Back to Work

I got back into the studio in September and have concentrated on bowls.  They seem to be the most successful pieces I've made, and I like making them.












I can build the bowls without much fuss, but it can be hard on my body. The pinching and scraping to make the walls thin is hard on my arms, neck, shoulders, and my hands, too.







The bigger challenge is the glazing. I continue to be tempted, and I succumb, to experimentation. Hence, mixed results, and re-glazing and re-firing is necessary, or simple abandonment. I have some tried and true combinations, but with all the glazes I have in stock, I seek new combinations.

The element of surprise when I open the kiln, and the joy when something beautiful has been born is worth the sometimes disappointing results.

A Big Bowl

The only thing I have made so far this year is this large bowl. It has primitive life forms, a snake, a lizard and a turtle circling the rim. It is all hand built as usual, and in profile has a wobble in the rim. I intended to enter it in a show, and it came out of the kiln in time to enter it, but I hesitated. Although I was happy with it at first, the wobble and some of the glazing began to look amateurish to me. So it stayed at home.

I was invited to be the featured artist at the Brigantine Farmer's Market last month, and the bowl was much admired there, but came home with me. All the bowls were praised, and that felt good. Some were sold, but not enough to justify the time and expense of the trip to Brigantine. There were just not enough people passing the tent they had set up for me. I realize I need a bigger venue to sell my wares.

The home goods store here in Princeton called me. The owner, Kristen, wants to sell my bowls again. The problem is, she wants a wholesale price from me, and to double it for retail. I went to look at what they have in the store now, and the mass produced ceramics they have are quite expensive. Shouldn't my one-of-a-kind pieces be comparable at least? I gave Kristen a price that I could live with and now she says, she's not sure she can sell them for that price if she doubles her cost.

So I looked up the very big annual holiday show in the next town. It cost $100 to enter, but I get to sell for the retail price and make more money. What is better? Selling cheap to Kristen and letting them do the customer work, or selling them myself? It's a question I am wrestling with now.

What I've Been Up To

I've been making, making, making and forgetting to write or post pictures. This is after all, a record for myself at least, if not for the world. I am one potter among many in this world, even in this town alone. So many crafting, making art that we are jamming up the market it seems.

my display at the West Windsor Artisan Market

I participated in three craft shows that were poorly attended, though I made some sales. Still, I got positive feedback on my work and tips for other shows where it might be well received. Meanwhile, there is one more event for the season and it is at my house:

Open Studio

Dec. 15-16  

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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138 John Street

Princeton NJ 

The house will be turned into a gallery, at least part of it, and the studio will be open to visit. It will look very nice I think, to display the work in a home setting rather than trying to make my cluttered studio into a viewing space. I hope I will have lots of visitors.

at the Burlington Artisan Market