Monday, July 30, 2007

Updated!

The Little Flower Designs webshop is now updated with a ton of new work. I also updated some of my staple designs with new size information. Most of the vases are available in 2 sizes and bowls are offered in 3 sizes! Be sure to scroll down to see everything.

Pictured is the new Vine Tea Cup, it is the first of a developing series of apron inspired patterns - more on that later!

It's a happy day here in the Little Flower studio!

rainy days and mondays

Thank you to my blog readers that came out on saturday to say hello! That was just the nicest thing ever. I really loved the Creative Collective show and now that I've done my test day in the steamy Philly heat, I am sure to add a few more dates. I didn't bring my camera because I thought it was going to rain (it didn't!) but I promise to next time. It was a long day, made fun by meeting new crafters and getting recognized from both the Philly Magazine feature and HGTV! And so many people came by and knew my work from Art Star or somewhere else, that made me feel really good!

Today it's back in the studio for glazing, I am finishing up an order for a new store in Berkely, CA called Tree House Green Gifts. Their site isn't up yet but it sounds like it is going to be such a great place, they will carry both handmade and eco-friendly items. I even managed to slip in some one-of-a-kind items for a new section on my site. Doing a few original pieces, along with my regular designs will keep things fresh for me as an artist. More on that after the firing.

Site Update, I worked and worked on it yesterday but ran out of steam, hopefully I will finish it up today. A girl can only do so much!!

Friday, July 27, 2007

rain, rain, go away

Come rain, severe thunder showers, or shine I will be doing the Creative Collective Craft & Fine Arts Fair in the Headhouse Square shambles at 2nd and Pine St. in Philadelphia from 10am to 10pm saturday.

So, if you'd like to set out in the rain, be sure to come by!!! It is under a covering and can be quite nice and fun for a rainy summer day. It is located just off of South Street and is surrounded by so many things to do that you'll be happy to have a day or evening out to come meet me : ) and have a nice meal or see a band play, wander down to the river or take in a movie. Not to mention all the shopping that can be done! It's just a short walk for everything.

Hope to see you tomorrow! and for those still waiting on my site update, I will start to upload on sunday. And and and! I am firing right now and have more new designs in the kiln and a slightly new process to reveal next week!

Monday, July 23, 2007

the first tomato

Jersey tomatoes are the best, and we live just miles from that precious Jersey soil that grows the juicy red wonders. So, this summer we are doing the great tomato experiment. The challenge - Is it possible to grow Jersey tomatoes in Pennsylvania? This is really Steve's experiment but since he has his vines in my garden and I seem to be tending to them and um, eating them, I thought I'd share! So, we bought a bunch of starter plants of various Jersey soiling loving varieties at a farmers market in NJ. We asked about growing the tomatoes and how to get better results in PA - they said it's in the soil, hmmm. So, Steve works in NJ and can borrow a little soil from those NJ grounds which happen to be around the corner from the farmer's market and their fields. We have several plants in the PA soil of our regular garden and some isolated in pots of NJ soil. All seem to be growing very well, however, our fist PA/NJ tomato was stolen! Who would steel a plump juicy PA/NJ tomato?? So we don't know our results just yet- there is a home grown tomato curve that we haven't figured out how to factor in, since home grown always tastes so yummy. But, the isolated NJ/NJ tomato's did ripen quicker and were picked and consumed to our liking. And they seem to be producing more than the PA/NJ's. It is still too early in this experiment to tell and our yard gets less sunlight than most so we are moving at a slower pace than a direct sunlight yard. However, my gut instincts are telling me that yes you can grow NJ/NJ tomatoes in PA!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

thinking bloggger

Lori Marie over at Pretty Little Things has awarded me a Thinking Blogger Award!!! Thank you!! Lori is a super talented textile lady who designs for Pottery Barn Kids and her very own super-sweet line of totes, dolls and apparel. I am very honored : )I now get to pass along the honors! I choose artist blogger's that inspire me to pursue my creative path:
One Black Bird - Ceramic artist Diana Fayt's blog about her beautiful work and life as a maker.
This Artist's Life - Whitney Smith is also a ceramic artist who has a wonderful blog and shares so much of what it is to be a ceramic artist in the modern home goods scene. She has also been a huge inspiration to me.
Mish Mosh Art- My friend Sue's blog about her new life in Central New York - she is an amazing artist and has been posting bits on her pursuit to make a home in her new state and to choose an artistic focus. She is a maker of all things wonderful!
Making Home - Melissa runs the Stanly Family Lodge an online shop with a focus on handmade and earth friendly goods. She recently created this new blog to share her pregnancy and making a new home for her family - she is posting some living green tips too! What really inspires me about Melissa is her how thoughtfully she is putting her home together and preparing for the new baby.
Observation Dork - Amy Ruppel is a painter in the NW she, said hello to me at Renegade and I totally spaced -sorry Amy, when I got home it hit me that, my gosh, that was Amy Ruppel and I blew it - so I quickly found my way to her blog and have been reading it for the past month. She just posted about her amazing new studio space, so I will be reading closely to see how this goes - it's something I've been toying with the idea of for a few months now - when is it time to move out of the home studio?!

That's it for today, have a great weekend!
ps- I'm still working on my site update, and for those wondering what's going on, I started to reformat a portion of the site and caused great confusion for myself but, now I am almost done and it's so much better! Sometimes you have to make a mess to clean things up- right?!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

update coming

tuesday! wow, I am still working on my web update - it is going to take a bit longer - I've been sidetracked by a little studio project so now I'm hopping between the computer and large slabs of clay. In the mean time, the bowl is another preview of what's being added to the site. I am really loving this bowl - it is my dahlia flower with sporadic dots carved about! So, this bowl is hand thrown, hand carved and hand glazed. All of the lines are carved into the surface then I back fill with glaze - it leaves a very nice texture that often surprizes customers that order online. So, no it is not slip-cast, there is no slip to cast in my studio. The only molds I am using right now are for my tiles and they are hand pressed from slabs. I really do need a tile press, so that just might be my next assignment for Steve - he's handy like that and just might be able to build me one!

While I've been sitting here I've gotten some very nice e-mails and one that always makes me smile is my dear friend Karma's baby pictures. She has 5 month old twins. One boy and one girl - what a lucky mama she is! She entered a sweet picture of her wee boy into a contest to win cloth diapers from kissaluvs - if you have a moment please vote for Henry he is the very first photo on the left. They can really use more diapers!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Vases are coming!

I am working on the site today and will keep at it until everything is added. I just thought I'd pop over here and give you a look-see at what's coming. I have quite a bit and its turned into a huge update of vases, bowls and of course tea cups. And for those who keep asking, I'm going to put ordering information on the site so that you can make any of my 8 oz. tea cup patterns into a 12oz. mug. Make sure you are on my e-mail list to be the first to know when the site is officially updated. You can sign up on the right side bar. Happy Sunday, it's a hottie here in SE-PA, a good afternoon for a nap! Or for working on your website...

Vases are available in 7 inch and 9 inch sizes and soon 11 inch!

Friday, July 13, 2007

finishing touches

Almost done!
Just a little trim painting then we'll have a finished room! Here's what I like when I pass thru the dining room, the color and the light fixture. We go thru waves of wanting to replace this fixture but, with the new paint I think its fitting in better than ever.
It's Friday!!! Crazy that a workaholic like me even notices, but that means I have 2 days that I can do some non-little flower things and not feel guilty. Watch a movie, take Marley on an extra long walk. So tomorrow I'm heading downtown to scope out a bi-monthly arts and crafts gathering to see if I want to join in. I'm hoping it will be what I've created it to be in my mind. I would love to have a regular place to show my wares and sell. And a trip downtown is always refreshing!
Studio: I have 2 really cool tile projects in the works, both designed and as of yesterday the molds are made. I'll be sharing more on this very soon. I'm also photographing all the new stuff and hopefully getting it on the site this weekend. I have about 4 new patterns and finally the long awaited serving bowls will be on the site! I get so many requests for serving bowls, I'm hoping everyone will like them as much as I love making them.
3-3's for friday
3 daily must-do's for me
yoga
sketching or at the very least doodling
breathing (not just in general! but specifically to calm me - its a technique)
3 summer to-do's
take the canoe out
go down the shore
have a bbq
3 blogs I'm reading
west bank diaries (my sister's journey to Palestine to work with kids, send her good safe vibes)
dooce so funny, I love here letters to her daughter
this artist's life Amazing potter Whitney Smith's blog - she has been such a great inspiration and source of information for me! Thank you Whitney! She is currently in Japan awaiting the results of her first woodfiring.
Have a happy weekend!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Studio: Designing new work specifically tile, has brought back my love of drawing and watercolor. This is a detail of my current painting. The 2 fish leading the way are John-Paul and Amanda, my old goldfish. They were the friendliest fancy's, so pretty and relaxing to watch. I'm having a great time drawing them and even came up with a goldfish tile - which is in the works. I wish I had taken more pictures of them. Maybe a trip to the aquarium will be my next outing to get a few more action shots for reference.

Home: We're still painting our dining room, hopefully we'll finish tonite. I'm so pleased with the color, it's one of those risky colors that could have gone very wrong but, I think it is perfect!! I'll post a pic this week, I went nuts with the blue painters tape so its not in a sharing state just yet. I'd love to keep going with a whole house re-do... maybe a whole life re-do!! New house, new line of little flower goodness, maybe a fine art show?? Well, there is a new little flower line - soon to be posted. Happy July 10th!

And to my dear sister half a world away, Happy Birthday : )

Monday, July 9, 2007

Miscellaneous stuff is starting to pile up here in the little flower studio and home. What to do... I have bags, I have boxes, I even have a basket, all those little odds and ends that end up in the misc. bag when I de-clutter. Should I just close my eyes and wish it all away? The good news is that de-cluttering this wee home is making it feel so much better. Our big homey project right now is the dining room, I'll share pics when we finish - we are painting it and creating a wall for some of my prints, I am so excited to finally hang the prints I've been squirreling away. and I'm sure a few of my watercolors will be added to the mix. Now for the color! We had a white dining room and now it is a color that reminds me of what apples smell like and for Steve - it reminds him of his childhood dentist! Can you guess? We will finish the walls tonite and hopefully the trim, I'm so excited!

Last week I finally took some time off - so if you noticed that I was slacking in the communication department that is why. I just needed to walk away and take a nap, a walk and do some non-little flower things. But, I'm back now and ready to get to work! So off I go!

Friday, July 6, 2007

fishy friday

When I was a kid we had an aquarium of tropical fish and my favorite fish was this angelfish. I have been thinking about past pets quite a bit lately and wanting to include them in my work somehow. Maybe not my pottery, I really don't see me doing pottery with dogs and cats on it but, fish would be so lovely and they are great to draw, all that detail! I am still working on sketches today and finishing a water color that I started maybe 10 years ago - how did that much time pass? It is quite large for me 22 x 30, usually I work on small drawings on scraps of print paper. Back in college I took an etching class (which I loved) and somehow ended up with everyone's scrap paper - bits torn off of odd sized prints. I love all those scraps and most aren't really scraps at all! Just odd sized paper no one wanted - but me! I never show my watercolors but I might here to document what I am doing. It is something that I have always done and at times it was my only artistis outlet. Since I set out on this clay path I have been trying to come up with a way to capture my watercolors on the surfaces of vessels, it is such a different process and I have a long way to go. Aww, the challenge of ceramics. And I won't settle on decals, something is just lost in decals.

So, onto my friday 3 - 3's:

3 cd's I ordered yesterday!
white stripes -Icky Thump
dinosaur jr. - beyond
the bird and the bee - the bird and the bee

3 movies this week
Sicko - last nite - pretty interesting (sister- are you shocked? a documentary!)
Happy Accidents (3 stars)
Evan Almighty (ok, we are planning to see this one or Knocked-Up or Waitress)

3 artists whose work I'd LOVE to own
Amy Rice (anything and she's showing at Art Star next month)
Camilla Engman (I have a few prints but I'd love one of her paintings)
Jen Corace

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

sketchy on the 4th

Awww, independence day! Happy 4th of July! I hope your day is filled with a deep breath of freedom. Ours is starting out sketchy, I'm doodling away this morning and this little wood thrush is my favorite little guy so far. I think he will end up on a tile but maybe I'll give him a few friends and put him in a watercolor. I have been looking at old bird watching books and plant identification manuals to come up with some new characters for my work. I also went thru all my old pictures and have a stack of inspiration, most likely to be seen on a bowl, my old goldfish. More on them in the very near future.

So, I get my guy for 5 strait days, what to do!!! I'll be working a very lite schedule so we can do some outdoorsy things (canoe) and indoorsy things (paint the dining room). I am hoping to find some music to listen to either in the form of live music or shopping for new music to blast on the patio!! Any suggestions?
Have a super happy 4th!

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

be

This cloud was across the street from my house the other day and it really made me nervous. It turned out to be just a cloud but I was sure some kind of something terrible was causing it. It made me think, what would i do if it was something terrible? I can't seal myself into my house, i surely can't out run a cloud. I guess I just have to let it be. So this post might be full of duality! Letting things be, accepting things as they are. Being busy makes it easy to do this, I ran around asking Steve about the cloud and then grabbed the camera and in about 5 minutes I was back in the studio and totally forgot about the impending doom of a few minutes before. Thank you Beatles for the lovely song (let it be) and a somewhat easy to take mantra for us nervous types.

Ok, Larry King - did anyone see that special where he interviewed Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia? Um, yep, um - I was glued to the tv and totally speechless and had a hard time watching but couldn't turn away. He called Ringo -George then tried to cover it up, asked them if they ever heard of Paris Hilton!!!??? What a waste of good Beatle interviewing. Sorry to anyone that loves Mr. King - I've been thinking about this and how much I turly love their music and how much influence its had on my life. I don't listen as much as I used to but gesh! I must have driven some people mad in the past with persistent Bealtes blasting from my studio.

So, I'll let the Larry King thing be and hope he retires very soon.

Studio! I am 100% caught up. This hasn't happened in over a year and it feels good. A little over a year ago everyhting just went nuts. So now I have figured out how to run this little pottery biz so that I can do it with a little grace. For the past 2 weeks I've been working on a few custom orders which are in the kiln right now and will ship out Thursday morning. I have been plugging away getting all the tiles glazed and I've taken a bit of time to draw (pictures coming) So, with the 4th tomorrow, I can relax and clear my head. I am itching to do some new work both in clay and on paper and now have a little time carved out. I will also be posting some new work for sale on my site!!! More info on that soon.

Happy 4th of July and Happy Summer.