ALS: Lou Gerrig's Disease.... A little off topic.

My friend who was diagnosed with ALS 2 1/2 years ago,Pam, showed me photos yesterday.
She had an opportunity to spend 15 mins with Jane Fonda after her Broadway performance in 33 Variations . Pam told me that she and Colin Hanks(Tom's son) spent a half hour and Jane was crying at the end. Jane Fonda wrote about Pam in her BLOG. Please click on that!

If you know me, I bring her up quite frequently because since she was diagnosed, it has been a huge part of our (me,mike,our kids) lives as we have spent a great deal of time with the family... and continue to see them quite frequently. It's been a huge part of our existence and has definitely had a huge impact. The boys are 6,almost 10,12 and 14 and the 2 older ones have a "band" with my son, Jake.(They are very close friends)

Jake who is now 12 1/2 has taken on the role of educator and fundraiser for the cause ... He is currently raising money and awareness for ALS Research with a bike ride that he has spearheaded (it's a national event...his part is local)with the help of his "mentor" Michele Dupree! You can learn more and donate HERE.
If you prefer to send a check, please write it out to ALS-TDI and email me for the address! jtceramics@aol.com. I'm trying to give Jake a little "help" here...
Jake has written essays about Pam and ALS and he has also writen music that is about Pam... I can't begin to tell you how fired up he is about this...

Years ago...

Here we were for Halloween one year...I think Sam was about 5 months old so Jake(in the photo) was almost 4!
Pam's an Angel... I am the WITCH!(shocking, I know)




















Here we are on a ski trip years later She is pictured with my 2 boys:





















This was 2 years ago this coming summer...She is in a wheel chair and her breathing was going...









When you check out Jane Fonda's blog. You will see photos from Wednesday.

This disease is horrific.
Enough said.

Here is to a great new year on Etsy!

Cheers. Well I may as well treat this as an opportunity for freshness. In my work and my life. Centering the clay AND becoming more centered and present. Ok. That's the plan. Are you in?

TODAY ONLY!!!!

Today is my 2yr ETSY-VERSARY!
10% DISCOUNT TODAY ONLY!
Monday APRIL 27th
(also my mom's bday!)
See shop announcement in MY SHOP!

For example:
This was $250...save $25.

Schmapp!

I was asked if they could use the photo of my teapot when you click on Baltimore Clayworks...
Check it out...:

First click on baltimore on the map...then arts and entertainment... and then the photo slide show on the right shows it...Hey...
I'll take all the help I can get...right?

Do you ever get that feeling?

You know... it's time for a change?

I have this concept to try something new with my work and in my head...it is the greatest thing... so I start playing with it and I think.... what is the big deal???
Stay focussed..develop glazes... my forms continue to evolve... but I wonder if the "fashion" thing makes me feel like...ok...new season...new look...
The thing is... I really don't want my work to become a PRODUCT... I guess all object are... but it is also my art and that's ok...Right?

Ugh.

TWO Great features!!!

I am so excited about these cool features:
first Sandra of "Re Bop Shop" and her ETSY SHOP
featured me on her MELLOW TONES BLOG!








AND THEN.... the fabulous artist
"Cinnamon Soup" who is in HAWAII tweeted to me that she featured me on her Cinnamon Soup BLOG she does great work as well which can be found on her website
and her Cinnamon Soup ETSY SHOP !

How cool and nice is that????

ALL DONE!!! Finally.

Don't get too excited.. it's just the place settings that I have made for a favorite customer, who, incidentally ,has been quite patient... I didn't like the 1st ones, I felt they were warped and too flat, so I remade these, then the kiln was under firing etc... and so on...So... here they are... IF she still wants them....

I am trying to catch up on custom orders/requests as I really want to move on to some creative endeavors... We've been doing a spring cleaning in the house...redoing the boys rooms, painting, etc,,, PURGING... and NOW I'd like to IMMERSE myself in clay...

Who am I kidding?
This is not my life right now...to IMMERSE...
I keep thinking I will have a chunk of time to do it and well...
IT AIN'T HAPPENING....
I am not going to "wait for godot"...ya know?
I've got to accept my other responsibilities and realize there is no "IMMERSION" happening currently..
That workshop will be a brief immersion... I'll take what I can get...





LOOK,
I LOVE my family.
I do.
I'd be miserable without them.
I'm always torn.
SO....the art thing just is so hard... this creative desire...the DESIRE TO MAKE is great...."a blessing and a curse".
But if it's a curse... I will take it because the blessing is far to intense for me to let go of it.
And so it goes.
I'm sorry for the rant.
Just know that I know that I am a very lucky chick.
I get it. But many of you get it too.
That's what really helps to know...I'm not alone in having these feelings.
I thank you.

BLOG...BLOG.BLOG

Let me start by saying I am reading YOUR blogs RELIGIOUSLY.... even if I don't comment... I follow YOU PEOPLE...I have been posting new listings to my Etsy Site...LIKE a mad woman...

I also have been reading The Studio Potter Magazine and let me say... I LOVE THIS ISSUE!!! HERE is the magazine!
Chris Gustin's article was super:

I am so very excited that I took the plunge and will be taking his workshop: The Architecture Of The Pot at Anderson Ranch in Colorado this summer....
July 20-24th! I was able to fit it in while my kids are away at sleep away camp and BEFORE THEIR visiting day.... this is key. Frankly... I'd love to do a 10 day workshop but that concept appears to be far in the future...so this is perfect,they will be gone and I will hop a plane a few days later and grab one back in time to get home after midnight the day we drive up to the camp for visiting day... but so cool....
By the way this issue was "the body " and I just think every article in there speaks to me... so....Thank YOU!

Monmouth Festival of the Arts, OOPS!, and Taxes.

So here is the work I took in today for the show I am in...
This is my 4th year...It's an interesting venue...It's actually a juried show but I have pasted below how they describe it... The nice thing is that you bring in your work...and walk away! You can visit...etc... but you don't have to stay and be tortured by the selling process...you know what I mean???

Check it out:
The 39th Annual Monmouth Festival of the Arts, New Jersey's largest art invitational, will take place March 28 through April 1 at Monmouth Reform Temple, 332 Hance Avenue, Tinton Falls. It begins with the Artists Reception on Saturday March 28 at 7:30 p.m. The reception is a great opportunity to meet the artists, enjoy a catered cocktail party, and browse the works in all media by more than 200 artists.

Visitors to the Opening Night Reception will also receive a ticket to attend other Festival activities, including artist demonstrations, children's workshops, and evening series art lectures and music from Sunday through Wednesday. Cost for the Gala is $60 advance, $65 at the door. Reservations can be made by calling 732-747-8278 or 732-747-9365.

Now the "OOPS":










Ugly site right.... one of the worst feelings I think...
Well... I had my 8 1/2 year old son Sam in the car as I turned out first corner the boxes shifted and we heard it happen.... I wasn't sure but when I opened the box....but... It's a pretty clean break... So this will probably become a Tavill Household item if I can glaze glue it back together...Mike, however, is tired of the rejects...Hmmmpf.

Which brings me to may last ugly photo:











The TAX RETURN NIGHTMARE...
He's so mad at me 'cause I've blown this off until now...
It sucks.
You know what sucks the most for me...
I look at the numbers from my "business" and think, "WHAT IS THE POINT????"
Look. I know... I don't approach this business in a very efficient manner...
It's my art...But... It is RATHER frustrating. I'll get over it...I always do.
AND CERTAINLY this upcoming year AIN'T gonna be the big fortune maker... so... laying low... Once I'm dead.... TOTALLY COLLECTIBLE!

I Can't WAIT ANY LONGER!

I received my book that I was waiting for on Wednesday(The day I was supposed to head off to Colorado....had I gone, well... I wouldn't have had it with me... See- making lemonade out or lemons here...!!).
Apparently you have to buy it from England... BUT... It involves 2 Americans. A potter, Christa Assad, and a collector, Richard Jacobs.
It is called: Searching for Beauty: Letters from a Collector to a Studio Potter.
It's amazing and any potter or collector must read it.
I prefer to read each letter or 2 at a time and let the concepts sink in...
It's sort of intense. But great. Rich...
It cost a lot for shipping... I couldn't wait 8 weeks!!!

That was then...This is now...

So That was me circa 1995... I was the head designer/design director for Lilly Pulitzer... I worked my but off... I designed the garments, the prints, the sweaters... fit them...did specs... drew pictures of what an in store shop would look like, illustrated the line...smiled and spoke at little retail things...even painted windows in the "lilly " spirit... Being the independent spirit that I was... I branched off.. leaving Lilly to start my own line... well... that was double the craziness and then I got pregnant with Jake at the same time and closed it... continued to freelance for Lilly amongst others... moved to NJ... and then...longer story...eventually found clay.












I love clay.... I love putting my hands in... creating something from virtually nothing. It is totally different than fashion design and I NEVER thought I would end up here... my whole adolescence and early adulthood...that was it for me... and I had success with it. I was not a starving artist like many who go into these fields... I was able to get good jobs with benefits and met lovely people along the way...(well... I met un-lovely people too) I worked hard at what I did and when I was done, well...I was done . I have no desire to go back to it... I feel like I could instinctively, jump back in if I needed to. Lucky for me, I don't.

The reason I bring this up is that I got an email Sunday night(I think...) from my friend Ro Schuler... who is now a Vice President at Lilly... she was customer service when we worked together...she stayed, I did not... she wanted me to know that today(Wednesday) The Martha Stewart Show was doing an entire Lilly show... All Lilly, All the time. Also,they were having a big "party" in NYC after and I should come. I thought I'd be in Crested Butte, Colorado with my husband snowboarding so I told her we'd have to catch up another time...I also knew I'd miss the show...

BUT... as luck(?) would have it... Sam got strep throat and so did I and I sent my husband off early this A.M. with our friends... without me... so when the show came on.. at 11 A.M. I watched it.

It was FREAKY for me to watch... You can see the lead in to it HERE. Would that have been me on the show if I stayed with the company? It wasn't meant to be... We moved almost 2 hours away...but closer to NYC(Lilly is outside of Philadelphia)... Especially afer 9/11 I would have had a really hard time with all of the travel away from my 2 kids... (I went to Hong Kong and other places about 3 times a year) Just not meant to be...Not to mention... I don't really "LOOK" like the Lilly customer... their current design director is blond, bubbly and perfect for the part. Don't get me wrong... I'm a lot of fun but now I am me... just me... much truer to myself and I wouldn't have it any other way... I am really happy for Ro and the owners as I always felt they were good guys... and they came to my wedding in Baltimore...the men wearing Lilly bow ties and cummerbunds !!! They worked hard for this recognition... They built the brand... we planted the seed together and I am proud that I was a part of it... but I let go a long time ago.

Now.. I plant new seeds...MY SEEDS...not Lilly's.

Tick Tock. Drying and Monmouth Festival of the Arts

These are drying...another batch is in the kiln... need to get these bisque fired(I have 25 pieces going into Monmouth Festival of the ARTs which opens March 28th.... and closes April 1).
Check it out if you are in the area!!!

Of course we have our last little snowboarding jaunt happening... SMACK in the middle of getting the work done...
We are off to Crested Butte,Co on Wednesday EARLY and come home LATE Saturday night... Just the adults this time... staying with our good friends who built a gorgeous home there!
I'm excited... but have the usual stresses of how to get it all done...
It's gorgeous and peaceful there so... it's worth it!

I am a bit of a spastic perfectionist....and creative dichotomy.

So... I have these place settings ready to glaze and fire but I am a bit of a spaz when it comes to deciding what a customer will consider "part of the hand-made process" and what is shoddy workmanship...Now, mind you, there is no "CRANKING OUT" of work hapening here... I'd love to say I can do that but truthfully, I cannot. I have a very hard time looking at the pieces of the set as a whole as opposed to inspecting each piece as though it would be sold on it's own.(which is actually easier as it doesn't have to MATCH the other pieces). It reminds me of the struggle developing a line of clothing....back to my "fashion design days of old"...only different.... Each piece/style needed to stand on it's own as something someone would buy off the rack just because they wanted that piece...However...It needed to make sense as part of an outfit, as well as part of the story being told in the collection...

I digress.

Meanwhile... on a slightly different note...Rachel Power who wrote the awesome book The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood WHICH I LOVED and any mother artist(writer,dancer,visual,creative type...) should read,
posted a link to this talk on TED (but I was able to access the same talk on my blackberry through You Tube...)
I thought it was great. YOU can see it HERE.

A while ago I read Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert...Loved it... some love it...some don't. I loved it... What's not to love?
Someone told me they thought she was whining through out the book...I have no problem with whining(I whine all of the time, I guess)...I don't think it's really whining... It's struggling... struggling with our place in this world in our body that we have on loan until we leave it...
For those of us possessed by a "creative drive", the road can be a bit tough... Not that it's necessarily tougher than other human existance...just,well, different.
She gave a great talk and didn't sound like WHINING at all.
Leave that for me to do, Elizabeth.

I SWEAR I'VE BEEN WORKING!!!

These are the 2nd run on the plates I've been working on for a custom dinnerware set...
I'd didn't like the 1st set so I did them...again.
The bowls are done, the small plates are done.
None of it is glazed but... I am moving right along... still have work to do on Jake's 3 costumes...
It's all good.

Did you see this?

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PHEW!

It's True

Still NO CLAY POST!!!
I'm JONESING!!!
In case you didn't believe me, Mike took some footage of me SNOWBOARDING
(BLACK DIAMOND BABY!!!) during our vacation.

I'm trying to cheer up...
Vacation Backlash:
I have 3 costumes to make for my son jake...
He's the prince in Once Upon a Mattress for his Middle School Drama Club...
The dress rehearsal is Saturday...
The KNICKERSI bought for him that don't fit can't be returned...over 10 days(we were away!!)
I'm making my own for him...
I broke my printer... removing paper from a paper jam,
I ripped out some ribbon...can't just SNAP it back in!!! Argh...
So I HAVE TO take it somewhere tomorrow...
Can't print USPS labels ...
I have to do it the old fashioned way in person at the post office where:
They WILL hate me...
Had a teapot shipped back to me from a show BROKEN...
I'm doing like 20 loads of laundry...
My skin is molting(yes loverly, I know).
MY tax work is sitting on my desk ready to attack me.
Oh... still more to unpack...

My knee is better though...
Now the other one's bruised...
:)

Snowboarding

Well... I can't upload any good photos from this computer I am using at the place we are staying in Beaver Creek, Colorado...
BUT...
I am having a great time.
We go home on Valentines Day... My taped up knee is surviving...of course the other one is bruised... But... THIS is SNOW BOARDING!
My kids took a lesson today and my husband went back country snow boarding in Vail Pass...So I went in the singles line and got in A LOT of runs..
I tried some trees too,in and out...sometimes successful... and sometimes I wiped out... I DID NOT HIT ANY TREES! But I had done some with the family and this built up my confidence more...
Practiced 360s- on land(both directions)...feels like ballet...
I have decided I like the pattern the board makes in the snow... the s-curves remind me alot of the ceramic work I do....
So...
It's coming to an end tomorrow, I am craving clay.... yummy clay... I have 8 plates to trim and carve and hopefully they stayed damp!!! But I have several things to work on...as usual!
I will try to relax... until I return...then I will try to not stress out!

Ready for Beaver Creek

and snow boarding... all taped on and tomorrow we hit the friendly skies...
this is my knee... taped in place from the last trip... wish me luck... don't worry... I wear wrist guards!

Action Shots...

A friend of mine had to take some photos for her photography class...
Hence... ACTION SHOTS:

A vase is a vase is a vase...anyways...

So these are the 3 pieces I will try and submit to the
500 vases book...
You never know...
500 is a lot of vases...
of course...
there are ALOT of potters...
however...
I like them...
I am happy with the forms and the glazes I mixed up went on nicely as well...
so I can photo and send by the deadline tomorrow...
and ya just never know...
ya know?

Creative Development

I've been developing vases/vessels and I've SMUSHED quite a few and have some others that I like but these are the latest... some get too busy and I am liking these forms and the gestural quality... I anticipate some slumping of those delicate parts in the firing process... any tips or prop suggestions are always appreciated... I do have some ideas... or just let the chips fall...

Glazing will be an issue as I need to boogie on making new glazes and no time to experiment with these... It will be something tried and true I think... I have the 12(13-1 extra) bowls of my 3 piece 12 person place setting commission ready to bisque and I really need to get back to the things people have already ordered... I also have 2 sushi sets to do...


Before I forget... PLEASE vote in the Etsy Mud Team Sweetheart Vase Challenge!!!! Click HERE!!!
Details:

♥ Sweetheart Vase Challenge ♥
VOTE now for your favorite Sweetheart Vase!
Participating Etsy Mud Team members have created a Valentine's Day themed vase. They may be functional or non-functional.
All visitors who vote in our challenge will receive a coupon for 25% off the price of anything in our Etsy Mud Team shop www.etsymudteam.etsy.com.
The challenge winner will be able to select a pottery prize donated by EMT members. View the Prizes here!
Accepting Votes: 1/27/2009 to 2/2/2009

Keeping in mind I have a piece in there... seen in my previous blog post...HOWEVER, be sincere! There are some super pieces!!!

Valentine's Day is JUST around the corner...XOXO

Feel free to take a gander around my SHOP.
I made a couple of vases to commemorate this fabulous commercial holiday of LOVE!!!!
These were a fun first for me... there were definitely technical difficulties but this is a concept and form I'd like to explore further...
Pretty fun!





































































AND P.S. My mother went to go see the Baltimore Clayworks Show and although there is a lot of chatter about my blue teapot, the cream one sold!!!

Repetitive?

I know this may be repetitive but now the Baltimore Clayworks Teapots IV Show is in Slide show Format : HERE.

What's in the water?

So...I've been getting requests lately... the shop has been pretty dead....
Of course I've really been only renewing items...not listing anything new... but I'm getting requests of special orders... and the one for 8 of these napkin rings came from France....
No method to the madness...
Just interesting to me...
I have a few things to list but... I dunno...
I'm a little lazy on the listing front...
PLUS...
I have a special order for a 3 piece 12 person place setting that I need to get on AND one sushi set AND I want to make a sushi set for friends who had us come on vacation with them... so... I've got alot on my plate...
Aaaahahahaaha! Get it ? Alot on my PLATE?
I'm such a card...
A little giddy from the BIG FAT INAUGURATION DAY!!!!
Oh... and I've made sweetheart vases I have to fire, glaze and refire... and several other vases as I want to apply to the 500 vases book... so...
I SWEAR...I have been doing something other that playing SCRAMBLE on facebook...I swear!
The treadmill, however, forgets what I look like... I'm forgetting too...

Great Show

The show at Baltimore Clayworks: Teapot IV opened last night and I was there and home the same night.
I'm here now to blog about it!
That's my cream piece under the sign...
It was really nice and I really enjoyed having some old friends come and check it out and then meet at a nearby bar/restaurant to hang out with their kids and my kids, etc...For a lot of my old friends this pottery/ceramic work that I do came after they knew me as a fashion designer so it's interesting....I was very pleased with the way the show was set and I truly enjoyed meeting the resident artist at Baltimore Clayworks: Yoshi Fujii whose work and nuances in his work I have an obvious connection too... We had a lovely exchange of thoughts and that was really nice for me.

I guess I'll just be posting SOME photos from the show but I did, in fact, take photos of every single teapot. So if you are looking for one....let me know...























These two are Joy Tanner's...my blog friend.













This celadon piece is Yoshi's.



The one on the right is a favorite by Gwendolyn Yoppolo
(I have a serving(?) dish of hers that I love!)

A Friendly Reminder...

Just a friendly little reminder that the Teapots IV Show opens at the Baltimore Clayworks on THIS Saturday night...
Reception from 6-8pm... I am planning on coming by...
Most likely on the early side... heading back to the Garden State after...

I am interested in seeing the eclectic mix of teapots.... It should be a nice exhibition!
The exhibition runs through the end of February so if you are in the area... go take a peek!


ALSO...opening the same night!
An Abundance of Cups
A Solo Exhibition by Deborah Bedwell
Jan. 10 to Feb. 27, 2009
It looks beautiful!

Happy New Year -Another Front Page!!!

I was included in a lovely treasury today that made it to the front page of ETSY!!!
Same set... the Place Settings that are made to order.... Nice exposure! Thank you to "muppetloon"....
I should also thank "cowriegirl" for the awesome treasury she included me in found in the last post!

A lovely way to start off the new year!

A happy and healthy one to everyone!

Last Day Of The Year... Front Page of ETSY...

Front Page of ETSY....
That's a fun announcement for the last day of the year...
I really didn't have any other great visuals to share so this came just in the nick of time...
Too tired to do a year in review... But...
The year had... well... a lot of great times rolled up in it...
Then there were some not as great times but...
I am quite pleased to have 2009 waiting in the wings and I am very thankful for all that I have.
The Love, The Opportunities, The Present.
I'm one lucky girl.
Thanks for your support.
It has meant a lot....