Simple pots

It is neat to pack up pots that I have made these days as I am unable to really make any with my big belly:) 

I asked a friend to stop by and let our little ones play together while she packed up my tubs for the carft fair this weekend. Who does that?? It was so kind of her to take time to help me and I am humbled by her gift of time. 

Not much walking on the pathways (that we adore) these days but we will be back out there soon enough.

My solo show is November 21st and 22nd at the HUB on Koksilah Road. Hubby is packing the show and setting up as much as possible and we will be open 10-5 both days. I have decided to reduce the prices for this season as I am taking some time away from my tiny pottery studio while I care for our new infants and my amazing "babybuilding" body. This way I can start fresh when I am able to get back down there once the little ones are all napping  together enough!! 

The HUB is found where Bench Road and Koksilah Road meet. There will be plenty of large "pottery show" signs again this year so we should be easy to find and the building is only a few minutes south of Duncan. 

The New Plan

After trying to have another baby for the last few years, since realizing that our first was such an amazing little person, we are finally pregnant. I spent the first three months very sick to my stomach and with a powerful case of narcolepsy. 

The studio had slowed down to a crawl as I fell asleep at the lunch table, while patting totty's back for his nap, stirring soup, knitting and of course immediately after dinner if I was magically able to make or eat a meal. Now I am back to a bit more of my old pottery self. 

(not my car, haha)

I have let a small stack of custom orders pile up and really get stale before I threw them and it was such a delight to finally glaze and fire a whole batch yesterday. It was our 12 year wedding anniversary and hubby spent several hours on his bike in the glorious weather with his pals and then spent the afternoon with tot so I could finish the orders and load the kiln. We are so lucky to be still negotiating well and happily married despite the statistics (technically i am gen X and he is gen Y so the numbers for wedded bliss are pretty dismal for our cohort). 

A lot of time has been spent training other volounteers to take over all the jobs that I have been doing at the HUB Studio for the last year. When we opened to doors, it was just Franziska and I and there was a lot to do with class registrations, accounting, website, forms and actually teaching. I have tried to seek out people who are really happy doing certain chores that suit them in some way. We have a clay reclaiming voloutneer who is happy for the heavy work in exchange for free access to the studio, she is also perfectly wary of the dangers of clay dust and wears a mask to protect herself.

We found someone that used to do all the books for her own business and was more than happy to take over the money flow and tracking from my rather rudimentary system. I trust her completely with every penny and at our first deadline meeting when we all had to have our receipts in and she would write the cheques, she was prepared and things went smoothly. I have also found someone who will plan and coordinate all the open studio volounteers, someone to do the website and promotions and have a team to keep the glazes in order (don't get me started on the complexities of a glaze committee in a community setting :(

As for the new plan, I am at the Farmers' Market on Saturdays, 9-2. I am doing Arts on the Avenue in Ladysmith next Sunday 10-4. I will be at Christmas Chaos in November here in Duncan and will likely have my Solo Show at the HUB as the Rec Room is just a perfect space to hold a pottery show. I moved the show around a bit over the last few years and I think that if I set the date and print out 

 and hand out post card invites early on so folks can plan to attend it should be okay even though it's out of town a few minutes. We shall see. Of course, hubby will have to do ALL the work for my show as I can barely lift much now and we are just halfway through so I will need to make the plan with him first. 

**on a random miserable note, some asshat stole my handmade chiminea from my front steps, i made it years ago and fired it in the tozan kiln costing over $100 plus an entire night of loading wood into the kiln, i coil built it and then beat it round and built the stand and flange, needless to say i am still very mad that it's gone**

Photos and thoughts in the studio(s)

It has been such a beautiul winter here on Vancouver Island. We have been having the most lovely warm days and strangely frosty nights. I have been trying to balance out my two teaching evenings at the Clay HUB Collective Studio in Cowichan Station and my own precious studio. 

I have started to make travel mugs after we found some very challenging and clever ones while travelling last summer. Racer Dave bought one and has been using it and I started making testers as I sorted out the order for the steps. They are really tricky so I have been putting them away wrapped so they dry unbelievable slowly. There are clays that are thrown, slabbed, pulled and cut so the slow drying time helps the clay cooperate. I have also found a couple of sources of corks for the cleaning hole and some different hole cutters. 

I have also been at the HUB { www.theclayhubcollective.weebly.com } doing the reclaiming, shelf washinf, laundry, kiln work, grand opening (and all the follow up) and really enoying it. I am definately motivated by a little checkmark on my list or a little gold star beside my chores. It is such a wonderful place for folks to share clay and time. I hosted a training and clean up day last sunday for people who would like to become studio volounteer monitors.

January Tidy Up

Cleaning up the studio.

Wipe under the wedging table wiped each ware board, getting rid of the saggy ones.

Washed the thowing batts and shelves underneath.

I take all the bits and pieces out and try to purge what isn't needed and wash the rest.

I took every tool out of the drawers and washed and dried them.

I load the kiln with everything I can and then clear each shelf and scrub.

I wash and rewash all the little nooks and crannies.

Then on to another project.