Why turn clay into money?

I've decided something.
Yes, my thinking has proceeded to the point that I can again make a decision.

I like making things in clay.  There's the slippery luxury of pulling it up into a cylinder on the wheel...feeling that gravity and the centering and the force of centripetal pull will yield with my energy.

We must be true inside, true to ourselves, before we can know a truth that is outside us. But we make ourselves true inside by manifesting the truth as we see it.

Thomas Merton

My focus of energy takes me different places at different times in my clay forming existance.

I read blogs of potters.  I don't know where the blogs of clay sculptors are...are they out there and I haven't connected to them?  I see those of artists sometimes.  They are great.  

I am not pushed to make better, more beautiful functional wares.  I admire them.  But I am now going a different direction.  It's the season of change for me, where I start thinking of forms not as how they are held and used, but how they explore a design that exists just for itself...a concept brought into being to share visually only.

So today I'm not interested in turning my clay into money.  That is a valid pursuit, and I wish success to all the great potters (and bloggers) who are doing so.

 

Angels

That time of year, and a new design.  Very limited output this year due to health.

Before glazing, small little white creatures with wings...

A few were a bit more finished with facial features.  The pink you see is wax that is painted on the thin parts so they won't dry and crack off before the bodies dry as well.  It is an extra insurance that often pays off.

And this year my choir of angels are indeed in choir robes of red.

Panther plays archangel to the little choir.  She is so bored with pieces of pottery all about.  Soon they will be put away or sold.

 Today's Quote:

We cannot hold a torch to light another person's path without brightening our own.

Ben Sweetland

marketday

Pat is happy to tell folks about her creations.  They are so well made!

 

Marsha is happy with the first sale of the day, that large blue casserole (on which we urged her to put a price that was competitive, and she got it!)

Cathy has returned to potting and carving her gorgeous scrafitto tiles.  I dare say they won't all be going home with her.

The trouble with being sick is not having a half a brain.  I forgot a hat.  It's in the 50's, but damp.  So first Pat loaned me her neck scarf to cover my ears.  Then Linda, who sells knit and crocheted beauties came over and gave me the green/purple combination.  I didn't know Linda at all, and she said it would help better than the little scarf.

Cathy took my picture of my wares (the casserole is again Marsha's.)  Sorry you can't see the spirals on the white plates.

Like good friends anywhere, the mudbuddies sent me home to keep out of the chill weather.  So here I am, and will go back to pack up the last of my pots to be sold outside this year...well, whatever hasn't sold.

TODAY's QUOTE:

As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world -- that is the myth of the "atomic age" -- as in being able to remake ourselves.

Mahatma Gandhi

 

Not your pro photos

 

 Alas (she said dramatically) the smart phone does it's own light settings, and this is the over exposed version of the vase above.  But it also shows the small bowl shape, with almost correct coloration!

Another ginger jar...turquoise and Celtic Cross stamped medalions.

What is at the Holiday Market anyway?

Oh my, not another Holiday Market?  They are every weekend somewhere.
BUT WAIT!

This one is the Tailgate people.  The folks who spent all summer setting up their tents and tables to display their wares for you.

The MudBuddies will be there, just as they were all 12 weeks (they did get rained out one Saturday.)

And this market is later in the day, 10-1, for you sleepy heads.  (Or maybe if it's chilly, for you who don't brave the elements like we do!)

But you know "Aunt Martha, Uncle Joe, or Grandpa..." loves hand crafted pots.  They'd much rather have something to cook in, or eat from, or drink from, or to hold the holiday bouquets which is HAND CRAFTED right here in Black Mountain. 

Shipping?  We can tell you where the best packing and shipping place is, right around the corner, and we don't get any kickbacks...but we also insure our pots and haven't had them break any yet.

Though there are limited numbers of mugs, I'll be bringing a couple of tubs of pottery to offer for your holiday gift consideration.  I was amazed how many people said they had broken or lost their favorite mugs, when my home was open for the studio tour last week.

Oops, I forgot to say, I'm sharing this blog posting with MudColony's blog, which is only available for 2 more times!  I'll miss you in blogland!

Mud Buddies eating well

What, you might wonder, do ceramic artists do for fun?

Now I know some play in mud, or sling their seconds at walls (breaking them so they don't get out in the public domain with their names on them.)

And some eat really well prepared meals with friends, and a glass of wine probably.  A toast to friends who have been gathering outside at 8:15 a.m. for the last 13 Saturday mornings, (or at least 2 of us each week).  Our co-op has become a group of good friends.

One little friend who got to play with a necklace, but wasn't invited to eat with us.

Oops, I was well into eating my lunch before I thought to take a picture of it.  And as many chefs already know, presentation was an important part of the enticing food.

This Sat., Nov. 23, 10-1, the Mud Buddies will once again, and for the last time this year, have our wares out behind First Baptist Church on Montreat Rd. in Black Mountain, NC.  Come on by and plan to support small local businesses!  And think gift giving too!

Quote for today: So much has been given to me; I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied.  Helen Keller