Tags
Bonnie Carter Watercolor, ceramic, ceramic glaze, clay, cone 10, Gator Nation, Northern Florida, pottery, Promethean Pottery, stoneware
22 Saturday May 2010
Posted Daily News, Uncategorized
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Bonnie Carter Watercolor, ceramic, ceramic glaze, clay, cone 10, Gator Nation, Northern Florida, pottery, Promethean Pottery, stoneware
02 Sunday May 2010
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ceramic, ceramic glaze, clay, cone 10, Emily's Mossy Mahogany Glaze, handmade, Northern Florida, pottery, Promethean Pottery, stoneware
I made this one to celebrate earth tones:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=129085
And Dorothy has a great one in Treasury East celebrating the same colors:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4bd0d483ef816d91565e42be/earthy
30 Friday Apr 2010
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business advice, ceramic, ceramic glaze, clay, cone 10, handmade, Northern Florida, pottery, Promethean Pottery, stoneware
One thing I have mentioned in earlier posts is that pottery has a tendency to take over one’s house. There are pottery books and magazines, glaze test tiles, not quite right pots, pots to sell, show materials like tents and shelves, business stuff like printers, faxes, filing cabinets, packing materials, boxes, tape, GAH! I haven’t even mentioned all the actual clay, glazes, kiln, and other stuff you need to actually make the pottery.
Over the last year, this little business has grown in random spurts all over the house. We had our original office and then the pottery office, the spot where we packed up pottery, the place where we stored the tent and shelves, test tiles in little boxes all over the house, GAH again.
So, just like last year when we had to regroup when we had a breathing spell, we’re doing the same thing now. I decided to put my organizational skills and Quality Management experience to work. It’s very useful to audit your work habits and space planning to maximize your productivity. Folks might not think of doing this for an art business, but it really works for all businesses. I am happy to say that all pottery paraphernalia is now consolidated in one room. I am now able to take care of orders in the same room where the computer/printer/files/etc are without running all over the house.
All this just to say that you don’t ever know how to set up a space for a task until you’ve done that task quite a lot. I’ve also found that this applies to moving into a house and getting comfortable in it. You just can’t know in a new space how you will “be” in that space until you’ve been there for a while. So, don’t be afraid of taking stock of your space and asking yourself, “Is this working for me?” You might find that things can be streamlined into a smaller footprint that facilitates your work habits.
26 Monday Apr 2010
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art and craft shows, Bonnie Carter, Gator Nation, handmade, Melbourne Art Festival 2010, Northern Florida, Promethean Pottery, shows, stoneware, watercolor
Thanks everyone for coming out to the Melbourne Art Festival this weekend. We had a great time and enjoyed meeting so many awesome patrons and fellow artists. One of the highlights for us was our next-door tent neighbor, Bonnie Carter, who is a fabulous watercolor artist. Bonnie doesn’t do your typical “watery” watercolors. She’s not afraid of color and vibrant subject matter. Please check out her paintings at http://bonniejcarter.com/.
21 Wednesday Apr 2010
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art and craft shows, ceramic, ceramic glaze, clay, cone 10, handmade, Melbourne Art Festival 2010, Northern Florida, pottery, Promethean Pottery, stoneware
Come see us this weekend in Melbourne, Florida!!!
PARKING
http://www.melbournearts.org/downloads/Art%20Festival%20Pay%20Parking%20Lots.pdf
Festival Map
15 Thursday Apr 2010
Posted Pottery Pictures, Tips and Advice, Uncategorized
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art and craft shows, ceramic, ceramic glaze, clay, cone 10, handmade, Northern Florida, pottery, Promethean Pottery, stoneware
For our booth display, I decided we needed some pictures showing how we make pottery. Having been brought up as a good little scientist, I decided a PowerPoint presentation was the best answer. So, over the course of a few weeks, I took pictures of Rob and he took pictures of me doing our respective things. They all got narrated in presentation format, printed, laminated, and hung up in the tent at our last show. I think the amount of information might have overwhelmed people. Hmmm… What do you think?
I’m always struck by how awkward mugs, pitchers, creamers (anything with a handle) look before they are bisque fired and glaze fired.
I didn’t take any pictures of us sanding pottery. I just didn’t think that was very interesting. After I wax over the signature, each pot gets a bath with the hose.
What these glazing pictures don’t show is all the time and energy I put into formulating new glazes. All of the glazes we use are formulated by me and I’ve done over 2500 individual tests (at last count, meaning I’ve lost count and it’s probably a lot more than that by the time you’re reading this). Our house is cluttered by boxes and boxes of little tiles and testpots with hideous glazes on them!
15 Thursday Apr 2010
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ceramic, ceramic glaze, clay, cone 10, glaze layering, handmade, Northern Florida, pottery, pottery decoration, Promethean Pottery, stoneware
I’m usually up first in the morning – like now. I like to spend quality time with the kitties (they’re actually already outside except for MooMoo, who’s at my feet) and some coffee before I get started on whatever random project is looming from the day before. Today, sanding, signing waxing and washing several large canisters is looming as is figuring out how to grind melted glaze off of kiln shelves. The up side is I get to play with my new angle grinder. The down side is that I have no idea what I’m doing! Thankfully, all the different forms of taxes are finally done – thanks in large part to my brilliant mother. So, I can – and should – focus on pottery again.
But in the morning, with my coffee and my kitties, I like to read through some of my favorite blogs. It’s really the only kind of news I care about. You’ll never find me cuddling up to a newspaper. Call me oblivious. This morning, I’m reading Jim’s latest posts on his blog: Sofia’s Dad’s Pots. He has a very readable style of writing (that my early morning brain can follow, better than Kafka) and his pots are stunning.
OK, I’ve justified my laziness by means of this piddly post. So, now I’m off to work.
12 Monday Apr 2010
Posted Daily News, Uncategorized
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art and craft shows, Gator Nation, handmade, Melbourne Art Festival, Northern Florida, pottery, Promethean Pottery, SFCC Spring Arts Festival, stoneware
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came out to see us this weekend at the SFCC Spring Arts Festival. We had a great time and really enjoyed meeting all the new folks as well as seeing some old friends.
The next two weeks will be spent restocking for our next show:
The Melbourne Art Festival 2010
April 24 and 25, 2010
This will be our last show during Spring 2010. So, please come out to see us if you can. As always, you can find out which shows we will be participating in here.
22 Monday Mar 2010
Posted Daily News
in11 Thursday Mar 2010
Posted Daily News, Pottery Pictures
inTags
cone 10, ETSY, Gator Nation, glaze layering, handmade, Northern Florida, pottery, pottery decoration, Promethean Pottery, stoneware
I can’t believe I finally got a treasury slot on ETSY. I was super pleased to be able to feature all pottery in my very first treasury. Please, have a look. 😀