Tuesday, October 25, 2011

New Attitude and (More Importantly) New Porcelain

Well, as we’re nearing the end of October (really?  already?!) I’ve come to accept that warm weather is not in my near future and have since chosen to embrace the oncoming winter.  In a big way.   I mean I already sang a damn Christmas carol (Johnny Cash’s Christmas-y feeling, if that counts). 

So yesterday morning I posted an Etsy treasury with a ‘cosy’ theme to further entrench myself in the holiday spirit despite my inner voice shrieking, “It’s too early for that crap!”  Not that the items in the treasury are crap—au contraire!  (Nobody said that while I was living in Paris, by the way, and I was sad.  But then I ate a demi-baguette and forgot the whole thing.)  I especially love that print by caitlihne who also happens to be located in the UK.  


Along with welcoming winter with open arms, a big ol’ man sweater, and obscene amounts of coffee, I’ve welcomed some new porcelain into the studio.  And oh my, do I like it!  It is higher firing (1280º C) than the other porcelain I was using which is now considered ‘discontinued’…pretty much forever.  I love this new porcelain too much to go back—it’s a much brighter white but not a stark white.  I hope everyone else will be as smitten with it as I am, and I’ve just listed three new pieces demonstrating its beauty, so you all can now check it out!  More to come!

see it in the shop!

see it in the shop!

see them in the shop!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Stage One: Autumn Denial.

This is the time of year when I’m usually quite excited and welcoming of the change in season—autumn has always been my favourite with its own particular smell and light along with comfortable temperatures.  However, after spending my first summer here in Scotland, I’m feeling a little ripped off.  When did the summer happen?  Was I taking a nap when it came and missed it?  Did it forget to stop by and say hello to me?  

It’d be nice to have the strength to simply accept that summer’s gone never to return until next year and avoid complaining for the sake of my blog.  But I don’t wanna!  [stamps feet like child]  I’m going to have a nice whine and post a couple pictures from a trip to Nice, France back in 2009 instead!  Now where did I put that time machine?



Saturday, October 1, 2011

It's Alive!

Oh boy…I think I saw it twitch.  Nope.  It’s definitely dead.  Oh well, time to revive it.  What shall I use?  Something relevant to my work/life?  N to the O.  I’m-a use a squirrel.



Bam!  There.  Now that my blog is officially back from the grave with the generous help of Mr. Squirrel, I can apologise.  I'm sorry for abandoning my blog for the entire summer (if you can call it that here in Edinburgh anyway), but with a squirrel like that out your window, is it really possible to get much else done other than admiring all of that damn cuteness?  Excuses, excuses.

I understand that there’s been no bated breath surrounding the return of this blog, but I feel better if I just say the old ‘I’m sorry’ bit so I can move forward with fresh intentions.  I do that a lot on here though.  Maybe I’m noticing a trend…

I pretty much neglected to post anything on my spring/summer collection 2011, and now we’re already into autumn/winter!  Time is really flying!  And I do have some news:  the. big. kiln. is. operational.  So I can finally begin firing actual ceramics in the more classical sense. 

Only the smaller scale pieces will become available online soon, and we’ll see as far as adding larger vases and such in the future.  Also, I will be shipping a small collection of work in a couple of weeks to a lovely shop in Portland, Oregon, Sword + Fern!  The owner, Emily, is an absolute gem and fellow jewellery artist who writes a fantastic (and frequently updated!) blog here

So if, by any chance, anyone is in the Portland area, definitely check it out—I wish I could!