House and Home exhibit at Mudfire

One night I got some very exciting, unexpected news.  There was an invitational exhibit that I seriously wanted to be a part of, and so at the last minute I sent in my materials.  The notification deadline passed, without any kind of word from the exhibit, so I immediately thought, OH WELL, I guess I'm not invited to this exhibit.  Fast forward two weeks.  Then one night, hanging out with the baby watching tv, I happen to check email and there it is!  An invitation to participate in this exhibit!  OH yes!!!  It was made even more exciting by the fact that I didn't expect it.  I swear, my heart actually started beating faster and my chest tightened in excitement.  I danced over to to my hubby, and I could barely hold still and wait for the right moment in the conversation to tell him!

So the time has come.  I've shipped off my pieces, filled out all the paperwork, and the show officially opens on March 2.  Work will be available for preview online on Feb. 27.  Mudfire is a fantastic clay center.  I went there for a workshop three years ago, and I was totally floored by what they had created.  Erik and Luba, the owners, are young, energetic, and totally passionate about this place.  They took an old space in an industrial park, and turned it into a gallery/pottery center/super cool living space for themselves.  This place is about the energy, the vibe, the community, the SHARING of knowledge, and the support they give to clay folks.  Every week, they do cookouts at the center, and anybody is welcome.  The pottery students, the workshop attendants, whoever.  Folks bring food for the grill, and then everyone sits down and shares a community meal, and it is fantastic.  I so LOVE the positive energy that is created by everyone sharing interests and creating friendships.  So, can you tell that I really, really LOVE this place?

Here's the information to this awesome exhibit.  I'm honored to be one of their artists and to be included in such a show! Click on the photo or exhibit title to go to their website:

House and Home

March 2, 2012

MudFire welcomes an outstanding group of sculptors and potters for a domecile-themed exhibit. The show features 16 artists invited from across the country to express their concepts of house, home, shelter, nesting or dwelling places and represents a broad interpretation of the theme, not limited to human concerns but also the hidey-holes and getaways of all manner of creatures. We look forward to sharing a cup of tea with you at the opening reception on March 2 from 5-9pm.
Work will post in preview mode by February 27, and will be available for purchase starting 12:00 pm on Friday, March 2, 2012.

I'm so excited!  I will be able to attend the exhibit after my ACC show, and I look forward to seeing all the works!

~Kelly

The Studio is Almost Complete

Wow, today was an exciting day!  We had to move the kiln from my old studio to the new studio.  No small feat! I've got a fairly large front-loading electric kiln that required some engineering to get it moved.  My old studio was above our garage, so we had to figure out how to get it off this upper floor.  We ended up removing a section of the handrail on our front porch, and raising the forklift up to that level.  The kiln was put on a pallet jack and then rolled to meet the forklift.  All this done by my most awesomeness hubby, and two guys totally new to moving kilns.  But the three of them did it, by golly, and the kiln survived!!

I don't have any pics of the kiln being moved into the new space, as it was dark and we did it by flashlights and floodlights on the house.  That's enough to make me nervous!!  Hopefully, by the end of this week, we will have power out there and will be able to hook up the kiln.  It's slowly getting done, but these baby steps are killing me!  I have exactly one month to get everything done.  It makes me sweat just to think about it.  I see some long nights in my future.  :)


That's it over here.  I've been working on two new sculptures at my little folding table, but I'd like to wait until they are fired to show you pics.


Have a good week everyone!

Stockpiling Work

Hello!
I'm  sure you all are wondering where I've been, and I am sorry that once again, I've been MIA.  The truth is, I have just been in a blogging funk.  I get so little time on the computer these days (with the kiddos and all), and I just couldn't think of much worthy of writing about.

But today I am feeling back to normal.  Perhaps I've had too much coffee??  I wanted to show you a snapshot of my work that I've been stockpiling.  This is just one shelf full of small items that I've been cranking out while I wait for the studio to be completed.

And on that topic, we are slowly making progress.  It was supposed to be done on Jan 20th, but of course, we didn't make that deadline.  So here we are at the end of January, and they are now installing lights, toilet, sinks, etc.  The interior painting is done (except for some chalkboard paint that I'll add later), so that's great.  When the studio is finally completed, I won't have time to organize and decorate to the extent that I want to do.  I'm going to throw in some folding tables and get straight to work.  I've got until early March to get things completed, and that isn't a whole lot of time in the clay world.  I'm waiting until next week to take pictures of the new place.  And then I'll have something to blog about  :)

Hope everyone is having a creative weekend.  Hubby took the kids today, so I could actually get in some work time!  Thank you, best husband in the world!!!

xoxo,
~Kelly

Some Thoughts

Hi there!


I've been busy for the past few weeks with just family stuff.  The holidays, traveling, trying to get the house back in order, etc.  I've done very little as far as my clay work goes.  Whenever this happens, I start to feel "off" and not quite right.  I am happiest when my days have some balance between family and art, and the art side of things just wasn't happening.  It makes me grumpy and I feel like I lose myself.  I even feel a physical sensation - my chest gets tighter.  I feel like I can't expand my lungs and take a super deep breath.  This is the way I have been feeling lately.  I wasn't sure how to change things either, as there seemed to be no end in sight.  Until last night.


I got an email last night about an exhibition I had applied for.  It was a surprise email as the notification date for the show had already past.  I couldn't believe my eyes!  My heart sped up and I actually gasped as I read the email!  And then POOF!  That tension, that tight feeling in my chest disappeared instantly and I felt like I could breathe better and stand straighter!  What a feeling.  I was so happy and it brought me back to my goals and dreams that I have for myself. 


It's taken me a while to understand that I truly need to make time for myself.  I tend to forget it, but how I feel when I get some creative time is vastly different from how I feel when I don't.  I know I am a happier (read: better) mother, when I have just a little time to create.  I don't need 10 hours a day to create - no, nothing like that.  (I'd love to have it, but not right now when my kids are so young!) But I need to make sure that I get 5-10 hours a week for myself.  That's not that much, and oh, what a difference it would make. 


This is a huge topic for me, and I could keep typing and typing, but I don't want to put you all to sleep.  Really, I just wanted to share my good news about my invitational.  I will share some details later, as I learn more :)



Breathing easier,
~Kelly

A Story to Share

Well, I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday!!  I got to visit with my family, and as I get older I really, really value my family.  We're a small family now, but I am thankful for them!  My aunt told a story this time that I had never heard and I wanted to share it with you.  When I was a kid, I was forever getting in trouble for drawing and writing on things (no surprise there, huh?) and one day, I locked myself in my bedroom.  Everytime my parents tried to convince me to unlock it, I replied, "I busy!"  Uh oh.  What was she busy doing???  Low and behold, they finally got into my room and I had been doing some serious artwork on the walls with my crayons.  Not the washable kind either.  I thought it was kind of a cute story until my husband piped up with, "She's still drawing on the walls!"  And you know what?  I AM!  I just finished painting these flowers in my 3 yr old's room, and now I'm stenciling a pattern on the wall in the baby's room!  What a riot!  I guess I've always like drawing and painting, huh?  I also remember a time when I got seriously in trouble for drawing on my bedsheets with an ink pen.  I guess they were a little boring as they were :)

Here I am, about the age where I learned to love drawing on the walls

I'm doing well and hope you guys are too.  I'm looking forward to January.  My husband and I have decided to share the childcare during the week, so that we can both have a couple of days to work.  As it is now, it feels like neither one of us are getting much done.  This comes at a great time for me, since I will need to get cranking on some sculptures.  I've got 21 small things made (unfired, but made!) and I plan to keep adding to that.


Hope you guys found ways to stay creative during the holidays!
~Kelly

Studio Progress

Around our house, things have been a little busy.  We're building a garage, as well as my studio, so that means we have men wandering around in our yard starting at about 7:00 am.  Which means you have to be careful walking by the bathroom window when you're getting dressed :)

It's about 700 sq ft!

Progress is moving right along.  The house wrap is on, the electrical is roughed in, as are the lights, and next in line is the windows.  I'm pretty excited - it's going to be awesome!  And then one day, I'll get around to landscaping in front of the studio, so that I can walk down a path through flowers and plants on my way to the studio.  Is that inspiring or what?! 


My personal goal was to have 20 small things made before the studio was built, and I'm about to meet that goal now!  How awesome - I rarely get to a deadline early :)  I'm working on the 20th thing right now, so after that I will keep plugging along and trying to stockpile things so that I can start firing right away.  With that show coming up in March, I know it will take me a while to produce enough work.  Especially at the snail's pace I am working at right now.  But that's okay.  I'm happy (most days!) with the balance that I'm seeing in life.  I'm really enjoying the little babe (she's almost 4 months now) and time is flying by.  I'm still trying to get her on a good schedule; she likes to stay up late partying and sleep in in the mornings.  The staying up late part is hard, since I am so tired at night.  But we are having a good time.

This photo cracks me up

I'm looking forward to spending time with my family at Christmas.  My family gets more and more important to me every day, and Christmas for me, means making memories and laughs with my family.


Love to you all,
~Kelly

Wall Birds

I've been working a little here and there, when I have a little time, and I have been making these bird ladies to hang on the wall. They're pretty small, about 8-9" tall (i think) and they have not been fired yet.


I've made a dozen of them so far. I like how they look; in fact, I'd like to see them on bronze too! Even though I don't have a studio yet, I wanted to get a head start on creating some small pieces to fill the kiln, whenever I get that set back up. So I'm just stockpiling a few pieces until then :)


I am starting some other small pieces too - I'll post them after I've made a few more. On the studio construction, I've got a lovely concrete slab that is just ready for some framing. Boy, I'm excited to see that get started! Maybe I'll have a studio early in the new year... Just in time too- I'll need every second to get ready for my ACC show in March... Thanks for hanging with me in these past months when I've been posting so irregularly! I'm feeling a bit better these days. Little baby Finley is sleeping through the night now, and that makes ALL the difference! We will talk soon, Kelly