Made mostly from the guts of an old, free, treadmill. Pete needs to tweak it a little bit–just a bit too much power (this is what would happen if Tim Taylor made a pottery wheel).
While we were playing with it on Saturday, we discovered that Pete’s forklift has some temporary tenants:
Mom was none too happy that we were in the garage. Ah well….
Right now I have some plaster molds out on the deck filled up with slip, so I’m killing time till I can drain them. I ended up opening a new bucket of slip because the old one just had too many clumps in it. I guess that will be my temp reclaim bucket till I get the seal on the table fixed. I had quite a few molds set up, ready to go, but then decided that hefting full plaster molds was probably not a good idea, at least until my shoulder is feeling better. “It’s always something!”
At any rate, I’ve mixed up some black mason stain into a jar of slip, as I’m itching to try slip painting with some sgraffito. I ‘m casting another ginger jar at the moment, and I think that will be my first “victim.”
My wheel is almost finished…Pete just has to mount the motor onto the table, mount the wheel, and away we go!
Well, as soon as Pete gets the right pulley, I think he’ll be able to build my pottery wheel. I’m trying not to get too excited, but–whoopeee! The other night I dreamed that I was working on the wheel, so I guess I’m ready. Never mind that it’s been about 17 years since I sat at one (my God–I graduated 15 years ago???)
When I talked to him about buying the smallest wheel on the market a few months ago, he just about had a bird–but it did prompt him into saying he’d make one instead. He’s pretty damn handy, so I had faith it could be done. All I did was order the aluminum wheel head and some bats to go on it. I resisted having a kick wheel, mainly because I thought it would aggrevate the heck out of my sciatica. He’s been planning for awhile how to make an electric one, so the other night he got talking with his brother John and Johnny suggested getting an electric treadmill. Gear up and down, it would have most of the parts that are needed, and let’s face it–they’re all around every weekend at yard sales. Even better, the guy at the dump offered to give Pete his treadmill. He’s really excited about building it (mostly b/c of the challenge…) so it might get done this summer. I can’t wait!
I’m pretty close to having the shopping cart ready to go. I can only work on it twice a week, since my computer is not making it (and I have a fundamental problem with having to re-do any work I put into it). I’m dying to get it done so I can get back into the studio and start cutting.
I leave you with some ceramic earrings I made with antiqued brass findings. The beads are textured and measure about 10mm.
Ceramic Earrings
I’ve been having a tough time with motivation lately. Part of it is because I’m in what I call one of my headache cycles. Starts with a migraine, then I just seem to have a nagging headache leftover for awhile. It could be a day, it could be a month. It makes me sort of stupid, which is very frustrating for me. I just haven’t been able to stir my stumps and get in the studio. I pushed myself to get in there the other day and start cutting out pendants. I ended up using my terracotta clay, which is a different beast than the white earthenware. Seeing my glaze samples on the terracotta inspired me to work with it this time.
One thing I’ve found interesting is that motivation doesn’t seem to go hand in hand with inspiration. I would think that once inspiration strikes, I’d get right in there. I’ve had to settle for just jotting down some notes to use later. I think it’s time to implement some new techniques that I’ve picked up in my various pottery books and my favorite magazine, Pottery Making Illustrated. I want to do some slip casting as well, but that project requires uninterrupted time and sunshine.
I did manage to start working on my shopping cart on my website, so if my laptop cooperates with me perhaps I can have it done by the end of the week. I have all the glaze samples photographed (now if I can find my memory card and reader). I decided to incorporate a Paypal cart into my site; it has all the functionality required, and I have to do minimal html editing to get it up to speed. I hope it will be worth the effort I have to put into it!
What do you do to work yourself out of a rut? Read the rest of this entry »
The Book Junkie on Etsy
I’m running out of room in my itty-bitty house, so I decided to destash some of my craft books on Etsy. My new shop, The Book Junkie, will have a selection of jewelry books, painting books, and general art books. I may also have some floristry and sewing books to add from my sisters’ stashes, as well. Right now I’ve posted some wirework and stringing books–more to come.
Just think, the more books I get rid of, the more I can add (oh wait, that defeats the point…)
Let’s see, what, if anything, did I get accomplished last month?
MAY GOALS:
1. Create wholesale pricelist. Not only will this go towards the Maine products program, but I’ll also be able to send out some mailings to bead shops. Not yet, but I’m getting there. See goal 2.
2. Create new glaze sample tiles to photograph for the website in preparation for adding a shopping cart to the site. I was a few days late, but I did unload the kiln yesterday and have about 30 glazed samples to photograph.
3. Get studio functional! I need to get my workspace functional so that I can work when Isaac naps and not have to pick up everything each time. This was a big one. And it’s done! It is sooo nice to be able to drop what I’m doing and walk away. I can walk in and glaze 3 pendants before bed if I want to, and not have to worry about picking up!
4. Develop a streamlined production. Naptime is getting shorter and I need to make the most of what little time I have. The plan is ready, now to implement it.
5. Convert all my etsy listings to finished necklaces. (with the option to order the pendant separately).This is done, although I admit I cheated a little. I made a number of pieces inactive and will add them back to the shop as I retake photos.
6. Take at least 10 minutes before bed each night to sketch out new designs. Wishful thinking. My carpal tunnel flared up this month, so I tried not to do anything extra to aggrevate it.
7. Submit 4 earring designs to publications. Again, the hands issue. I did manage to submit one necklace design to a magazine and made one pair of earrings, but for the most part I did not do anything extra.
Oh, not on the list, but did get accomplished: I sent out a number of necklaces and pendants to a consignment shop on Route 1 in Wiscasset (Dalton Heritage Arts). Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
Getting the studio set up was the big one for me, so even if I didn’t accomplish anything else last month, that was a biggie.
OK. June goals:
1. Offer shopping cart on my website. I wanted to wait until I knew what I was doing before undergoing yet another overhaul of my site. I have an ad coming out in Creative Jewelry and would like to offer my work on my website along with Etsy, so I better get to it!
2. Decide on which designs I’m going to keep in stock, and prepare the bisque pieces for them. That way I can just glaze and fire and cut the wait time for orders in half.
3. Get my slip reclaimer working. I discovered recently that along with about a million ceramic molds I also received a slip table thrown in. I found some fantastic molds as well that I’d like to play with. Perhaps offer some new pieces in my store??? (not a goal, just wishful thinking).
4. Submit designs for publication. I’m not attaching a number this time. I’ve decided not to sweat this one, although it is fantastic guerilla marketing.
5. Do I want to have a table at the town festival in August? Hmmm, need to mull that one over.
6. If my fairy godmother is listening, would having a dependable computer be too much to ask? (I guess that’s not really a goal, but it’s darn hard trying to have a computer based business when my laptop is ready for the nursing home).
And, um, how the heck did it get to be June? I made up some pendants with ‘09 on them for graduates, and I’m afraid I’ve missed the boat! Geesh, get with it, girl!
