Celebrate Clayton

As much as I really wanted to participate again this year, my obligations to my family's business has taken much of my time and energy.  That has made it difficult to create enough pottery for the show.

I will miss all of my fabulous customers and the hospitality of the Clayton community.

May all of you have a successful show.

One step at a time

It is cat & house sitting at the lake time again... it is so peaceful out here.  Especially compared to the festival I had my pottery at today.  The photos are from before the crowds arrived and the group at the food booth featuring foods from Bangladesh was packed (they were right next to our booth.).

I had a very successful firing of the new Red Silk Porcelain pieces.

Red Silk Porcelain Sake Bottles with & without glaze on the shoulder, roly sake cups and a scalloped pin/sauce dish.

Red Silk Porcelain Sake Bottle with clear glaze on the shoulder & neck.

Red Silk Porcelain Sake Bottle and 2 roly Sake Cups with no glaze on the outside.

Scalloped Red Silk Porcelain Pin/Sauce Dish.

It was a breezy & sometimes windy day, luckily, I had nothing break.

My small display at the International Festival at Clemson University.

My new Deep Purple glaze on one of my scalloped Ebonyware Porcelain bowls.

I have had a bit of a creative block lately, working 6 days a week is not allowing me the time to create.  I love my job & my customers and I cannot think of anything I would rather do.  But, the creating of my pottery is something that re-charges my soul.  I am so exhausted in the evenings it is difficult to create then.  My only day with any time at all, is Sunday, my only day off, and the only day I can run errands I cannot get to during the week.  Do I stay home and create?  Do I run the necessary errands?  I only wish that business at the store was strong enough to hire someone two days a week so that my sister and I can each get a day off.  We both work hard.

I think that I got past the creative block for now, which is good, I have a big show in Clayton, GA at the end of April... I need to get a lot produced between now and then!

Next weekend is Spring Jubilee here in town, we will have the store open on Sunday as well... that means no day off until the 2nd Saturday of April.  I can do this, I have been doing this, I will do this... one step at a time...

Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks for listening.  I hope you are all well.

Til next time...

Happy Birthday to the Queen Bee!

Thursday is my little sister's birthday. This photo is from a few years ago on a sunny Spring day back in Alfred, NY, where we grew up. It was taken in our side yard.
Regina has a few photos of herself in the family archives where she is smelling flowers. I especially like this one because the vivid blue stripes in her shirt go so well with the sky.
She calls herself the Queen Bee because her name - Regina means Queen in Latin. And these days, she describes herself as buzzing from one project to another.
Regina is the youngest of our family and currently lives in western NY state with her hubby and her munchkin (who turns 5 this month!). Among her creative endeavors are quilting, rubber stamping, bead work, gardening and whatever seems to intrigue her at the time. All while working a full time job, being a wife and a mom and working on renovations to their house.
All of our family is prone to filling their days with things to do. I spent the day yesterday working (teaching 3 classes) from 9 AM til 9:30 PM with an hour for dinner myself. Terri and I often have days like that. Sue is Quilting, teaching quilting, working on Relay for Life and a bevy of other interests (her hubby Jim does most of the gardening and her 2 'kids' are married). Bill enjoys bicycle riding (serious riding!), camping and cooking as well as woodworking to fill some of the spare time he has, often sharing with his wife and 2 boys. Terri has her bead work, her illustrations and her Assemblages along with teaching a pre-school art class to help fill the little time she has to spare (her DragonBen turned 10 last month!). Rick had woodworking and Blacksmithing along with hiking, kayaking and all sorts of outdoorsy things to fill the time sharing most of the outdoorsy things with his wife Alice and their compilation of 3 teenagers.
We have each been known to hold more than one job at a time, even if one of the jobs is a full time one! But a good work ethic was taught to us as we grew up.
So, Happy Birthday Regina! I know I posted this a day early, but I wanted to be sure you saw it before your special day begins! LOVE YOU!