Keeping warm

It's finally feeling a little bit like winter here in Seagrove. We heat our gallery and studio with combination of wood and propane. The propane heater takes care of the studio and this beast heats the gallery...

Since I am the first one up in the morning, it's my job to light the wood stove. Luckily this one takes off pretty quickly, especially if you use a torch to light it! It's not very efficient and goes through wood quickly, but it puts out a lot of heat. The pot on top of the stove provides us with warm throwing water and saves a trip into the house to fill our buckets. We have a sink and running water in the studio but no water heater. Jeff and I feel like running water in the studio is a luxury... something we didn't have in NH. We don't mind that the water isn't hot since the cool water during the hot summer months feels good.

I am writing this post while waiting for the gallery and studio to get to a good working temperature. I have at least another 30 piggy banks to put together. Yesterday I finished 20 of them.

Aren't you getting tired of seeing these pigs? Sometimes I am... until I remember how many bills they paid last month! 

I have quite a bit work completed and ready for a bisque firing. Our first gas firing of 2013 should happen by the second week of January. My New Year's resolution is to stay on top of things in 2013 and do less rushing around to meet deadlines. Notice I said "less" rushing. I want to be sure my goal is attainable!!

It was a muggy holiday

If you read yesterday's post you know that Jeff gave me TWO Ron Philbeck mugs for Christmas. Well I gave Jeff this beauty from Dover Pottery...

It's wood fired and has a great sturdy handle. Under the Dover Pottery stamp there is a "J" inscribed. Jeff told me who he thought that was, buy I have already forgotten.

And then, my pottery pals Gary Rith and Lori Bluff sent me mugs!!!

It was such fun to get these in the mail! Robots and Goddesses are such good company. Today I am going to sort through my mug cabinet and pack a few away that don't really get used. I have to make room for our five new favorites.

Yesterday I was back in the studio, but it was slow going. Today I have to pick up the pace... I have many, many piggy banks to assemble. I want to get my stock of pigs back up so that I can get out some porcelain and get really creative.

What a wonderful Christmas!

Jeff and I were busy making pots on Christmas eve day. We had a agreed that we would quit early (for us). I announced quitting time at around 6:00pm by bringing cosmopolitans out to the studio... I told Jeff it was our office party for two.

Our tradition, since moving to Seagrove, is to cook a nice meal together on Christmas eve followed by opening gifts. Why wait until morning when there are no kids and only a cat in the house?

Sophie was a little disappointed to find out that this gift was not for her. She was rather unimpressed with the "skinny chicken" cat toy, that Santa left for her.

I, on the other hand, was totally excited with my gifts. Jeff gave me TWO of Ron Philbeck's laundry line mugs and some beautiful earrings made by Jennie Keatts (JLK Jewelry). My daughter totally surprised me with a kindle fire!! I had been considering getting one since they came out last year, but couldn't bring myself to spend the money. The main reason I wanted a tablet was to replace my leather bound daytimer. When you think about what refills for a daytimer cost each year, it isn't too long before you have recovered the cost of a tablet. The iPad was out of my price range and I really wanted something a little smaller that would fit in my handbag. Last night I went online and ordered a sweet, baby blue cover to keep it safe.
Christmas day was spent having dinner with Jeff's family. It was great to see everyone and catch up with the goings on since Thanksgiving. Jeff's great niece has been doing some handbuilding in high school and is interested in giving the wheel a try. We are making plans for her to come to the studio for a lesson soon... there may be another potter in the family!
I missed seeing my family but I was able to talk with most everyone on the phone. I think Danielle and I talked/texted/e-mailed about half a dozen times! Technology sure does help us feel closer together.

I hope all of you who celebrate Christmas, had a wonderful holiday as well.

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas...

Canadian pork pie... one of my favorite Christmas traditions. Thankfully Jeff likes it. You can find the recipe here.

Merry Christmas!

The end of an era...

When Jeff and I were in New Hampshire this fall, we stopped in to say hello to Gloria. Gloria owns and runs Sassafras Tree Artisans, the store front to my New Hampshire pottery studio.

Gloria had let us know in the summer that she was going to close the shop and retire. I wasn't sure she was really going to do it... she loves her little shop. Aside from our pottery, she sells country home decor, primitives, hand crafted jewelry, and some antiques. While we were visiting she confirmed that she was really going out of business at the end of the year. She had already started to run a sale. As I walked through the shop and into the old pottery studio (which is now storage for the shop) I felt a little sad. I realized, however, that my sadness was for Gloria. I was no longer mournful of giving up that space. A space that was filled with so many happy memories. I have truly moved on. 

Seagrove is my home now. The local bank tellers know me by name. I run into people I know at the post office. All of these are signs that you are no longer walking in strange territory. We went to a potters holiday party last night and it dawned on me how many wonderful people I have met since moving here. 

It may be the end of an era, but that also means a new one is beginning.

The Rush is Over

It sure has been a busy week. Our good friend Rob spent a long weekend with us and we had a great time. He did have to spend Friday watching us box up Etsy orders, but he seemed to enjoy relaxing on the sofa while we worked. He is a college professor and this is winter break, I am sure he needed some down time. Like a typical visit with Rob, we ate lots of good food and drank some good bottles of wine... and maybe a couple of not so good bottles!

What I think could be the last of the Christmas Etsy orders were shipped yesterday, along with a few gifts to each of our kids in New England. It feels like the pressure to meet a deadline is over and I might sleep a little better for a bit.

Rob posted some photos on facebook when he got home on Monday. He also said some really nice things about Jeff and me and our mission to get this pottery business off the ground. I took the liberty of downloading a few, so today's photos are by Rob Buller.

Jeff is the master at finding 4 leaf clovers. This one was growing next to Rob's truck as they were unloading some clay. I think it's a sign of good things to come in 2013.

2nd to the last firing of 2012?

I almost titled this post "The Last Firing of 2012" but we might be doing another between now and January 1, 2013. The piggy bank stock is getting really low and there are pots already glazed that didn't make it in the last kiln load. On the Etsy front, I have finally reached 100 transactions! Etsy sales have been good these last 30 days, I am glad there are people out there committed to shopping handmade.

The firing we did last weekend was mostly orders that have now been boxed and shipped. There were a few pots in there that weren't spoken for. Two of my 1 quart casseroles were fired. The glazes looked great on both, the shino behaved with no crawling... BUT (isn't there always a BUT when it comes to making pots?) one of them had a tiny "s" crack underneath, out to the 2nd's shelf it went. I have to say that when I was using Sheffield T-3 clay, I never had a problem with "s" cracks. This round of casseroles was made with STAR white clay. We have a hundred or so pounds that has been sitting around for awhile, and I decided I should use it up.

  The shino looks good this time with the STAR white. I haven't been happy with it in the past. It looked a little pasty. We are also doing reduction differently than when we first built this kiln.

What would a firing be without a bunch of sponge holders? I had a few of these warp this time around. My first thought is that I probably threw them a little too thin, but I also used the STAR white clay for these as well... in the past I used my recycled clay. It might have made a difference.

These little guys also work well as napkin holders...

Here is the bundt pan that Jeff made for a special order...

There really are two handles, the photo is just at an odd angle.

Our good friend Rob is visiting us this weekend and we are having a great time together. I hope you all are enjoying some time with family and friends... tis the season to be merry!

The year I was thrown off the Christmas treadmill...

I was never a crazy, over the top, participant in Christmas. A christmas tree, some tasteful decorations, and a reasonable amount of money spent on gifts for family and friends worked for me. It would still get stressful at times, to squeeze everything in, in a few short weeks, and worry if I had forgotten someone, or something.

Some years back my elderly parents announced that they were only buying Christmas gifts for the grandchildren. We adult kids were getting too hard to buy for and they asked us kids to please not buy them anything either. I continued to buy them something every year, I just couldn't imagine not!
...and then there was December of 2008.

John died on the twelfth of December. I obviously had not done any Christmas shopping. I returned to work within the week... the thought of being home alone in an empty house was unbearable. Work would keep me occupied. I drove past the mall everyday, to and from work. Finally one evening I decided I needed to stop and doing some Christmas shopping. I wandered around the mall feeling like an outsider, walking through a world that I didn't belong to. How could all these people be happy and festive? How can the world continue to be business as usual when I have experienced this tragedy? I left the mall and drove home without making a single purchase.

At some point I did manage to get my daughter and her boyfriend a gift certificate and I made some chocolate peppermint bark. Christmas dinner was at my parents, everyone was there... the chocolate peppermint bark was forgotten at home (but I did remember the gift card). It was a really nice Christmas day spent with the family I love. Like the Who's down in Whoville, Christmas still came without all the gifts and fanfare.

Since 2008 I don't stress about Christmas gifts or really buy much of anything except for my daughter, and even there I keep it simple. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way.

Reflections on the past

4 years have passed since John died. I try not to dwell too much on this day, mostly I keep my thoughts to myself... I prefer to celebrate his life on his birthday in February. Thats not to say that I don't find myself counting down the days in December until the twelfth arrives. This year I have also been thinking about another woman's journey through life and death...

I have a facebook "friend" that I have never met. She is a painter who splits her time between North Carolina and Maine. She grew up in New Hampshire and we "met" through a mutual, real and in the flesh friend, Mark. Katy's guy has cancer and it's terminal. He has spent a lot of time in India and he decided he wanted to return there to die with dignity, and in his own way. They visited with lots of family and friends in the United States before making the long trip to India. I have kept up with their journey through a blog they are writing together.

I know from experience that it's hard for family and friends to accept the decisions you make about how you want to die. John wanted to die at home. There was no way he was going back to the hospital or a hospice facility. His parents would have liked him to go back to Maryland and be close to them, my parents thought a hospice house would be better than home, they worried about me having to take care of him. John was the one dying, it was his choice to make. We both knew that home was the best place for him. Everyone finally accepted his decision. I took a leave of absence from work and we were nearly inseparable from November 1st until December 12th. A hospice nurse did come whenever we needed her. It was a very special and intimate time... like we were in our own little 'bubble" of a world for six weeks.
John died at home during the big ice storm of 2008... we had no power or heat, and a tree had fallen on my car, ripping the power lines off the house as it fell. I wrote a post about that day and you can read it here and here.

The hardest part about losing a partner is returning to "real life" and coming home to an empty house.

Expecting to receive that smile and warm hug...
and it's not there, the house is empty.

I have been thinking a lot about Katey's long journey back to the United States from India without her beloved. I am sure it will be a difficult one to make and my wish for her is strength and courage.

count down to Christmas...

The holiday open house weekend is behind us. Sales weren't spectacular but we had some past customers come in for new pots and I am sure we acquired some new fans as well. The weather was so warm that it seemed almost silly to be serving hot chocolate, at least the chocolate chip cookies went over well!
If we were slightly disappointed with gallery sales, our Etsy sales and special orders certainly made up for it. We fired the kiln over the weekend, unloaded this morning, and shipped many of the pots out today...

I had set a goal to double my Etsy revenue this year and I exceeded that goal last month. I finally feel like I have the momentum going now. It seemed like a lot of work at first, but once you get it down it's much easier... way easier than packing up to go to a show. Since Jeff and I have separate shops, we have a lot of fun with healthy competition and cheering each other on. This is what people that don't have cable or satellite TV do for entertainment!

6 more sales and I will finally be at 100, maybe these new ornaments will help to get me there...

Holiday Open House this Weekend!

Michèle Hastings and Jeff Brown Pottery Holiday Open House

December 8th & 9th 2012

10-5 on Saturday, 12 -5 on Sunday

1423 NC Hwy 705 Seagrove, NC

We have lots of beautiful pots that will make great holiday gifts. 

Pottery will also dress up your own dining table all year round.

We've decked the halls, so come on out to Seagrove this weekend!

The Jeff Brown & Michèle Hastings version of a "Mug Tree"!

An Etsy Treasury of Potters Who Blog

I created this Etsy treasury showcasing potters who blog and have an Etsy shop. If I read your blog and didn't realize that you have an etsy shop, I apologize now for the omission! Enjoy the beautiful work by this talented and diverse group.

'Pottery Bloggers' by meeshspottery

All of the fabulous work in this collection has been created by potters who blog. Each share a piece of themselves online, whether it's about their artistic process or a glimpse into the every day life of a ceramic artist.

mug with pig Rith $19.00	Natural Soap and Soap D... abelabodycare $24.00	Flying Purple Dragon St... FutureRelicsGa... $40.00	Multi Leaf Serving Disp... LindaStarrPott... $53.00
Pitcher (MK61) klinepottery $120.00	Nesting Lotus Bowls in ... whitneysmith $325.00	Tumbler with Tulips BlueHenPottery $25.00	Pottery Snowman Christm... baumanstonewar... $86.00
Lidded Box with Rabbit,... RonPhilbeckPot... $145.00	Twisted Stoneware Vase-... jeffbrownpotte... $95.00	Woman Woodfired Figure-... burntnormal $240.00	Flower vessel / vase (C... KiefferCeramic... $525.00
Blue Stoneware Platter ... kingscreekpott... $125.00	Christmas Red Salt Pepp... Creativewithcl... $42.00	Rustic Sunflower Honey ... DirtKickerPott... $45.00	Brie Baker and Cracker ... NewDayPottery $45.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

flash back to the 60's

If you read Gary Rith's blog, you know that he has been doing something called Time Warp Tuesday. I have been going through old photographs these last few months. I cam across this one tonight and since it's Time Warp Tuesday...

That's me... 1964! I have always been a fashionista :-)

and on a more productive note, I have been adding new things to my Etsy shop... the wood fired ovals are finally getting listed.

Scary Dreams

I have heard so many people talking about the television series, The Walking Dead, that I decided to add it to our Netflix streaming cue. I have always liked scary movies, but mostly old time scary movies... ghosts and hauntings, not blood and guts. Last night Jeff and I decided to watch it. Definitely kept me on the edge of my seat but way too much blood and guts. Sure enough I had a frightening dream about creepy guys (just creepy, not zombies) trying to climb through the windows! I woke up just before Jeff was going to save the day... 

I would like to see more, just wish it wasn't so gory. 

On a brighter note, a friend posted this video on Pinterest yesterday. I am not sure when it was made, but it looks and sounds like one of those old film strips we would have watched when we were in school back in the 60's & 70's. Looking at the pots in this film, and the fact that Vivika and Otto Heino were living in New Hampshire, I would guess it was in the 70's. This is part one, if you are interested, you can find part two on Youtube.

More of what Jeff's been up to...

Jeff's had some cool orders to fill this holiday season.

A soup toureen... you may as well make a few. This couple has ordered one before and when they came to pick it up they bought another. So why not be prepared?

This one is getting ready for it's fancy handles...

On the left is a steamer, another special order. I will get a photo of the interior before it goes to it's new home.

How about a very fancy bundt pan? I found this order interesting, because typically you turn a bundt cake out of it's pan to be served, so no one but the user will see this beauty. Then again, maybe people use bundt pans for things I am not aware of!

In between waiting on customers, I finished my plain jane, small casseroles and started to load the electric kiln for a bisque firing. The weather has been beautiful and warm here in North Carolina. Perfect weather to be outside, loading the kiln... and I hear it will get warmer over the next few days. I saw on Facebook today that New Hampshire had an inch or two of snow. I am so happy for them ;-).