I'm BACK!!!

Sometimes I feel like I'm in a  whirl wind.  There is a lot on my plate and apparently I like it that way because I'm the one who keeps adding to that plate. And this blog is something that has fallen off the plate.  And that's probably not a very big deal, but I feel a bit bad about it.  So I'll try to catch up from over a year ago!!

I re-read the last post and yes, my dear Joey past away on January 9th.  He went peacefully. I'm eternally grateful to my vet who came out to my house for his last visit.  RIP Joey.  Thank goodness, I have Lucy.  She has been a terrific "buffer" dog.  It is my hope that she will become a Therapy Dog, but that continues to be a work in progress.  She will be two on October 19th and is still very much a puppy although she has complete her CGC (Canine Good Citizen).  Believe me, that was  A BIG DEAL.  She had to sit and stay while I walked away then come when called.  But perhaps the biggest challenge is her meet and greet....she still gets so excited.  I hope she can calm down at some point.  She goes to work with me everyday and gives me great joy despite her slobbering..she is a St Bernard after all.

OK, so what else have I been up to?  Well, I had two opportunities present themselves at the same time this year.  In April, I became a member of Local Color, Joplin's premier art gallery.  It's been a challenge to fit into their group.  It seems that there are obstacles that I've not encountered before and I'm trying desperately to  not step on toes while standing up for myself and my art.  It hasn't been easy.  I'm the new kid on the block...time will tell.

In addition to Local Color, the Downtown Joplin Alliance has started a farmer's market in their donated building at 931 E 4th Street.  It was used by Empire Electric for years and now it's being "up-cycled".  And personally, it's about time that Joplin had a farmer's market!!  There's more of a variety of vendors there including my little group of five ladies aka The Market Artisans.  Allow me to introduce Dianne Miller - glass artist, Barb Dedrickson - pine needles weaver and gourd artist, Kristin Girard - jeweler, Brenda Hayes - fiber artist and, let's face it, she can do most anything and myself!  I love this group, we are so supportive of each other.  We take turns "minding" the booth (which is a wonderful set up made by Jim Miller, Dianne's husband) each week so no one person gets burnt out going every Saturday to the Market for 5 - 6 hours!  The minder puts out the majority of her work and the rest of us fill in the gaps, making little vignettes where people see how everything compliments each other.  We've had a few slow weeks, but anticipate a very busy holiday season ahead!  I truly look forward to my weeks.  I've seen people from my home town, old yoga classes, dog people, pottery people and just friends from all over.  If you live neat the Joplin area, I highly encourage you to check it out.  It's every Saturday from 10am to 3pm!!

Here are a couple pics from last weeks market:

Those adorable pumpkin gourds are selling like hot cakes!

So those are just two new endeavors.  Then I have come to realize that even if people aren't buying my pottery, they LOVE to make it themselves!  That means CLASSES!  Now, I have two places to do that, ArtForms (at Cow Creek Pottery) in Pittsburg and here locally at Local Color.  I just finished a Wind Chime workshop at Local Color last night and even though we did run out of time, the ladies had a great time creating their own unique piece of art.  I'm going to try to have one workshop at each place once a month...good luck with that one.

Here are some up coming events:

While I'm at it, I want to highlight student work from a previous workshop in Pittsburg where I just finished a butter dish workshop...these guys hit it out of the park!!  I hope the pic doesn't look distorted.  I did the green one and the others were my students.

And since I have all these classes that use stoneware versus the B Mix and porcelain that I normally use, I have lots of "scrap" clay left over which is totally reusable.  So I've told myself that I'm going to use up the stoneware before I get back to either of my usuals which means that I've changed what I make just a bit and it seems to fit the Market clientele better...here's some new old work.

Ok, you whom I can't see...I've feel much better about not being active...oh, one more thing.  I've started doing little water color cards (another Market product) that have been going over very well and it's another creative outlet!

So if you have actually read this.  Let me know. Leave some comments!
Thanks!