5 Minutes of Fame on Lowcountry Live

I went on Lowcountry Live this morning, which is a local TV show here in Charleston, SC. It was great! We had a blast doing the show, meeting the hosts (they were great!) and getting photos with the famous Pinkie Pie! That was a pretty amazing costume, with blinking eyes and a mouth that could open and close. The personality could really come through - it was so neat to watch it! We actually went on the show to talk about our upcoming Open House on Friday, March 28, but the hosts asked us some great questions about our pottery and photography. It was great to be able to tell our stories, even if it was short and sweet. I explained that I was a local potter here in Charleston, and I got started by taking an introductory course. After that Kelly Thiel was hooked on clay! The hosts, Brian and Ryan were so nice and it was fun to watch how a show is produced. We just sat quietly until a commercial break, then during the breaks, everyone could move around or make jokes, or talk about their new chiropractor. It was a relaxed atmosphere, but I started to get hungry by the end of the show, as they had a chef on the show cooking up some jerk chicken that smelled so wonderful! This amazing art and craft world takes me places and introduces me to people that I would not have met otherwise (like Pinkie Pie). How fun it all is!!

Upcoming Open House at Charleston Crafts

On March 28, 2008, one of my galleries, Charleston Crafts Gallery, will host an Open House featuring myself with my pottery, and Jennifer Daly with her black and white photography! We will have some wine, and some yummy snacks, so come on out! It should be a good time. It will go from about 5:00- 8:00, or just whenever the wine is gone. To help promote our Open House, Jennifer and I will be appearing on Lowcountry Live, a local tv show here, that often features the creative things going on around Charleston. Its filmed live, and comes on at 10:00 am. Check us out! I think it is Channel 4, but I'm not entirely sure on that. We are trying to get the word out to locals folks here in Charleston about our little gallery, because there are still plenty of people who don't even know about us. It is a great little gallery to find unique, handmade items perfect for a gift. Easter is here, and Mother's Day is just right around the corner! The website is www.charlestoncrafts.org.

23 weeks pregnant!

Well, here is a baby bump photo of me at the new house. I'm 23 weeks along, so almost 6 months pregnant! The house in the background is the one we are building, and I'm standing on the pool deck in the sun - as you can tell by the squinty look on my face! You can already feel the sun getting stronger here, and many of the trees are already blooming. It's a bit early, but I'm so ready for spring! Spring has become my favorite season of the year, and it always puts me in a good mood. Speaking of good moods, I've been working on a sculpture, getting her finished. I'm trying something different on this one - what is known as 'cold finishes'. It's unfired paints of any sort that you can use to color your sculpture. This is a fun way to finish my pieces as you can tell exactly what color or finish you are going to get. It is never a given with ceramic glazes - you just never know for sure what you are going to get in the kiln! With cold finishes, you can experiment and keep working on the piece until you are happy with it. I find it to be a less of a "get it right the first time" mentality, which can be stressful. I think I'm going to spend some time working on both sculptures and pottery and just try to increase my production. We have a lot going on right now, but it is all good stuff. I feel so unbelievably lucky to love my job!

21 Weeks Pregnant!

Well, for those of you who didn't know, I am 5 months pregnant! This will be my first baby and I'm wondering how I'm going to balance out my artwork with motherhood. I plan on posting updates on how the situation is going - from my growing belly to having a playpen in the clay studio. We will see how it all works out! As it stands right now, I've got a little baby belly, but I can still throw at the wheel with no problem. I sit up a little straighter, but that's a good thing! I'm very careful with my glaze chemicals and I'm making sure that I wear gloves and a respirator when I need to. So far, the only thing I've really noticed, is the decreased energy level. I feel great in the mornings, but when afternoon rolls around, I sure do get sleepy! It's hard to keep working at the pace I used to, so that has been a change. As I get bigger and get some photos of the baby belly, I'll post them. But stay tuned - there's a lot going on my life - building a house, growing a baby, and always working in clay!

Gasparilla Art Festival was great!

I just returned from the Gasparilla Art Festival in Tampa, FL and I'm STILL recovering from the show! An 8 hour drive on Friday, with set-up on Friday night, only to get up at 5:45 am on Saturday to finish setting up. The show opened at 9:00 am and the shoppers came! It was a great show, with great weather, and I even managed to get a little tan on my shoulders! I have never seen such a crowd on a Sunday afternoon. Tampa is a big city, for those of you who've never been (it was my first time there) and the downtown area is quite large. The only complaint I had was that most of the restaurants close at 6:00 pm and so dinner selections are slim, if you don't want to drive. On Sunday night, we found the best little restaurant called Fly, and it was the best meal of the weekend! I highly recommend them, so try them out. (Not open on Sundays normally). My Meditation Series pottery was a big hit and I sold a lot of work. I created a whole new inventory for that show and sold half of what a took down there. People seemed to like the glazes and my graphic designs. I did not take any sculpture, as I ran out of room in the car!! I would be happy to go back next year if they let me, but at least I will know what I'm getting in to!