Baby, It's all White....

This Etsy treasury has 2 of my pieces in it as well as multiples of my buddies' Whitney Smith and Jennifer Wolfe! So... CLICK AWAY... maybe we can hit the front page and sell a few pieces....
Worth a shot.... I am done with that porcelain for a while any way...





















Yes, so the porcelain is a lovely white COLOR but frankly...
I rip and stab at the clay too much to mess with the porcelain... too many cracks and fissures...
SO... I am going to work between 2 yellower white clays: Standard 213(my oldie) and Little Loafers
which I can get down in Balmer at Clayworks Supply and see if I have a favorite...
I would love a white clay with the texture of Standard 225...I am not totally against a little groggy earthiness....
PLUS... for some work, I think I will use Tucker's Paper clay and see if I enjoy it....

♥

Happy ♥ Day!

Finally.

Finally took a few photos and posted work from my studio shelves to my ETSY SHOP.

A Couple More

A little back on track! Been doing morning yoga using the online website YOGAGLO... kind of love it... check it out!

More of What's Happening in the Studio

My studio is all cleaned up to switch to my TAN STONEWARE THAT I DO LOVE to work with...











































PLEASE note that the white(porcelain) bisqued ware that cracked in the firing...
Grrr...
An issue of drying too quickly or maybe the porcelain is not the WHITE(or right) clay for me!

I need a "DO OVER"...

I declare today the last day of the past year of my life.
I just feel totally behind the 8 ball.
I am moving forward and happy with stuff but I am not in any real groove...
At least it isn't a groove I am happy with...
I want to get on track...
Get in my exercise....consistently...
Meditate...Yoga....Eat healthy(for the most part).
Get rid of the anxiety that builds...
Get to the store ahead of time so that I am not panicked about making dinner at 5:45.
When I live a more organized life, admittedly, I feel less anxious.
Therefore, I am more relaxed.
So, as LUCKY as I am to have a life that allows for
flexibility... I need some structure. I just do.
I am always learning and this is what I have now learned.
Therefore... I need a "DO-OVER".
I am taking it now.
Tomorrow is the FIRST DAY OF THE NEXT YEAR OF
THE REST OF MY LIFE.... Care to join me?

Facebook vs. The BLOG

I know... I know...
Everyone has an opinion.
I have to say... I like Facebook... It's easy access...
I have my Judi Tavill Ceramic Artist Page too....
Posting is a click away... uploading photos from anywhere at anytime is pretty easy...
no formatting and POOF.. it's there...
I was Twittering a bit but it is a bit redundant... not done... just not on it now...
and then I do like to do Foursquare when I remember...
I once got 10% off my whole table's check because
I happen to check in and there was a special...
my friends(7 people) liked me that night...
I don't care about my rankings or being ousted as mayor...
because I never get to be mayor where it counts for anything....
Then I started pinning on Pinterest...
I like that because I can make Boards....
I am a big list maker so that is great...
I like to put areas of my life in boxes...
you know...subsets within the greater set...
But then Pinterest had a glitch and I couldn't get to anything...
Unhappy Pinner Chick... right here...
As opposed to unhappy PIN-UP CHICK...
I am not into THOSE types of sites...
Sorry... fairly G and PG... except for my occasional Gutter Mouth
or that of my "friends".

Back to the original point...
Did I have an original point?
Oh YES... so... on Facebook I tend to take photos late at night
in the studio and post them so i wake up in the morning to comments...
This is always fun....
But I feel bad... I neglect the blogging set...
Like Tracey who really isn't a Fan of the big BLUE...FACEBOOK...
So... I want to give you more studio ..
More process... unless you could give a damn...
Well... we shall see... for now... here are some recent
IN STUDIO shots of greenware since SEPTEMBER:

Cup Shows

I have a piece in each of the following upcoming cup shows...
If you live nearby, please check them out!
I think they will be on line soon too!


"8 Fluid Ounces"
A National Juried/Invitational Ceramic Cup Exhibition at
Louisiana State University
January 25-February 25, 2012
Opening Reception & Juror Gallery Talk is January 28
Alfred C. Glassell Jr. Exhibition Gallery • Shaw Center for the Arts
LSU School of Art • Baton Rouge, LA
225.389.7180








Cups of Fire-National Cup Exhibition 2012
January 29, 2012 - March 3, 2012
Exhibition Gala is February 3, 2012
Clay Gallery • 335 S. Main Street • Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-662-7927

Vacation December 2011

Well, I hope you are all having a fabulous holiday and have a PHENOMENAL New Year.
We have been in Steamboat, CO... and although we did the SNOW DANCE...
No snow...just ice, rocks and grass...
Just Ice...
So... YESTERDAY I got out there with "the boyz" on my snow board...
after a break the day before when I had a back spasm after 2 days of snowboarding...
Anyway, the boys have been spending a lot of time jumping around in the terrain parks...
which is not really my cup of tea...
That said... here is a little video when sam put the GO PRO camera on Sam's helmet and
he zoomed through some of the stuff in the park...
Be looking for me at the end and you will see my little CAMEO!

Blah, Blah, Blog...

Here I am... blah blah blogging in the Garden State(late night).
Getting ready to go SNOWBOARDING in Colorado on Friday...
I know... NO SNOW.... a bit of a problem.
That said, I have a back-up plan...
It involves a friend with a studio(and clay) in the destination we are heading to
and the kindness of strangers..

(By the way...Don't get any bright ideas my stalkers or thieves...
My friend is staying with my PUPPY and she knows JUJITSU- HI YA!.)

MEAN WHILE, I have had quite a few last minute shoppers the past few days
and I must say, they are quite the shoppers...
I have sold some great stuff and all to people who appear to be quite cool...

These babies sold on Etsy:











And then we have some studio visitors grabbing a fabulous white piece and this favorite:










And one like this was someone's purchase as a Secret Santa:










A few necklaces were purchased and were picked up and are being shipped out...
I have another piece in the kiln(I've made 8 and they keep cracking... positive vibes my people...)
for a special order... and ornaments for teachers and other lovely people...
And a few more people want to stop in before I board the big "bird" to God's country in Colorado...
Or is it the Flying Tomato's country....















That was last year's outfit and this year's is so cool,
I am afraid the snow will just melt right out from under me...
THAT and my purple and fuschia hair highlights(to match my board and outfit...duh)
Photos will have to wait until I get out in that snow...
Somebody start doing a snow dance PLEEEZE....
Pow Pow...Pow Pow...Pow Pow....
Happy Holidays!

Rest In Peace, Malcolm Davis

So sad to have lost such an amazing, interesting, jovial man.
He started throwing at age 40... this gave me hope.
He is the king of shino and at the first workshop I attended(he was demonstrating along with Stephen Hill,Jeff Oestreich, and Lynn Smiser Bowers),
I learned about shino as he threw and cracked jokes and passed around an available box of cheetos.
I would see him selling his wares at Demerest each year... but not this year.
Malcolm was born the year before my father.
The winter holiday season continues to baffle me.
May your memory be a blessing Malcolm.

The beat goes on...

Well.. my official SALE is over...
BUT
I am happy to have anyone ring me up to
see what is left.
I had a productive two days...
BUT
since I have been rather prolific as I experimented and developed over the
past year with very few sales outlets...
(I have been waiting to have a cohesive statement in my new work)
I still have plenty to sell.
Again, I actually did quite well but I really want to move
(at least the older work)
OUT.
So... I have decided to open a new separate Etsy SALES Shop
for liquidating perfectly fine work that for whatever reason is not representative
of my current body of work. It is called jtceramicsales on Etsy.
Older work, experimental, and slightly flawed.
That's my plan.



















I want to separate the two shops visually yet link them with mentions on each...
The original shop will have new face to it with ONLY items from my current body of work.
It will be more of a gallery shop.
It is still listed on Etsy as jtceramics.



















This is my plan for now... trying to get organized as we approach the new year.

Game on!

Well... the sale started today-
Open Studio Sale and Showing of New Work.
I am pleased with my customers but hope to see more
TOMORROW: MONDAY 9-9!
I parted with a very special piece... I will survive... just barely.
However... I am told that I can visit the piece and borrow it back as needed.
PHEW.

Really worried...

Will THEY...
The collective THEY(customers, collectors, designers...etc)
truly understand my changes?
I am not looking to do more of:
"Can you make another one just like that?"
I will create new work, perhaps in the same vein as the work they are looking at...
but not DUPLICATES...



















I am truly going the "One-Of-A-Kind" route...
I hope people understand...
I am not trying to be a B$@#H....
I am making a life choice.
An artistic choice.
I am moving away from what I WAS doing...
Which means I will be saying "NO" when people ask for work that I used to do.
I really hope they don't HATE me...
That said...pricing is the follow up issue...
Heather has a great post on it HERE!

Hurry Hurry, Read All About It!!!!

Love the PR in our Local Paper... The Two River Times !

Thanks to the style editor Julie Davis, you can see a wood fired pot HERE !
And my Chip and Dip HERE !

My SALE AND SHOWING OF NEW WORK
is
THIS COMING SUNDAY and MONDAY!
12/4 12-6pm and 12/5 9am-9pm!
I love visitors...
I will show my new work for sale and have
excellent buys on my older work and pendant jewelry!
Just in time for Holiday Gift Season!!!

You don't have to buy ANYTHING...
just come visit and see what I am up to...

jtceramics@aol.com
732 539 7009
10 tyson lane rumson

BLACK FRIDAY DISCOUNT

WELL!
Every STORE is starting BLACK FRIDAY SALES EARLY...
So... I am starting NOW.
I am having my OPEN STUDIO SALE and SHOWING OF NEW WORK
Sunday, December 4th 12-6pm
AND
Monday, December 5th 9 am - 9pm
BUT for those of you who can't make it...
(to the LOVELY GARDEN STATE....)
Feel free to use this coupon:
BLACKFRIDAY20
to get 20% off prices of all work in my
ETSY SHOP !
It's a pretty awesome bargain!
So go for it!
I won't be shipping until Monday, 11/28 ...
FYI...

The coolest thing?

So...I get this email today from a friend from high school that I haven't seen in about 20 years....
That's cool.
BUT...
It gets BETTER!
She was Debbie Freedman in high school..
However, she is now this accomplished writer/play write and goes by (her middle name) Colette Freedman.
Pretty cool name...
Gets me thinking... Alayne Tavill.
I digress.
So, she basically tells me she was thinking about me because she had a dream I was in...
Well, get your head out of the gutter, it wasn't like that...
She blogged about me HERE.
I DO love the GHOST reference...













You can find out more about HER HERE!
But this give you a taste:
COLETTE FREEDMAN – An internationally produced playwright with over 15 produced plays, Colette was voted “One of 50 to Watch” by The Dramatist’s Guild. Her play Sister Cities was the hit of the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe and earned five star reviews: It has been produced around the country and internationally, including Paris (Une Ville, Une Soeur) and Rome (Le Quattro Sorelle). She has co-written, with International bestselling novelist Jackie Collins, the play Jackie Collins Hollywood Lies, which is gearing up for a National Tour. In collaboration with The New York Times best selling author Michael Scott, she has just sold the thriller The Thirteen Hallows, to Tor/Macmillan, which comes out Dec 6, 2011.

Needless to say, the whole description was lovely and flattering, I am over the moon.
I always thought of her as a really great person(who was pretty!!!)
She seemed to really have it together...
She played the cool sports and was academically really strong!
I was cheerleading (became CAPTAIN!) because I never made the cuts for sports ...
BECAUSE I SUCKED!
She was always a great friend and solid human being and I am so pleased for her success...
Of course NOW I want to see every show she wrote and read every book...
One of these days I will get back in the studio....

Happy Birthday Eva! 105!

What a life.
What an amazing woman.
What an amazing artist.
What an inspiration.
Wow.
Read more HERE!

Infatuated

So Jenny Mendez posted this in her blog this morning:
Title: Beauty
and captioned:
“The human heart stripped of fat and muscle, with just the angel veins exposed.”
















So I was obsessed with it...posted it to facebook and i kept feeling that it distinctly reminded me of nature....
Then I decided to rotate it and I was completely enamored with this HEART!
LOOK:



















Do you see it?
And the delicacy of the form is so wonderful AND strong.
ALSO
It beautifully demonstrates the fibonacci theory that
SIR Chris Gustin taught us in his workshop at Anderson Ranch 2+years ago...
that one did NOT fall on deaf ears!

And... after seeing my Dad's heart on a video screen when they were about to insert 7 stents...
I must say,
this is a truly beautiful thing.
It's fascinating to me.