Catching Up.

Well...
We are back from Whistler... Just adults...
No Kids... CRAZY... No sleep because we took a red eye and
I am in that exhausted buzz place right now waiting to CRASH.
It was a good break from the intensity of Pam leaving us...
Here are some of the snow board photos...
P.S. I am still with my husband of 18 years even though
I ended up having to wiggle down a cliff of sorts at one point!











































Additionally, the 8 Fluid Oz. Cup Show has uploaded all of the images...
My cup has sold but it is nice to see the whole show!

I also had 2 cups accepted into The Coffee, Tea, Or ...? Show
at Terra Incognito Studios in Illinois.
My cup even made the poster:



















Sadly, the correct spelling of my name,however,
did NOT get into the show... But... you can't have EVERYTHING!

I can't wait to get back into my studio but of course...
ther is laundry and errands and did I mention LAUNDRY??

Press

Press in the Two River Times today...
A local newspaper....
Cute article about 3 local female artists...
and on their website HERE:

My Dear Friend Pam

It has been a long strange trip since my dear friend was diagnosed with A.L.S.
a few months over 5 years ago...
I have posted about her several times ...
HERE you will connect to all of them...



















Many of you read about her years ago and commented...
I used to tell her... For a WHILE now, all she was able to do is move her eye slightly to
respond yes or no...
She had a will to live I believe and she held out for a very long time...
Tonight around 6pm...she passed on....
I say passed on because I believe her soul, her energy needed freedom from the
prison her body had become.
I mean it... this is what I believe.
This is what I told my sons...
My 11 year old was very visibly upset and very angry that this horrible illness and
end of life had happened to such a good person...
He told me he would get rid of all the pottery collected
and my pottery if it had happened as it would be too hard for him...
I told him.."No!"...Don't you see.?..
My energy and spirit is in each piece and the pieces from these
other artists hold some of their energy and ours from us choosing
to have them around us..."
I feel that we are all part of a bigger energy and God holds our energy....
(I could expound upon this concept but long story short:
I feel organized religion and explanations
in English or Hebrew basically describe -with a humanizing effect -what I am saying...
Therefore it all works for me.)
I believe Pam's energy will continue to be with us and is with me now...
palpable,even....I miss her too...
I have missed her for a long time.... I am sad. I am solemn. I love her.
I know she loves me too... she told me... I told her.
Remember to do that...it goes a long way...
Perhaps it goes beyond.

Keeping the ball rolling....

A few more pieces I have uploaded to Etsy!

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.