Brrr - winter

Brrrrr....winter. 

Not my favorite time of year.  I guess, it makes us appreciate the other seasons so much more.  It is a time to regroup after the busy Christmas season when it's hard for me to even catch my breath (so to speak - I breathe just fine).  It's a time to plan for upcoming shows and events.  It's a time to try new things.

The regrouping consists of getting a handle on my inventory.  After much thought, I decided to remove my work and myself from Local Color Gallery in Joplin.  Christmas season was good there and I had a very successful Christmas Tree workshop, but I just can't squeeze in the hours that I'm supposed to work or justify the rent.  They are a great group of talented artists and I wish them the best. 

The first event will be this week.  I'll have my work at Memorial Hall in Pittsburg along with the other great artists from ArtForms.  Set up is tomorrow with the opening reception on February 8th.  So if you are in the area, stop on by.  We have great food and you can visit with your favorite artist.

I keep telling myself to slow down, that there isn't a fire, but it's a very hard thing to do.  I need to work with my beloved St Bernard, Lucy, to get her working as a therapy dog.  She's almost 2 1/2 years old and is finally starting to loose all the puppy behavior although she can get distracted easily even yet.  I know we can do it!

But I look at the shows coming up and wonder....do I really want to travel to Topeka? It's an art show and I did pretty well despite or in addition to the fact that my tent literally blew away.  And a fellow potter loaned me her tent....don't you just love people like that?  Otherwise, I would have simply packed what remained and just left.  And Mountain Home Arkansas looks intriguing in September, but that means three weekends in a row with shows...and less time with Lucy.

After more than six weeks, I finally dragged myself down to the studio and threw some mugs and my triple vases..all of which sell very well, so I was low on those despite an excess of work in the multiple tubs in my garage. Here's a fun video of them right after I pulled them out of the kiln...they are singing their song!


So I've got some things to mull over