Alltop, MudTeam, and Etsy, oh my!

Some exciting new things happening - 1) I'm on Alltop - the “online magazine rack” of popular topics. 2) I'm a member of the Etsy MudTeam. 3) I sold my 2nd pot on Etsy! This I believe I can thank blogging for. After I commented on a post at Tiny Choices, one of the writers clicked on the link to my blog and continued to find her way to my shop. Thank you, Jenn, for supporting me!

Due to the fact that I have no other job right now and I have been spending nearly every day at home, mostly on the internet, I've been exploring new ways of networking and promoting myself. Tonight I'll finally be joining the local potter's guild so I can get back in the game of actually making pots, and tomorrow I plan to spend the day in Denver job-hunting, so I don't have to be a *starving* artist. Wish me luck!

Slowly Growing

Weirdest thing - this pot is growing a Philodendron!


As I was drawing my little angel plant* I realized I was progressively moving slower with each leaf. I started off with a blind contour line drawing and moved on to this, working quickly at first. It became more difficult because the lines started intersecting with each other, and soon my mistakes jumped out at me. The more detailed the drawing became, the more careful I drew.


I soon realized I work this way in ceramics too. The more difficult something is, the slower I work, and the more hesitant I am to take the next step for fear of messing up. I often take my time getting started on something new when I have an idea for something I'm more familiar with. I suppose all it takes is regular daily practice and the drive to experiment and try something new and unknown. I don't know how to go about making a fruit tray/banana tree, I don't even have a model to draw from. That doesn't mean I shouldn't try to make one.


*The first thing I read on the tag of this "philodendron" was "Exotic Angel Plants" ... as I know nothing about names of plants in general, I promptly forgot the name "philodendron" and have called it the "Angel" plant since the day I bought it.

Fruit Bowl

Those bananas are going to be mashed into muffins by Tuesday :-D For now this large bowl of mine works for this purpose, but I'd like to make something different made especially to hold fruit; a combination fruit tray and banana tree. It's another late night, I'll write more tomorrow.

Photography Backdrops

I've been looking around online today at graduated photography backgrounds and it looks like they're all around $70 for the large size (42"x62"). Has anyone come across one for cheaper?

Cereal Bowl

There's a Vitamin Cottage natural grocery store just a few blocks from where we live now that we shop several times weekly. Well Justin mentioned to me one day that he saw a funny name for a cereal and the next day I tried to find the most ridiculous cereal they had. The two I chose were Wild Puffs and Leaping Lemurs chocolate & peanut butter puffs. I guessed it! It was Leaping Lemurs. Pictured above is wild puffs... I just thought it looked pretty in my purple bowl.

First Etsy Sale

My pot of the day for Wednesday (the dates are wrong in my drawing... it was a late night) was my first sale on Etsy (the pot is inside the box in case you're wondering). Indeed, I'm very excited! Although I think I spent all the profits on shipping supplies, I'll be ready for the next one! The cup that sold, thanks to Brandi, is the one on the right. I hope to have more pots uploaded to sell on Etsy by tonight, including some of these goblets.

Fun with Watercolors

The last of my cards for the turquoise ATC swap is an abstraction of this Willi Eggerman cup that I bought when she came to UNC last April as a visiting artist. It's the perfect little juice cup. This is the most abstract of my drawings so far and I really had fun with it. Right after I painted the base coat I tossed on some salt for that spotted crystalline effect and I realized it was quite appropriate because it was a salt-fired cup that I was drawing.