Eclectics Gallery

"Pucker Up" Eclectics Gallery Opening

7015 Oak, 64113 KCMO

Friday, Jan. 30th 5 to 8 p.m.

I am excited to announce that I have just become a partner in Eclectics Gallery. It is an Artist CoOperative that has been in the same spot near Waldo for 18 years.

Eclectics carries variety of handmade treasures by area artists including paintings, pottery, knitting, sculpture, jewelry, cards and more. This Friday will be my first show with the group and I have some pretty pink and orange pottery on hand for the event. Please join us for an evening of good company, art and refreshments if you are able.

Pendants Galore

I have been working on these pendants in my studio all morning. It is surprising how much time these little things take. Lots of sanding and sponging involved to get the shape just right. Then I glaze and fire, add the silver bails and string them on suede cording. The ones in the top pic are ready for a bisque firing. I have a few of them for sale in my etsy shop right now .

Cave Woman Makes Coil Pots

I am still having trouble with my photography. I went downstairs today to set up and realized there is no power for my lights. My husband is remodeling the basement and the power is shut off. He is planning to take over the entire basement and make it into an entertainment area, which means my little pottery studio must go. I will be moving to the underground business park where his office his located. That's right, I'll be making pottery in a cave. It is only about 5 miles from the house and I am looking forward to getting the mess and dust out of my basement. I think the underground will be great for pottery as the humidity level is always high. I am sure I will have to create some kind of dry area for finished work and for storage of glazes and such. The move is probably still a month or so down the road. I will keep you posted.

Since I couldn't proceed with my photography plans I worked a bit on these big coil pots. They are about 15 inches tall right now. They have been in progress for couple of weeks now and I am getting close to finishing them up. I sure hope they make it through the bisque fire. They are made from recycled clay that was a mixture of a bunch of different scrap clay. I ran out of clay twice and had to wedge up more, so there are actually 3 different mixtures in these pots. These are probably doomed to cracking, but I will dry slowly and keep my fingers crossed.

Ellie May

This morning I spent quite a bit of time taking photos of new work for my etsy site. Not a single one of those shots is usable. They are all way too dark. If I adjust the levels, the bright spots blow completely out. Photography has to be the most frustrating part of having an online shop. Last time I did a little photo session I thought I was really figuring things out. Now I feel like I am back as square one. I will try again later today and hopefully get my new items posted. Anyway, on my way upstairs to upload my new items to etsy, I captured this shot of my sweet little puppy Ellie May (aka "tiny dog"). She is a long haired chihuahua, almost 3 years old and weighs about 4 1/2 lbs. I just adore her. In order to keep this post relevant to pottery and not go off on a tangent about my dog, I made sure to include the handmade dog dishes in the shot.

Large Bowl Just Glazed

I spent the morning at the kitchen table again, too cold to go downstairs. I glazed 3 bowls. This one is my favorite. It is a biggy and should hold 10-12 cups after firing. It is glazed very simply in green and purple. I think it looks pretty in the shadow from the sunny window which kept my back warm while I worked. I will finish loading the kiln today and fire it up first thing in the morning. Now I am heading off to Heartland Bead Market to get findings for my new pendants.

Etsy Front Page Loveliness

This lovely treasury was featured on the front page of etsy this morning. It was created by fellow potter and Etsy Mud Team member ginpins. Ginpins kindly included my bright green dip bowl. What a nice surprise.

At the Kitchen Table

It is 6 degrees here in Liberty, MO. Too cold to work in the basement I think, even with the space heater. I packed up a little crate of bisque and an assortment of glazes and brought it up to the kitchen table. I am glazing the little cupcake stands from my last bisque firing and enjoying some peppermint tea from a cup by Larry Brow. I went to Second Saturdays at Bracker's last weekend for his workshop. He does great double walled vessels, which inspired me to try that for myself. Stay tuned for double walled votive holders now on the drying rack. Larry also makes these amazing full-sized, functional and very comfortable armchairs entirely from clay. He started a chair in the workshop, but I just couldn't visualize it so I went to Diane's Artisan Gallery to see the real thing, very cool. While in Lawrence I stopped by the Phoenix Gallery which is full of a variety of excellent pottery from all over the US. All in all, an wonderful day.

Green Speckled Mug

I was very pleased with my latest firing. I love the way the glaze combination on this particular mug turned out. The cream and green blend beautifully where they meet. This is departure in color for me. Most of my pottery is very bright and shiny, but I like this earthy, matt glaze a lot. I was able to photograph and get a bunch of new pottery listed on etsy today. I think I fianlly found the right setting on my camera, "low light without flash". I just cropped the pics and made a very slight adjustment in brightness and they were ready to go.

Wobbly Stack of Little Plates

My blog has been very gray lately. Lots of greenware, clay and unglazed bisque. Here is something to brighten it up. This is a set of plates I made around Christmas. They are all slightly different sizes, some are trimmed and some aren't so they make a wobbley little stack. Behind them are some of the bisqued mugs that did not make it into yesterday's firing. My kiln is cooling right now. In it are a bunch of mugs, a few little plates and two largish bowls. I threw the bowls a long time ago, but never glazed them. I have been trying to figure out what to do with them. I decided to try glaze carving and refiring with a black glaze on top. I can't wait to see how they take the glaze later today.