Wishing I Had Saved

Every now and then, it dawns on me that all the footed mugs I am going to make in Trumansburg as part of Cold Springs Studio are made. That's it. There won't be any more. Usually it takes a call from someone I haven't heard from in five years, who still thinks that we might be open by chance this weekend... before my mind is jogged back to pre-Sept 2009.

Tonight I was looking through old images. I stumbled across these old footed mugs. They aren't terribly amazing, but they were good mugs. I am sure they sold within a week of being photographed. We never had more than half a dozen in the studio for more than a week. I always tried to have at least two dozen in the wings, but if we had a good weekend full of sales, we might sell a dozen footed mugs in an hour's time.

My friend, Renata Wadsworth, bought a used gas kiln off of CraigsList recently. I am excited to see how her gas reduction results compare to her usual woodfired pots. I never got around to building our big gas kiln because I fell in love with cone 6 oxidation color. It wasn't something I planned for... just kinda happened. Now I look back at those surfaces and wish that I had more pots still waiting in the wings to be glazed. Sure would make gift giving a lot easier this holiday season. (kidding... nah, sorta)

Playing with light and shadow

Just a short posting tonight. Yesterday was spent relaxing and cleaning. Sounds simple enough, right? My hope was to go out and spend the morning shooting pictures in the amazing winter light. We were able to get a few good shots, but the ground was muddy instead of frozen and that made things more difficult. I also was ill prepared for how cold my fingers could get in just a few moments. In reading other photographer's blogs, they often comment on simple solutions for keeping one's fingers intact in cold weather. Today wasn't even close to fridgid... I think the high was nearly 37 degrees. Suffice to say that your fingers might not freeze to the metal legs of the tripod... but they SURE feel like they will. Ouch!

These few pictures were shot during our holiday festivities at Nancy's parent's home. Shot with ambient light (not much) and a single flash shot through a white umbrella. There is so much I am trying to learn about flash photography, and none of this is coming easy. Fun, sure. Easy, not so much.

Christmas Fun

Maybe this will ensure that her hockey stick always has fresh tape!

Gran looking most intently.

I think it is safe to say, Aurora had a wicked good Christmas!

We celebrated our holidays this year with Nancy's parents in Corning. Somewhere between the most sinful melange of bread pudding and french toast (yes, this was one dish!)... and the turkey that appeared mid-afternoon, we were joined by the Abbey family. This brought the fun level right over the top. What a splendid way to spend Christmas.

Glenn Abbey had a chance to sit a spell and visit.

Erik Abbey looking mighty happy to be home (and not on an airplane) for a bit

Mrs. Abbey joining us for a round of cookies before we started in on the bird.

Dennis (and his camera) made the rounds too!

Last Firing Before the Holidays

Today Hannah and I unloaded the last glaze firing for this year. It was loaded with the last of the orders from summer and fall. There is something so wonderful about knowing that the orders that have been waiting are finally done. The best part is that tomorrow I can start boxing things up to ship after the holidays.

This firing was for the first time, filled more with Hannah's work than with mine. As we unloaded and cleaned pots, it was really fun to see all the new ideas that Hannah has been pursuing for the past few months while I have been incapacitated. She has put a ton of effort into keeping the shelves stocked with mugs, sorbet bowls and plates. Her teapots and her butter dishes stole the show. The decoration is finally starting to meld with the form and the overall effect is awesome.

Holiday Party at Mary Ellen's

We don't do a lot of holiday partying in our family. Most years we just spend the major days with Nancy's family in Corning, then come home and relax. This year is different. There is so much more to celebrate. Mary Ellen and her family were there for me, Nancy and Aurora through the roughest spot in life anyone could go through. Her friends became our family. The day after Thanksgiving we all got together for a leftover feast. This past weekend, we all gathered for a pre-holiday gnosh. It was so wonderful to see everyone healthy, upright and happy. Certainly made my holidays much more festive!

Holiday Pots so far

Well, here we are... 20 days away from Christmas. I have been getting a lot of emails and phone calls from folks asking "WHERE ARE THE POTTERY PICTURES????"

To that end, here they are!

Nancy and I will do our best to fill orders, pull pots and to update the site as pots sell.

click here and enjoy.


Open Daily 10am-5pm (even later if you call and let us know you need us open!)


Cold Springs Studio Pottery
4088 Cold Springs Road
Trumansburg, NY 14886

607-387-4042 voice/fax
info@coldspringsstudi.com
www.coldspringsstudio.com