The Christmas season was crazy for me. I had so many custom orders for businesses, friends, facebook fans, etsy shoppers and more that I barely made anything to stock my own shelves for online or local browsers the month of December. And after two December shows and one in November, that pretty much wiped me out of stock for the year. Yay for that- but an apology to anyone that visited my etsy shop and couldn't find what you were looking for. :( I guess it is all part of the season.
A really great thing about the holiday season was that I had plenty enough business to merit an assistant. A local high schooler that has taken a couple of pottery classes from me came and took care of much of the "other than making pots" work for me to free up my time to get my orders done. She took care of shipping, recycling clay, photographing work and cleaning tasks. She also hung around and worked on some Christmas gifts for her family and friends which really gave the studio some life and a new hum. I enjoyed her special touch she put on the studio and her company in the few short weeks she worked with me.
So now that all the gifts are delivered and I've taken my time to rest, my classes are back in swing and I'm back in the studio. I have two adult wheel throwing classes in swing at Earthworks. Here are two ladies from Monday's class having a blast...
I also started teaching home school art class at Gallery 318 on Broad Street. I really enjoyed our first two classes yesterday. It is fun working with young minds that are used to being in the student role. They are open to learning and find pottery/art much more interesting than the rest of their work! Adults often take time to adjust to being in this role- a learner- rather than a boss or a teacher or a parent (myself included). I love working with adults as well- but it is nice to have a variety. Here are some of the home school students:
The older group made Easter baskets.
The younger group made pinch pot animals- a great intro to clay project.
My current big project in my own studio now is the creation of Love Mugs in time for Valentine's Day. I hoped to bisque fire this week but these darn things don't take up much room in the kiln and I don't quite have a full load. Compounding this problem is the rain we have been having for a week or more now makes me want to move in slow motion and prevents my work from drying out even worse than usual (dank unsealed basements are the worst for drying out pots).
So I have a several dozen love mugs about ready to go in the kiln by the end of the week (dry or not, they are going in) and then I'll start getting work ready for the Starving Artist Expo scheduled for March 23, 3013.
Thanks to everyone that helped make my first year a success and carry me on to this new year that is full of promise and many more pots.
Love, Lisa
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