The Week(s) In Review

My plan was to try to update this blog weekly with some pictures and information about what I worked on in the studio.  Here it is two weeks later and I'm just now getting to it.  I'll explain.  

I think I made a lot of pots...

12 soup mugs in dark clay.  I plan to gaze these in Ryoko Cream.  That combination always turns out really nice and has been popular with customers. 

Next I started on a couple of canisters for a commission. 

The first attempt (right), got  too wide, so I turned it into a planter. I needed to make some planters anyway. The one on the left is what I was trying to do.

Two canisters.  Success! 

FYI, the commission was just for a set of 2.

The "accidental" planters inspired me to make some planters on purpose.  These are all either 4 pounds or 5 pounds.  I plan to make some others in some different shapes too.  Perhaps this week that can happen. 

Next up, casseroles.

I meant for this to be a big bowl when I started.  As you can tell, it is a failure as a bowl.  It's a pretty cool casserole dish though.

This is also a pretty good sized casserole.  The bottom was 5 pounds of clay and I believe that I used about 4 pounds for the lid.  Lots of clay gets trimmed off when I shape the lid the next day.

Completed casserole with lid.

Since my first try at a big bowl this week ended up becoming a casserole, I tried again.

This is a 3 pound, a 4 pound, and a 5 pound bowl.  My intention was to have three the same shape that might even nest, but that didn't work out.  Anyone else noticing a trend?

Registration for 2021 Summer workshops at Penland School of Craft opened on Tuesday of this past week.  As I was researching the instructor of the course that I thought I might be interested in, I found a YouTube video of her throwing pots and talking about how she thinks about her work.  (It's Linda Christianson if you would like to look her up.)  She starts each day in the studio making 4 mugs.  She doesn't over think what she's doing, just gets 4 mugs done. Then she lines them up and looks at them and decides which one she likes best and why and which one she likes least and why.  So I gave that a try this week.

Mugs and beer steins from the first couple of days.

Textured mugs from the third day. 

Mugs with distinct turning rings on the fourth day. 

It's a pretty good exercise.  My efforts each day don't match exactly, but they aren't bad.  And I was really relaxed when I made them.  Relaxed is good.  I don't do relaxed particularly well.

On the fifth day, I decided to do wine cups because I am completely out of wine cups and I'd already done 16 mugs this week.  Four went well, so I did four more.  

I neglected to take pictures of the wine chillers that I also made that I hope will go with these cups.  I distinctly remember stopping and grabbing my phone to get a picture of the wine chillers.  Must have gotten distracted.  It happens.  A lot.

The rest of the story of the past two weeks is all about our pets.

Our sweet Lady died on Monday morning.

She was 14 years old and had been very sick for a while.  We don't think that she was ever in any pain, but it was hard to watch her get weaker every day.  We take comfort in knowing that she isn't sick anymore, but our house is empty and sad without her.  I have not been completely aware of what day of the week it is or exactly what it is I'm supposed to be doing all week.

On Thursday, Dixie had her teeth cleaned.  She had to have 4 teeth pulled and it was a couple of days before she was back to her happy self.  As a result, she had to take a few days off  "work" at the studio with me.  You know the "work" where I take her for a walk in Uptown Shelby, she begs at RollOver Pets for treats from the bone bar, and then she sleeps the rest of the day in her kennel.

Just as I was beginning to think we had everything under control and feeling like I might be able to tolerate our new normal (with just one high maintenance pet to care for), I noticed Lucy acting really weird.  Bless her little heart, she had probably been having issues for days and I just thought her behavior was her reaction to suddenly not having her dog with her anymore.  We all grieve in different ways, you know.  But last night and this morning I clued in to the symptoms of a possible kitty UTI.  Off to the Urgent Vet in Belmont we go this morning.  She's feeling better now, but we still don't know for sure what is causing her symptoms.  An x-ray ruled out bladder stones, so that is good.  However her symptoms could be stress induced or maybe an actual infection.  Given her timid nature and the stress that she's surely been under due to Lady's extended illness and subsequent death, my money is on stress.  Like some people get an upset stomach when they are stressed, some cats get an upset bladder when they are stressed.  We will start her expensive new prescription cat food tonight and I will attempt to give her a pill.  Send prayers and good thoughts my way.

Y'all, I've had enough!  I'm due for something good to happen, right?

I'll end with this rare picture of Lucy and Lady together on the couch. Lady was not a fan of kitty snuggles, so this didn't happen very often.

Thanks for reading.

Good Bye 2020

The full title of this post should be "Good Buy, 2020 - You Really Sucked, But There Was Good Stuff Too".

It's this time of year that we take the time to look back over the past 12 months and count our blessings and resolve to do better at the things that we are not particularly proud.  I've never been one to make New Year's resolutions and I normally do not even bother looking back and patting myself on the back about stuff. This year I do think it is important to spend some time looking back and dammit, I might even deserve a pat on the back.  (You do too, so go ahead.)  

In so many ways this year was a disaster.  We have all experienced loss one way or another.  It is too easy to let the sadness of those losses over shadow the stuff that we did that we should be damn proud of.  So here is my list. 

I made enough money to pay the rent and utilities for the studio every month even when there were no studio fees or lesson fees coming in, when the gallery had to be closed, and when all the shows were cancelled.  This may seem small to you, but to me this is a big, fat, hairy deal.  I was SCARED.  On more than one occasion I found myself wishing for a home studio where there was no overhead.

Much of what I am about to detail can be summed up as an increased online presence.  I worked my butt off to achieve this, but there are a number of people that I would like to publicly thank for their help.  First of all, Jeff Jones continued to tolerate me in all my craziness. I know that I have not been easy to live with.  Fear and anxiety do not improve my personality.  At the end of each exhausting day, he was there - telling me that the pictures I'd spent all day taking looked really nice, not disappointed that I hadn't made plans for feeding us supper again and with the evening's entertainment lined up and ready to go to take my mind off things before I fell asleep in my recliner again.  For the record, we highly recommend the first few seasons of Community, 30 Rock, Blue Bloods, Parks and Recreation, and Schitt's Creek.  I'm sure that there were other things we watched, but those are the ones that stick out in my mind.  

Thanks to Anna Nicholson for starting the Local Online Vendor Fair Facebook group.  I don't know if she had any idea how big that would get when she started it, but wow!  The sales that I had there saved me last spring. Thanks also to everyone who shopped here to support local folks.  I don't know if other vendors benefitted as much as I did, but for a couple of months, my only pottery related income came from sales in this Facebook group. That was the immediate, direct benefit.  Indirectly, I believe that my exposure to the members of this group significantly increased the number of people who know about A Griffin Pottery.  I credit the increased sales from the gallery at the studio this holiday season on these new customers.  

I have an Instagram now for A Griffin Pottery.  Thank you to Katie Shires (formerly Earl) who spent an afternoon with me showing me how to use Instagram because I was clueless.  Anna Nicholson gets credit for help in this area too.  She's the one who reminded me to use hashtags and led me to the website of helpful hashtag suggestions.  Katie and Anna have fielded numerous stupid questions over the past few months while I muddled through.  I still do not know what I am doing, but I have followers.  It's a start.  Perhaps in 2021 I can figure out when I should add to my story or when I should add a feed post.  

Susan Jones Pottery has an Etsy store.  The biggest reason that I jumped into this this was that the Carolina Pottery Festival had to be cancelled this fall.  To participate in the "Virtual Sale", I had to have a way to do online sales.  Etsy seemed like the best avenue for me to get started.  Big thank you to Ron Philbeck and to Vicki Gill who helped me get my head wrapped around getting started with Etsy and shipping pottery without losing my mind.  There is a lot to consider when listing something for sale on Etsy and I learned so much from their experience.  While I am not completely satisfied with my shop yet, I did have sales that I would not have had otherwise.  I shipped pieces to California, Colorado, Iowa, and Rhode Island this fall, so that was nice. 

A Griffin Pottery has a physical studio, a Facebook page, and an Instagram account.  The Etsy store is Susan Jones Pottery.  A little confusing perhaps?  Yes.  At some point I may need to address these issues, but not yet. 

I learned a bit more about taking pictures of my work. I noticed when I'd do a day of sales on the Local Online Vendor Fair that pieces photographed in my light box got more attention than pieces that I had just took pictures of in the studio or at Buffalo Creek Gallery.  Hmmmm, interesting.  For an Etsy listing, it is helpful to have photos from multiple angles of the same piece. My light box is a pain in the butt and I wish I had a place that I could have a permanent set up for photographing pots.  But for now, what I've got will have to do. 

Over the past year, my group of students has grown.  Every single one of them is growing in their ability and knowledge.  Some are better at throwing on the wheel and others enjoy hand building more.  Some have learned pottery for a while and then needed to move on to other things while others are continuing to work with me.  Since I wasn't sure that I could teach something other than math, I'm glad that these folks gave me a chance and proud of the progress they've made.

Yes, it was a tough year, but yes, we got through it.  I have much hope for things that will happen in 2021.  I'll continue to learn about selling online although I can't wait to be able to safely attend a pottery festival again.  I'll continue to teach my private students and look forward to when it is safe to offer "Clay Dates" and "classes" similar to Paint and Sip classes.  I want to do a better job updating this blog on a regular basis.