Shelves are happening

Here we are nearly two weeks after beginning this project and we are ready to hit these shelves with paint and start the installation. This is taking a lot longer than I expected but they look so much better that it is hard to complain! Here I have set the lower shelf below the window, just to see the fit and to make sure this is all going to come together. I like it.

Two weekends after Sonnenberg

Two weeks ago we did a show in Sonnenberg Gardens. While this is usually our favorite show of the year, this year we were in for a rude awakening. Upon arriving we found our usual slot that we have been in for 4 years straight... suddenly NOT ours. Okay. They put us in the very back in a cul-de-sac. Not okay. Then we find this potter who is copying our work, glaze for glaze... right in the same row, almost in the exact same spot WE USED TO BE IN. Hmmm. Not cool. Sales were so bad Saturday that we almost cried. Sunday was better but couldnt make up for a bad Saturday. To that end, here is my visual gut composition of how things looked/felt at Sonnenberg this year.

Another rough night

Another less than stellar night of sleep due to some major mid-back pain. 4am and I was wide awake and wishing I could sleep. I would rather be asleep.

Here are a few more images from yesterday's photo rambling.

Saturday on a field trip

Today we went to the Clothesline Craft Show as visitors instead of as artists for the first time. After seeing the entire show we left feeling disillusioned. The sheer volume of buy-sell, bad art and just plain crap outnumbered the decent fine crafts by ten to one at least. When all was said and done, it was more of a craft-y flea market with crafters holding sales and haggling over prices... and less a venue where fine craftsmen could show their work to the public proudly and make an honest wage. Demeaning. Demoralizing. Like an animal in the zoo.

To get the taste out of our mouths we drove home the slow way. Stopped a few times to take pictures and enjoy some interesting light as storms rolled in around us. We drove through the hills around Seneca Lake. Here are a few of my shots. To see Nan's check out her blog.

Boxes six

It never really rained. So after hauling all that heavy 3/4 plywood indoors, I had to move it all back outside again. To make a long story short, I spent a day cutting it all up to size, and then today and yesterday were spent fitting it all together and gluing and shooting these boxes full of brads. DONE. Had planned on doing the finish work this weekend... things like drilling holes for shelf brackets, spraying with primer..etc. Instead my DW has decreed that tomorrow shall be a day off. Haven't really had one of those in months. Probably will still end up with 2-3 hours in the studio at nightfall... but the day is a day for play up in Rochester.

We plan to take in the Clothesline show, and then visit another show put on by one of our painter friends. Luckily they are both nearby since parking is going to be a chore. Here's the link to the
"second storie" show. http://www.secondstorie.net/

Should be a nice fun day in the city tomorrow. Means good food too!

Waiting for the rain

For the past 5 days I have been working on building cabinet boxes for the new built-in cabinetry for our dining room. Today the forecast calls for rain. With 4 sheets of $60 hardwood plywood still outside, we had to haul everything inside at 7am today. Hopefully once the rain is past I will be able to get everything back outside solo, and get right back to cutting and routing. My plan originally was to be done by Sunday. HAH. Now I am hoping to be done closer to a week from last Sunday. Done is also a relative term. Done at this point means, assembled, shelves on, mounted to the wall...maybe primed. I think we'll hold off on doing molding and trim for a few months.

If all goes according to plan, these cabinets will house all of the pots we use on a daily basis, some of our more recently collected pots, our library of periodicals, as well as our cookbooks. Tallied together I am guessing it all weighs around 1000#. Pictures of this process should be posted tomorrow or Friday.

Building Cabinets for the Dining Room

Labor Day weekend and I am working on building some built-in cabinets for the Dining Room. We are desperately short on space for pottery and books in this house. We could have wall to wall shelves EVERYWHERE and we might have enough room for our books and pottery.


The weather couldnt be better. Sunny, dry, 80-ish, no real chance of rain. Perfect for dealing with cutting wood. So far I having a few problems, but a few more hours of thinking, measuring and cutting should provide some answers.

My goal is to be done enough by tomorrow to be able to hang them, unfinished... hopefully then we can paint them in the Spring. Who knows, maybe even get some nice trim for the tops and sides too.

Ideally, by Tuesday I want to be back to work on some dinnerware orders we have. Also have a craving to work on more oval pitchers. They have been a real hoot to make. Very fun.

What happens on Thursdays

Usually nothing much happens here on Thursdays. Sometimes we see a few customers, amuse a few tourists, pass along some fun ideas for lunch/dinner. Mostly it is a work day. To that end, today I decided to take a few hours off to zip on down to Ithaca to look for some garden mums. We found enough to really make a show of things. My hope is that since they will be planted in the ground early, we'll be able to count on repeat showings for years to come.

More thoughts on the platters:
Finding a venue for exhibiting these platters has always been hard. They cross the line between pottery, sculpture, and painting. Galleries have a hard time committing to them due to their size. The smallest ones are over 15in in diameter. The largest ones are nearly three feet in diameter.
AND HEAVY!

Nancy and I are now trying to figure out how to best promote them. Ideas anyone?

Little stuff

I am consistently amazed at the simplicity of the blog concept. Seems almost inane. An online diary for those compulsive enough to write. Hmmm. Reason enough to exist I guess. Tomorrow (today really) will be a day of finishing up batterbowls, trimming mixing bowls and hopefully cleaning up the photo shooting area. Days like today and yesterday make me wish we were able to use strobes for our lighting rig. Maybe someday!

More thoughts on the Platters

Considering that it has been nearly ten years since these platters have been seen, one might wonder why all the sudden interest? Well, after putting up a few (8) about a year ago for our Holiday Show here in the studio, we found a fair amount of interest from folks wanting to see more. Most recently we were asked to submit images for a Ceramics Monthly advertisement for galleries. So, it seemed like a perfectly good time to re-introduce the clay community and ceramics collectors alike, to these platters once again.

From my perspective, it is all new. I remember making some of them, or parts of them. After nearly 10 years though, each platter is all new when it comes out of the packing crates. My wife has never seen any of these and my daughter was too young to remember any of these being made. Christmas surprise for EVERYONE.