On the Road Again

September 5, 2009

Wow, that was a quick summer!

The show and the Folk Fest came and went. I never did get to the show at the City Arts Centre or hear how it turned out. I haven’t even looked into getting the tea set back yet. The Folk Fest was good. We sold pots, made some money and made some good connections. We would love to do it next year.

We had a wonder holiday and trip this past summer. It was our first real holiday since 2004. The Folk Fest ended August 9, the 10^th we packed up and August 11^th we set out on a road trip. We have family in Chesapeake Virginia. Jim’s son Torrey is in the US Navy and we drove down, or across, to visit him and his wife Carrie. The first day we got to St. Lewis, 36 hours and then the Friday the 14^th we were in Virginia. We spent a week there and had a wonderful time. Torrey gave us a tour of his ship, the air craft carrier Harry S. Truman. It is huge but must be very crowded when all 5000 people are on board. We saw where the USA began. Went up to Washington DC and saw the president drive by in his motorcade. That was a rush. When we got there a number of men in black suits with wires in there ears were all around the White House closing down access. Now there are a bunch guys who take themselves seriously. Then suddenly all roads were blocked and out of the back of the White House sped the President and his entourage. It was cool.

Obama in the back seat.

We swam in the Atlantic, got beaten by the waves and after a week of fun, family and history we headed southwest for Nashville.

The family in the Atlantic.

Torrey and Carrie at Williamsburg VA

Williamsburg VA

We drove through the Smokey Mountains and spent one night in Pigeon Forge. That was a bit of surprise. Dolly Parton came from there so we expected a…. not sure… small town with a monument or something. Coming out of the back woods of the Smokey Mountains into….. well….. Vegas, just no gambling. Lights, nightclubs, restaurants, hotels, shopping, street performing Elvis impersonators. It was more than weird.

It became weirder the next morning when we thought our daughter Kaileigh was in the car and she was standing beside the car leaning in to talk to us and we ran over her foot. It broke nothing, pulled nothing and now, just two weeks later the swelling is gone, just a bit of bruising left and she is walking normally. When we were in the docs office just after it happened I asked her how she was doing,she said the blood pressure cuff hurt more than her foot????

You can see the tire tread marks….ouch….

The holiday went on for almost 3 weeks. I will talk more about it later.

The Clay Teacher is getting calls, emails and bookings. We are confident it will do very well. It is really exciting. I love the building of a business. When we opened a studio on Fort Road 10 years ago, it was a real rush to set it up, get equipment, attend shows, and build the wholesale cliental. We then moved to Jasper Avenue and opened the Gallery. It too was a hoot to get that started. We moved walls, well hired people to work, picked out flooring and paint. Once we were open we found artists, clients etc. A part of me will always regret that it didn’t work out. The much larger part is glad we are free from the daily responsibility of retail. The Clay Teacher gets off work at 3:00 and doesn’t work weekends.

That’s enough rambling for one day.

Until next time

Cindy

The Clay Teacher

Artist's Statements and Schtuff

July 20, 2009

I am putting a tea set in an instructor's show at the City Arts Centre. They asked me to include an artist’s statement. I have always had trouble with those. I never have been comfortable with long and flowery explanations of how and why I created a piece. I never wanted to say anything like how the elements of nature combined with the elements of the spirit in a single work, represents them both, the artist or whatever. Maybe the work does represent some of that, but not on a conscious level for me. I make pots because I am a potter. I alter them, add to them, give them faces and make them one of a kind pieces because I want to or I have to, and for me, I’m not sure there is a difference. I started playing in the clay before I started going to elementary school. I have had many changes in my life since I was that little girl playing in the mud in my backyard. The one thing that has remained constant for all those years is me playing in the mud. I am not sure that makes me an artist. I have become fairly proficient at throwing pots. I am happy for the most part with what I make and when I take the time to do something more creative than production pottery; I really enjoy how it makes me feel. It makes me feel like me.

Here is the tea set. “Tea on the Run”.

I was thinking that I would rather put a face that I have been working on in the instructor’s show.The masks or faces combine sculpting, slab work and the wheel. They are the most recent and then therefore my best work, but not as good as I am going to do tomorrow. But I don’t want to put a mask in because we are doing the Folk Fest in a few weeks and I think I have a better chance of selling the mask than the tea set. Spoken like many artists, I need the money. I won’t add that to my artist statement. It seems that once you have to make a living at selling this schtuff, the art community will not see you as an artist.

Speaking of selling this schtuff, I have to get to work. I have been making mugs and small pieces for Folk Fest. I was pushing and put a bunch of mugs in the kiln, way too wet. But since I have been potting forever I know how to push… Yeah right. Of all the things that you would think I have learned over the decades of making pots, is that you can’t rush some things. I lost 18 mugs because I thought I could break the rules. Sometimes you get caught. Today is going to be muggy…..

Until next time.

Cindy

The Clay Teacher

Plans for the Day and Family Pics

July 8, 2009

It has been a while since I blogged. In the summer there is little to do with the Clay Teacher, especially since this is the first summer as the Clay Teacher. I hope the summers to follow have some Clay Teacher activity. I have been potting. The casserole didn’t turn out that well. I was trying to follow the style of another potter for the client. I didn’t like that style and my knock off showed. I did bring one that I liked. They liked it too and bought it instead of the knock off. They said would order more in lots of 10. It was a school and as of yet, no order. I think the teachers, the end of June, might have had more on their minds than casseroles dishes. I have the corporate mug order made but not glazed. I am waiting on more info from them. The store in the east ordered again, that is bisqued and cooling the kiln along with some internet orders and Lilia ordered a bit more. The east order was a good size. More dinner sets. I have made a number of dinner sets this last month or so….about 40….I am working on a dinner set now

About 4 years ago we shipped an order to a store near Toronto. They didn’t order again. We always stamp out pottery with Out of the Fire Studio and Alberta Canada. We received an email a few months ago telling us they had bought one of our tea pots from that store and broke the lid. They wanted us to make a new lid and had found us on the internet because of the stamp. I said I would try and send them a couple that might work. They got back and said that they would be in the neighborhood, could they drop by. They do live in Kenora ON. We didn’t expect them to stop by. They did and placed a wedding registry with us. At first the registry didn’t take off. It was a good size, 13 piece dinner set with a number of completer pieces. We had sold a casserole dish and a couple of trays and thought oh well. They told us last week, what wasn’t sold in the registry, they would buy. Since then it has taken off and they will have to purchase very little, but it has to be done by the 20^th of this month so his brother can take it to the wedding. I have been busy making dinner sets, only because we stamped the tea pot with our name.

Jim has redone Out of the Fire web site http://www.outofthefirestudio.com/ and The Clay Teacher ( I didn’t add the link here, if you got this far, you don’t need it). He has been busy as well. They really look good. Out of the Fire has been online since 2000 or 1999 it was time for the old girl to have a face lift. I’m not sure that time will ever come for me. Need yes, surgery no.

We have some running around to do today. We will get our business license….finally… It has taken this long to get the development permit so we can apply. There is a small wholesale order to deliver to shop down town. Then we will get our badges etc for Folk Festhttp://www.efmf.ab.ca/ we are in the craft tent this year. With the badges we get full access to the festival, even Wednesday and Thursday night when the craft tent is not set up. We hope the sale goes well. 85,000 people will attend that weekend. We should be able to sell something to someone. We will promote the Clay Teacher and the pottery. We are looking forward to it. But I am freaking out a bit. I am doing the “WE DON’T HAVE ENOUCH POTS!!!!” thing that I always do. I get this wedding registry done this week and I can put my head down and make pots. When I do that, I have the ability to make a whack of pots. How many pots do we need for 85,000 people, how many will they buy, what they will buy, and will they buy anything at all? Same questions different sale……..the nice thing about pots is they don’t go stale. They can sit in a tote and wait until the next sale, unlike bread. Also today we have a new client stopping by to purchase what we have in stock and then place an order. It is White Avenue store. We haven’t had pots on White Ave since…..years……When driving on White I often call it Wait Ave, the traffic is bad.

Pot Picks today are Grad Pictures… the pot is in my dress

Jim, Kaileigh, John and me.

Chin Picks

Kaileigh, me and John

King of the World Picks

Superman.

For more pictures of John's Grad see http://www.johnslowinski.com

I have to get to busy.

Until next time.

Cindy

The Clay Teacher

For pics of the family and Grad Day go to http://www.johnslowinski.com

Pot Talk, Roadkill Teddy, Class Pics

Wednesday I got the studio cleaned up, the glazing finished and we loaded the kiln. Jim and Kaileigh always come down when it comes time to get loaded….the kiln….. Jim loads while Kaileigh and I wash bottoms….. the pots…..and then Jim and I got it on…. the glaze load….. but we didn’t let it get over 200 degrees until Thursday morning. Two reasons, it was a large load and there is a lot of water and if the kiln goes over 212 when the pots are wet, the steam causes the glazes to crawl. Also there is a lot of wax on the bottom of the all the pots and when it burns off it stinks up the house. It’s easier to air it out when we are not sleeping. I don’t like all the doors wide open all night. We will get a ventilation system on the kiln as soon as we can. The pots are now cooling, 250 F. I had wanted to get them out yesterday, but as I said, it was a large load and it takes a long time to cool. We promised to deliver a casserole dish yesterday, but it was sitting at 900 F at noon, so we have to deliver it on Monday. That kiln load will be all shipped out by Monday. Orders come in and pots go out. The store in the east ordered again. I sent them a sample of the Prairies and they ordered, so I will send them a sample of the new glazes and see what they think. I will send Lila a sample of the new red as well.

Jim was messin’ with fonts and colours and came up with “our “font The Clay Teacher which I can't show you here, you'll have to look at the web page. It has only been three weeks since we started this process and already we have our web site, the wheel, projects and a number of bookings. I have emailed every elementary school in Edmonton and all the neighboring school districts in all four directions. There has been a lot of interest shown. We should do well. All I have to do is get the 100 plus samples made. Kaileigh said she would paint them. She does a nice job and seems to enjoy it. We have few done already. There is a learning curve to making the projects. I was trying to make Teddy Bears. I have two that aren’t ready for prime time. I have Psycho Teddy; all he needs is a little knife in his hands and the EEE EEE EEE music in the background. I also have Road Kill Teddy. He too has stay out of the catalogue for obvious reasons. I know what I did is wrong or right depending on your perspective, but now I know how to make cute Teddies that will not give little ones nightmares. We have a few samples done, but we will be over run with little projects by the fall.

John and I found a suit. He goes for fitting on Monday. We didn’t get the $99 one or the one for $1800 or $2800 or whatever it was. We found a nice one that looks very good on him. It is more than I had intended, (everything is always more than I intended) but he will help to pay for the more than I intended. Shoes, shirt, tie and the little pocket thingy all add up. He is very fussy about his clothes. He has to wear the best, or I should say he wants to. I don’t know where that came from. I have been a potter for years and for me dressed up is clean jeans and it didn’t come from his dad’s side. His grad is next Tuesday, we will take pictures and I will put them here. I will dress up in more than clean jeans and not embarrass the boy.

I have only one adult pottery class left. I am looking forward to not having a schedule for a while. I enjoy teaching, but it is nice to have a break. I will teach two nights in the fall. Here are some shots of pots from last Wednesday night. They are a great group. As I said before, all but one are beginners.

Pot Picks today are all from my students glazing class last Wednesday.

Until next time.

Cindy

The Clay Teacher

Bookings ,Snakes, and a Cow

I did get the pots made and in the kiln on Sunday. I didn’t make the corporate mugs. He isn’t expecting them until next month. The ones I made are cooling and I will glaze today or tomorrow. She is expecting me to ship Saturday. I like to give me some room. I had a contract with a company that does kinda what we are doing but just does it differently. That contract ran out on Friday. Yesterday Jim and I drove and around and delivered all the projects from that contract. We are free to move on to the next chapter. I like driving around with Jim, but I could spend my time being more productive. I wanted to go this time, it was the last delivery, one was out of town, the sun was shining, I had nothing to do here at home……yeah right….

I sent out emails to the schools telling them about The Clay Teacher. We have four bookings already. There are a lot of schools out there and that’s why I didn’t make Robert his mugs. I was glued to this pc creating a mailing list and sending emails.

We are really excited about The Clay Teacher. I have been making production pottery for years. I like to make pots. When I am down in my little studio throwing, it feels like me, but after awhile of production work…..well… The Thrill is Gone……That’s why the Clay Teacher works so well. I don’t have to do production so when I am in my studio, throwing and feeling like me, I will be making what I want to make and not what I am told to make. I really enjoy the kids and I love making pots and sculpting. What better life can you ask for but to have two jobs and love them both? Unlike some married people that say they could never work with their spouse, Jim and I work well together and we have fun.

I hope to get to that kiln today. It is still a bit warm, 750 F at 6:00 am….. we’ll see. I have to clean up down there. I work with out a splash pan and it’s a real mess from the last orders. I got a rush teapot order last night, so that has to be thrown today. We go see a lady about her bathroom. We do sink and tiles, she is redoing her bathroom and we are making her sink and backsplash. I can get that thrown and in the kiln with the teapot. Delivery on the teapot is June 27.

I saw this joke and thought it was funny.

Last year I had phone call from a minister from… oh I forget now… a very southern state, perhaps Georgia and we talked about God, clay and the process. We worked together on his sermon. It was interesting, I enjoyed the conversation and I was happy to help. I wasn’t any help on the religion side but I was able to tell him about clay. I had forgotten all about that until I saw this joke. With the websites, we get calls from all over. A man from Tennessee called yesterday. We was caught up in the layoffs and downsizing. He wanted to know if a potter was a good second career choice. He is 57 and has no experience. I was truthful and said no. It takes years to get to the stage where you can sell a good product. Then you have to find the market. I suggested that he take some classes, buy our DVD, make some pots and see where it goes. See if he has the passion for it first then look at it as a job. I also told him that the nice thing about working for yourself is you get to choose what 18 hours a day it is that you work.

Speaking of working for yourself, I should do just that.

Oh yeah…. Pot Pick of the Day is a very cool Thai cow bottle, borrowed from Lee Love on FaceBook.

This is what I mean by fun pots, the sort of thing that if I were playing I would like to make.

Right now I will make a tea set, sink and some tiles and play…. later…

Until next time.

Cindy

The Clay Teacher

Suits, Sausage, Wheels and Glazes

Monday I got Lila’s order thrown and most of the next order as well. Tuesday I got it all trimmed by 1:00 p.m. and then went suit shopping with my son John. I have called him Diddle Diddle Dumplin’ my son John his whole life. He never says anything, but I get the feeling that since we were grad suit shopping he thinks that I could stop at any time. There is quit a price range out there. We saw suits from $1800 to $99. I can’t imagine paying $1800 for a suit, especially for a 17 year old boy that will not be that thin forever, trust me, I know his mom. We still have not found the right suit. Grad is June 30.

Tuesday our daughter came home from a short trip to Dawson Creek, BC. She went there to buy meat. Yes, that’s right, 600 K one way. The Butcher Block (Lawrence Meats) has been there for 50 years or more and owned by the same family. I went to school with the man who runs it now. They make the best garlic sausage …period. She has friends and family up there, but it was garlic and the thuringer sausage that motivated her.

Wednesday Jim and I ran around town all day. We did some banking, bought groceries, registered The Clay Lady as a partnership and got her a business license. I found it interesting that since we store some business related items in a our garden shed, along side the lawn mower and snow blower, we are considered a major home based business. If we had a larger house and stored the stuff inside we would be a minor home based business. I don’t make up the rules, we just follow them. Also we picked up much needed shipping supplies and got her (The Clay Teacher) a portable potter’s wheel. It’s so cute. We got a Shimpo Aspire.

The last wheel I bought was a Shimpo, I bought it in 1975 and it’s the one I still use. I have put a million revolutions on that wheel and it just keeps going. It’s my friend; we have made a lot of pots together. As long as it’s working I can’t see me ever replacing it.

Wednesday nights are my adult pottery classes. What a bunch of great students, all but one are beginners and they are making some really good pots. Not first session pots at all. I will take some pictures next week of their work and put them in my pot pick of the day.

Today I will finish off the pots I didn’t get thrown on Monday for the young couple and I will throw an order of mugs. A local business man, Robert, orders 50 mugs every 4 to 6 months to give to his clients. He has been a good customer over the years and we like to make him his mugs. Friday I will have all those orders done and in the bisque Saturday or Sunday, most likely Sunday. Also today, I will phone Susan who runs a local gift shop and has been saying she will order for the last 6 weeks. She has been busy and it’s on her list. A call might just move it up a bit. We would like to get in that shop for the summer. We sold there a couple of years ago and did very well.

We have been working on some new glazes. That’s Jim department. I never had a lot of interest there. I like to have knock out glazes, I just don’t like to do the work to get them. Jim is good at that and here is his newest. We are very excited about this one. This is the inside of a bowl

Here it is on a Dinner Set.

It’s time to quit talking about what I have to get done today and go and do it.

Until next time.

Cindy

The Clay Teacher

"In the Beginning"

This is my first blog as The Clay Teacher. Here I will talk of starting our business, any snags we have on the way, how it grows, or not, how I feel about the business, the growth, or no growth, the people we meet along the way, the jobs we do, kids, my kids, sisters, family… our life as we move into this new venture and it moves us.

I always thought Steppenwolf said it best when starting out on a new path:

"Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me little girl

On a magic carpet ride.... "

Words and music by John Kay and Rushton Moreve

© Copyright MCA Music (BMI)

Jim and I are in the preliminary stages of starting up The Clay Teacher and very excited about it. One reason is the name; we couldn’t believe that no one had thought of that name before and the website was available. It’s such a natural name for….. well…the clay teacher….Another reason is I really enjoy the kids. I have none of the responsibilities a teacher. I come in, mess up the schedule, the class, and the kids and when everything is dirty, I leave. The kids have a wonderful time and so do I.

Jim and our daughter Kaileigh have worked hard to build this great web site. The day to day workings of The Clay Teacher, Jim will look after, all the web work, correspondence, booking, firing and deliveries, leaving all the clay and fun for me. I’m not sure that’s entirely fair for Jim, I do help him out and we like to make deliveries together. It’s nice to drive around and have a bit of time to ourselves. But between the two us we will have all our bases covered. I am really looking forward to the years to come and being…. well… the clay teacher.

I am going through the curriculum this morning and making a list projects that I think are related, fun and geared for the age of the student. I spent most of yesterday afternoon making pieces that as they are finished they will appear on the projects page. What I made yesterday is online, wet and not finished. If you visit the website often you can watch the progression of the projects. Today, when I am done this, my first blog, I have to throw the last of my wholesale orders. I still do some wholesale pottery just to keep my hands dirty and pay some bills. This lady I am making this order for has been a client for years and she has patiently waited for this order for months. There is no excuse for that and she has been so nice about it. I have been busy and I had cold for months, but I honestly have to say I have been procrastinating; I could have had the order done if I had just …. done it….. Tomorrow I will spend making more projects for the catalogue. When I am done the first catalogue it should contain about 100 different items, curriculum and fun based. I am open to suggestions in this start up stage or any time. With the web builder upstairs and the potter down stairs there is no stopping us.

I have to go to work and make Lila her mugs, plates and bowls. I have another order after Lila for a wonderful young couple. They recently got married, a friend gave them a gift certificate from us, and then they went ahead and ordered a lot more pottery. It is such an honour to have our pots plays such a major role in a newly married couple’s life. These pots will be in their cupboard and their life for years. Everyday they and their friends who come to visit will use our pottery. I have to have them done for the end of the month.

I just got the idea that it might be fun to include at the bottom of each blog a“Pottery Pick of the Day”. I am not sure where to start, but I will start with one piece I made over a year ago, but I liked him. I won’t always show my pots, there is a whole world of potters out there.

Cindy Clarke - "Thinking of Gym"

For more whimsy visit http://www.outofthefirestudio.com/potheads.html

I have enjoyed writing this first blog.

Until the next time.

Cindy

The Clay Teacher