Lizzie Plays With Clay

My Life's Work

2011-10-11T03:46:00.000-03:00

I am extremely happy with the way my work has been developing over the past little while. The feedback online and in person has been phenomenal. I have been working very hard to develop the Celtic Porcelain line into something I can be proud of, and I think that I just might be getting somewhere with it.
I have had many technical problems to work out with these latest peices. The heavy stamping, and layering of stamps was wreaking havoc with the rims during drying. Many adjustments were made in the depth of the stamps, the thickness of the clay, the speed of the drying and even the curve of the pots themselves . Finally I have most of the kinks worked out, and my successes are many, and my losses are few.

Those who know me well, will attest that I am VERY particular about my work. I pay a great deal of attention to detail, in both the design and execution of my work. I research technique relentlessly,I seek out both advice and criticism. I want my work to stand on its own merit. I am a perfectionist, and I am okay with being that way. I have friends who keep that in check for me. Mostly I listen to the voice of sanity that they represent. Mostly. Sometimes I just hand them the pot in question, and tell them to take it home, out of my radar. Either way, we all end up happy.

The part I struggle with the most is maintaining "true" production work. I feel that I am almost there with the confetti line. I have a set range of products, they are basically alike, the colours are consistant, the stamps are the same, the variation comes in the patterning, I like that the stamps are randomized, no two peices are exactly the same pattern. However I can now set a table with this line, which I guess makes it semi complete. Now I just have to make bunches of it without flying off on another design tangent.

I have decided to reward myself for this tight and consistant line by giving myself complete artistic freedom on my large Celtic pieces. I am allowing myself this playground, this permission to make 'em all different. This is where I want to be.

A Whole Lot of Change.

2011-10-11T02:47:00.000-03:00

So sorry that I haven't been keeping up with my promised posts. I have led a very hectic life since May. There have been so many major life changes since the spring, I hardly know where to start. First of all, I should just say that sudden change is difficult for me to process. The past five months have been CHOCK FULL of sudden change. I have been on automatic pilot, getting stuff done, and taking it one day at a time. We are slowly coming through the other side of what may have been the most overwhelming experience of my recent life. Its been a crazy ride, and I am glad that things are slowing down. I am now in the process of re evaluating my path and making this pottery thing survive this season, and continue to grow. This is not as easy as it might seem. But in the end, lizziespots, has a new home, and a new studio.

This move was both unexpected, and very poorly timed. It was extremely difficult to balance all of the important things in my life, keep my business going, and my family together and sane. All in all, we have come out the other side(almost) a little worse for the wear, a little bit dusty, but mostly intact. I have learned a lot about my own resilience through this move. I have strengthened some friendships, and I have made some new ones. I am busily trying to restructure my business, and make up for the loss of income and of production time that were a result of the move. I very nearly tossed in the towel, and quit pottery altogether. At times it seemed nearly impossible to keep up with all the many things that needed to be done. I am exhausted, but I am nearly there. My last few back orders will ship this week. I will be able to breathe for a minute, and tackle the next hurdle.

NSDCC Summer Show July 22 -24 2011

2011-07-06T02:09:00.003-03:00

NSDCC_Flyer_Summer_Artwork1, a photo by Elizabeth Burtt Fine Porcelain and Textiles on Flickr.

I am so pleased to be the cover artist for the NSDCC Summer show Flyer! Sharing the page with a good friend Joan Mackenzie. Two Capers on the cover.. next , we take over the world!!
So y'all gotta come check out my booth at the summer show in Halifax. I will have lots of this fine confetti ware, and some other whimsical pots to check out.

The Yarn Tardis.....or Yardis..Yarnis...?

2011-06-07T11:33:00.000-03:00

Perfect for knitting while watching your favourite doctor.

So Much Happening...

2011-06-01T12:02:00.000-03:00

Sorry I haven't posted of late. Life has been , to say the least hectic. I have been making a bit of effort to beef up my online store at etsy, and get more involved with moving toward broadening my sales area and get some pots out to my Galleries in time for the summer influx of tourists. Its a crazy time of year for me, and it is only getting crazier. Preparation has begun for the NSDCC Summer show in July, I have chosen a smaller booth size this year, 5x10 rather than 10x10. It feels like a better space to me. I had this size at the Christmas show, and it was great. So now the push is on to fill that booth with goodies, and sell out completely.
I have managed to get some new product designed, and am putting the great push on to sell a metric buttload of pots between now and the end of July, when I will be moving house and Studio. The push will then be on to get ready for the Big Christmas shows, and the Celtic Colours International festival.

Amongst all of this business, I have been filling orders for these Police Call Box mugs. If I sell enough of these, I can move to a place that isn't a cardboard box. Great time to pre order for Graduation/Christmas... Only $45 Canadian, plus shipping....Oh, and Fathers Day is just around the Corner...

So Yeah, Toronto.....

2011-05-11T08:02:00.000-03:00

First off- to those still waiting for their Easter Cards, (you know who you are)....... they are coming, they are not lost in the mail, they are late because of human error, sickness and an international trip. I promise they will be special and worth the wait.

So this is the view from my sisters apartment. Its pretty spectacular really. Now, despite being in my sister's company for an entire week, I neglected to get even one picture of the two of us. I did however get lots of pictures of the dogs she works with. Hey, I got priorities...

This fellow was such a handsome and well behaved dog, and could pass for a horse in a pinch...nd of course like all good aunties, I took a ton of pictures of my beautiful canine neice Miss Cracker

Such a pretty little hound. Cracker and I had a great visit. Maggi and I did too. It was a fantastic visit all round.

The main purpose of my visit to Toronto was to attend the Toronto One of a Kind Show, and do some market research, in preperation to attend as a vendor in the fall. I spent a few days wandering the halls of this show There were more than 400 vendors, all of whom were juried in . The quality of the work was fabulous. The show was so well organized, and the staff was amazingly helpful. It was a joy to attend, and yes I bought stuff- how could I not??? I was however very good at practising restraint. I bought two small pieces of pottery for myself, a funky monster fabric bracelet for the girl child, and a really cool robot /city scape print for the boy child. all in all it was a lot to take in, but I came away from the show with a pretty good idea of what to expect, and the knowledge that I should definitely leave my credit card at home when I go back as a vendor, or the proceeds of my sales will just be gone.

I am really glad that I took this time to go and observe the show before jumping in as a vendor. I was very nervous about preparing for the show. I had no clue how much stock I would need, or how to possibly make all my pots arrive there safely, or how to display it when I got it there. There sure is a lot to think about when attempting to do a show that far away. I was very glad that I had the opportunity to meat with Valerie Roy, at the show, she was amazing, and took the time to answer my questions, and show me a bit of the ins and outs of the show. Suffice it to say, that after talking with Valerie and many of the fabulous vendors from across the continent, my worries have been allayed. The show does not feel like a scary place anymore... and the preparation has begun.

Toronto Bound....

2011-03-26T03:18:00.000-03:00

So I cleaned out my bank account (literally) and purchased a plane ticket. I will be landing In Toronto Tuesday afternoon, ready and raring to go... I am going to be attending the Toronto One of a Kind Show. No, don't get all excited now, I am not exhibitting there yet. This is a recon mission, I am going to scope out the show, take down some notes.. and lay down the groundwork to get my booth designed and pots made for the November Show. Its pretty darned exciting. Hopefully I will have a good day at market tomorrow, so there will be a bit of spending money while I am in TO. On a happy note though, I got funding to go, so 65% of my costs will be reimbursed. This is a VERY good thing. I have more I could say, but I am sleepy, its 3:15 in the morning, and there is a ton of stuff to do to get ready for market. ttfn

High Five Friday......Giv'r...

2011-03-18T16:00:00.000-03:00

Sending out a Big ole Cape Breton HIGH FIVE! there are lots of folk out there deserving a high five this week. My personal biggest high five goes out to all those who are risking their lives to avert meltdown at Japan nuclear facilities this week. To all the Aid workers taking care of the wounded, the displaced and the hungry.... You are all my heroes.
To all those out there in blogland who are finishing up the week, HIGH FIVE!

India is our official high five model this week....

Jack The Ripper

2011-03-17T14:24:00.000-03:00

Whern I was in Halifax last November for the NSDCC Christmas Market, I took a little trip downtown to my favourite yarn store. Now, I truly have no need for more yarn, or fibre of anykind. I have multiple rubber maid containers to illustrate this point. But I always need to take a little stroll through the shop to fondle the yarns and feast on the colours.

So there I was fondling the braids of hand dyed spinning fibre, when this little gem popped out at me. Its really a lovely blood red and black/grey combo It looks a little orangy here, but you get the idea. I thought it was just beautiful, and soft and lovely, but I was putting it back because this was supposed to be a LOOKING trip. Then I read the tag. Its called "Jack The Ripper" . I squeeled out loud and giggled. How GORY!!!!! I love it. Suddenly, I found myself whipping out the debit card... and adding to my already unmanageable stash of fibre.
I'll be taking Jack to Market with me on Saturday, along with my Drop spindle. I figure spinning is a good pastime for those few slow moments I have at market. If my hands are busy, I can't use them to stuff myself full of delicious baked goods from the stand next to mine. Good plan no?

What is Old, Is New Again.

2011-03-16T05:37:00.000-03:00

All of these photos, and stories about my family filtering through my brain are starting to take on a life of their own. In the past two weeks I have learned so many interesting things, heard tall tales recounted by my Aunt Ann, originally told by my great Grandad Joseph Beck. Old stories, from the early 1900's, recorded by iphone in Fredericton, and sent by audiofile to Cape Breton. Technology is a wonderful thing.
Hearing my Aunt retell the tale of my Great grandad's dog chasing a Rabbit through a stone wall in England, brought back memories of my Nan telling me the same story when I was a small girl. I was quickly able to recall the story in its entirety, though my aunt had forgotton bits of it.

The rather serious looking young man on the left in this picture, is my Great Grandfather Beck. It was he, who was apparently quite the character, telling tall tales to anyone who would listen. I think I would have liked this guy alot. It seemed he had a wild imagintaion, and a bit of a twisted sense of humour. I like to think he was a tad adventurous as well, moving his entire family to a brand new country and leaving everything he knew behind, starting a brand new life at 42, with a young wife and seven kids in tow. This man and his stories have inspired some new ideas for me, I am not yet sure how they will manifest, be it in art pieces, or production work, but I just know its going to be exciting work either way. I can hardly wait to get started.

To make something new, and to honour those who came before me

Family....

2011-03-11T02:13:00.002-04:00

In our house there is always something interesting happening. Someone has always got something fabulous and intriguing underway. More often than not, it is miss India who has some crazy scheme happening, or a wild art project to undertake.
A few weeks ago, it was Science fair and pinhole photography.Once this project was over we had a few weeks breather and suddenly, its Historica fair time. This time she decided that she would do her family tree. Egads, could she have picked a tougher topic???? I mean what's wrong with doing a history project that you can research at the library???
At first I was a little disgruntled, and thinking that this was an impossible task, after all, we have little contact with her father's family and I did not have a great deal of contact with my extended family until recently. But she was determined, and so... we googled a few names, and searched some obituaries online to get some idea of what kind of task we were looking at. I sent a broad request out on Facebook to my family for information WOW!! is all I can say. My family has sent scads of information, and a ton of photos. Its mind boggling!
I am totally jazzed by all of these photos, and now I want to know the stories behind them all. I am dying to find out everything I can about all of these interesting looking people. I can't wait to see what Miss India does with this project. Its bound to be a little one sided, as most of the info we have is of my Mother's side of the family. But its okay if her family tree looks more like a windswept Bonsai, than a mighty symetrical Oak. Its going to be interesting nonetheless.
Among the Many photos we recieved there are some that I am just blown away by. In Particular is this studio Portrait of my maternal grandmother.

I received so many beautiful photos, I simply have to do something with them all. Its so amazing to me to look at these photos many generations gone by, and see my siblings, and my children staring back at me. We sure have some strong genetic action goin on in the Beck family.
Genetics are pretty strong on the Brewer side as well, but blogger is not letting me upload the proof. Suffice it to say, give my hair a bob, and slap a 1920's style dreess on me, and I am my great aunt Irma!

Whoa!

2011-03-03T01:38:00.000-04:00

There is nothing about these two bowls that I am not in love with.

happy bowl!

2011-03-01T13:16:00.000-04:00

A few posts ago I talked about all things celtic, and showed you a few photos of some works in progress. This is one of the large stamped bowls all finished! It turned out so pretty!

Blast From the Past

2011-02-22T13:50:00.000-04:00

Some of you may know, I led a past life as a textile artist. I did a lot of weaving, dying of fleece and yarns, some spinning, some felting, A TONNE of sewing... basically all things textile. Except Crochet. I hate crochet. Not the look of it, that I love. Its the doing it. I can't get into it. Makes me cranky even. These days my textile work extends mostly to sporadic knitting at the perk, when I remember to show up. I have been knitting the same shawl for two or three years now. DON'T JUDGE!!! Its more of a social thing for me these days. And if you want to stretch the idea of textile work, I do make the yarn bowls...

And I do really like making the yarn bowls. I haven't really thought about my textile work a lot lately, just pumping out the pottery, and pushing around boxes of yarns and fabrics that are languishing about my living space. But earlier this week, something happened. It seems as though some pretty cool folk I know have started a Farmer's Market! This is a very cool thing BTW. Check it out! the Downton Sydney Farmer's Market, going live on Feb 26 2011!!!

Of course I applied for a spot at this hot and happenin new venue. when I applied I applied as a potter, who might maybe want to sell some textile type stuff. I sent photos of my pots along with my app, and got a message back asking for some images of textiles. M'kay I thought, there must be a shot or two somewhere, of something I made. Nada, zip, zilch.. NOT ONE. All of them were lost when My last Frankenputer died. I was about to give up when I remembered I had pictures on my old blog. YAY!!!

So since I did all the work hauling them off that blog and sending them to The FM , I thought I would share a few with Y'all.

No word on whether I am "in" yet, but I am sure they will at least let me sell my pots........

Testing....

2011-02-21T11:54:00.000-04:00

The kiln is slowly cooling downstairs, 1300 degrees last time I checked. Its hard, this waiting. I have stashed a few experiments in this firing, pushing the envelope a bit, trying some new things. Its good to shake things up a bit now and then. It has been a while since I last took a little venture out of my safety zone, glaze wise.
One of the things I miss most about being a student, is the glaze chem lab. I love trying new glaze formulas, playing the alchemist, and discovering that perfect colour/texture combo. These days I rarely get to experiment, I have my core glazes, and I can fiddle around a bit with them...but setting up a chemical cupboard to test as much as I would like to, would cost the moon.
This is a pretty tame group of experiments, just some new variations on some glaze combos, and some experimental brush work. The studio is looking rather like a bomb went off, so I had best get down there, and make it serviceable again. There are orders that need filling... no rest for the wicked!

update on the shaving mugs....

2011-02-20T15:11:00.000-04:00

I declare, these mugs to be
a) a success and
b) SOLD!...
Now to make more more more for the other billion folks who need one.

A Bit O' The Irish

2011-02-18T10:19:00.000-04:00

I have been working on a celtic theme for years now, both in my fibre art, and more recently in my pottery. My love of the knots and spirals and zoomorphic critters has grown over the years, but really took hold in my first year of art school, when My Art History instructor first had us watch In The Name of the Rose and then took us all to see a fine facsimile of The Book Of Kells I was in awe of the intricate illustrations. this is one of my favourite pages from the book

After I saw this book I was hooked. I began to seek out all things Celtic. Back in 1992 that meant whatever I could find at my local library, which sadly was not much. In the ensuing years I have picked up quite a collection of books on celtic design, I have surfed the net and looked at beautiful carvings at New Grange, on gravestones, and warrior shields, and perused the virtual collections of many museums. I discovered other medieval Manuscripts, such as The Lindifarne Gospels, which I love.....its got some pretty cool images, just sayin. Now as much as I admire these beautifully painted images, it is the celtic stonework that really gets me all fired up..
like this spirally goodness at Newgrange in Ireland.
And this beautiful two sided figure from Boa island in Northern Ireland

The stonework, and the metalwork really blow my mind, and inspire my work more than the painted images. It is the tactile nature, the feel of the knotwork, the smooth flow of the spirals that keep me going back to this beautiful, ancient design.

In my work, I use a lot of stamps to create the patterns. I carve all of them myself, many of the carvings are drawn from actual artifacts, carved in clay then cast in plaster to make a durable mold of the carving. Others, I carve in porcelain clay, and bisque fire.

This is a small selection of the stamps and sprig molds I use regularly in my celtic work.

and a finished celtic plate

The latest efforts are still in the design phase- two pedastal dishes, I am kind of groovin on these ones.....

For more celtic work, click on the Celtic Porcelain tab at the top of my blog.

Two Bits......

2011-02-17T00:56:00.000-04:00

The past week has been very busy Chez Lizzie. Our studio has been completely re organized, orders sent off to NB, and new orders started. The weather here in Cape Breton has been brutal, more storm days than I can count. But after helping the kidlet with her super cool Science Fair project this past weekend, I have jumped right back into design mode. Stay tuned for the pinhole camera post... just waiting for it to return from school.
I have been approached by a soapmaker, who is on the hunt for shaving mugs. Now, I have never made a shaving mug, not even sure that I have ever seen one in person. My ex always just used an old coffee cup. BUT I am always up for a challenge, so off I went galavanting across the internets... in search of the elusive shaving mug.
WOW! Who knew there was such debate over the the best shaving mug design. I was very quickly drawn into the whole debate. There are the simple bowl folk, the grab a mug from the cupboard and hope the wife doesn't notice type, and the true connaisseur who will accept nothing but the finest china with drain holes and pour spouts and covers to keep in the heat. Check out this bad boy patented in 1867. Fancy!

I found it on Wikipedia. Its awesome. But more than a little complex for my taste. Just looking for something simple folks.
Now a lot of the mugs I stumbled upon, were really pretty, but not very manly. Or they were really boring, and plain. There were a few nice handmade pottery mugs and bowls out there. I looked them over and decided to head on down to the studio to come up with my interpretation of the shaving mug.

My criteria were simple:
1) must fit a 3 inch bar of shaving soap
2) must have brush holder

These first two were supplied by the soap maker- she is the expert !
The next are my own.

3) must be manly. There are far too many girly shave mugs out there.
4) must blend in with my existing line of work.
It is becoming increasingly important to me to have a recognizable feel to my pots. I am not sure where this is coming from, but its working for me, and I am going with it for now.
5) It needs to be an item I can make quickly, and in quantity.

The first kick at the can was really pretty. I used an interpretation on the design of my whiskey cups and shot glasses.

I liked it a lot, but it was a bit too deep. Like twice as deep as it needed to be. also, the darted bottom works well as a whiskey cup, but it seems a bit curvey for the bottom of a shaving cup. As shaving cup it is a failure, but as a soup mug we have a winner. Tweaking of the handle and foot, and voila! Soup.

I posted mach one up on my FB page for feedback, and got LOTS of advice. I got measurements of antique brushes and photos of people's shaving setup with rulers for scale. It was great. I went back to the studio, and tweaked my design a bit. I think we have made some progress. I made five bowls. I played around a bit with the handles, eliminated the darts, and made a flat bottom.

I think the last one is the one. I feel really good about it. Now to fire 'em up and test them out. Going back down to the studio, and filling some more orders. Next on the agenda? More Yarn Bowls, some sugar bowls creamers and butter dishes.

Alchemy, Hard Science and Magic.

2011-02-15T03:50:00.001-04:00

As most of you Potters know, our work is heavily science based. A fairly decent understanding of chemistry, and physics is necessary to being able to produce consistant results in your work. To make exceptional glazes, to create new forms and push the limits of your clay body, your glazes, and your equipment you have to grock the sciences. We potters are part engineer, part electrician, part artist, but most of all, we are mad pyromaniacal scientists. Get a few potters together, add some wine/beer/coffee and soon the topics turn to unity formulas, heatwork, glaze fit, expansion and contraction, reduction atmospheres, carbon trapping...the list goes on, and just gets geekier and geekier in the process.

A few days ago, as I stood over my kiln , oven mitts at the ready, my neighbour (friend/landlord/physicist) walked in. We chatted while he puttered around a bit, stacking wood, sorting some recycleables and eventually he asked if I was going to open it.

When I popped the lid, I gasped and blurted out

"It's just like magic!!!"

When I heard myself say those words to a real honest-to-goodness Scientist, an expert even. I must admit, I cringed a little inside. I know how much actual science happens to get these pots to this point. I do that science, for Gawd's sake!

My followup was nearly as brilliant.

"Maybe it's a bit more like Alchemy" I say.

(Sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my brain. I blame it on a lack of caffiene in my system.)

He laughed, and said something to the effect that he gets the science behind it all, but agrees, when that lid gets closed, its all about the magic...

I had forgotten, that he was raised by a Potter/Alchemist/Magician..........

PARTY!!!!!, East Coast Snowed in Style + the Best Kiln Opening To Date

2011-02-09T02:17:00.001-04:00

While the menfolk made plans for world domination, us womenfolk got serious about the really important things in life. No not whiskey... recycled bottle.. Its actually homemade wine.

Morgan decided he prefered our company to the company of the RISK players. And though it looks as though he is enjoying a glass of wine the size of his head, actually he had soymilk, the wine is mine.

Sorry Morgan, a few years to go yet buddy.

the boys did take a break to eat. Brocolli was the prettiest thing we ate, but there was lots of other good food.

Seonaid was the one who took it out of the oven

but Geoff was the chef

Conrad made sure the wine was hitting the glasses

Aidan thinks I am Hilarious it might be because of the large quantity of questionable homemade wine I was consuming

Sophie entertained us all she has a huge amount of energy.

Phew, I am tired just thinking about it!

Mason and Geoff had a very serious discussion about something...I think.

India woke up from her nap, and joined the festivities-Thanks for that,lol.

We decided to forgo the traditional candles in the cake scenario, in favour of the flaming torches beside the cake. Mostly because we only had recycled candles and we could not guarantee that some kid hadn't licked them on a previous birthday . Normally we would use new candles, but seeing as we are snowed in, any fire is better than no fire. Resourceful. That's what we are!

AND... my kiln fired beautifully and I am in love with the results of this firing! here is a taste of what came out.. remember those slippy blue bowls I was throwing????

I KNOW!!!!!!, I felt the same way when I saw them. I could just eat them right up. That blue and teal slip is SUPER YUMMY!
But lets not ignore the handbuilt yarn bowls, no, they are also looking pretty fine! as a matter of fact, I think this may be the nicest yarn bowl I have ever made.

I love it so much, I am sad to ship it off to NB tomorrow along with a few others, bound for the St John City Market, with my friend Liz. I am making more of these asap.

Here are a few more. Pretty, but not as pretty as my Daisy bowl.

But I must say, I have been working on a new product, something I haven't made since it was an assignment in second year... Jugs. They are lookin pretty sweet I must say. sure there needs to be some tweeking on the proportions of the smaller ones, but all in all. I declare it to be an excellant start

You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.

2011-02-08T01:38:00.001-04:00

-Nietzsche

Mason Grey Haines, Feb 08 1994

photo credit-Bev Thornton

Seventeen years ago today, My world was rocked, and raised to a whole new level. A new phase of my life was entered, and the craziest of journeys began. I became a mother. After a very long and difficult labour, Mason Grey Haines came into this world. I fell in love. This post is a tribute to my Dancing Star.

In the first year of his spectacular life so far He spent a great deal of time hanging out with his Grampie, and his dog Stone and he attended a wedding.

But most of the time in his formative years he spent listening to music and playing lego. He was, and still is quite, enamoured of this song

Another favourite album of his as a youngster was Chris De Burgh Spanish Train and Other Stories

He also had quite the love for this guy, some seriously good Canadian rock and roll.

another of his favourite childhood musical icons was this classic superstar- the man in black himself

Now he's grown quite a lot , and has become a young man. He has developed some new hobbies, and added some seriously good music to his repertoire. He still listens to Johnny Cash, and the Dead, and Chris DeBurgh. But has added some Sinatra, Count Basie, and Charlie Parker to his collection. His current favourite is this fine showman.

Happy Birthday Mason!!!!!!!

some throwing action

2011-02-05T07:49:00.000-04:00

So yeah, a little throwing on the wheel. cause folks have been asking.....

Production has been really good these last few days. The kiln is cooling, and I will be mixing some glaze this morning and reloading this afternoon/evening. it sure has been a productive week! heres hoping I can keep up the pace next week

Mudslinging.....

2011-02-03T02:27:00.000-04:00

So yeah... that borrowed wheel is making me very happy so far. Some nice slippy bowls with a swirl or two of spphire blue, and peacock green slip here and there. some are scraffito, some are just swirly and yummy. there are a few yarn bowls and a few regular bowls. I think I love the scraffito ones the most.

so far I have made, trimmed and carved about fifteen bowls. One met its tragic end in a trimming accident, its been a while since that has happened, luckily when it flew off he wheel, it landed on me, and not the full ware shelf directly in front of me. PHEW!

I have continued to handbuild, and so have managed five jugs, and a few more little plates as well over the last couple of days, but I also have this to contend with....all in need of some painterly treatment and a swim in the glaze bucket. There's more of it on the other table, but I think this gives a little glimpse of what I will be doing on thursday morning...After all, I need that space to put more of my thrown stuff. Its nice having a wheel for a change of pace.!

Goins on...

2011-02-01T16:52:00.000-04:00

So production has been big around here, well, big for me.. I got some jugs done, today, and I like em! I rarely make jugs, as a matter of fact I don't think I have made one since I left school in 94. EEK! that is a long time! But last evening I was inspired, and Voila.. JUGS!

India was also inspired.. the result? chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and gourmet jelly beans on top. Not too shabby, and they look fabulous with my confetti tea ware, I must say! don't we make a great team?

last but certainly not least, a very supportive friend dropped this off to me for a week long loan...I am going to be throwing like a mad woman over the next six days, this will beef up the production immensely!

well ttfn folks... those pots are not going to make themselves...

greenware everywhere!

2011-01-31T12:18:00.000-04:00

It's been a productive couple of days for me. This month has been slow and draggy for the most part. Draggy? Is that a word? The period after Christmas is always a bit of a struggle for me, but this year seemed worse than before. I have a hard time keeping to my work schedule when the kids are home, and Christmas vacation this year seemed to last forever. Don't get me wrong, I love having them around, but I sure was happy to see the big yellow bus return every morning at 7:30. Getting back in the Making groove has been a little harder this time. But last week, a student of mine came over for the afternoon and zing! I had it back. I think all I needed was for someone to give me that little push.
Saturday and Sunday saw me flinging mud like crazy, I got quite a bit made, for handbuilding standards. Its nice to go into the studio and see greenware everywhere. Kinda makes you wanna make more......

Proof..

2011-01-30T11:06:00.000-04:00

Pots, Photos and Procrastination

2011-01-29T12:30:00.000-04:00

Procrastination is the key word here. I need to make pots, I need to photograph pots, and I need to cease all procrastination. So in aid of all of this I will post a picture later today, of the pots that I make today. I will also choose the photos to send to a show that I am hoping to do.. more on that later. If the snow stops anytime soon, I will mail the application for said show, then I will figure out how I will be paying for the show, and getting there... The pots are the easy part... those can make, and photograph. The rest? Scary as hell.

WOW! about that hand post... and some pottery stuff too.

2011-01-28T02:14:00.000-04:00

I would like to thank all of the people who responded to my post about hands, here, on my facebook, and by private message, across the driveway...
I was a little more than afraid to put all this out there. Those who know me best, know that it is something that I very rarely talk about in any real way. Sure I'll answer questions, or mention things that happen, but as a whole the topic rarely gets any in depth treatment. Now that the intro is out there, and the ball is rolling I feel a little more confident in persuing it as a project.
Kasey- you are correct, I make things because that was what I was born to do. It really isn't a choice for me, so much as it is a calling. There is a lot more to be said on this particular point, but you nailed it. I don't just want to be a maker, I have to be one, it is a very important part of who I am.
Nancy- you have been there literally from day one. There are no words to describe what your friendship means to me. BUT there are lots and lots of incriminating photos... Mwahahahahaha!

Liz M- there is most certainly an art project in this, I just need to find it. Wrestling this topic into submission is about as easy as nailing Jello to a tree. But I will prevail and something will come of it. The outward part is the easy one, its the parts that don't show that give me trouble.
Kerry- you are correct, the other parts of us get to work thier mojo when something is askew. The brain is a mysterious thing. It is that very aspect of differing abilities that I think drives me to be a maker. I think the intense focus on my hands, and on figuring out how to use my hands to accomplish everyday tasks has made me really develop the creative aspect of my brain. I am pretty sure that my brain has rewired itself to see things differently, and to hone my visual problem solving skills.
Every task that I learn, I do so by observing how other people do it, and translating the movements they make into movements I am capable of. There is no mimic action happening here. I do everything differently. I see everything differently. I am an intense observer and analyst of movement, and of dexterity . I have become intimately aware of the limits of my body, and have consistantly pushed the boundaries of what my muscles and joints can handle. This is the only way I know how to get things done.
This need for intense observation is coupled with what I call my 3D curse. When I look at a flat pattern, I see the finished three dimensional form. Conversely I can break down a three dimensional form, to its basic componants in my mind. I really don't have a way to switch this off and I must say, that sometimes it makes me a little crazy. I am sure that most artists have this ability to some extent. For me it is both a blessing and a curse.
I managed a bit of time in the studio today, getting a platter and some tumblers and yarn bowls underway, I am feeling a bit like a slacker these days, and need to beef up production a bit. There are so many things stuck inside my brain trying to get out.

And On The Other Hand, Part One.

2011-01-25T10:10:00.002-04:00

From the moment I came in to this world my hands have been a hot topic. I was born with a rare (apparently one in 30 000) birth anomalie known as Symbrachydactyly . Please don't ask me to pronounce it, I am not sure I can. The definition is pretty vague, and covers a lot of related finger and hand deformities. In my case, I was born with a shortened left forearm, tiny fingers with no bones, and a partially formed thumb. The muscles, tendons, bones and nerves are all messed up in that hand. All in all a pretty short and oversimplefied definition of a very complex problem. The gist of it is, the experts don't know why, it just is what it is.

I have spent a great deal of my life consciously not thinking about hands and a great deal of it being forced to think about hands. But now I am choosing to think about, and talk about hands. My Hands. This is a pretty big leap for me, having spent most of my life wishing people would shut the hell up about them, and move on to something or someone more interesting. I would much rather talk about my work, not about how many hands it took to make it.
My outlook on the hand discussion changed rather abruptly Several months ago when a friend posted a link to this video of Renate Hiller "On Handwork" to her facebook page.

This video was the catalyst to my journey of looking really hard inside myself to uncover what exactly hands meant to me. As an artist, as a human, as a person with a disability. I watched it over and over again, her words sinking in to my mind and making my head spin.

"The use of the hands is vital to the human being. For having flexibility, dexterity. In a way, the entire human being is in the hands."-Renate Hiller, on handwork.

This absolutely blew my mind. As an artist I agreed with it all, the feeling you get from working with your hands, from being a maker. That empathetic connection with the world when you create something for use by people. A beautiful, tactile object made by the hands. But for me, it was a bit more than that. It was that eureka moment when I realised just what it was that made people want to know why, and how a person with one hand could possibly do what I do. It made me realize that I could no longer seperate what I do, from how I do it. This really pissed me off. Now suddenly I wanted to know how, and why I did things the way I do. My pat answer .."I don't know, I just do it." wasn't going to suffice any longer. I was going to have to join the discussion, find the answers, and share them. I was not looking forward to this process at all.

Looking inward is never easy, but is sometimes vital to discovering what makes us the person we are. When I decided to write a blogpost about having one hand, and making pots, it was going to be just that, Some "how I do it" photos, and a short blurb about how you can do anything you want even with one hand. It wasn't that easy, and I never got to the "how I do it" stage; or for that matter, the "anything you want to do" stage. It is a much larger and more complex problem than I initially thought. and so dear blog readers, there will be more.

Good Morning!

2010-11-27T07:09:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post to say I am still alive and Kicken' The Nova Scotia Designer Craft Council Show was absolutely wonderful. My new Confetti line was a smash hit, I made some new contacts in different locales and have some new opportunities to persue farther afield. There is not much time to post amazing details of my trip to Halifax, since I have to be in town for the last day of the Christmas Loft at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design. Suffice it to say, there were pots sold, there were snazzy new shoes purchased, there was a bit of red wine consumed and there was a great meal shared with old friends, followed by a great evening of wine and giggles with my cousins. I leave you with some photos from the Halifax show

And now some shots from the show I am currently doing. The Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design Christmas Loft

Blog Slacking....

2010-10-11T11:53:00.000-03:00

Things have been really hectic around here... and thus my poor blog has been neglected.. I am going to make a concerted effort to change that.
Classes are well underway at my studio, I am running two classes at the moment, but will be adding a few workshop Saturdays in the next month or so, and an afterschool class for kids. I must say I am thoroughly enjoying teaching at home. And my students are making some pretty fantastic stuff.
I have been playing around with soem new glazes, and new forms over the past couple of weeks, I am pretty happy with the new pendants I have come up with, as well as my new little plate shapes. Check em Out...

I think They are pretty snazzy, and I have pretty much sold most of the first run of these little ladies. Now the plates are a different story, I am loving the shapes, but stalling on the glazing. I want Vibrant pretty glazes in nice clear colours. I tried the Commercial glaze route with some success, some failure.. and a whole lotta, brushing of three coats of glaze.

This is the big problem, I discovered that I hate the three coats of brushing. I am a dipper, a pourer, and a quick painted design kinda gal. So now I have a gazillion plates to dip and pour and paint. But can't decide on a glaze. I may have to just start blindly dipping in all buckets til I find something that works.

It was a crazy week last week round here, one minor disaster after another, ending with a broken camera yesterday, just as I was wanting to post stuff to etsy. This week will be better, I decree it to be so. we are starting Monday off with some good ole, punk rock music and random glaze dipping. Wish me luck!

oh, and check out the new stuff posted on etsy, buy some! you know you wanna!

BAMF! fall Show and sale

2010-10-01T10:55:00.000-03:00

wellits that Time of year.... Fall BAMF show.... currently the service to allow me to post the entire thing is playing tricks on me...... so for now, I post a link, later, you can view the whole thing, right here in all its fabulous, creepy, gory, wonder . its a fabulous selection of eeiier treats for your viewing, and buying pleasure.

New Stuff

2010-09-13T15:43:00.000-03:00

My Pottery Classes officially start on Wednesday night. There was a little gathering of sorts last Wednesday, it involved some Red Wine, and some clay, but it was not so much a class as a Hey the studio's done! gathering. This week will be more class like, with ya know, learning and stuff, and all three of my evening students. I think I am going to like teaching at home.

I fired my first glaze load in the new kiln yesterday, everything came out looking like it should. I did have one s cracked mug, first time that has happened in years, but all in all a very successfull firing.I took some quick snaps of the pots, but will have to do a more professional job later this evening. It was not really a full load, but I was impatient and needed to fire so I could see the results. Tomorrow, we load up another bisque, if all goes well.

Change is Good Partt Deux.....

2010-09-03T23:49:00.000-03:00

Change is Good

2010-08-26T02:57:00.000-03:00

Its been all about the change around here over the past few weeks. For the past couple of years I have been making pots in the corner of what doubles as a studio and storage room. I have organized, and reorganized and carved out a corner of usable space. But for a while now I have been feeling the need for a more efficient, less slapdash setup. I have work in three new galleries this year, I have added two new shows to my agenda, and purchased a new kiln. My work is evolving, and I am feeling the need to get more serious about it.

the entranceway, where I will have some retail display

So in that spirit I have made a pretty firm decision to take my career as an artist and crank it up a notch. I am renovating my studio, and opening it up. I am adding a retail space, and reconfiguring the work space so that I can teach small groups. My first class starts on the 8th of September, and I want the retail space ready to go for October 1st. I have commited to having an open house sometime between the 8th and 16 of October during Celtic Colours.This might be a bit of a challenge! Cause, the space is currently housing a fairly large collection of boxes and totes full of art supplies. Not to mention the mess from making molds this afternoon. I am going to share some 'Before' photos with you, so you can truly appreciate the change when I post photos of the swanky new studio to be coming soon. You can't really tell in these photos, but the walls are an AWFUL pink colour, and so is the floor. It is pretty gross. That is going, and fast.lol

Indias workspace to the left, she's a superstar.

my workspace in the corner,excuse the plaster mess all over the table.One cabinet houses glaze material, the other fabric dyes, and more yarn.

my secret life as a painter, sh don't tell.Those plastic totes are full of yarn and fabric. All eight of them.There are six more that aren't shown. I might have a bit of a problem.lol

So there you have it. What a mess to contend with, I will be busting my chops to get this place ship shape and get pots made too. I will keep you all updated on the progress.....Wish me luck!

Come Make Some Pots!

2010-08-20T22:26:00.000-03:00

Lizziespots will be hosting a variety of clay adventures this fall. We have something for everyone, beginner to advanced, young and old alike.

Looking for something to do while the kids are in school?

Thursday Afternoon Handbuilding Class
1pm-4pm 8 weeks, 24 hours, $150 plus clay.

This class will concentrate on the basics of hand forming clay. We will make pots using the pinch, coil, and slab method of construction. A variety of decorating methods will be explored including texturizing stamping and slip work. Class size will be limited to four students, ensuring optimum instructor student interaction. Class fees include firng of the work produced in class, and use of studio glazes. Clay will be available for purchase through the instructor.

Looking for something to entertain the kiddies?

Tuesday Afterschool Program Ages 9-11
3-4:30 pm, 8 weeks 12 hours $120 all supplies included

Children will learn to make a variety of clay items by using the various handbuilding methods. We will explore sculpture, as well as functional ware. Class size is limited to four students.

Wednesday Evening Advanced Handbuilding
7-10 pm, 8 weeks 24 hours, $150 plus clay

This class will explore the use of templates and patterns in forming pots of purpose. Making functional ware and exploring the three dimensional form using the slab and coil methods. Students will be encouraged to design and make complex forms. Emphasis will be on designing pots that pour, and constructing lids that fit and function well. Gazes and Firing of pots made in class are included in the class fees.

To register, or for more information please email me at elizabethburtt@gmail.com

India's Day......

2010-08-15T04:52:00.000-03:00

Today is a national holiday in India. Independance day to be exact. On this day in 1947 India kicked the British to the curb. But more importantly, fifteen years ago today, this little princess was born. This is my baby, Miss India Faith Haines.

FRIDAY!!!!!!!

2010-08-13T11:42:00.000-03:00

Its been a busy week round here. We have cleaned and reorganized the Studio, exposing yet MORE of the awful Pink floor. I really must paint that one of these days. I have designed four new pendants, and made some prototypes. And did the internet shopping trip from hell to get the girl her birthday present.
who new it would be so damned difficult to buy a Misfits shirt in Canada! I ended up buying two shirts from a site in the US, I am terribly concerned that the duty on these shirts will be more than I paid for the shirts themselves. Eek.
This week has been full of fun Deliveries for me! On Monday it was a mug and some goodies from Becky Jo, on Wednesday I got my new kiln.... and on Thursday, Mugs and a vase came from Gary!(workin on that bowl for ya Gary...) It's like Christmas in August!!!

Now the Kiln is curently languishing in the woodshed, Cause it won't fit through the door. we looked at taking it apart and putting it back together, and we looked at popping out the false wall in the Garage door opening. The false wall is going under deconstruction later today. meanwhile, here's a shot of some of the new pendants in progress.

and one of the puuper, cause she's so darn cute.

BEST MONDAY EVER!!!!!!!!

2010-08-09T22:31:00.000-03:00

Today was pretty much a normal Monday. I woke up did paperwork, ran to town to drop off paperwork, and meet Sarah's Husband to return her wheel. I went to town again to do some groceries. I went to town a third time, to have coffee with the textile types, and drop off yarn bowls. This is a bit of driving, back and forth and back and forth..... I was pooped when I got home. Not to mention the guilt over my carbon footprint expanding exponentially over the day... PLUM tuckered out, especially after driving behind the slowest drivers ever.... (65 in a 90 zone, followed by 35 in a 80 zone----two different drivers.....)
When I got home, I sent Mason down to check the mail. This is a Mason job these days, as it is building up to India's Birthday, and we hoard the stash away from her til the day. That girl will drive a person CRAZY trying to open stuff early.
He came back with a notice that there was a package.... so I trucked out to the car and drove to our local depanneur/gas station/liquor store/post office/hardware store, to pick up what I thought was a present for the girl child.
BUT IT WAS FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!
It was awesome!!!!!!

and it was from Becky Jo! I nearly peed my pants! look what was inside!!! there was also a wine cork thing( awesome, and being used right now...) but India coundn't fit it in the photo.... see, its plugging that bottle of wine propping up the card.
Please ignore the bad lighthing in this photo, this cup is fabulous, it fits my hand perfectly, and is just the right weight and feel. Makes the cheap ass wine taste better even. I love it!!!! (ok, the wine is an award winner, but still pretty cheap).
This made my day!
See, Becky Jo and I were both in the same mug exchange, and she got ME! I got a stranger, but I am sure she's a cool stranger. A cool and patient stranger, as she has not as of yet recieved her mug.... (yay Canada post....expensive, incredibly confusing, and slow..)
so I say to you Becky Jo, Thank you, merci. and I will totally treasure this mug.

Back Home

2010-07-31T16:42:00.001-03:00

Mason and I travelled to Halifax last weekend, and then on to visit some folks in Fredericton. We had a lovely visit with my cousin and her family in Halifax, while attending the NSDCC Summer show. The show was moderately successful. Sales were not what I had hoped, but the upside was being picked up by two Halifax Gallery Shops. Lizzies pots are now available at Bogside Gallery in The Hydrostone market, and at Ikebana on Quinpool. Both shops are beautiful, and are very different from one another.

The Ikebana shop is carrying a line of shellac resist teacups, and some pendants as well as some thrown teabowls in an organic feeling blue brown glaze.

Bogside picked up a line of celtic inspired dishes

medium rectangles

Takin a little Breather

2010-07-16T12:42:00.000-03:00

Well its been go, go, go here getting ready for the Halifax show. So many pots to make, so many papers to fill out, and SO much cash flowing in an outward direction. Here's hoping I can recoup some of that cash in sales! Last night I had nightmares that the kiln didn't actually start, and that none of my pots would be done for the show. I was so traumatised that I got in the car first thing this morning and drove all the way to town to check for myself that everything was ok.

I am sure the girls at the Craft Centre think I am crazy.

They are probably right.

So today I am taking a few hours to hang with the kids, and perhaps drag them off to the seashore. It will be good.

progress, I think....

2010-07-12T01:55:00.000-03:00

Quick Update

2010-07-09T10:53:00.000-03:00

Getting ready for the Halifax Show has kept me away from the Blog. But we are still alive and kicken here in the midst of an unheard of heat wave. Pots are being made, Puppies are being snuggled, and kids, well they are still wacky, and wonderful.

Can't stick around, Mugs and Yarn bowls to be made!!!!!!

Adventures on My Island

2010-06-22T11:13:00.000-03:00

Yesterday, Mason and I drove the world famous Cabot Trail. we stopped off to see my pal Sarah, Raku potter/ bookstore owner and all round fun gal. Mason came away with a big bag full of books, and I bought this lovely new pendant

Sarah makes all these neat animal sculptures and pendants and soooooo much more. Everyone should come to Cape Breton and shop at her store. Do it. C'mon, ya know you want to.........

Anyway, twas a day full of adventure for Mason and I. We were looking forward to taking all kinds of breathetakingly beautiful pictures of our small slice of heaven. We were gonna make you all just want to pack it in and move here. It was a devious plan, but it was gonna work dammit!!!!!!

However, the best laid plans and all... FOG happens a lot when you live on an island in the atlantic. so here we have a random sampling of the actual pictures we took.

the fog has obliterated the entire top of this mountain that we are about to climb

as we begin to climb it is beautiful, and we are not yet into the fog

and then it begins

so this was our view for most of the hair raising trip through hairpin turns, and steep incline/decline 30 km per hour speed limit which often became 15km by shear virtue of not being able to see whether we were going up or down, or which side of the road was a shear drop off. We saw a moose trotting along the side of the road at one point. He was HUGE and beautiful, and Mason forgot to take a picture cause he was mesmerized by the thing.

Eventually we reached our destination, this is a neat gallery and the studio of William Roach, folk artist.. They don't allow photos inside, but I have to say his work is AMAZING, they also sell other peoples's work, mine included. and yes those are Merpeople on the side of the gallery.

After the harrowing drive through the trail, we needed sustanance. and possibly a glass of wine. so we went into Cheticamp and found a lovely little restaurant on the water. The wonderful waitress brought me this

the wine is mine, the hands and Michael Moore book are Mason's. we were sitting by the window and out on the bay we could see thisand it looked as though they were playing some odd game of golf off of this boat and onto the land. I was a bit confused, and curious. Mason presumed they were up to some sort of nefarious activity, and the hilarious guesses about the activity in question just got sillier and sillier. Eventually they came ashore, notice the green box like construction, at the back? I was right it was a golf green. odd location for golfing ,no?so then they start setting up the cameras and such on the dock. and putting makeup on the guy in the green coat to the left. VERY curious, obviously not crazy smugglers, but who??? and Why???

Finally we asked the waitress and she said>>> wait for it.... its ROCH VOISINE apparently he has been in Cheticamp pulling crazy stunts all week and filming them. I have no idea why or what sort of crazy project I witnessed but its cool. Me, witnessing the fabulous crooner himself doing silly stunts up close and personal like.

Sure it wasn't as cool as the time I met and had coffee with Bo Derek, and discussed art with Wayne Rogers, but on a scale of one to ten, it was a solid 6.

After this, we headed home via the TCH, I was not at all interested in Braving the Cabot Trail at night. uh uh, no way.

Back From the Wilds of NB....

2010-06-17T12:03:00.001-03:00

Well the mother daughter road trip number two has ended. We went back to Fredericton to pick up India's new dog. We managed to visit a few people, and eat at our favourite restaurant a few times.

The first evening was spent with the gang from One Thread Two Thread , in true jackie/lizzie fashion, much red wine was consumed. There was a great parade of hats by the lovely Mira, she has quite a collection........

and much face pulling action went on throughout the evening. Children and adults alike partook of this particular activity.

The very next day, India and Jackie and I took a little road trip to Gagetown, NB and dropped off some yarn bowls to the girls at Tangled Flocks . We were then encouraged to go visit my fave pottery instructor, up the road. His partner suggested we might wrangle a cup of tea from him, so off we went, for a short visit, and ended up staying the entire afternoon. His home was absolutely beautiful, and I took no photos. The pottery and art collection was mind boggling. India did take a few photos of Jackie and I but as for the house, bubkas. I did manage a few shots in Peter's gallery, just as we were leaving so I guess it wasn't a total fail!

BAMF Art Blog Bunch Spring Show

2010-06-07T09:38:00.003-03:00

You know I am a member of the BAMF ART BLOG BUNCH, and aside from being a group of friends and artists supporting each other's creative growth (and spreading trashy gossip about YOU), we have organized our first ever group show. We have each submitted a carefully chosen piece, and we are each posting this on our blogs and facebook and anywhere else we can.

Have a look. This is AWESOME work and you don't even have to go anywhere to see it.

Becky Jo, AKA: The Beckster

(toe plate by Becky Jo)

Why toes? It started with the BNA project between me, Gary, and Kasey. My idea was to use a plate like a canvas to carve on and then color in the lines (just like coloring books). I realized that bunny/noodle/argyle concept is fun, but I thought most people wouldn't understand those three things together, so I started to put different things on my plates... random lines, spacey flying things, and now hands and feet. These are smaller plates, mostly decorative, but they are food safe. You can find this toe plate, plus more of my work on my blog and my Etsy Shop. :)
Kasey, AKA: Reverend Awesome

My thoughts: This symbolizes man's struggle to get to the moon and dealing with the sorrow one feels after their favorite team loses the Super Bowl. Okay. It doesn't. At least not intentionally. Since this show is Spring themed I thought I could do a little painting for every season. Nothing deep. Just fun. Something that I would want to have on my walls. I'll do the rest of the seasons as they arrive.
I don't have an etsy gallery or anything. So I guess if you want to buy things from me you'll have to contact me by email or facebook. I have a blog! My blog is about nothing of any importance really. It's about whatever I want it to be about. (You could be reading this on my blog. If so, my blog is VERY important. You guys know that.)
Here's some other things I've done in a facebook photo album.

India's Submission for the BABB show (India is Lizzie's daughter, and we absolutely HAD to invite her and her artwork, just so cool)

When given the topic Spring India struggled a bit with how her punk rock/abstract style would translate to all the typical images of spring. Her aesthetic is not all roses and sunshine. After tossing around ideas involving actual springs, and thinking she may do a pretty spring picture. The idea for this painting came to her while eating Nachos at the Pumphouse Brewery in Moncton New Brunswick. The booths at Pumphouse are amazing works of graffiti art left by decades of customers. India took this idea for a walk, and came up with this 12x16 mixed media painting on canvas. Materials used include oil and acrylic paint, sharpie, silver paint marker, chalk pastel, charcoal, gel pens and nail polish.

This painting and other examples of India's work Can be found at her Mom's Blog and at her Zibbet store.

Stevo's entry for the BABB show

In this area of the country Spring is often a large contrast to Winter. There is a shift from the cold weather to warm, and with it the plants once again begin to open up. As a photographer these contrasts help me to see things new again. Contrasts can also be interesting to photograph. I walk by this tree stump often, and this spring I noticed new life in the decay of an old tree stump. I like the difference in the flatness of the old stump, and the three dimensions of the new life. Somehow the death of the tree makes the new life even more interesting, as does Winter making Spring much more appreciated. I hope you enjoy the photos that I have selected for the BABB Spring Show. The are available from my Smugmug web site. I'd love to hear your thoughts about them. Also check out the incredible works of the others artists of BABB here on this blog.

Lizzies Pot For BABB show

As a textile artist I have long been inspired by the beautiful and intricate designs of block printed fabrics from Japan, and the intricate patterns of the woven art of Saganishiki. In recent years I have returned to working in clay, the influences of my previous life as a textile artist are becoming more and more prevalent in my current work. This yunomi was made using traditional japanese woodblock patterns depicting wind and grass. The designs were transferred onto bone dry porcelain, painted with shellac, and then the surrounding negative space clay was removed by a water erosion technique.
Each of the yunomi in this series is one of a kind, the shape of the thrown bowl dictating the subject matter for the images applied. I see this particular peice as a statement of Spring, The cloudy skies, the wind swirling around through the grass. This peice, and more from this series can be seen at my blog , and are available for purchase at my Zibbet store

Christi's etching for the spring show

Alright, so it really has nothing to do with spring, but it's one of my favorite etchings and I just printed a few more this week. I love my little etching press. I'm also thinking a lot about tattoos these days after last week's adventures in that realm.

This piece is called "Perch," which is a little pun between the fishbone and the bird perching on his arm. I could think of it as spring-like with the feathers and feeling of strength and mystery...spring is a mysterious season of crazy new life and wings.

It's listed on Etsy here.
Gary's piece

(pitcher by Gary Rith)
Artist thoughts: I have been working on a series of experiments lately, and for this spring group show imagined a pitcher like this with a deep groove in the side, glazed JADE and blue, springy colors, with a turtle on it. But for the first time in 13 years, I did not think it needed something like a turtle..or frog...etc. The groove reminds me of a river going through a landscape, not to sound like there is anything profound here.
But anyway, I like to push the piece nearly to collapse when I make the groove, and then add the accented blue bits, and a handle that looks a little more fun than the usual.
My blog details my everyday nonsense and pots, and this item and others like available at my etsy gallery.

Progress of sorts...

2010-06-04T11:10:00.000-03:00

The addition of a wheel to the studio has been a big production booster. I love throwing, I used to not enjoy it at all, I was a diehard handbuilder, but after teaching throwing this past term, I felt the need to give it a little attention. I am thoroughly enjoying it. But I must say, the handbuilding has slacked off a bit, and now I have to play catch-up. I dropped some stuff off at the gallery yesterday, and will be heading off to Cheticamp to drop some next week. In the meantime, I will allow myself a day or two more of throwing exclusively, and then split time with handbuilding. Today I will throw mugs, then I am off to load a bisque at a friend's place.
I love my job.

India, if you Bite me , You are Fighting Like a Girl!

2010-06-02T21:53:00.000-03:00

So I was like, "what should I blog about?"

Mason said "Write about Nietzsche"

and I am like "what should I say?"

and he hands me a copy of The Portable Nietzsche, and says just read this, and write your impressions. Its 692 pages long. I am like "Dude, I want to write the post today, like be done five minutes from now"

India is like "I am stuck on the floor, I need help up!"

Mason takes advantage of the prone sister to be a typical brother and torture her, by poking her in the belly. She retaliates by trying to bite his ankle.

Mason says, "India if you bite me, you 're fighting like a girl!"

in his defense he said

"I was being Nietzschian, cause I was like the overman, and she was just the human"

so there you are. A philosophical lesson for the day, Via my sixteen year old.

ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-27T00:51:00.001-03:00

All good Canadian Road trips start at Tim Hortons.India's beverage of choice, is a mocha ice capp.

music for the Road includes this lovely collection by those long haired punkrock boys The Ramones.

Across the street from the Tim Hortons in North Sydney, is this Chicken Place. we giggle everytime we drive by. Apparently they make the best chicken, we haven't tried it, so can't make comment. But we do enjoy the name.

India took some photos of our Island from the car, its kinda pretty you know

but then her icecapp ran out, and she was sad....after many hours we hit the causeway.

No more Cape Breton Island. We were Mainlanders now.

We stayed on the road til Amherst, where we had lunch at Duncan's Pub , the bruschetta was to die for, and they brought me my own pot of coffee.

we then continued on to Fredericton, our home town. It was a ninja visit, we told very few people that we were coming. And we managed to squeeze in a few adventures in NB before my asthma interfered.

It was 32 degrees celcius and humid, when the air conditioner died in my car. How Gross we felt!

HOWEVER-

The main reason for our trip, was to visit with our dear friend Les, and his family, before they head off to the west coast of Canada. We love Les, and Lisa, and Adrienne, they are family.

I met Les while I was at University, He too started out all textile artist like studying fabric surface design at the same school that I studied weaving and potting. He went on and studied printmaking and painting at NSCAD. We have spent most of our friendship in different cities, Me in Montreal, Him in Freddy, Me in Freddy, him in Halifax, then Vancouver, we were briefly in Fredtown at the same time two years ago, but then I left. I was thinking how sad that is, always in a different place. When Les and Lisa announced the move back to Van, I knew I had to go see them one more time. We had such a good visit! we finally met Lisa in person, and dudes, she is the cat's azzzz! We drank boxed red wine, and played with puppies, and talked about art, and got oodles of hugs, and ate good food. And now we miss them even more than before.

this is me and Les catching up on the snuggles!

and India and Adrienne are catching up in the way teenage girls do. yup, you see it in full colour folks, modern communication at its best, two couches, two laptops, three teenage girls. This is how they talk. They did eventually put away the computers and go out to the store for junk food and on a long explore of the neighbourhood. I wonder if they spoke???

On Saturday India and I hit the road again, to sell pots at a medieval event in Woodstock, about an hour away. It was fun, some pots were sold, some old friendships rekindled, and some fighting was watched. I took lots of pictures of the action, and a bit of video.

then we went back to Freddy for more visits with the puppies and their people

Dharma adopted India, and slept with her the whole visit. Just outside Camera's eye, there is a large black standard poodle snuggled at India's feet, and below the lovely Dharma on the floor is the Golden Doodle , Penny. We have dubbed India the dog whisperer.

this handsome fellow is Lamby. There were also two kitties, but we seem to have no photos of them.

we visited my old school, and there was a fantastic metalwork show on. The gallery was closing soon so we only snagged a few photos, wish we had more time to explore, but what we saw was stunning. The quality of work was top notch. I was much impressed. My photos do not do the work justice.

these pendants were a media exploration project made by first year students, in the first term of school.

these salt cast brooches were made by a first year student as well.

such great stuff from first year students. I am blown away I must say.

When we wandered down the hall from the gallery toward my old stomping grounds we found this-

when i was a student here, we pushed a ware cart out in this hall way, stuck pots on it, and hoped someone wanted to buy one. They have come a long way in the last sixteen years, it looks like actual paint on the walls, and real shelves to display pots. oh my how things have grown...

but some things stay the same no matter what

This one came home with me. I love it! and I drink out of it every day. It feels so good in my hand, it looks great with my lemonade in it, and, I suspect, though I have not yet proven, that it will work exceptionally well for Gin and Tonic on the Deck when summer hits. It was made by the lovely Chelsey Ann Fitch. Who aside from being a kickass potter, great mommy to Jacob, and all round cool gal, is also my cousin's daughter.

Despite a few glitches along the way, I declare the mother daughter road trip a rousing success. No major incidents occurred, everyone had a good time. There were puppies, and plans to visit the west coast are being hatched. I leave you with this lovely photo of the girly girl, and the godfather, saying goodbye.

kiln offerings

2010-05-20T08:59:00.000-03:00

so there they are,the white bowl was a pain to photograph, but these are the best shots I could get. The other shellac bowl was icky so I will try agian

I Might Just Need to Learn to Wait

2010-05-18T12:36:00.000-03:00

I am a very impatient potter, I want those pots NOW not tomorrow when they are cool and safe to remove from the dragon. I have experimentally glazed two of my shellac tea bowls. It is driving me crazy waiting to see if I ruined them. arrrgh.

The Loft at the End of the Drive

2010-05-18T01:35:00.000-03:00

A couple of years ago, I was living in my hometown, Fredericton NB, and loathing every minute of it. I was working long hours at two jobs. One job, was sitting the days with a dear friend who had brain cancer. Now don't get me wrong, hanging with Rick, was the best. He's a crazy cool graphic artist, brilliant conversationalist, and punk/hardcore/heavy metal guru. The man Knows his s**t . Aside from the cancer thing, hangin with Rick was awesome. I first met him when he was a first year student At the Craft school. He already had been to journalism school, and had decided to move on to art, Journalism's loss is the art world's gain. Rick Rocks. The man woke up from major, like I am serious, life threatening , removing a massive chunk of his BRAIN, surgery and declared his personality was intact by saying, yup, I STILL HATE NICKELBACK!!!!. Aside from all of that, Rick had the incredible good sense to marry my High School friend Megan- musician, scrabble queen, and computer ninja extraordinaire. I miss you guys, we should really chat more.
My second job, was possibly the one that could buy my ticket to hell. I was a Bartender, for the Army, on a Golf course. Slinging the devil's liquid, to golfer's in uniform. The part I had the least problem with, was the army. And that is saying something.Vast quantity of land, groomed, and pampered and watered and sprayed with god knows what, to be pretty and green and perfect. so someone could knock around a little white ball, take a walk, drink a beer smoke a cigarette and still claim to be participating in a sport.
It was brutal. But the worst was missing my kids while I struggled to feed them, and nurture them, and teach them about how we should be treating our planet. So that we still have one, when they have kids.
Enter another high school friend.
She owned a loft, at the end of her drive, with a studio space beneath. We came here, and found home. In the loft at the end of her drive.

My dear friend Seonaid, the Practical Dilletante.

2010-05-17T06:59:00.000-03:00

Well this weekend was semi productive, I managed to spend way too much money at the grocery store, which led to a rousing game of Refridgerator Tetris. India and I shopped successfully for fabric and pattern to make her dress for year end formal, final decision was made to do an interprovincial mother daughter road trip on the long weekend, and I managed to get a few mugs done.

I live in an area that is steeped in Celtic culture. The music, the language and the art are preserved here as vehemently as they are in the British Isles. Our road signs denote place names in English and Gaelic, we boast a lovely Gaelic college, where you can study the language, piping, fiddling and weaving. Cape Breton even produces the only scotch distilled outside of Scotland. Not surprisingly, pots with knots and triskels are very popular round these parts, plus, I like making em! Last summer, some of my knotwork pots went home to Ireland with some tourists. That kind of made me giggle a bit

Progress, and India gets Plastered

2010-05-14T12:37:00.000-03:00

I have been busily working on new mugs and yarn bowls this week, getting a bit of work done and trying to breathe a little spunk ino the new stuff.

All my friends seem to lead lives in places where one has drunks to take photos of. I am a simple country girl, and thus, have no strangers passing out where I can get Candid shots to post online. I have to look a bit closer to home to find someone getting plastered.......

Words Well Worth Repeating.....

2010-05-12T10:05:00.001-03:00

As an artist I am alternately blessed/cursed with an incredibly vivid imagination, and sometimes a taste for the absurd. As a potter, we seemimgly have the life of Riley, we get paid to play in the mud, we get to perform alchemic rituals and turn gritty gray goo into beautiful glass in rainbow colours. We play with fire, that is the best part, really... But there are jobs associated with potting that are not nearly so glamourous. Recycling Clay being high on my list of nasty jobs.
I know I am not alone in this, most potters I know put it off for months, some even longer. When you don't own a pugmill, this can be an even nastier job. I try to fit it in every couple of months, but it certainly isn't a regular occurance round these parts. I try really hard not to think about that bucket of nasty.
Which brings me, in a roundabout way, to the words well worth repeating. You see, evrey morning I get up, pour coffee, grab some carbs and check my blogs/facebook etc. Often this session is full of chuckles and giggles. The usual perpetrator is Gary, but a few days ago, it was a facebook wall post from my friend Sarah. Sarah is a raku potter, she is a fiddler, she is awesome. I could paraphrase what she said, but, um ,well she said it so well herself, I had to just share it with y'all in her words. Sorry to all you non potters out there in blogland.

i am reclaiming 7 years worth of scrap clay...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!
But it's sure going to feel good to have some of it cleared up. Plus I'm starting to run low on clay, so I need to do it!
This is when I wish I had a pug mill....or a mixer...but then Paul Soldner might show up naked in my studio or something...YIKES!!

I've had that image burned in my brain for nearly two full days now!!!!!!! I keep picturing Sarah, and the look on her face and......
Sarah and her Husband, Paul (not Soldner) are both AWESOME, she makes the cutest raku animals, plays a mean fiddle, and is a fun chick to have around. Paul, her beloved husband is a kickass musician, an all round nice fella, and makes the best damned coffee ever!!! Check out the work of the fabulous Ms Sarah Beck at Wildfire Pottery. The Fabulous Mr Paul Cranford, fiddler, publisher, pottery husband, shop minder and coffee officianado extraordinaire can be found here

None of These Things is Just Like the Other, but Therein Lies the Beauty...

2010-05-11T23:59:00.000-03:00

I had a very happy firing, we will definitely be doing these again.......

whiskey cup....

2010-05-11T16:17:00.000-03:00

a pleasure to the lips.

They Are Such BABB Boys!

2010-05-10T09:16:00.000-03:00

These massively cool artist/bloggers have been added to our already ultra cool blog bunch. And They are soooo worthy! thus far we have Kasey, aka the Reverend Awesome, we Have Becky Jo, we have Gary, and now the next wave begins with (drum roll Please....) Benji! painter, potter, snazzy dresser....

and the ultra cool Stevo. Family man, photographer, Groucho Marx fan.

images totally scammed from Gary's blog

Mothers Day

2010-05-09T15:03:00.000-03:00

So we lead a pretty quiet life, like right now, I am home alone listening to the winds. It is really nice. The folks from the Big House, and Mason, and the visiting Grandparents have all run off to North Sydney to the Symphony. India, is sitting on the baby at the big house, as he is only three, and can't quite appreciate the Symphony yet. I chose to stay home, and relax. Quiet like, in my robe, admiring the incredible bouquet that India gave me for mother's day.

she also made the Vase. Cone six porcelain, slab built, approximately 3 inches tall. The largest flower is two inches in diameter. This kid amazes me, daily, Unfreaking believable. the pics are a bit blurry, the camera is posessed by wee demons today. But you can get the idea of how much work and ingenuity went into these little puppies

Last night, she decided that she was in need of some Pad Thai. I thought that was a great idea especially since she wanted to make it. I had to make a special trip to town for fresh veggies but just look what I got out of a wee drive to the grocery store!

It was a kicka** supper.

some totally gorgeous pictures of my little slice of paradise

2010-05-08T12:16:00.000-03:00

this is the Mira River, and it is right at the end of my driveway. That wee little bridge, is Albert Bridge, and it takes me to Mullins, the local everything but the kitchen sink store, and I am sure they could probably find a kitchen sink, given 10 minutes to call a guy who knows a guy.

I live a five minute walk from the boat club, sometimes we hear drumming on the water....It's this lovely bunch of ladies and their Dragon Boat. This is the Cape Breastoners dragonboat team. All survivors, or (related) of breast cancer. they kick some Dragonboat AZZ and raise money for the cause and all.

We are fans!

this is the view from the lighthouse at Louisburg. India and I love to go here and just watch the sea. very rejuvinating. And only ten minutes away by car.

Where the Hell am I????

2010-05-08T10:04:00.002-03:00

So Gary was trying to find me on a map, and figure out just what crazy place I am....

I sometimes think I know where I am, so thought I would help him along with the exact ruralness and island.

And so, here is Canada

and looking way to the east we see Nova Scotia.Not a half bad place to be.

The absolute best part of it all is the far east part of the province, Cape Breton Island. We have lived here for almost two years, and we love it

and, there I am right between Sydney and Louisbourg, in Albert Bridge

I have lived in Ontario, and Quebec, Spent most of my life in New Brunswick, but Cape Breton feels like home.

Chillaxin with my studio buddy, makin mugs

2010-05-07T13:59:00.000-03:00

This is my pal Morgan, he sometimes helps out around the studio. His dad is a substitute teacher, and when the call comes, well, Morgan comes here and makes pots with me. He also enjoys reading Ceramics Monthly. Today is a studio day for morgan, he's helping to build beer mugs.

The Few, The Proud.....

2010-05-07T07:39:00.001-03:00

So here it is Friday, earlyish in the morning. The misty morning, here in Albert Bridge. Kids are off to school (thank God! Grumpy was the theme of the day today!)and I am chillaxin with the Ramones, and looking at the tres scrumptious glaze tests from yesterdays kiln offerings. oooh so many colours, so hard to decide what to mix into a real batch, and like add to my already HOT glaze repertoire. Takin a little break from all that I check my fave blogs out and BAM! there we are, me and my angels, All over Gary's blog yup the Gang shots are up. Joining the ranks of the Kasey aka, the Reverend Awesome , Becky Jo, and Mr Rith himself is the Canadian contingent of BABB. Yours truly Miss Lizzie! I am all choked up. So very proud, and check out our totally badass Bunny logo, Kasey is totally brilliant no?

Check out this one.......

2010-05-06T22:45:00.002-03:00

Becky Jo! My latest sistah! The ultra Fab, Becky Jo...... Potter, Trucker, Farmer's Daughter..... Blogster extraordinaire! Kick ass artist, married into the famous tannenbaum clan......
then of course, all this new sistah talk might upset those that were given to me by my parents so I'll share a flattering photo of them just so they feel special

They are much, older than me, so should be setting a good example, yet here I was sober and holding a camera while they cut a rug, why Shelley even seems to be wearing a belly dancing belt over her Mother of the bride dress.

Dear Mommy, It has finally Happened....

2010-05-05T16:55:00.000-03:00

Yup, peer pressure works man, I have joined a gang. An International gang of Bad Ass Artists. You can find out about my slippery slide into infamy here. Sure I know, that link is a post about another crazy artist chick. See that's how it works, first they show you a pretty, all american type girl, that draws things. Awesome things! So Awesome in fact they call her the Reverand Awesome . Who knows what happens next???? Where does it go from there?.....Check in tomorrow and meet another gang sistah!!!

So yeah, POTTERY...

2010-05-05T07:54:00.000-03:00

So here we are, me blogging about canoe trips I didn't go on, and Coffee emergencies I managed to survive, but where are the POTS you say? Aren't you a Potter??? Well here you go, ... the latest step on the experimental teabowl adventure... I think I might be on to something, this shellac resist thing is working out, Sweet!

In Which Lizzie Proves Once again, Her Car Will Run on Air...

2010-05-05T01:40:00.001-03:00

I live on an island. Granted, its a pretty good sized island, but an Island nonetheless. I have lived here for more than a year, and I am still adjusting. One of the things I am adjusting to, is the fact that all gas stations close at ten pm. With the exception of one Irving Station in downtown Sydney. The other thing is the wind, and its propensity to knock out the power. You might think that these are two entirely unrelated facts.

You would be wrong.

You see, Monday evenings I teach until 10 pm in Sydney, about 20 km away, give or take. There are a few gas stations in Sydney, but I was tired last night, there was rain, and I thought, oh I'll just get gas in the morning at Mullins, (my local Gas /grocery/liquor store/pizzeria/ bakery/hardware store/postoffice and Sears Catalogue depot.)
You can buy ANYTHING there, and rent movies! And it is the only place for purchasing anything between Louisbourg and Sydney.
So I ignored the little yellow feed me light on my gas gauge and went on my merry way home, safe in the knowledge that I could visit Mullin's in the morning. But disaster struck in the night. It got Windy, and a bit windier, and then.... no power. At first I thought, meh, no biggy, I am a tough chick, I'll rough it til the power comes back. Then my charming son pointed out that making COFFEE requires electricity. I whimpered a bit, but, again I am tough. I thought, I'll drive to Mullins for coffee, surely they will have a pot on (did I mention they sideline as a place to get a steaming cup of joe?)

Being all neighbourly, I wandered over to the big house to see how they fared without caffiene. It was suggested to me that I might try calling Mullins to see if they had a pot on so we could get there before the rush. There was no answer. They too had no power, and no Coffee.

It was then that Seonaid pointed out that they also could not pump gas with no power. This was crunch time, I needed to take action. Should I take to my bed with a case of the vapours? Should I eat coffee beans whole? Or, take my unshowered self (pump doesn't work without power either....) out to the car and try to make it to town on fumes for a Timmy's extra large double double?????

Being Brave, and a good Canadian, I chose to take my grubby self to town, and visit the holiest of Canadian coffee temples, er, shops-Tim Hortons.

I made it, I got my coffee and spent the day mixing glaze tests at the Centre for Craft and design, cause they had power, and coffee. And its ok, to be grubby while mixing glaze.

The hero in al this is my Trixie, she's a good little car, runnin on empty so her mama could get her fix.

Just Another Manic Monday, with a Twist...

2010-05-03T16:07:00.002-03:00

In which mama stays in her jammies playing video games and listening to the Ramones while the teenagers get into all manner of adventures.
Mason and his pal Captain Kirk decided to explore the vast frontier of the kitchen, armed with this bottle of Grandma's Famous blackberry jelly, Imported from the fine distant lands of Rothsay New Brunswick

and a recipe gleaned from the far off galaxy ruled by Penny the beagle and inhabited by such strange creatures as Georges Le Soq, the newly famous Cabana Boy Gary , the lovely and stylish Maude, and an assorted menagerie of feline and canine folk.

the results of this mission, are deemed most excellent. Thank you Rubye (the Grandma), for the jelly, and Gary for the recipe. Many thanks to Mason and James Tiberious Kirk for the baking and Muffin delivery. Yummy.

Meanwhile, back at the computer desk, India has decided to make a menagerie of her own. A fine flock of origami Swans, here she is making the second smallest. The smallest required pins to make the folds.

And yes, that's a real penny for scale.

Kids are neat. I think I'll keep them.

Sunday Morning Shenanigans

2010-05-03T13:25:00.002-03:00

Yesterday I woke up, all groggy like to the sound of scavenging and thunking in the Garage. When I stumbled down the stairs I found this

This looked to me like a young man on a mission...... so I wandered out the door in search of further clues to the cause of the hubbub..

and found this!

I believe they added a canoe, a grown up and one teenage boy to the mix. Because moments later I saw this...

It looks as though a chicken wanted to go too. They had fun, explored some Islands, paddled a goodly distance, ate picnic style, and I got some pots made.

Whiskey Revisited, Night terrors about High School Math, and My Former Life as aTextile Artist

2010-05-01T13:05:00.000-03:00

So here are the famous whiskey cups from a few days ago, they are in the kiln now, cooling off. getting ready for glazing. Today I make more, and some mugs. My reward for all this hard work will be Teapots. Production is slow, for some reason pots don't dry well in this rain, sigh.

On the Highschool Math Night Terror Front ......

For many long years now I have had a particular recurring dream. I am in highschool, I am in math class and I am working at a particularly difficult math sheet. The numbers are swimming on the page and I can't for the life of me remember the magic formula. I am pannicking and frantically looking about at the kids who are seemingly breezing through. I can hear the clock ticking, class is going to end, I haven't even put my name on the sheet. I should point out that in these dreams I am an adult, I am aware that I am no longer a highschool student. I have graduated, been to University, and used math daily in both my work and personal life. But the terror at not being able to finish the worksheet is real.

I do not panic while constructing complex three dimensional forms, I hardly bat an eye when figuring out the area of a kiln, and how many pots of which size will fit. I can do the math to figure out yardage, and shrinkage and loom ease while weaving. I can draft patterns and make clothes to fit actual human beings. But that damned math sheet dream brings me to my knees everytime.

That brings me to a new stage in my math terror. Choosing Highschool Math with my kid.

I must say my trip to the Guidance office was particularly useless, and I have come away with the question, just what service is it they are supposed to be providing? I am told by the very informative (not) Academic Calender, that they are there to help choose courses, and that learning is their first priority. My experience has been that they are there to judge, and to force square pegs into round holes and quash creativity in education.

I think they all need to read some books by Sir Ken Robinson. In the meantime, it's homeschooling for this particular kid, in this particular subject. The school is not a fan of this idea. Ask me if I care. I will leave you all with a tapestry of the wee lad and his mum, that I wove in my former life as a textile chick.

Today is All About the Whiskey

2010-04-24T10:02:00.001-03:00

....cups that is. No actual whiskey will be consumed in the making of these cups. That would be a disaster of epic proportions. This week has been less than productive on the pottery front. Today I shall make up for lost time, and get'er done. There will be no 12 before twelve because I wasted an inordinately huge amount of time attempting to add a soundtrack to my morning and post it here. so finally I just stuck the widget in the side bar. enjoy.

Workin' It

2010-04-21T08:09:00.000-03:00

Today I shall make many pots, or die trying. I will also deal with High School Guidance Offices, and I shall win the battle. I wonder if I should bring cookies to bribe the guidance staff, does that work?

A Blustery Day

2010-04-17T05:55:00.001-03:00

So yesterday, as I was just preparing to decorate some teabowls, Seonaid arrives at the door.
"When you get a minute," She says, "Can you give me a hand?"
Off I go down the stairs, and out the door to see that she has parked the van on the skirting of the greenhouse in an attempt to anchor it down in the wind. After a few minutes discussion we decide maybe we should replace the van with the cement blocks that are up at the back of the property. Many wheelbarrow trips later, we secured the two long sides of the greenhouse with dozens of cement things. Wedged them in with dirt, and moved the van off of the plastic. It was cold brutal windy work.The greenhouse was acting like a giant angry bird flapping its wings in our face, snow was stinging our faces and the cement things were slimy and muddy. But we got it done. All was good, the plastic stayed where it was supposed to and Seonaid went off to work, leaving her greenhouse under my watchful eye.
And the wind changed.
Thats where it all went south. Or North or what ever damned direction it took to fling the many cement bits and pieces willy nilly about the yard in a deadly shower of heavy slimy mudcaked missiles, and create a giant kite out of the greenhouse. I tried in vain to hold the corner down so I could release the plastic from the frame and the wind lifted me and tossed me about. Somewhat worried I might end up in OZ, I let go of the greenhouse and attempted to call in reinforcements. Alas, none were to be found.
When the kids got home from school, Mason helped me cut the tape and release the plastic so that it didn't tear to shreds, or fling the frame about any more than it already had. By this time though the frame was bent beyond redemption. I was pretty tired, and sad, and sore.
We learned a few things in the process of the great greenhouse debacle. Not the least of which is that we wasted a good chunk of money on education. With a combined total of well more than a decade of expensive post secondary education, including at least one graduate degree between us, the best swear word we could come up with during the whole crisis was f**k a doodle doo.
Maybe we should have just gone to Hank's House a Learnin' instead of University!

A Day in The Life

2010-04-15T11:30:00.000-03:00

They love each other, really.

These are my two favourite people in the world. They make me crazy on a regular basis, but they are my world. I am very lucky to have them in my life. Now I think I might go bake them some of gary's peanut butter and jam muffins before they get home and start fighting, thus making me forget for a moment, that they are my sunshine.

Kiln Shopping, Sticker Shock, and Size Matters

2010-04-10T13:25:00.000-03:00

It's been kind of a sluggish week on the pottery front. Although I worked my keister off for most of the week, I got few pots made. It is my intention to make many pots this weekend, but we'll just see how that goes, great intentions and all.
For the past year I have been firing my pots at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design. My kiln is still in New Brunswick, and I have been sluggish about getting it here. The old girl is small, and she is old, I think about my age or more and probably not worth hauling all this way. Firing at the Centre seemed like a good plan at the time, but increasingly I find it very restrictive to my work, booking time and attempting to fire during office hours only, fitting my firings in between class firings. Transporting greenware without breakage is a huge pain in the rump, I lose a lot of my more complex pieces between Albert Bridge and Sydney let me tell ya, travelling 20 minutes over country roads with greenware ain't all its cracked up to be! it really affects what I make. Very few sculptural pieces or crazy teapots get made these days, and that makes me sad. The restrictive firing times is also a loss leader, my glazes like to cool slowly, and mellow, they are so much more beautiful, and consistant with a little time on their side. I lose a few pretties to a quickie firing all to often. Bottom line here is, I need to purchase a bigger, badder kiln that will share some all nighters with me, and heat things up at home. Enter the shopping trauma.
There are a butload of kilns on the market-and they sure aren't cheap! They come in all shapes and sizes, they have all kinds of bells and whistles and it is a scary prospect for me to throw thousands of dollars out there and then wish I had chosen differently. I have chosen the brand I would like, and tentatively the model. But here is where I start to panic. What if I buy the wrong size? I have no gauge here. I have only ever done part time potting, this stepping up production and looking at wholesale and expanding to more galleries thing is quite the change for me. But if I go too big, will I ever fill it? I look at BeckyJo's new beast and think ooh baby! gotta get me one of those..... but then I get scared cause he's sooooo big.
I think I'm gonna have to bite the bullet, and just jump in to medium deep water. I have a tentative decision on this little number from Tucker's in Ontario. Unless y'all would like to share your expert opinions with me that is!

Happy Belated to Gary and Chelsey

2010-04-03T14:35:00.000-03:00

This first week of April plays host to a few good birthdays, My dear sweet cousin Chelsey who is in her final year of pottery school in Fredericton NB, and a new found blogger friend Gary . Now these folk are pretty cool, and so are the Ramones, so here you go. turn up your speakers and join in the chorus! I don't wanna grow up!

This is one of Chelsey's bowls from last spring. I am dying to see the new stuff.

Are We There Yet?

2010-03-30T18:23:00.001-03:00

I have been firing the kiln at the Craft Centre for weeks it seems. An endless cycle of load/unload driving back and forth 20 minutes each way, and getting the student's work done so they can take it home and we can start all over again on the 12th. It's a bit of a pain, this catching up thing. Normally I have it all done by now, but we had a bit of a kiln glitch in the middle of term. Then it was waiting for parts, and getting the parts installed and then, catching up with the firings. My preference would have been to just fire back to back firings til they were done, but , I have to fit them in during office hours, and now we have Easter coming. An extra long weekend, right in the middle of Catching up. All the extra running is playing Havoc with my studio time.
On a happy note though. I have the best students ever! they are so creative and are really making some groovy pots.

These pots are the first ones they made, slab built for the most part. The small blue and brown mug in the middle was from one of the more advanced students.

One Hundred Circles

2010-03-26T13:44:00.000-03:00

At the beginning of my first year at NBCCD, I was given an assignment in my 3D design class that will forever be burned into my brain. One hundred circles, one object, 100 different patterns, one week to complete. Essentially we were supposed to draw 100 circles of a uniform size on a posterboard, fill each circle with a pattern using only the assigned random object, there were a certain number to be done in colour, and so on, but essentially it was as stated. My object was a copper pipe connector. It was a brutal assignment, and I was positive that it was designed to weed out the wimps, or that the instructor was a sadistic bastard, possibly both. But with the help of a full pot of coffee, some good tunes on the ghetto blaster and my sheer stubborness, I got it done, complete and on time.

That Instructor was Peter Thomas, who was also my first pottery instructor and as it turned out, Peter was not a sadistic bastard, in fact far from it. He is a wonderful artist, patient teacher, and all round fine fellow. I've been thinking a lot about the circle assignment while working out the patterns on my shellac resist teabowls, and by extension, about how influential Peter Thomas was on my life as an artist. Nearly 18 years later, I am using the circle game to help match, and eliminate patterns, to look at objects differently and to find beauty in the mundane.
I learned more from that circle project and from Peter than from anything else my entire time in art school. I hope that he knows how much I appreciate his patience, and guidance, and the fact that he never once said that being a potter was a poor choice for a person with one hand.

Thank You Peter, I toast you, with a fine New Brunswick Beer, In a tea bowl made by you.

The Adventures of Clementine, Teabowls in Progress, and Kiln debates

2010-03-22T16:00:00.000-03:00

A few Months back, My darling daughter India made herself a sock monkey, as can be seen on Lizzies Yarns . I posted about India's love of monkeys and a comment came in from a fellow named Gary. It seems that Gary has a sock monkey of his own who gets into a lot of trouble!!! India has become a huge fan of Georges le Soq, and his many hijinks. Last week, Clementine saw what fun Georges was having and insisted that India take her out on the town.

So here is the evidence Clementine MacSock, touring the town of Sydney Nova Scotia....

She insisted she could drive, so I let her.

first stop, the Library, to listen to some drumming, and drop off the smaller children

she had to bum some change from me to pay for parking

she hung out in the stacks

took in some drumming

she even read stories to the toddlers

then it was of to theWentworth Perk for some java

We had to stop at the grocery store on the way home, and she nearly lost her marbles when she spotted her hero on the cover of MacLeans magazine. She insisted that she have her picture taken with the man who brought us the Gold, Mr Sidney Crosby.

It was a great adventure, and she was so tired from it all, that she let me drive home.

On the pottery front, I am experimenting with some japanese textile patterns on my pots. I am trying different methods to get the right feel for the patterning. and exploring a bit outside my comfort zone. It feels pretty good to be playing around with different stuff. As always, I am starting out with teabowls, right size, good surface area, and manageable for tests. Plus I hate having piles of tiles hanging about. They just don't say enough.

I made some handbuilt teabowls for my slip tests a few weeks back, and they all worked out pretty well. But I don't think that the colours were what I was looking for.

Last week, I threw teabowls as a demo for my students, so I am trying a few new things with them. First off the mark are these shellac resist bowls. They are looking pretty good to me, but WOW what a lot of work. My hat is off to you Jim Gottuso you are a very patient man! I am sure that there will be a VERY small run of shellac pots for me! But I have to say they are giving me the subtlety I am looking for in the surface. Here are some progress shot on the thrown teabowls.

Lastly, I need a kiln, It is a difficult choice to make, and a significant investment for me at this point. I have been window shopping for ages, and am having the damnedist time choosing. I like the tuckers, cone art kiln I use at the school, but am unsure about what size I should get. And am I limiting myself by looking at the Tucker's Kiln? is there one out there that is better for me? I do find the shelves a bit awkward at times. I love the computer controller, but is there a better one/ sigh I guess I will have to just bite the bullet and pick one.

Spring Break In Cape Breton= Impromptu Ceilidh on the Mira

2010-03-17T02:21:00.000-03:00

Well, it’s that time of year again. March Break has hit our fair island, and with it, hoards of giggling girls have descended upon my place. The weather has been fantastic, and we made no extravagant plans for the break, so when India decided she would like to have a sleepover/bonfire party, I said sure! I am told there were only five, the photographic evidence does tend to agree with that number, but I swear at times it seemed that there were at least twenty of them.

Now when I was a girl, we had sleepovers all the time. We would lug our sleeping bags to someone’s rec-room, listen to music on our ghetto blasters, eat junk food and stay up all night playing silly games or telling creepy stories. Fingernails were painted, too much eyeliner applied, hair was styled in wacky ways. It was a blast, and an important right of passage. I wouldn't trade those times for the world.

India’s sleepover started pretty much like ours used to, the girls arrived with sleeping bags, and pillows. There was much giggling and chatting. The bonfire was pretty typical, a few roasted marshmallows, some spider dogs, and a lot of smoke. But this is where it morphed a bit and became something else. You see when I was having sleepovers; we tuned in to the radio, or listened to records, or the latest mix tape someone had made, or we watched “Friday Night Videos” on the TV.

Apparently in Cape Breton these things happen differently than in New Brunswick. With the bonfire out, the girls trudged up the stairs, and into India’s room. There was some pretty serious giggling happening, and then I heard some odd thumps, and bangs, and a guitar being plucked a bit. Then, the tunes began, the flute joined in and they were making their own music. Some of it was really good! Some was very beginner and the notes a bit sketchy, but it was all very enthusiastically played. They had their own little ceilidh. We were lacking a drum, and a fiddle, but we can work on that for next time. For this time we enjoyed a newly mastered (I use that term loosely) version of the classic Cape Breton tune "Song for the Mira" By India and Jocelyn, and some lovely spanish Music played and sung by Alee, who is an exchange student from Columbia. It was more fun than a barrel of monkeys!
And there was no lipstick, no hairspray, and very little junk food consumed. I approve, come back anytime girls!

Here are some pictures of the party girls, the morning after the impromptu jam session on the Mira

India, Alee, Rachel and Jocelyn

India, Alee, Rachel and Jillian

jill, india, jocelyn

It Ain't Easy Being Green.....

2010-03-10T00:22:00.003-04:00

It's that time of year again, when the snow begins to recede, the river thaws and the view out my window looks like this. It makes it pretty darned hard to concentrate on making things. Spring is coming, St Patricks day is nearly here, and I am trying out new cameras. My Daughter's old HP has nearly bit the dust, and doesn't take a good product shot for love nor money. I borrowed an Olympus from my friend last week, it worked ok, I liked it well enough, but today my Friend Lynda Lou handed me her camera to try. I may well have just found the camera that was meant for me. I hope it falls into my price range. I am almost afraid to ask. My budget is pretty small, my needs are few, just decent product shots with minimum fuss. I am not patient with fiddly photo equipment. These shots turned out pretty good I think. Green and quiteIrish with Their Celtic triskele stamping. Ready for Spring, and a good Irish Stout

East Coast Music Awards, and Cape Breton Craft.....

2010-03-05T04:25:00.001-04:00

Those of you who are not from the beautiful East Coast Of Canada, may not be aware that our little corner of the planet is teaming with world class musicians, and artists. We have pipers, and fiddlers, potters and painters, silversmiths and wordsmiths, weavers and spinners and so much more. There is something about this place, that breeds creativity, blends it with good honest hard work, and tosses in an innate ability to just make a party happen spontaneously, wherever you might be. Its a great place to call home.Once a year, the East Coast Music Association hosts an Awards Ceremony, and music festival to celebrate the unique talents of our Atlantic Canadaian Musicians. This year, the festival happens here in Sydney and what a party its turning out to be.

In celebration of the ECMA's The Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design ( that's where I teach) is hosting an exibit of locally made musical instruments. There are some truly unique pieces in this show.
This Guitar is particularly cool. It combines the working heritage of Cape Breton, with the rich musical culture. Made from the last coal shovel used in the mines here on the island, this electric guitar has been played by some of the finest musicians across the continant. It is signed by Natalie McMaster, and George Jones. The photo just does not do it justice. It truly is a magnificent instrument.

In addition to the many beautiful stringed instruments on display there are some beautiful Native drums, made by local MiqMaw drummers, and we were lucky enough to have the Sons Of Membertou Drummers perform for us, from Membertou First Nation Community here in Sydney. It was fantastic, I love native drumming. It was an honour to witness such a fine performance by our first people of Canada.
There are many fine instruments on display at this show, and Many fine musicians. The second performance of the evening was buy Pepito Pinto, a steel Drum maker from Cheticamp, by way of Trinidad. Pepito did something truly fantastic. Mindblowing really. He managed to take a traditional, and very well known fiddle tune and translate it Trinidad style on steel drums check this out http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=337099664681#!/video/video.php?v=336980124681pepito tearin up the fiddletunes trinidad style...
Also in this exibit there are some beautiful paintings by our very own Kenny Boone. Kenny is well known for his watercolour landscapes, but has outdone himself with some of the most beautiful music inspired paintings I have seen. But Kenny has other, talents I didn't know about....When he dropped by the centre on Thirsday with his pal Angelo, he did not have a paintbrush in hand, but a harmonica...
Kenny and Angelo drop in to hang out, Kenny and Angelo reprise
Instant Cape Breton Kitchen Party, smack in the middle of the gallery. I love this place!

Pots, Money, and the Making of Both

2010-02-21T00:11:00.001-04:00

When I was three, my favourite place to be was in the sandbox, we had a great deposit of clay that ran through my sandbox. I was forever digging holes, and getting the clay out. As you can see from this photo, I had an accomplice in Keith. I am quite sure we were the bane of my mother's existance, as this is also the only route to our back door! You certainly wouldn't want to traverse this path in the dark!

Throughout my early childhood Clay was a constant. My mother was a ceramics teacher, there were kilns in my basement and an endless parade of ladies coming to pick out their greenware, paint and gossip over tea in my mom's studio. There was always a block of clay on the shelf, and sometimes my mom would give me a piece to play with. It would seem that my path toward life as a potter should have been straight as an arrow, but it has not been so. Life got in the way, continuously.Its not like I ever intended to spend the sixteen years since leaving the clay studio at NBCCD doing everything but making pots. But kids, marriage and subsequent divorce, sent me in a very different direction.
I spent the next eight years in the pursuit of $$$ to make ends meet. To pay the bills, to feed the kids. I worked many jobs in that time, some not so bad, some not so good. None of them paid all the bills, none of them fed my soul. I was terribly unhappy, the kids were terribly unhappy and the ends were definitely not meeting, not even close. Nearly two years ago when my life was in the hole, a dear friend encouraged me to grasp at happiness, to choose to make my art, and to put it out into the world. She threw in the added incentive of cheap living space and studio room......It was a scary thing to do, but so worth it in the end. The ends are creeping closer together, the bills are closer to manageable (still a ways to go!) But the kids and I are happy, the pots are being made, and I supplement the cash flow teaching others to make pots. I may never be rich, but I am edging towards breaking even, one teabowl at a time.
At forty my favourite place to be is the mudroom, the clay is a bit more refined, the mudpies have evolved into porcelain pots, but at the end of the day the feeling of satisfaction is the same. I am a maker, it was meant to be.

I Am a Slug.

2010-02-16T13:06:00.001-04:00

Yup. I said that.
Today I am having the damnedist time getting going, despite the mass quantities of creative inspiration buzzing about in my noggin. So I have hauled out the big guns. The really big guns. My coffee this ~~morning~~, er afternoon is brought to you by the biggest, baddest mug in my collection. The Elephant Stien. This bad boy has been with me for several years now, made by my friend Darren Emaneu at MNO Contemporary Ceramics in New Brunswick. This fine mug has got me through some long days in the studio, and at craft shows, it has been camping with me, and accompanied me to many classes, boring meetings, and the odd yard party, (where it holds beer instead of coffee) in the last five years. I love this mug.

Just to give you a little perspective on how big this puppy is, I have dusted off a regular commercial coffee mug to compare it with.

Thank you Darren, for making this beautiful mug, it really makes me smile.

Tumblers and Such

2010-02-14T21:40:00.000-04:00

I thought it was time I shared a few of my latest production pieces. I have been mulling over some design changes, and some new glazes.

I use the term production very loosely. I hate being hemmed in to making one endless mug after another all the same. At the same time I do revisit this simple cylindrical form, again and again. I just like the aesthetic.

As a handbuilder, The possiblities are endless. I enjoy pushing the bounderies, as with my teapots, and madd hatter teacups. But at the end of the day, it is comforting to me to sit back, with a simple tumbler, softly fluid in form, and sip a glass of shiraz. These Blue and white tumblers are some of my favourites. I also make them with a soft green, and a turquoise glaze. They are simple, they are delicate, and they make me happy.

The green glaze on these teabowls is one of my faves. It has a beautiful range of behaviours, none of them bad. Since I am currently firing at the craft centre, I am not as able to control the firings the way I would like. Once I have my kiln set up at home I am sure that I can tweak the firings to my satisfaction, and master the subtleties of this glaze. I have been very happy with the results each time I fire, but am never sure if it will be the same as last firing. Its a wee bit annoying this lack of control.....

I started making these pendants for my daughter, out of scraps from my slab constructions. She has a few, and her girlfriends have all got at least one. But who knew that they would end up being a big hit at the gallery! They sell really well. Huh.

Back in the Swing of Things

2010-02-12T12:48:00.001-04:00

Well Halifax was wonderful, I am so glad I went. We arrived late Friday afternoon, and headed straight to the pub. There was live music, and some decent pub grub, and a beautiful stout. I nearly cried. Ah, civilization.
While in Halifax I attended the Atlantic Craft Trade Show. It is the only wholesale trade show of its kind in Atlantic Canada. It was a beautiful show, the product was all Fine Craft, no mass produced goods at all. I took some seminars on trademark, and exporting to the US which was a good use of my time, but all in all, just being there, seeing the vendors, talking with them, and basically getting a feel for the wholesale trade. That was worth the trip. I am planning on selling there next year.
This week has gone by so quickly, I am hardly catching my Breath. When we arrived home Monday afternoon, we immediately launched into Birthday party mode for my son. Sweet sixteen, and so handsome! Mason is a unique kid, funny, smart, and walks his own path in life. It is a good path.
Mason had only a couple of requests for his birthday. He wanted me to make him a hat, doable. He wanted a suit. Yup a suit. A la Barney Stinson, Mason wanted to Suit up (How I met Your Mother). I had told him that that was probably not gonna ever happen, due to the cost involved, and the lack of places for him to wear a suit in rural Cape Breton.

Now his father owns only one suit, got married, and divorced in it, will probably wear it to his next wedding, and get buried in it as well. I gave up suits when I gave up the office job at the museum several years ago. But that's what my boy wanted, so my friend Seonaid and I went to Louie's used clothing, buy one get one free day, and we all, yup, all of us suited up! Except my two year old neighbour, we tried but he kept "birthday suiting up" (naked babies did not get in the pictures), and his six year old sister Sophie, princess dressed it up.! A good time was had by all, the suiting up was a grand success.
Tuesday was spent shovelling out the kitchen after having left teenagers in charge for three days. I eventually found the counter, and managed to throw together a lesson plan for my Wednesday classes.

I was wiped out, Wednesday was such a long day, I didn't think it would ever end! My Classes were wonderful, but the weekend was catching up with me, the drive back from town was sooooooo, long. But when I got home I was really cheered by this:

Mason entertained himself, not by playing games or chatting online, or even surfing youtube. Instead, he decided to learn German. He spent four hours online teaching himself a foriegn language. And baked me a chocolate cake.

His sister, not to be outdone, went next door and borrowed a guitar, downloaded some lessons, and when I got home this is what she was doing. Last night they repeated the activities, she now knows enough cords to play the first half of her favourite Taylor Swift song. Mason is now throwing German words even at his speech therapist, who has pointed him in the direction of some german communities on the island. Pretty smart, pretty independant, and pretty cool couple of kids. They make a mama proud.

Trippin

2010-02-05T02:51:00.000-04:00

Well folks, I am off to the Big city for a wild and crazy weekend of seminars at the Atlantic Craft Trade show. Halifax Here I come! Doin' a little recon this year, scoping out the show, seeing how its done and planning for ACTS 2011, where I will hopefully be selling wares to many fabulous stores and galleries.
I am a bit intimidated by the thoughts of wholesaling, mostly because of the production work, when I love the one off and limited edition so much. We shall see. I will gather info, and I will weigh the pros and cons, and then well, make the choice.
The added bonus to this trip is a simple equation of me+my good friend Conrad+civilization= Ample opportunity for Microbrews on tap, food cooked by someone else and ... no dishes to wash for a couple of days. Yay!
But the greatest part is I get to see my friend Shannon, we don't spend nearly enough time visiting. we chat often online, but there's nothin like sittin face to face with tea, and some knitting, crazy dogs and rambunctious kids flinging themselves about while we have disjointed conversations that only occasionally make sense. I love it. I will bring her a pot, she loves pots. She will show me all her wonderful knitting, Cause there is nuthin she can't knit or no occasion big enough to cause her to stop knitting, she even knit in her wedding gown, on her wedding day! That my people is dedication to your craft. Just sayin.
TTFN
liz

Inspired by Sofia's Dad, and other pottery related stuff

2010-02-02T21:16:00.019-04:00

Today was a day of internet research chez lizzie. Most days I start with a pot of coffee, add a little blog surfing and then begin my real work. Today my real work consisted of researching decorating techniques to share with my students. I watched a bit of you tube, surfed some blogs and flipped through some ceramics monthly. I saw some beautiful things, and watched some talented potters at work. I love days like that. They are so inspiring.

I would like on that note to say Happy 1st Blogiversary to sofia's dad His blog is one of my faves, it has the perfect combination- inspiring work, funny kid and pet stories, and the occasional ode to good beer. Kudos to you Jim, keep it up.You have inspired me to look back at my first years of blogging and my little princess, she sure has changed since I first blogged on lizzies yarns I have nabbed some of my old images from blogs and now.... here she is circa 2006 blogfodder Miss India Faith Haines. The hand coloured photo montageabove was from a picture of her at age four (1999), below she is age 9 or ten, it is FIFA world cup time and she was more than a little excited about the England /Sweden game. We were on the patio of our favourite pub, waiting for the game to start.

and here she is today, India, circa 2010, 14 years young.

And Today, tea bowls.

2010-01-29T13:27:00.001-04:00

It is a cold and blustery day here in Cape Breton. The windows are rattling, and the trees are bending over in a rather beautiful dance. And it is Fricken cold in my studio! so today, I build tea bowls at the dining room table.I am experimenting with some slipwork, and teabowls give me just the right size to experiment a bit with different methods.
The school where I am teaching has a new facility, only two years young, and as such, there is little in the way of samples, and glaze recipes, for the students to study or experiment with. And by little I mean zero. zilch. nada. I am finding it quite a challenge to encourage experimentation with the students when there are no examples to show them. Last term I cleaned out my cupboards and brought in some of my collection to show them. For the past couple of years they have had a selection of slips, that are ok, but not spectacular, and a few glazes which are again, ok, but not spectacular. So in a way we are starting with a clean slate, which is good, but also, it is hard to not just teach them what I do to my pots. Sooo, I am breaking outside of my little comfort zone and making experimental teabowls for my students. Wish me luck!
Many long hours later.........

These are the first two slipware teabowls. The one on the left is a sgraffito technique, and the one on the right is paper stencilled. The slips are simply the same clay body I used with the addition of Mason stain. I am not thrilled with the texture, but may re sieve it and add some more water, it is fairly thick, like pudding at the moment. I am fairly certain that this slip will work out fine but would happily take suggestions for a nice black slip...... I am tempted to just order commercial black underglaze but it is so expensive.
I found the sgraffito very easy, and could get into doing some more. The paper resist gave me some trouble, but I think maybe my clay was a bit dry, and I had trouble getting the newsprint to stay put. I may give it another whirl tomorrow. Next on the agenda will be inlaying slip, and then possibly doing monoprints on the clay. if there is enough time I will paint freehand as well. I'd like to get at least six different designs done for bisque fire on Monday,

Mad About Tea, a Tribute to My Nan

2010-01-24T09:56:00.000-04:00

Growing up, I spent a great deal of time hanging out with my maternal grandmother. My nanny had one of those houses where the floor was so polished it was down right dangerous. If you got a good run on in the front sunporch, you could slide straight through to the back door in one go. It was awesome. (And not encouraged.) There were all kinds of wonderful things at my Nan's house to keep a kid busy. I used to spend hours playing with the little china animal figures that came in the box of tea. and lay on my back looking at my mom's old viewmaster reels.
There were reels of the Queen's coronation, of the sites of London, and I believe there were reels of Snow White-but those were pretty creepy so I didn't look at those often. But the coolest thing about my Nanny visits had to be the tea.
At Nan's house you didn't throw a teabag in a cup and drink it while you did chores. At Nan's house tea was serious business.
Nan's tea involved plates of cookies arranged on the table, boiled eggs didn't come in a bowl, but were served in egg cups and tea cups were warmed with boiling water before ever seeing a drop of tea. We sat round the table, and ate the best cookies in the world, drank Nanny's magic tea,and it was good.
My Nan had a glass teapot, it was nothing special, just a pyrex commercial teapot and she used regular tea, but she made the best tea in the world from those simple things.
Nan instilled a love of tea in most of her grandchildren. I think of her often when I am designing teapots. There is a little bit of my Nanny in each and every one of them.

A Taste of Home

2010-01-23T20:03:00.001-04:00

Lately I have had a few homesick moments. I have been in Cape Breton for more than a year, and I love it. It is rural, and relaxed, and there is real community. I have really blossomed here, and so have the kids. But lately there has been a little bit of longing for the treats we used to have at home.
We all miss the Saturday farmers market in Fredericton, with its delicious samosas and pastries. The Coffee from Whitney's, and the many wonderful vendors selling everything from handmade craft, to homemade cookies, and imported cheeses, to Birkenstock shoes. The Boyce Farmers Market is definitely the social/shopping epicentre for my hometown.
The other thing I miss is a good microbrew beer. Don't get me wrong Nova Scotia does its Garrison quite well. But Cape Breton has no microbrewery of its own. And I have been missing my weekly Picaroons. So when I saw this today, well I had to do a little jig and pick up a six pack. Yup, its true, a good, microbrewed import from the land of plenty Moncton ,NB, I bring you Pumphouse Brewery's Fire Chief's Red Ale. Perfect for testing out my new celtic stamped beer mug.

Too Yummy.

praise Today

2010-01-18T14:13:00.000-04:00

My daughter is quite the artist. It should really come as no surprise to me really as both her dad and I are artists. But this kid just blows me away sometimes. She's a pretty decent potter, and took to silversmithing like a duck to water, but her paintings are what really impress me.

I spent a good deal of yesterday haunting India with a camera in her studio. She is a trooper, and let me get away with it! Here is the result of a sunday visit to the studio of painter/mixed media artist India Haines. Her latest painting is mixed media peice on canvas board 9"x12" entitled praise Today. This is unusually small for miss India. This kid likes to work BIG. But she received Canvas board as a Christmas present and is diligently using it up.

I received one of India's collage on canvas peices for Christmas and feel pretty excited about getting it framed and hung before next Christmas.

In the meantime I have been diligently photographing pots, and posting them for sale on etsy, compiling lesson plans for my classes on Wednesday and preparing for a big experiment in woodblock printing with clay. Its time for more art peices in my practice. Less with the production, on with the wilder side of clay!!

Warm Thoughts, for a Cold Day

2010-01-15T16:54:00.000-04:00

January in Eastern Canada is COLD. It is a time for curling up with a hot cup of coffee, and a good book or for having tea and a chat with friends. In my house it is a time for playing board games, drinking cocoa and doing puzzles with the family. It is also a time when I do my most thinking about pots. These past weeks I have been musing on the relationship between the pot and its user. The conversation between the person, and the vessel intrigue me.
I have a very diverse collection of pottery drinking vessels in my cupboard. Some were made by me, and others were made by potters from around the Atlantic Provinces. Each cup, tumbler or teabowl has a story, a purpose and a special meaning to each one of us. And they are all different.