Tomorrow, December 18th, I’ll be set up at the Fremont Sunday Market for the last time in 2011. I even have a kiln full of new wares for the occasion!
Also, I’ve recently started twittering. Let’s see if I actually remember to continue to do so! If you’d like to follow me, click here: Follow @HeidisPottery
My Christmas cactus is right on schedule this year. Here it is, in all of its festive glory (3 open flowers and 13 more buds!) in a pot that I made specifically for it:
This weekend I’ll be set up at the Urban Craft Uprising craft fair in Seattle Center. It’s 11-5 both Saturday and Sunday, with free admission and even swag bags to the first 100 people through the doors each day! It’s a great place to do your holiday shopping while supporting local craftspeople. Come on by for a visit if you can!
In addition to the two firings I mentioned in my last post, I had a firing come out yesterday, and there will be another one unloading later today. LOTS of new stock for the holidays! Five new colors of buttons, and many many cozy cups, rice bowls, colorful dotted tumblers, and mugs.
Thursday, December 8th, I’ll have my booth set up at the Northern Lights holiday bazaar at the Swedish Cultural Center in Queen Ann. Free admission again, 2-8pm, and also free appetizers, with a wine and beer happy hour.
Those are the only two shows I’m planning on attending so far this year, but I’ll be set up at the Fremont Market on December 11th and 18th for your holiday shopping pleasure as well.
Come support your local artists, and have a happy holiday!
How do they always slip by without any posts? Sorry I have such a boring blog!
I’ve been traveling for my other job more than usual lately, two trips in September, one in October, and long one from which I just returned. Now I’m home for the next five weeks, and I’m looking forward to getting back into the studio. I’ve had two firings come out recently, here’s some of the highlights:
a new color of red glaze on some rice bowls:
my first cookie jar in many years. This one probably won’t be coming with me to and from the market (it would take up too much of my precious space), but I hope to get it up on the website soon for sale.
another olive oil bottle…really enjoying the challenges of making these!
And since I posted a while back about the ancient jasper glaze I bought, I’ll share another couple photos of that one in action. Here it is on one of my cozy cups. I love the streak of red on the inside.
and last but DEFINITELY not least, I finally made some buttons! These went up on my facebook page a couple weeks ago, but I thought I would post them here as well. Turns out they’re the perfect size to use with the headscarves I knit, so now I can sell my knitted items with my own buttons!
I’ve got my second glaze firing in the kiln now (since I posted that I had a lot of greenware to fire), and I’ll get to unload it tomorrow. Very excited, and hopeful as always!
Last week’s glaze firing had mixed results. I got the first two of a new series of bowls, pictured here. I’m very happy with them.
I also fired two butter bells, and those both came out nicely:
However, a set of cappuccino cups I made didn’t fare as well. Check out the crawling on this one!
I’ll have more coming out tomorrow, I’ll try to remember to update again soon.
I’ve been hard at work in the studio lately. I have so much greenware that needs to be fired! I’ve made a number of yarn bowls, some rice bowls, some cozy cups, two butter bells, a pitcher, some cappuccino cups with saucers, a set of macchiato cups (no saucers yet…to make saucers or no?), an olive oil bottle, a cookie jar, a few of the colorful textured tumblers, the beginnings of my intentional stain series, more spindle bowls…the list seems never ending! I keep thinking ‘I should wait till this piece dries before I fire the kiln so I can get it in there’, and by this way of thinking I bet I now have almost enough to fill it twice…or even more?
Today I loaded the kiln for a bisque firing, and included are a number of my new spindle bowls, in four colors. I’ve made more of the blue and green (the same colors pictured in the previous post, and then I’ve added turquoise (the same color as used in this tumbler) and red (the same color as used in this tumbler). They should be completely finished and ready to ship by this Friday, and I have a link to purchase them here.
My neighbor at the Fremont Market has a blind loved one. She’s given me the idea to take my textured dotted pieces to the next level by incorporating some braille. So the prototype is in the kiln as I write this – a blue cozy cup that says “coffee” in white braille dots, with (flat and smooth) black underglaze added for the non-visually-impaired. I look forward to seeing the response it gets at the market this Sunday (and I really hope I did it correctly)!
I have recently met a new friend and fellow fiber enthusiast, Lisa Chan, and we’ve decided to collaborate. Lisa makes beautifully hand turned supported spindles (see/purchase her work at www.grippingyarn.com), and I will be making bowls to support them. Here’s a photo of the first two prototypes, along with one of Lisa’s Russian spindles.
Lisa took the blue one home and tried it out, and rated it highly. She even said it’s her favorite spinning bowl ever! I’m so pleased. I’ve got the green one for sale on my website here, and will have more coming out of the kiln soon.
Hand thrown from porcelain, these bowls have very smooth glossy interiors so as to avoid any friction with your spindle. There is a small indentation in the center to help center the spindle in the bowl. The outside has dots of slip individually applied by hand for a wonderfully tactile effect. The wide, heavy base helps create secure footing while balancing in your lap or resting on a supporting surface.
Now the question is…….am I going to get sucked into having YET ANOTHER hobby??
The yarn bowls came out of the kiln today, and I think they’re pretty darn cute. I look forward to seeing what kind of feedback they get at the market! Here’s a photo:
(yarn is in standard 50g skeins)
I’ve made a few yarn bowls this week! Here they are, just about to go into the bisque kiln. Now to decide what colors to glaze them!
They’re a great way to keep your ball of yarn from rolling around on the floor, under the furniture, gathering dust and teasing the cat. I should have them at the Fremont Market the weekend after next.
Hello!
After a bit of a winter hiatus, I’m back to the studio, and remembering that I never posted photos of the colorful textured dinner set I made last summer. I’m currently working on some other pieces to go with that dinner set (a set of canisters, some serving bowls, sauce dishes, a platter, and a chip and dip set) and was reminded that I needed to put up some photos. So here they are!
These pieces were for a wedding registry, but I’m happy to recreate similar items if you’d like to purchase anything like these.
