It’s cold in the studio. What’s a potter to do!  I manage to get into my “the floor’s not insulated, yet I have heat ” studio a little bit each day and work on projects that take a shorter time to accomplish.  Presently, I’m making Sunflower Wall Hangings.  They are approximately 15″ in diameter and once bisque fired, I bring into the much warmer house and use acrylic paints, oil markers and various found objects to complete.  Each one in uniquely different.

I’m able to experiment using marbles, pieces of glass and nails in the firing, just to see what happens!

Check out my latest video!  I demo my glazing/decorating technique on a series of 4 hand thrown mugs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM10EQOSv1Q&context=C3bacd13ADOEgsToPDskKp6wUDmXN8VT62z5bpticl

Accepted into Issue 2 of Stylish Home

My red poppy bowl was acceped into Issue 2 of StylishHome catalog in the section “Color Trends 2012″  I do love color!

Thanks to Gary and the StylishHome Etsy Team for including another pottery bowl of mine into their second issue of the catalog.  It is an honor!

http://www.stylishhome.com/sites/default/files/StylishHome%20Home%20Makeover%20Catalog.pdf

Read and see some very nice photos of the Carbondale Farmer’s Market which happens every Saturday morning 8am-noon until the end of November.

http://whats4dinnersolutions.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/farmers-market/

I just stumbled on a posting of an blog article on Photography tips that features one of my pottery bowls.  It’s in Handmadeology.com

http://www.handmadeology.com/taking-pictures-of-your-ceramic-pottery/#comment-15390

If you have the time, give it a read and comment.

The past weekend I participated at the Lower Town Art and Music Fest in Paducah, KY.  Even though the weather was calling for storms, somehow the area dodged it and no rains happened.  Lots of people Friday night and Saturday–Sunday was slow, probably due to storms to the immediate south and the high and gusty winds.

Met two lively photographers from St.  Louis who helped watch my booth and kept each other in stitches all weekend.  The highlight of the show was the surprise of winning one of six Awards of Excellence given at the show!  The other minor dilemma, was my car key breaking. Luckily, I was fairly close to home and another key was found!

I had the honor to be interviewed byKOLR10 news for Springfield, MO this weekend.  See the whole piece at

http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=451287

Returned home from a visually packed adventure in Tampa, FL.  NCECA had their 45th annual conference and this was the first time I attended.  WOW! Lots of pottery, demos and information to spark the creativity.   After a 4 hour drive into Tampa/St. Petersburg,  (and after the 12 hour drive the day before) Judy and I spent the first day exploring the various exhibits that were within walking distance of

the conference center.

Here’s a few of the ceramic works seen at the various exhibits:

Of course, the cup sale….

We visited the St. Petersburg Museum of History–along with the ceramic exhibit I was taken by the two-headed calf (lived for 6 weeks) and the Egyptian mummy.

A St. Petersburg artist, Paul Eppling, created extraordinary works of art from salvaged metals.

I saw an old friend from 20 years ago….

Lots of demos, lectures and vendor booths to look at….it was good to have a little down time on the beach before heading home!

When I opened the kiln this morning, I was more than pleased to see that the little chicks and puking hens made it through the glaze firing!  I even made a few multi-colored “eggs” with the left over parts.  The irony of today is, I have a real hen in a cat carrier in the house because she hurt her leg this morning and to protect her from the other hens—Hens are notorious to peck an injured bird.

An Art Affair,a fine art and craft show,  held March 12-13, in Springfield, IL, was a success for me. Unfortunately, crowds were small, which can happen during a first time show.  I have a nice following in the Springfield area, and I’m happy they came out and supported me.  A big thanks to them!  Thanks to Ed Martin, for putting on a nice show in a wonderful setting….hoping next year is even better!

An Artist’s best friend

My booth setup