Pots destined for the Smashing Bin!

Pots destined for the Smashing Bin!, originally uploaded by antfiresbetter.

Since this week had Friday the 13th in it, I decided to clean my studio and list all the pots that I felt were just cluttering up the shelves. Some are a bit heavy, some have small flaws, and some I just haven't gotten around to photographing yet!

Anyway, all these pots are getting listed this weekend in my shop, (antb.etsy.com) for only the materials cost of each one. I am not charging for my labor or time on any of them. Then, on Monday morning, all the ones that haven't sold I will unlist and put into a bin for breaking and sending to mosaic artists!

Here is my shop announcement for this weekend:

And to celebrate Unlucky Friday, I am going to be listing Unlucky Pots all weekend. Some will be PIF's (they will cost only the listing fee plus shipping) and some will be for only the cost of my materials (clay, glaze, firing, but no charge for my time, labor, or skill) and shipping. Some will be seconds also priced only for my materials cost.

All of this weekend's listings will be at incredibly low prices. I want these poor unlucky pots to find good homes. After this weekend- bright and early Monday morning- any Unlucky Pots that are left will go into the Smashing Bin, get broken into pieces and then be sold to mosaic artists.

Please, rescue these poor Unlucky Pots from my Evil Smashing Bin! Buy them today and then they will be Lucky Pots! (They are all on the first page of my shop.)
Have a lucky day!
-Ant

****Update!
Due to storms taking my power out, I am behind with my listings today, and won't get them all listed. So I will keep going tonight and tomorrow until they are done. BUT Monday, they all still go into The Smashing Bin!

No more Mrs. Nice Potter!

:D

Gracie Makes Contact

IMG_0085, originally uploaded by antfiresbetter.

Jens and Tasha are house sitting in Chicago, so for Mother's Day, they invited Grace and I for a weekend of sight seeing. The highlight for me was an amazing vegan restaurant on Broadway called "Alice and Friends". I have never had such wonderful food ! I had the "Runaway Potato" and would highly recommend it!!

The high point for Gracie was a full day at the zoo. She took her Playschool Digital Camera and snapped it full of photos!

In the Primate House, there is a fake log, that goes into one of the cages. A child can sit in the log. There is plexiglass, and a gorilla can sit in the other half.
When Gracie climbed into the log, a baby gorrilla ambled over and sat and looked at her. We got a photo on Gracie's camera for her.

I don't know who enjoyed the encounter more, Grace, or the baby gorilla!

April Fools Day Dinner- Renee and Jasmine look...

April Fools Day Dinner- Renee and Jasmine look..., originally uploaded by antfiresbetter.

Every year on April Fool's Day, I make a silly meal. Sometimes we have dinner for breakfast, sometimes the food looks like something else (sandwiches with faces, or submarine subs). Sometimes what looks like one food is really something else.

This year the dinner looked like a grilled cheese sandwich, a fried egg and some peas and carrots, with a cupcake for dessert.

What it really was:

Fried egg- marshmallow fluff with lemon pudding in the center

Grilled cheese- pound cake with tinted buttercream frosting

Peas and Carrots-Green and Orange Tootsie fruit rolls reshaped.

Cupcake- a little quiche baked in a foil cup with tinted mashed potatoes for frosting.

I think this one turned out great! But Renee and Jasmine's faces showed that they had a different take on my April Fools Day dinner!

I got the ideas for this meal from Family Fun's website.

It's Alive!

It's Alive! , originally uploaded by antfiresbetter.

As you know, just after Christmas, I needed to move from a rented community crafts studio to a home studio. I have been trying to jump through the hoops with local authorities to get my kiln OK'd.

I had to move it once after getting it hooked up, so that meant putting in all new pipes. It had to have it's own gas line and meter (more expense), and they didn't like my 'think out of the box' vent hood ( but finally admitted it was terrific!)

But now.....The inspector finally OK'd my gas kiln set up, and we are thrilled! I made a trip to my local-ish clay supply to buy my glaze materials. I am waiting on my scales to arrive so I can mix my glazes and get started!

Hopefully, I will be up and running soon! Possibly within a week!!!

Though I think I have been saying that since January 1st, this time I may be right!!

Ritual Hearth - Evening Sky Blue

Ritual Hearth - Evening Sky Blue, originally uploaded by antfiresbetter.

Not all Pagan folk are blessed with country cottages or crumbling Victorian manors. In fact a lot of use are living in regular, run of the mill homes without a fireplace or stone hearth in sight.

I've read about about hearth magic and always wanted to try some, especially on Yule or St. John's Day. I crossed my fingers and toes the last time we moved, but no such luck.

Enter Tasha. We were chatting one day and I brought up my complaints.

"Well...why don't you just make one?"

"A hearth?" I asked.

"Sure, a little ritual one out of clay."

The conversation quickly moved on, but the idea stayed with me. Why don't I just make a hearth? So I did.

The first one I made worked just fine, but I've modified this one to have more ritual space.

Where is the new pottery?

Folks may be wondering why there have been so few new items listed in my Etsy shop. I know Grandpa Doll looks like he is missing some new jugs!

The reason is a forced, but happy move of studio space.

I have been sharing rented studio space with other artists at in a large old building here in town. The building was sold, and we artists were given less than a week to move. So, I am trying to get my kilns up and ready as quickly as possible at home, but it means new wiring for the small electric kiln, and an inspector visit and new line for the large kiln, not to mention all the safety equipment I need! Whew!

I am hoping to be up and running by the end of February, but it really depends on how fast I can think outside the box to get things done safely and cheaply at home.

The upside is that will be producing pottery here, at home. I am very excited about that! And, since I already have my wheel set up, I am making greenware (unfired pottery) while I wait for the kilns to be ready to fire. And since my favorite part of the process is the throwing, I am pretty content.

Also, for those who have wondered- My husband Danny is doing well. He is out of the hospital again, and is up and around. Thanks for your thoughts and wishes for his health!

first teapot

first teapot, originally uploaded by antfiresbetter.

This is a photo of a little teapot I made a few months after first starting in clay. The cork is in the spout, because I made the spout too low on the vessel, and the water pours out just after you pour it in the top! We use this now for pouring homemade mulberry syrup for pancakes. It isn't that good, but it works and I am fond of it, because it is my first teapot. I am posting this photo, because of this discussion:


On Etsy, I belong to a guild of sorts, the Etsy Mud Team. Someone on the forum for our team mentioned that on another very well-known potter's forum, ClayArt, there was some discussion about those who sell on Etsy.

A few folks said they loved selling and buying there, but several folks were very vocal about the diverse skill level that was on Etsy, and they felt that it was a bad thing to let those of lower skill sell with those of higher skill. And that customers are rather stupid, and need to be protected from "bad pottery". That got our danders up!

Of course, we all had to pop over and read their posts, and it got a lively discussion going on our forums too.

I stated my opinion this way:
"I think quality and craftsmanship are probably the most important thing for many folks, not all, but I would say for most crafters. I guess I just overreacted to the feeling I got of some of the postings there of "I worked for years to get here, and until you are at my level, you have no place in the artworld". One of our newest members has only been doing clay for a couple of years, and his stuff is wonderful! The idea of "paying dues" is the idea I don't like. Or that there is an absolute line between quality and crud. Or that customers are oblivious of all this.

I have bought handmade bowls from new students because I liked the bowls, being full aware that they had some distance to go to become on par with Leach. But I still happily use their works, even if it is not the creme de la creme of handmade pottery. There is often something alive and refreshing and joyful in a novice's pottery, even though the craftsmanship is lacking. I like the energy of a piece that shows that an fledgling artist is discovering themself."

I don't think customers need to be protected from anything! Why can't a customer like any style they choose? Who is foolish enough to say "This is good and this is bad, this is nice, this is ugly, so you can only buy what I say"! Phooey!

I was very unhappy with that thought, then Natalie, (owner of nkpdesigns.etsy.com and nkpbeads.etsy.com) said this, and I thought it was the perfect expression of how exploring our art and craft through clay should be viewed:


Natalie said:
"I have the first bowls I started throwing back in 2003 and wow, I'm really glad I didn't try to sell them. I have them in my kitchen cabinets and use them regularly and they are special to me because I remember what it felt like to throw them, and I remember that great feeling I had taking them out of the kiln that first time. It's a great memory. But its my special memory and so I have those first efforts and I cherish them.

I had a friend come over to look at my pottery and she picked up this very awful small mug. It was crude. It was a first try. The handle was not on properly. But she knew me. She was my friend. She loved me. So she loved that cup. She wanted to BUY that cup. I gave it her. She still loves that cup. God bless her! But I think she loves it because she loves me. And that's great. That's what its all about sometimes.

And hopefully, as I continue learning and throwing and reading and studying and handbuilding and learning and doing then others who don't know me or have a reason to love me will love my pottery too.

Ah to dream .... :)"



Perfect. :D