women symbolizing that no matter how far apart they are their profound connection remains."

I love the metaphors in her pieces- the threads that connect, the separate frame for each woman, the arm which extends in 3D. She has caught the power of presence  in her folk art style of rendering her figures, chosen a media passed down from her grandmother, and creates conceptual pieces in a sophisticated contemporary vein.

Our visit was way too short! My daughter is the same age as hers, we share similar experiences in our art and marketing, and I loved her descriptions of her hometown of Gainesville, Fl. I hope to have the privilege of spending more time with this talented artist and new friend.

The internet can seem so unreal; impersonal. I have a new sense of what makes human connections, and of how our individual stories live in each other.

OneClayBead

I have been dreaming of making my OneClayBead jewelry for half a year, and now I've carved out the time to do it. I have 5 successful pieces finished after 4 days of messing around with my loot from a wholesale bead show, all using at least one of my own hand formed stoneware clay beads. I could have made $750 in pottery inventory in this amount of time, and have an entire page of customer requests that I am neglecting, but this is something that I need to do. No financial adviser would tell you to stop making successful products and instead fumble around with expensive materials and no production plan. There is, however, a difference between an industrial factory and an artistic soul.

I want to make jewelry that is unlike anyone else's. I like the boho style. I like using natural materials and other people's handmade beads, and I like teaching myself new techniques and using all my various craft skills together.

This ^ is one of my most unique designs, just finished yesterday, and listed here. I macramed 32" of silk and cotton cord with pearls and mother of pearl carved beads. I used one of my own Spiral Heart stoneware beads, and a Tibetan silver and pearl dangle. The model is my daughter's friend, Julia, and I like the shot of her, too. I like using unprofessional models, no make up, and capturing that inner quality.

I'm very pleased with the few pieces I've created. Something intangible and vital gets woven into the strands and strung on cord, and connected to clasps. It relates to, and also informs my claywork.

I wonder if other artists and craftspeople pursue different media. I recommend it highly! If you are not failing over half the time, I assert that you are not truly creating.