much to do

Look at the beautiful job my sweetie did framing out the studio wall! I had to special order the insulation which I believe is made of wool so we had a slight delay. I'll fill you in on the insulation after we pick it up. I'm hoping I made a good choice.
I started with something positive because I'm pretty upset about the state of things with our house and my studio. I mentioned that the laundry is now in my space, well, another problem is pictured above. We haven't figured out how to deal with this just yet. It's quite a slope... We have a lot going on and really don't need another expense but, shimming everything from kilns, my wheel, tables and shelving just won't be realistic. If anyone has experience with this, I'd love some input. How did you deal with a sloped floor? We're going to get some quotes on having a new floor poured. Our other issue is why the laundry is in my space. Our septic system is filled with ground water. And the ground just won't dry out. We found out we're months from having a fancy new system installed and we're a good 1/2 mile from the nearest sewer, so close yet a zillion dollars and a lot of bureaucracy away. We're going to move forward with my studio conversion, new septic systems don't pay for themselves! Once we figure out the floor I can move, I am pretty much packed and more than ready to get back to work. Most of the summer show applications are up and I'd hate to miss show season. I do have a small collection of wares ready and a few bins of seconds and older pieces to sell. Not too bad ; )

Here's a picture of our new neighbors, I want to leave you with something positive! Taken from inside our house! There's a little red fox that runs around here too, he's my favorite to look for, but quite shy, I'm hoping to get his picture too.

squished- a studio update

Packing is in full swing, there are my supplies, tools, equipment, old stock, wonky pots, 2nd's and then the smash box. I'm purging as I go. This process is going so slow because I am doing it with only 2-3 hours each day dedicated to this. The above photo is from this morning... It's a big task but now it's under control. Almost all of the pots are packed and all of them are sorted, finally! I do realize it looks like an episode of Hoarders in there, but in my defense, everything is out and 3/4 of my shelving is already empty and ready to move. I closed my etsy shop today which is a little sad, I need to have a moving sale but things are not working out that way. Our new home is turning into a bigger and bigger project. Hence the below photo of my still unfinished studio. Oh where, oh where will I move my studio to?! I'm trying my best to have a good sense of humor over this but, the laundry area that we moved to the basement is now back in my studio space. My new studio is 480 sq. feet. That's not tiny but it's small for a pottery studio. So to give up an entire corner to a washer and dryer and leave room to do the wash is far from ideal. My excitement over this new space is quickly getting squished. We were supposed to be working on the walls and floor this week so I could start to move in. So here it is February and still no studio... we knew this would be rough... and it is.
More pictures on facebook.

it takes work

Being creative comes naturally, honing that creativity into something tangible takes work. More work than most would think is truly possible. Small and large interruptions can happen and that starts and stops then restarts the creative flow. My creative outlet has been my business for the past bunch of years. 2010 was such a life changing year for me that my work needs to change. I spent it mainly out of my studio; having a baby, taking time off to be with her, buying a new home and studio, renovating the home, and organizing my wee family's life for this move. 2011 is sure to bring new designs. I know it will be some time before I am up and running, my new studio isn't even close to being ready. This seems like a good time to reflect on what has happened since I launched Little Flower Designs way back in 2004. I've been cleaning out my studio, pulling out work like the above tea set, the Just Friends pattern that brought me a lot of attention from the press and more orders than I thought I'd ever keep up with. Thinking about this makes me wonder if it's something that I should still be making. How long should I produce a design, how do I decide on a number I should cap it at to make it a limited edition. I do everything by hand from scratch so after I've made something a few hundred times I need to move on. My work and process has changed. I feel like I am about to create a new and exciting body of work.
The Nature Stories collection I started to work on over the summer felt like me. The platter above is from that collection. After having a baby, and being out of the studio I was feeling a little out of sorts. Once I started designing, with my daughter's little smiles to tell me what worked, I started to feel like myself again. It's a hard feeling to describe but being an artist for me is similar to being a mother. And now that I actually am a mother, I realise just how much care I have put into my wares and business. And all that care is hard to just set aside, so, while creatively I want to produce new work. The mama in me wonders if I should be taking care of all my old designs in some way. While I do sketch all the time, I work hard to make a design work across a range of forms. Should these designs be moving off the clay and onto paper or cloth? When I launched Little Flower Designs I wanted to be able to work in different mediums, clay has been so time consuming that I haven't had a chance to explore that properly. Anyhow, 2011 is sure to be a year for fresh starts and of course more hard work.

tick, tick, tick

sigh, the holidays are here...
I do hope you had a wonderful time and are planning something splendid for the new year. We had a very nice first Christmas with our wee lady, she's 11 months old now! We've been renovating away on our new home and my new studio keeps getting filled with construction materials for the house, hence the sigh... I still haven't packed up my old studio and feel like I just might sneak in there and start making pots again. The plan for my new studio is to do a bit more demo on the walls before we put it back together again. My wish list is to insulate and finish the walls, switch out the garage doors with french patio doors, paint the floor, install new lighting, and new electric, then at long last move in and get to work. Oh, I also need a sink and a heater and I'm sure many other needs will pop up. It's been slow going as many projects like this are. I just might settle for the bare neccesities until spring. We just had our first snow to remind me that putting in new doors (which we have no experience doing) might be a cold difficult project and can wait until nicer weather. We thought we had the demo done until I figured out that the electic on one side of the house didn't work and our unwelcome house guests (mice) just might have chewed the wiring. That paired with a curious buldge on my studio wall have us wondering what's inside it (yuck!!!! I really don't want to know) So demo we will. The nice thing about a studio is that when we put it back together the walls don't have to be perfect like they should be in a house. Especially since there will be shelving in front of it. Anyhow, I wanted to update here since it's been quite some time since I've uttered a peep. The above picture is from just after the demo and it's a bit cleaned up and not filled with things that shouldn't be in there. I'll snap some new pictures once we actually start working on this. But for now, I'm still closed and thinking about having a moving sale.

somehow, instead, um, oh my!

Something amazing has happened, after searching near and far for almost 5 years, we have found a new home! And although it is quite the project, it will be just right for us. We really can not believe how right it truly is. I am finally getting out of my basement studio. Somehow, we will be transforming a 2 car garage into my little flower world. I will have windows, lots of light and a chance to set up a professional studio.
After dragging mismatched shelves, tables and various other finds into the basement for 10 years, this is going to be a refreshing change. We'll clean up the floor and paint or tile it, whichever I choose it will finally be easy to clean! I'll install shelving that makes sense. And have a lovely professional artist's studio.

Instead of working away in the studio this holiday season, I will be working on the studio. My hope is to start fresh in 2011. Our true DIY spirit will hopefully carry us through renovating a new home and studio. This time we're really going to grow some roots.

Um, yes I am overwhelmed. But oh my, it's going to be good!

Daily Candy!

Thank you Daily Candy!

a little sunshine

Tea cups! I've been working away to list my Nature Stories collection in my etsy shop. This is the first collection of work I have created since having my daughter. I am now working part time and will produce small collections that are ready to ship. This collection is small, and will only be available for a limited amount of time, I'm working out the details but will make an announcement soon. If you are thinking about gifting my wares this holiday season, now is the time to shop as this is it for 2010. Visit my etsy shop!

update this weekend!

I am now updating my etsy shop with a very special collection!
Look for cups, bowls, vases and platters to be added this weekend.

table manners

I just sent the above set off to the Table Manners show at Lark and Key Gallery in NC. I've been working on some new imagery for my fall & holiday offerings and love how the bird and the sun came out. This might be the boldest of my new designs. I plan to launch my new line mid-October, it will be small but lovely!

closed but making

I closed the shop again. Thank you to everyone that bought something, it was fun to be open again. It was a good test to see if I can balance the making and selling while being a mama. My conclusion, I can make things, then sell things but I don't think I can do both at the same time with good results. I do plan to reopen my shop in the fall, just in time for the holidays. I will have a new line of wares, as well as ornaments and everything will be ready to ship. Things are feeling alot more organized around here, but it is still a challenge to work. I have been having so much fun with my daughter, she's a happy little lady who luckily seems interested in art!!! She'll be 7 months old on friday, I can't believe it. We've come a long way!

Above is a little vase I am working on and if you have a keen eye you'll see I'm trying a new process!