baltimore's so nice

Baltimore's so nice I'm going there twice!
I was just accepted into the Charm City Craft Mafia's summer show - Pile of Craft!! Thanks CCCM!!! I'm looking forward to a great show, I can't wait to see who else was accepted!

And twice?! Oh yes indeedy! We'll head back in July to sweat it out at DIY@Artscape for 3 days. And for you Baltimore travelers, please let me know if you have a hotel recommendation with free wifi!

So it's a big old studio day for me, there's glazing to do and alot of it! And since I always forget to followup here with information from previous posts, my new glaze is working out very well. I'll be able to do a final fire with it by sunday!! I tested it a zillion times to be sure. And our anniversary was lovely! My present for the Mr. was a wee digital camera so he can take it on motorcycle rides! And he got me a box of goodies that I'll have to snap a picture of. My favorite though is a handmade antique locket, now to figure out what to put in it!

Happy Friday!! And Happy Mother's Day to all the momma readers!

8 to go

Just 8 more to etch/carve this morning.
then it's onto glazing a bakers rack full of platters and plates.
but first, maybe I should sweep the patio, nah, I think I'll make a cup of tea!
Happy rainy day, Marley and I will have a quiet day in the studio, hope you have a nice day too!

a working holiday

Six years ago today the mr. and I got married, awww, so nice! We'll do some celebrating tonite : ) I got him a little present I think he'll really like!

Since he had to work today, I'm working too, I have 38 bottle vases to etch and carve. And what is hopefully the last test fire of a new glaze is happening right now! I think I might love the new glaze, I'll know for sure tomorrow! Ah, the excitement of formulating. For any potters that are reading, my old glaze was sitting weird on certain colors, it's a new batch of clay. Same clay, different batch, ugh!!!!

Check out my site for my show schedule, I'll be doing the Art Star show again, and trying something new, DIY@Artscape in Baltimore. You can follow along here as I get ready.

Have a happy day! Linda

look-see

Some might think I'm crazy but I've decided to revise my website again. This time I am working on a look book like feel. This is such a fun project, and the timing is perfect to get me outside to enjoy the nice weather. It is also an escape from some of the not so fun studio issues I've been having. It seems like each spring I run into some sort of technical problem and show season starts in just a few weeks. To tackle the problem I have my wee test kiln working overtime, so maybe this weekend I can get back to the firing of the big stuff. I'm having a bloring(an issue too boring to blog about) glaze problem. I'll snap a pic in the studio tomorrow - it's nuts in there right now, platters both round and rectangular are quite abundant. And vases, oh the vases to hold all those beautiful spring blossoms!

Happy May!!!

satisfied

As a maker, I love seeing into others studios, what materials they are using, the tools, inspiring objects, and sketches. I love seeing how others create. My own process is becoming a daily ritual. Sketch in the morning, and the evening and make pots in between. Here's a look at my main work table (where the magic happens!) I'm all about platters and plates right now, and that's my giant sketch book I've been lugging around the studio and house. It's filled with top secret information but, I'll share this bit with you. A preview of what's to come for summer shows. I'm somewhat secretive about my sketchbooks, I can't sketch in public, it makes me nervous. If you ask to page thru my sketch book, I'm so sorry, but no way!! I'll only give you glimpse of what I feel confident about sharing. And this dear people of the nets is a picture of what filled me with satisfaction yesterday afternoon. Sketches and all!
Have a wonderful day,
Linda

earthly everyday

Yesterday was a big day here in Pennsylvania, the primary (congrats to Hillary Clinton), earthday and a beautiful spring day.

A thought on Living Green.
I try to live green every day, I also try to run Little Flower as green as I can afford. It's the little things that are easy to do that can make a big difference. Why be wasteful? Here are a few little things I do in my day-to-day that maybe you can do too.

• bring your own bags when shopping
• turn off everything you are not using
• drive less (easy for me, I work from home)
• reuse, re purpose, recycle (is it really trash?)
• take care of your plants
• grow native plants
• only print what you really need and use the back of the paper too
• clean green
• and now that summer is coming, buy local or grow your own fruits and veggies

and now a note on compact fluorescent bulbs - oh mercury containing light source, thank you for saving energy but, how do I throw you away when your light goes out? earth 911 might have the answer for you, I'm still looking for one in my community. Also, the Mr. and I seem to burn thru those bulbs pretty quick, is anyone else noticing that they don't quite last as long as expected? We just started writing the date on them when we put in a new one, the test has begun!!!

I'm off to etch dogwood platters! and lucky for me they are in full bloom right now!!! I snapped a zillion pictures yesterday, awww spring.

oh happiness!

The lovely shopping blog Rare Bird Finds featured my illustrated bird cup today! What a great spirit boost : ) Thank you!!

awareness

The birds are back, open a window to hear their sweet chirps.

Ahhhh, spring!

springtacular tomorrow

Happy friday ya'll!
Just popping in on this oh so bizzy afternoon to remind you to come on out for the 2nd Annual Springtacular on the Liberties Walk tomorrow from noon - 7. Miss Marley and I will be hanging out under our pretty pink umbrella. Now Miss Marley likes space and told me to make some room in the studio for her growing collection of toys, chewy's and things she drags in from the yard. So we've boxed up many vases, lamps, tea cups from old collections and oh my - studio seconds! If you've ever wanted a just friends tea cup to sit pretty on your desk to hold your pens, well, I have 12 with various imperfections that we'll be selling for well below any reasonable price for a beautiful handmade object. And that's not all, I have 7 terra cotta lamps that come with shades, oh yes shades! So head on out and let's pray it doesn't rain.

Info here: http://www.myspace.com/libertieswalk

ps- the rain date is sunday!

museum day

Yesterday I headed into Philly to meet up with my cousin to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the art museum. Having admired her work since my college days, I knew it would be amazing to see her works in person. The exhibit was designed beautifully, in a series of rooms painted in warm colors, quite cozy and intimate. This was the perfect atmosphere as there were a ton of Frida's personal photos featured throughout. If you are an artist in the Philadelphia area, I suggest you get yourself to the museum before the show closes on May 18th. I found the entire exhibit to be inspiring and motivating - it's good to get out and see work, but to see the work of someone who had so many personal challenges really reminded me to appreciate living a creative life. Her work also inspired me to start sketching a few of the "art" pieces I've been thinking about. There's a fine artist in me somewhere!

After the museum we headed over to the "neighborhood" (the neighborhood across from the museum that I used to live in many moons ago) to eat, and in passing I snapped a picture of the bulldog(pictured above) in the dog park, just because! The other picture is of the encaustic painting my cousin did for me, we had planned a little art swap! All and all, a very inspiring art day with the very first artist I knew - my cousin Kimmy! Now I'm off to make some inspired art! Happy day to all of you! Linda