Me and Don Reitz(the legend)at St. Pete's Clay. Great trip already!

Great trip already!, a photo by judi tavill on Flickr.

Ok. Well I have to say, this doesn't suck. Mike definitely appreciates MOST fine clay. Therefore, we have seen some EXCELLENT work already at St. Pete's Clay and made a couple of acquisitions.
Don Reitz was working on these with his assistant and he still ROCKS!

Pre NCECA Workshop Tom and Elaine Coleman

photo.JPG, a photo by judi tavill on Flickr.

Day One down! Day Two tomorrow.
St. Pete's is cute. Mike is with me through Tuesday.
Workshop is great. Colemans are great. Hosts are great.
Mike leave Tues and then I'm Hyatt bound in Tampa for NCECA.I have to say... Not really in the porcelain zone and I felt llkeIi made some progress in the studio a couple of days before i left with stoneware and slips BUT in the big picture, conceptuall,y it is all very good.

2 steps forward one step back...

TEABOWLS.
Speckled Stoneware, wheel thrown and altered with chocolate stoneware slip,brushed layered glazes.

Feeling like a SLACKER...

on so many levels....
The dog is growing, learning and CHEWING.
I have finally configured shelves to block out her ability
to "get into stuff"...
She has a passion for CARDBOARD.
I never realized how much cardboard I have...
Well...Here is the latest:




















So, I have pursued some tableware ideas...































which I am fairly excited about.... but too early to tell...

And then there is my RED thing....
RED hair streaks,
My RED mug, and CHAI TEA!
















(which is how we have a puppy named CHAI!)
Anyway, I plan to do more work...
HENCE THE SLACKING FEELING...
and my LACK OF BLOGGING!
I REALLY PLAN on it....
BEFORE NCECA!!!!!

Potters and Puppies

Ok... people... TALK TO ME!!!
So... my son Sam has been BEGGING for a puppy for about 2 years(he's 10 1/2)...
So... a week ago Monday I had sent an email(a few days before to a rescue scenario of Cockapoo puppies and I was reluctant but when I got the call Monday of last week, I went back and forth with my husband and we decided that we should go (my son and I) that night to check them out before they were gone.
Needless to say, we came home with CHAI T.(that's Chai Tavill)
She's a 3 lb Cockapoo and will be 10 weeks Thursday. Her bday is
11/11/10(very cool).
AND my life has been turned upside down...

I scrambled to read all of the recommended book friend's told me about by down loading on my IPAD through Kindle and ordering from Amazon.
I get the training... I get what needs to happen...
I DO NOT GET the TIME FRAME.
She's really good, frankly.

Not sure how long I should let her be in the crate in the day time to get work done...
OR let her play(alone)in an enclosed gated are attached to the door of my studio- so I can keep an eye...
If she sleeps during the day more... I imagine it will throw off her nighttime sleeping:
7-10:30,11-7...which frankly, works for me...
I know I can't have everything but I want a well adjusted, well behaved puppy/dog and not sure where to draw the line or not neglect!
Babies were tough but I have experience with them... puppies????
Not sure!

When will things normalize?
Is normal over?

Opinions are requested!!!

Ending 2010

As we wrap up 2010,
I look back as we move forward...
Some wonderful memories this year and some...
well, some not-so-wonderful memories...
If you've read the blog, YOU do the math...

As I type this on my new IPAD, I am learning to
embrace technology in many aspects of my life, including my art...
Although at the present, I don't see it showing it's involvement in
the final work(transfers,etc), i do see it's place in the development
of ideas.

For instance, the sketch was created on the Sketchbook Pro
Application for the IPAD and i have found that i can work with layers
and manipulate the image in some interesting ways that i can apply
to my wax resist and glazing ideas and techniques that I'd like
to develop in this new year...
We shall see!

For now, lets be grateful for what we have, including the opportunities
that exist to be present and creative in each new day!
Thank YOU too for your PRESENCE in the "blog-o-sphere" too.
On with the show....

Sketch
Originally uploaded by judi tavill

Awakening

Awakening
Originally uploaded by Balassagyarmat

Well... I am inspired by this photograph.
Judit Papp is the photographer.
She is from Hungary and is studying here.
She is a wonderful woman and this piece is actually very
inspiring to me and in sync with some work in ceramics I am pursuing... stay tuned.
In the mean time,
Check out her work HERE and she has a show coming up at Novel Teas in Red Bank
on January 8th from 5-9pm.
It will benefit
ALS-TDI.
Very VERY good cause. Check it out!

The Big Push!

Not giving birth, sillies...
Just trying to get stuff up on ETSY and letting people know ...
Facebook, Twitter...blah blah blah.
Frankly, I am exhausted about the whole thing and I am still making work for people that have asked for things and the inevitable ...
"Do you have a chip and dip?"
I really am realizing that I am a bit of a "pleaser"...
I try to
"Give 'em what they want".
"A reason to buy".
Takes me back to my GARMENTO(industry slang for apparel industry)days...
It's really a bit of a condition and the question is, am I looking for a remedy, a cure,perhaps?

For now I am getting what I have up there...but I really am continuing to tinker with moving in this other direction... I feel like I am taking baby steps...
A little "2 steps forward, 1 step back" action...or whatever it is...
I really think I will continue to move in that direction...I have some additional process ideas too...
Incorporating very subtle...
Hold on to your hats here, people...
"Imagery"...shhh...
VERY Subtle...
This will take some time to get it right so although you may see a progression or evolution... this concept in my head or my SOUL...is going to take time... so bear with me... Or at least I will bear with ME.
In the mean time... here is where things are on the selling scene:
Some JEWELRY!

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!! Brooklyn Baby.

Judi from the block?
More like Judi in the BLOCK.
Of POTTERS that is!
Come to The Old Can Factory in Brooklyn SUNDAY!!!!
December 5th
11-5pm...
Click on the info at the right for more details.
Perhaps I'll break into a little JLO for ya...
Yo Yo Yo...
Get it?
... Ho Ho Ho....

FORGET "Black Friday", "Small Business Saturday", and "Cyber Monday"... Tomorrow is "Ceramics Tuesday"!!!!

Also known as "Tavill Tuesday".
I'm ready...almost.
I mean I could have more...
I feel like the work can ALWAYS be better...
More demonstrative of my voice, more evolved....
But It's the holiday season and I'm Having my
Judi Tavill Ceramics
Open Studio and Sale
Tomorrow...Tuesday...
9am-9pm....
Be there or be SQUARE...
(wheel thrown pots are not square...I mean...you could alter the pot...
OK...I digress...)
Here is what the set up looks like...basically...

A taste.

Just want to keep moving and there is a lot of color happenning...
But here are a few pics as I played with the burlap background...

"They say the waiiaiaiting is the hardest part..."

Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting for the Kiln to cool...
I almost feel like I jinx it by posting this...
However... what's done is done.
So... I want to post some photos when this new batch comes out...

I have a whole new plan for my display going forward.
Starting with just a few things for these small set ups I am doing... but I can expand.
Found a good folding shelf that the reviews on quality were strong and the price was decent. So I bought a few(they are stack-able possibly but) at this point it's a table top deal and I will use a 6 foot table with.... these new WHITE shelves and a creamy burlap fabric...Its the real deal burlap... a little bit of shedding, but hopefully... that won't be a big issue... I want a neutral natural(?) hip look and I am looking forward to working with the white and cream as background colors... made some displays with the burlap on some white easel frames to hang pendants, etc... I figure, It has that natural look so smudges of dirt won't be a biggie and where I cut the ends...I will just pull the threads away to give it a bit of a fringe...
I had this idea last night at 12:30am... and went and purchased the stuff today...
so we shall see...

I'm sure the kiln is still only at 500 degrees now...
so...
*twiddling of thumbs*
I will wait.
Grrrr.

NCECA Anyone?

I'm going.
Virgin.
You?

Uh...hellooooo..I'm posting...

It has been a while.
I has been a little nutty on this end...
A week ago...
(It feels like 5 years...I really couldn't emotionally type this up before...)
I was just about ready to fire my kiln...
(About 2 pm: The kids would be coming home in about an hour...)
The lid was open.. I was on the other side of the room organizing or cleaning up after all of my glazing, that I did not rush through...
I did some the day before... etc...
The glazes that are (for months, years) stacked up over by my window got tripped up by some UNKNOWN SPIRIT...
OR at least MY spirit must not have made sure everything was secure because I start to sense...
THE TSUNAMI.
Yes.
It was a fricken' "Glaze Tsunami".
Now... it's one thing if ONE bucket falls...
That sucks...but generally it is manageable...
What happened here was a domino effect.

So... a bucket in the back started to fall and the 2 rows of buckets in front and before you know it...
about 18 buckets (we will discuss WHY I have all of these dang glazes later) from 1000g batches to 3000g batches not only flooded my studio BUT SPLATTERED ...
unglazed pots...A little into the just loaded kiln... up on the top shelf to hit my son's recently made and drying PLATYPUS...
Trust me...solids and liquids everywhere...

It was bad...

I start screaming, "HELP!!!"
(My husband had just come home-I could hear the garage under the studio)
I was covered, the studio was covered and YOU KNOW HE was thinking...
"This crap better not flood through the wood floors and ruin...the ...blah blah blah..."
I honestly thought I might pass out...
Needless to say... I was a TOUCH overwhelmed.
So...I just say... "Please get towels..."
He brings me ONE.
I have a moment of..."Seriously? Am I on camera?"
Which escalates into...
"MIKE!!! TOWELS!!! A LOT OF TOWELS!!!!"
and he is freaked...like...a deer in headlights...
He says, "All of our good towels?"
I was FREAKING!!!!
I say... "Yes... I need to sop this stuff up..."

I knew I needed to get the liquids out and go for the solids....
Anyway... After WWIII (now we have had a Tsunami and a War in my studio...not very Zen...),I continued to clean...put on my respirator...he took bags of towels out back which I would later hose off...)
Needless to say... IT WAS A LOT OF WORK...
AND EXPENSE...
When I thought of the Mason Stains alone... and I had JUST MADE A TON OF THESE GLAZES...
SO I WAS SICK...
I survived...
MIKE COOKED DINNER... hmm... a truce...
The kids were sensitive to my feelings...
I was wet and freezing outside hosing off the towels...as much as possible...

I really just felt like...
I should have sat on my hands all day and I would have been more productive.
I wondered if the Universe was trying to tell me...
"ENOUGH with the ceramic work...
It sucks...YOU suck...
Go to the DAMNED mall and spend about $1000 dollars next time because that would be less cost than this fiasco of time and $..."

This IS how I felt.

Now... I don't feel that way anymore.
BUT.
I still wonder..

Needles to say...
(Well obviously I feel the need to say it...)
Everything is in pretty good shape now and I had Mason Stains UPS'd from Ceramic Supply(Lodi, NJ) and began to measure chemicals and remake glazes the next day...
I still need to do a lot of sieving... but I am in pretty good shape...
I put the towels eventually in the wash twice and I didn't ruin THEM!
The studio has some remnants of LE DISASTRE but I feel "safe" again... and I put up an Ikea shelf from a previous booth set-up for some of the glazes... I have a cabinet... but all of the smaller chemicals go in there... so not there is LESS stacking:























I presume that you are wondering why I need all of these DAMNED GLAZES...
Trust me... we are on the same page...
HOWEVER... there is a method to my madness...
I am trying to achieve some interesting surfaces in my work that frankly an electric kiln in oxidation makes it a little hard to do...
BUT..I and making headway..
Layering and interacting glazes are allowing for some positive outcomes...
























































































Keep in mind that I also fluctuate between wanting loads of color and NEUTRALS...
This is my cross to bear but I feel like I am getting a handle on it...

Now at the same time(always nice to have lots of variables changing and moving...) I have wanted more fluidity and freedom in my work, my expression and less preciousness...
So... I have this going on:



































I am altering and allowing more fluidity... and I am still incorporating my other techniques... avoiding being too gratuitous at times...
I am working with a stoneware clay... now... and I have applied some slip of the dark chocolate brown stoneware that I love and I will probably throw with it too...
I am enjoying and exploring and ...
Oh by the way, looking to sell work for the holidays...
So... That's what has been up.

What's happenin' ?

On the shelf...Out of the kiln...


















Working...

















Developing...

A Little Advert...

Check out the ad my work is in in November's "In Jersey" magazine!
It is changing... it is currently 40 74 ...
Fun! Thanks for the include Lynda!

























Click on HERE for the gallery website!