Losing Katie

October 25, 2011

October 7, 2011

Well, the studio is done. Chris scraped the old, peeling paint, cleaned off the dirt and gave it two coats of paint. Everything is ready now: the wind chimes and birdhouses have been rehung and the studio looks wonderful. But... can you see who's missing?

Katie is gone... My faithful companion passed away of heart failure due to old age in the morning of Sunday, October 23. She was 14 1/2 years old.

I used to be afraid of dogs as a child. Katie changed all that with her "surprisingly human" eyes that understood everything. She was a superb soccer dog, dribbling the ball between her front paws and heading it with her snout. She kept the backyard free of squirrels and raccoons. And she stood guard. She "guarded" me when I was in the studio, no matter the time of day or the weather... she was at her post. She kept Chris safe from the critters of the night when he went out to the hot tub. She sat by us in the kitchen, in the den, in the bedroom... no matter where we were she was right there next to us. During the past year, the stairs became a real challenge for her, but she still managed them in order to be in the same room with us.

She was doing her border collie job... we were her sheep and she was our faithful shepherd.

Katie spent Saturday lying on the living room rug. Somehow (we haven't figured out how), a bird flew into the house, flapped about the living room, and flew out when the door to the backyard was opened. After she died on Sunday, Chris noticed that one of the large azaleas in the backyard, the ones that bloom in the spring, had one huge flower on it.

Thank you Katie... you will always be in my heart.

First Coat of Paint

 It looks better already... Thank you, Chris!

Time to Paint

I had the studio built in 1997 and it has needed a new coat of paint for a while. So... my husband started getting it ready by scraping off the peeling paint... but that's as far as he got and the rains started again (will they every stop?). This is what we've got so far... They promised some sun for tomorrow so maybe we can pick up the project again then. In the meantime, this is what it looks like.

Etsy Front Page!

My yellow citrus juicer made it to the front page of Etsy! Very exciting!

Earthquake Aftermath

Phil Rogers pitcher

As everyone already knows, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit Virginia on August 23rd, 2011. My husband and I were at the kitchen table at the time... we stared at each other for a moment, as the rumble got louder, I yelled "earthquake" and ran outside with Chris following right behind. Oddly, our old dog, Katie, didn't bat an eye and I had to jump over her to get out of the kitchen.

We didn't have a lot of damage. Of the three shelves of pottery inventory only 3 things broke and, as I always say, "I can make another one!"

Not so with the pottery displayed in the dining room... these were pieces I've bought over the years that, to me, are irreplaceable: a Phil Rogers pitcher, a sculptural vessel made by Annette Hansen, and a bottle made by Fran Newquist.

We collected as many shards as we could and they have sat on the dining room table all this time... Chris got me several different types of glue/epoxy/cement to try to mend the pieces but I haven't been able to bring myself to do anything about them. Finally, Chris started to glue the Phil Rogers pot... It was not easy and the joins seems very "iffy."  I would just like to be able to put the pieces back together in order to keep them... I just can't bring myself to throw them away!

Sadly, I can't find any photos where these pieces are visible intact... Here they are...

Annette Hansen Sculptural Vessel

Fran Newquist bottle

Embracing the Opportunity

Last time I posted I was wondering what to do about all the orders for yarn bowls. I have since decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and accept, with gratitude, the opportunities that this presents for me.

So, I am thrilled to announce that my yarn bowls are now carried by The Red Thread in Warrenton, Virginia, and by The Memory Tree Yarn Shop in Monongohela, Pennsylvania. I am particularly grateful to Terry and all the work she has done on my behalf to get my bowls into The Memory Tree, and to Wendy for steering Karen and Barbara (from The Red Thread) my way.

As I started making more yarn bowls and communicating more often with knitters, I have come to better understand their needs and improve on my design.

I have also realized that the pieces I make that include some sort of carved design are a very big hit. It had already happened with the lamps and now the yarn bowls. It gave me idea to use the same type of carving for my berry bowls and they've also become a hit.

Yesterday I received I precious  "appreciation" photo from a customer who bought one of the Starry Nights Lamps for her newborn's nursery. This photo really touched me. It makes me very happy, and at the same time, humble to be a part of people's lives in this way.


So I'll keep carving lamps, yarn bowls, and berry bowls!

Too Much of a Good Thing...

I enjoy making yarn bowls, especially the carving. But I've had to work hard to come up with a design for the open part of the bowls (the section that is carved through the rim) so that it is wide enough for the yarn, but not too fragile so that it will break or collapse during the various steps necessary to making them. My first design was okay, but I decided it needed to be wider. Then I tried to make a large spiral, but there were way too many casualties! Then I tried several variations of a spiral that is, essentially, the number 6 and finally settled on one that seems to work well, both technically and aesthetically.

So, what is my problem now? The problem is that I've become too successful! I am now the queen of the yarn bowls... Of the last 24 items I've sold in my Etsy store, 14 were yarn bowls. With a few exceptions, they sell within a few days of listing, and I am having a very hard time keeping them in stock, particularly the green ones. I am now down to 4 unloved bowls (all blue, who would have thought?).

I like making them... they are selling well... so???  The thing is that all I make are yarn bowls! They now take all my studio time and I miss making other things. Most importantly, I miss my creative time in the studio.

I am at a loss about what to do... I thought that I would just ride the wave and that soon enough everyone would have a yarn bowl and things would quiet down. But that hasn't happened and it doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. A very savvy potter friend suggested that what I need to do is raise my prices. I suppose that another alternative would be to simply tell all the people who write asking for "this same bowl in green (or blue, or yellow)" that I am no longer taking special orders and that the only bowls available are the ones in the store. What would you do?