Happy Clay

Yay new stuff!

2009-11-19T12:26:00.000-08:00

Boys Boys Boys Boys Boys!

Im having a boy! And such is the inspiration for my little one off line of boy inspired place settings. Yes, I know, its all guns and bombs and knives and godzillas. My sisters response was what about supporting a culture of PEACE?! Well he's not born yet, so it is what it is.

Next on the list of new and exciting things going on in HappyClayland - SERVING PLATTERS! FINALLY! and giant serving bowls which are so pretty I dont want to ship them off to the gallery that just bought two sets because I'm not done looking at them yet. Tomorrow...I'll get to that tomorrow...here, look at them with me :)

New product to debut in November!

2009-09-28T02:07:00.001-07:00

Wow what a summer! To my surprise I learned this summer that I've been making more than ceramic art - I'm also making a baby! I found out I was pregnant in July and had to take things easy the first trimester. But I'm well into my second trimester now and am back to my happy clay land studio. You have no idea how hard it was to stay out of the studio for eight weeks. I was going stirrrrrrrr crazy to say the least.

Well great new things are happening in the studio. This week alone I finally completed the plaster moulds for some new products. GIANT salad serving bowls or punch bowls depending on how you use them. Oval platters, round platters and/or chargers.

I also have three separate kiln load batches in production at once. The orders have been coming in like crazy so I'm having a blast working my tail off.

The poor neglected Etsy shop is soon to be filled and brimming with new product and thank goodness because Christmas is getting close. The new platters and serving ware wont be debuting until the first week of November unfortunately. The plaster takes a longgggg time to dry. Patience, patience. It's so hard to wait.

The spring was a time of fulfilling many store orders and I didn't have much time to post new work. I made a set of bowls for my best girl Yana's birthday and have fallen absolutely in love with the pattern I created for them. I call it 'Gigi the Parisian Gypsy'. I reused that pattern on several pieces in one of my latest batches and cant seem to get enough of it.

I'm about to finalize my four piece place settings and am having visions of a table full of this high energy design.

I also got to be a contributing artist this summer in Baltimore Clayworks "More than Skin Deep" exhibition.
I submitted two pieces from my personal collection and I'm happy to report they both sold :) - though they will be missed.

Lots of work ahead hooray!

2009-07-06T07:59:00.001-07:00

Two big shipments have gone out in the last week. One to a new store I'm selling in, ALICE in Stone Harbor, NJ. And another huge batch went out to Hanover Gallery in Chatanooga, TN. If you are in either areas please check out the shops and my work!

I'm really rockin and rolling lately, have a lot of orders to fill. On an 8-10 week turnaround at the moment and feeling the heady bliss of being overwhelmed coupled with knocking them out of the park each time. Can't ask for more than that!

It's definately time to start shopping around for a second kiln to increase production. Wow. Did I just type that? Seems too hard to believe. SO EXCITING!

Here are the latest pieces out of the kiln. Already shipped off. I know my etsy shop is being terribly neglected, but I cant seem to make these pieces fast enough! Wahoo!

Be patient, though, I'm working my booty off and I'm sure to fulfill these orders soon and get some stuff onto Etsy. But if you cant wait, you can also check out some of the shops my work is selling in ... hint hint :)

Happy Clay Place Settings!

2009-05-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

I was contacted by Hanover Gallery in Chattanooga TN about a month or two ago with a request to make some place settings for the opening show at their new location. I hadnt yet tried plates out yet, but I was up for the challenge. (I had INTENTED on trying plates for a few months but was procrastinating the heck out of it because...ugh...sometimes I just procrastinate...like a pro)

I told the gallery owner I would give it a shot and lo and behold the plates/place settings idea turned out to be a great one - I'm so excited about the results.

I call these 'lunch' or 'dessert' place settings because the plates are small. Comming soon - BEEEEG plates!

Brooklyn Collective

2009-03-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a great link and write up about the event last Friday night at Brooklyn Collective where my work was shown amongst a ton of other brilliant artists! The store belongs to my gorgeous friend Tessa Williams and the store/gallery was PACKED! It was a fantastic turnout and wouldve been the perfect night if I hadnt left my iphone in the taxicab on the way out of there - whoops! Free wine will do that to you...

LINK --->BROOKLYN COLLECTIVE

No, thank YOU!

2009-03-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

I am so flattered and humbled by the number of people enjoying my work. I cant tell you how fun it is to find that people are vibing on my creations :) I wanted to return the favors of the folks who gave me free publicity and link back to them. I know it seems self promoting to link back to web articles about my work - but - hey - thats what keeps things rolling around here so lets get to it:

Cups of the Day

Musing About Mud

Amanda Watson

The Rabbit Muse

Ashley Akers

Rare Bird Finds

Handmade in PA

Happy Clay joins Trunkt.org

2009-03-21T15:44:00.001-07:00

WOOT!

2009-03-04T05:31:00.000-08:00

I'm so thrilled I just broke 100 sales on my etsy shop! Technically two of the sales since September have been for items totaling over 30 count, but still, 101 transactions - that makes me happy :)

I've redesigned the front page of the website, and am in the process of brining that design over into the rest of the site. The issue is that it includes, or will include, a bio.

I just loathe talking about myself in the third person. I tried to see if my very talented Hollywood writer friend would work it up for me but he said these things are best done by the artist themselves. He also said it's the way of the beast out there in hollywood. Which makes me wonder if those contestants you see on Project Runway that talk about themselves in the third person are just victims of living out west too long. They've snapped at some point, having writen more bios about themselves than anyone should be humanly required to do.

In any case I need to suck it up and get it over with so the rest of the website can be updated. Maybe if I get the kiln loaded up and fired today I'll have time.

Sales are steady, but naturally I would like to move more. Next week I need to make new molds. Platters/Plates and cake stands! oh my! whee!

New Work Being Posted in Shop This Week!

2009-02-25T12:38:00.000-08:00

Studio Pics

2009-02-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

I havent taken photos of my studio in a while. And since I just mopped the floor and it looks so shiny and happy I thought it would be a good time for a little studio update photoshoot -fun fun!

2009-02-17T20:23:00.000-08:00

So this has been my first attempt at seeing just how much product I can produce in a month. Granted it's only with the limited amount of moulds I've created so far. But I think its enough of a small mix of items to make it a fairly decent dry run.

One week of, shall I call it 'casual' casting produced:
50 cereal/soup bowls - 110 tumblers - 4 sets of five deep nesting bowls - 1 set of four salad bowls - 2 sets of three spice bowls.

I have wondered what I would be able to put forth should I do 8 hours a day 5 days a week like a regular 40 hour work week. But technically I am still getting my 'relax' on so I refer to my production mode as casual because there were many breaks for online games of scrabble, occasional naps, bubble baths, daily house cleaning chores, phone calls with friends etc. So in a perfect world, I would be able to get away with all of that and produce what needs to be produced. We shall see...

I estimated two weeks to glaze all of this - but I've got my second kiln load of glazed wares in the kiln as I type. And only one kiln load full of wares remaining to be fired. I get really into the glazing. Nothing casual about it to be sure. I wake up and the first thought that runs through my head is 'Yay! I get to glaze today!'. And I throw on my glazing gear and hit the studio. I like to blare Funk, Disco and the last 24 hours has been a lot of Prince on Pandora Radio. I like the Sheila E too. hah. Okay, so I dont give up the Scrabble. If I run upstairs for a bathroom break or I finally realize I should eat something, Scrabble will be played.

Then typically the next thing I know its dark out and my husband is about to come home and I run around and clean the house and make the bed and cook dinner and try and act like I didnt just lose 8 hours in the basement in happy clay land. But he can usually tell since I'm covered head to toe in glaze.

I know these photos of unfired glazed pieces are terrible. I take them with my iphone. The quality isnt very good. Lousy flourescent lighting. But still I enjoy documenting the process because the difference between the first unfired glaze ware and what it looks like after final fire is so dramatic it never ceases to enthrall me. There is so much vision involved in the process. Its as if I have to document it someone in order to improve my 'vision' of how things are going to look.

The process of making each piece takes so lonnnnng. And I am SO impatient.
My goal is to have the new work posted early next week. Next week will need to be devoted to photographing everything. THATS going to take a long time. I see a lot of scrabble in my future...

Freak Weather

2009-02-08T12:26:00.000-08:00

I took the month of January off. Sort of taking it easy, giving myself time to plan and strategize for the year ahead, and extended New Year's celebrations that lasted a lot longer than I thought I had the ability to keep up with.

I was also unaware that the clay I use wont ship in certain temperature ranges. So I was without materials for the last four weeks. I ended up having to drive to Philly to pay practically twice as much for materials than what I can acquire locally. But if the weather keeps me from getting my hands on clay then what good does the decrease in price do me?

This week we are having some bizarre weather. We've gone from a month of temperatures in the teens to a forcasted week of upper 50's and 60's. And I am not missing this opportunity. One of the steps in my process is to sand and 'finish' my pieces. A step that must be done outside due to the need for ventillation because of the dangers of silica dust.

Having spent the previous twenty years of my life down south in New Orleans, I cant say I'm too fond of this cold weather. And the idea of sitting outside for hours with ice cold hands and a numb drippy nose makes me want to take up a new craft. I hate the cold. So my goal for the week ahead is to stock my shelves with greenware so that when the cold weather returns I will have lots and lots of bowls and cups to glaze from the warmth of my studio.

I've got a kiln load going now and another kiln load in process drying, that should be fireable by Tuesday.

I have several places I'm going to be moving inventory this spring and summer. I will announce those in posts later on. This is all so new to me - trying to figure out how much inventory I'm going to need. For some reason shelves full of stock make me feel like my work isnt good enough because its not moving. I'm going to need to get over that, and fast. Because I need to stock the heck up.

Okay - back down to the studio. The nesting bowls are calling :)

Survived the Holidays

2008-12-27T11:33:00.001-08:00

The Oddones holiday bizzarre bazzaar went over really well for me. Everyone liked my work and I sold a good deal. That was the motivation I needed to start considering approaching stores with my work. Yana, Winnie, Karen and I all agreed I should see if a local shop Mitrani's would take my work. They sell imports from Turkey and the far east. We enjoy the atmosphere of the store and the items they sell because it reminds us all of our many summer sojourns throughout the Grand Bazaar market of Istanbul.

When they suggested Mitrani's I thought yes - but no. My work wasnt that style. But I knew what would work and I got to work on designing a glazing process and cups that I thought would display well next to the artifacts and treasures imported in from the other side of the world.

I am VERY pleased with the results. My main vision was to capture the visual pleasure of what I call Gypsy Wallpaper. In the Gypsy makeshift trash assembled homes of cement and mud, some of the gypsies of Eastern Europe decorate their living spaces by creating a sort of trompe le monde wallpaper experience. They use discarded fabric stamps from Turkey and India to create patterns on their walls. The job is always sloppily done, but instead of looking a mess, it has a visual impact of childlike freedom. The bright colors, the intricate and haphazard patterns.

My goal was to create a similiar chaotic intricate depth to the surface of the clay with multiple layers of glaze and firings. I am really hopeful about the results. I seem to have hit upon a sort of primitive decor I was subconciously hoping for.

2008-12-08T16:36:00.001-08:00

New Work posted in Etsy shop

2008-11-16T11:20:00.000-08:00

New work is posted. I'm really really pleased with this batch. And equally excited to get to work on glazing all the bowls that are firing in my kiln as I type.

This was my first time working with the platinum and I adore the modern finish it gives. Tres fantastique! If I do say so my self ;)

Holiday Awesomeness!

2008-11-05T07:46:00.001-08:00

The studio is exploding with in-progress fun! Ive got 130 cups waiting to get their glaze on, and new designs for nesting bowls, pitchers and plates coming together, that should be for sale within the next few weeks! Promotion is my second favorite part of this process but I havent been able to do much because excitingly enough, my store has been selling out before I can finish listing the inventory. (((WOW!!!)))

These guys are only a quarter of the way through the glazing
process but I'm loving the colors. So I wanted to share wheee!

After an awesome couple of hours earlier this week where I couldnt post my inventory on etsy.com fast enough, before it all sold out - Ive been packing and happily shipping these happy little suckers off to their new homes - good times, good times.

On Saturday December 6th between 11 and 6pm Happy Clay will be available at the Oddones Holiday Bizarre

December 6 we will be having our 2nd annual ODDONES HOLIDAY BIZARRE! The event will be taking place in the Historic Harrisburg Association building located on the corner of Verbeke and 3rd Street in Harrisburg. The craft fair will run from 11-6 with VJ and DJing by Caleb Smith of Moviate. There will be live Christmas music by a variety of musicians including: Lisa Bennett, Chris Hoke, Caleb Smith, Kurt Garrison, and Chad Tildur! Come out and support your local and not-so-local crafters while taking care of gifts for the holidays!!!!

So be sure to come out and visit if you want first pick of some shiny new HappyClay and avoid those shipping charges :)

Happy Clay debut as wedding favors at Mr. & Mrs. Chris and Yana Brink's wedding!

2008-06-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Clay to go!

2008-06-08T10:02:00.001-07:00

Happy Clay to go!, originally uploaded by ☆ lipstickface ☆.

Today my friend Yana Banova gets married to my other friend Christopher Brink, and becomes Yana Banova Brink!

For the wedding Chris and Yana ordered 30 of my ceramic tumblers to be used for the wedding toast as well as take home wedding favors for the guests. Everyone will take home a little piece of happy clay for memories of this happy day - very grand indeed :)

Where the magic happens...

2008-06-04T08:33:00.000-07:00