6th Annual Holiday Sale!

Yummmmm....gingerbread men! Terracotta clay and white slip "icing."

My goodness! It's been nearly a month since my last post here and it literally feels like yesterday.

Much has happened since - much life that is, not as much pottery as I would have liked to happen. Although I really DO underestimate my powers of creation in the studio, so I shouldn't say that. In fact I have made dozens and dozens (maybe even hundreds!) of Yule decorations that are cooling in the bisque kiln right now along with large serving platters and bowls, small personal bowls and a few projects that my student made. I have more to get cooked waiting on the sidelines for now as they are not quite dry. We're talking lidded serving dishes, folks.

Here's the skinny on my upcoming sale just one week away!! EEEEK!

6th Annual Poterie du Lac la Blanche Holiday Sale!
110 Giroux Pvt, Mayo, QC

Saturday, November 8th and Sunday November 9th
From 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. daily

I’ve been working to create many beautiful pieces for holiday gift-giving,
so whether you’re shopping for loved ones or looking for just the right piece as a holiday treat
for yourself, we hope to see you at our little poterie this fall.

Please join us at
Poterie du Lac la Blanche
110 Giroux Pvt., Mayo, QC
Saturday, November 8th and Sunday, November 9th, 2008
From 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. daily
http://www.lablanchepoterie.com/
for directions

Cash and cheques gladly accepted.

Thanks for your support!

It's been awhile.

Yes, it has been awhile. My apologies.

Let me fill you in in why I've been so post-less.

Well, I just needed a good long rest, really. I had my rest in August...if you don't count the day spent in Val-David, packing up my pottery to take home again or the days and days I prepared for a dance workshop at which I taught a drum solo.

Did I mention that I teach belly dance as well as make pots? It's a great job that provides me with a steady income for part of the year. I really love teaching and I love to dance, so what could be better?

Doing both pottery and teaching dance is tiring because they have the same season, which is a lot like a school year.

I begin working in the pottery right after Labour Day.

Belly dance classes begin in the middle of September.

All of the Christmas or fall pottery shows that I'm in this year are over by mid-November.

Some of my classes are done by mid-November but most continue until mid-December.

I get two weeks at the end of each year and two weeks at the beginning of each new year to rest my dance bones. I try to get a leg up on the pots in early January.

From the deepest of winter until spring break I am teaching and potting. Spring break is just one week, but during that week there are no dance classes. I use this week to pot like mad.

Spring to early summer is for potting, dancing and I manage to fit in quite a bit of gardening in too. Flowers make me happy!

My annual summer pottery sale is the weekend nearest to St. Jean Baptiste Day. About one week into July 1001 Pots begins. I'm there opening weekend and I drive to Val-David weekly until mid-August when the exhibition ends.

Pottery making and kiln firing are going on continually from spring break until the 3rd week in July.

So, I've just decided this year, after a terribly unsuccessful string of summer days trying to motivate myself to work, I'll be taking the month of August off. I need to rest, read books, sun bathe, swim, go for walks, eat BBQ, hang out with my cat, weed the garden, sketch the pottery that's been floating around in my head and write new choreographies. And I decided this because I felt completely exhausted when I thought about returning to work right after a quickie 4 day vacation.

I felt guilty for the several false starts with pottery work in August. I felt guilty for not posting here. I prepared well for my dance workshop, but that was all I could manage. I just had to cut myself some slack and realize that I'd been working pretty hard and resting was okay.

I don't just make pottery or show up to teach a class. I have to actively promote my work, be my own secretary, accountant, driver, and manager. I also do heavy lifting, moving, packing and pricing. There are exhibitions, openings and sales to attend. I host and teach two dance workshops each year. There are student recitals and class parties, shows, bazaars, and some workshops and classes where I am the student.

I eased into my time off and re-grouped. It was of great benefit and I felt well rested and ready to get back to work in September.

Since then I have welcomed a pottery student into my wee studio. She is very talented and a really interesting and lovely young woman. I look forward to Saturday mornings with Karine.

I'm currently teaching dance Monday through Thursday in Ottawa at 4 different locations. I teach 8 dance classes each week.

I made a decision yesterday to let one class go, so in 5 weeks I'll be teaching just 7 classes.

I'd been thinking about letting it go for some time and then got an email from my boss saying they're going to cut one of my classes and did I still want to drive out to Nepean to teach for just one hour? Well...no. The cost of gasoline alone eats up 62% of my evening's wage. So this class ends for me in a few short weeks and I'll miss my gals, but this frees up my entire Wednesday. I'm so incredibly happy about this! I desperately need more time with my art.

Here is a picture of a large centrepiece bowl (in the greenware stage) that I finished not too long ago. One of my clients saw it and bought it. Now I just have to bisque it, glaze it and fire it.

Textured bowl sitting on my potter's wheel (in my newly cleaned studio!)

Textured bowl detail

My Babies Are Back

Garden Ladies - from the 1001 Pots exhibition.

My pots are back home! Not all of them, mind you. Some of them went to good homes via 1001 Pots.

The exhibition was rainy and attendance lower than normal so in response 1001 Pots lowered their commission on pieces sold by 2%. It's not a lot, but I think that most other exhibitions wouldn't feel moved to do the same. The weather is uncontrollable, after all.

It's nice to work with a very reasonable and understanding group such as 1001 Pots. After all, Kinya Ishikawa is a working ceramic artist who has been networking and supporting his collegues for the past 20 years or more. He understands.

I didn't get to Val-David often this year, but the times I was there were inspiring. Each year I take away valuable information and learn something new. After all, this craft is as old as humanity. There is much to learn.

Coils Galore! - from the 1001 Pots exhibition.

I Want Candy!

Dreamland awaits

I'll be off to bed soon, but first I'll post some pictures that I took yesterday when I went to Val-David to visit my pots at 1001 Pots Exhibition.

A few days ago, while contemplating my display, I had to oddeset feeling that I'd sort of abandoned my pots in another town far away to be fondled by strangers without me around to talk about how the pot came into being. I felt...guilty. Then the feeling passed. Pots don't have feelings! Do they?

NEW Improved! display - 1001 Pots 2008

Wall o' Mugs - This is just two sections of the wall. There's 1 more. That's a lotta mugs!

Hands down, this is the most gorgeous sculpture this year! If I had $1200.00 I would scoop it up tomorrow! Forgot to note name of artist. My apologies.


Wonderful porcelain swag lamps. This is giving me the incentive I need for an idea I had long ago to make my own wall sconces and lamp shades from the thinest porcelain to show off its translucence.

My bed is calling. More later.

Have Pots, Will Travel

The new pots fresh out of the kiln.

I have new pots! They're cooling down in the kiln. I'm pretty excited about them too! When they are cool enough to pick up without gloves, I will pack them up and take them to sell.

This load of pottery in the kiln was an effort of sheer will. After looking at my display at 1001 Pots I couldn't believe that I had forgotten to make small bowls! When the artist in me kicks in I become unpredictable even to myself. So there I was thinking, "I've got time," every time a new idea popped up through my hands and then pretty soon the date to pack up and go had arrived and I had forgotten about the small bowls (not to mention the teapots)...until I stood back and looked at my display. I looked around at others. Mine was missing....something. *sigh*

So I went home and thought about it, looked at the calendar and it seemed do-able. I kicked my butt all the way into the studio and threw 37 bowls.

They dried for a couple of days, I trimmed foot rings and then waited through the most humid weather for them to dry.

They didn't.

Last Saturday I loaded the leather hard bowls into the little kiln and force dried them and the next day they were ready to fire. The kiln shut off Sunday around 4:30 and then began the wait for the newly bisqued pots to cool enough to unload them.

Early Monday morning I cracked open the kiln and finally around 10:30 I unloaded the pots and got to work sanding, washing, applying wax resist to foot rings and as a design (spirals), letting that dry, applying glaze, waiting for glaze to dry, applying 2nd colour if needed, cleaning the foot rings and finally loading the kiln. I finished loading at 2 a.m. and set the glaze kiln to candle at 200 degrees F. I woke up around 5 a.m. today to check if the pots were dry yet by sticking a mirror inside the kiln (which is cracked open to let the steam out) and seeing if it's foggy. If there's no steam or fog on the mirror, then I can start to fire.

I closed the lid, put the spy plugs in, turned it up and went back to bed. I got up around 9:30 and things were going as planned. The weather held out the entire day. Blackouts around here happen. Brown outs are fairly common. I fire in an electric kiln, so brown outs cause me to pray that electricity comes back on and black outs cause me to swear loudly.

While the kiln fired, I planned a garden extension and a grocery list, placed a book order and a fall bulb order on line, checked my email and cooked.

Catching up

The Ladies who opened the evening's entertainment - 1001 Pots vernissage, Friday, July 11, 2008. Photo by JF Davignon.

First of all, my apologies for no posts of late. As things usually go, there just wasn't enough time to do it all. By that I mean laundry, dishes, blog and take pictures of my latest work - work that is now on display at 1001 Pots in Val-David. There was barely enough time to cook a good meal and many take out meals have been the result. That and those BBQ chickens that one can pick up in almost any grocery store these days.

This weekend I have absolutely nothing planned...well, almost nothing. There is that small matter of turning my almost empty shop into a place that still looks inviting and showcases my work before hanging my sign out at the top of the road. Seeing as it's now noon-ish, I think that will have to wait until after lunch.

Thursday's installation at 1001 Pots went well. The scene upon arrival was hectic. I was unpacked and completely set up in 4 hours thanks to Val, my stepdaughter.

I'm really happy with my pots this year. Five colours are represented - a rich glossy brown glaze that shows throwing lines well, an electric cobalt matte blue glaze that really catches the eye, a light blue glaze that I call Blue Jeans - it fires well to cone 8 so it works very well on the top shelf of my kiln which is the coolest place; an iron red called Tomato and Shiney White, which I used alone and in combination with Tomato, which turned out bloody gorgeous and is my new favorite.

The five colours are like the elements represented in the pentacle. Rich brown for earth, electric blue for water, light blue for air, iron red for fire and white for spirit.

Last night JF and I returned to the venue for the vernissage. It was quickly getting too dark for pictures, but JF managed to snap two (one featured above) and then the battery in the camera died. We'll definitely have more pictures from the show as the weeks progress. In the meantime, here's the latest from the garden.

Resting" Photo by JF Davignon

"Awakening" Photo by Valérie Davignon

"Awake!" Photo by Valérie Davignon

"Under" Photo by Valérie Davignon

"Co-mingling" Photo by Valérie Davignon