Hotel Felix

How cool is that? I received these images yesterday from Heather Stewart
who worked on the Hotel Felix project for Soho Myriad.
This is a small boutique hotel in Chicago.
I love how my work is protected like the Mona Lisa.... :-) totally cool!

Upcoming Shows 2009

October

Hotoberfest
Saturday, Oct 3, 2009
1:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Glenwood Park
916 Glenwood Park Drive
Atlanta, GA 30316

November

Paideia Art Visions
Saturday, November 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, November 15, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m

ICE-Atlanta
November 21st at Ambient Plus Studio!

Small Angel Blowout at Whitespace
November 28 and through Chistmas

December

German Christmas Market at the Atlanta International School
December 05, 2009

Swedish Christmas Market at the Trolley Barn
December 13, 2009

My second quilt!!!

Now about my second quilt that I am still working on as we speak:
I've been studying books and toying with ideas until I stumbled upon this Martha Stewart Quilt in October 2005. Since then I have been collecting our old Jeans. After years needless to say, I got tired of this pile and I thought it was time to cut them up. That took a few months.
Now that they were all cut up I tried to lay them out. It's really hard to work around the kids, since they are with me pretty much all the time. This is my workspace.... you get the idea!


Well, the second time I got to lay them out I actually had time to play with it (yesterday) and I started to sew the strips together. I will finish the top this morning!! Yay. Of course I want to make two, one for Noah, one for Sophie.


I also saw this beautiful Gee's Bend Quilt with Jeans. So beautiful. I never got to go to the High Museum, when they had the exhibition, but I ordered a couple of books from the library.
Here is my work in progress right now. I'm planning on backing it with cuddly flannel in blue.


wow. so, i was writing this last November or so and abandoned the blog.
The quilt is now finished and it was awesome and such a labor of love.
It is warm and cuddly and I'm proud I did it for Noah. May he be enveloped
in love forever! Now I just have to find a picture of it finished....
well, i don't have one, but I found a couple of more process pictures, you can see the
backing and how i started the stiching:

My first quilt!!!

I recently finished my first quilt. I have been yearning to make one ever since I got pregnant
with Noah 6 years ago. (Shit, I'm getting old)
So, my mum was visiting last year and we went to a quilting store. There they had displayed quilts all over the walls and her eyes fell on a pretty Gingko leaf quilt. I promised to make it for her birthday. Then I forgot about it, because she left. But I stumbled upon the pattern recently and started to get cranking on it.

It went awesome for a first quilt. First I picked out the fabric with a nice employee at the store.
That took a good hour with Sophie falling asleep on my back.

Then I started to cut it out immediately at home, so I wouldn't forget what fabric we picked out for what. Next day I cut out the circles and leaves (another hour).
Another day I ironed the fabric stiffener (forgot what that was called, sorry, dedicated quilters...)
on and sewed the leaves on the circles and the cirles on the squares. Another 2 hours.


Then, over the weekend I sewed all the pieces together and that was it. Within a week I was back at the quilt store to pick out the backing. A nice employee offered to do the topstitching for me.
I think I could have done it, but I really didn't want to mess it up, since it is my first one,
and it is as I said for my mum!

I picked it up another week later. Then I worked on the binding; that wasn't bad either.
The blind stitching probably took the most time, but it is so relaxing, it was totally worth it.
I love sewing! It is really relaxing to me and I can do some while the kids are around.
I'm really proud of it and it is gratifying to have something hand-made in my hands.
I'm hoping to give it to my mum in person soon. Don't know exactly when I will see her,
but December at the latest.

flying high... relatively speaking.

I'm having a really good day. Thankfully I was able to work all morning and got a good
start at a bunch of things. Made an angel, a large tree vase, mugs for a friend, an advent's
wreath, and started a couple of large vases.

Then I got my groove on at Dance 101 with the firecracker teacher of the Salsa Fit class.
It is so envigorating and I sweat like a pig. It's crazy. This teacher has energy like I used
to have ten years ago. I hope one day I'll get back to some kind of better shape.
Anyway, envigorating it was. My head was still red 30 minutes later.

Now I made a cake, wiped down the toy room, cleaned the kitchen, made the kid's dinner,
and am generally in a good mood.
Oh, and I was meant to bake: I found those plums that are not common to Georgia,
but I grew up with them, so naturally I had to make this German yeast cake.
I just grabbed what I assumed to be enough for a cake, and check this out:
The perfect amount for the cake pan. Not one too few, not one too many!
And did I mention I have four kids here?
I feel like ... one of those perfect fifties women right now. What do you call them?

Inspiration

Lately I haven't been able to find my groove and I'm probably taking longer than I should...
I feel like I am so much at the beginning of where I want to be,
that it makes it even harder to get started. I still have a lot to learn and grow.
Thinking about it overwhelms me and petrifies me.
I think that's why I stopped painting. I didn't think that was going to happen to pottery.
That was my safe place. Easy going and I could just do it.
My husband also brought up an interesting point over the summer:
"Why is it, that you can do
handstands on a diving board and not translate that into your art?"
I'm still mulling over that one.
Anyway, here is something that I found inspiring.
I hope I can just continue to do what I do without thinking about it too much.



PS: Are they sure they weren't styled by Vogue???

Fighting Atrophy!

Finally I am back to writing. It has been a long summer with lots of child-oriented activities.
It's been fun, but also tough on me. No real time for myself let alone work!
I hope to get back into the swing of things. I don't even know where to begin, but I signed up
for a lot of shows, so I better start asap. More later!


Here are some picture of a fun day at the studio with the kids; doing a Raku firing and some wheel throwing. They had a blast and especially useful was the hose to rinse the kids off!
All finished off with a great Snow Cone at the place next door. Summer fun!

New website!!

Ta Dah, after a long hiatus (don't worry, more is yet to come) I was finally able to finish
my website with new pictures, etc. Woohoo!
I did like my old one a bit better, but alas, this one may be overly simple, but for now at
least new pictures are up and I can edit it from home. That's the most important part.
I've been thinking a lot about what to write on this blog and had some great ideas,
but it's all just got to wait. Spending every day with my kids during the summer is great, too.
Watching them learn how to swim has been great, my niece is coming this Sunday and I
can't wait to reintroduce them to my native language... I am hopeful!
Well, got to go to get rid of my expired driver's licence..

Current mood: hopeful

...and dreaming of a brighter future. Could this really happen? Soon?
This could be huge: The Kennedy bill

"The bill would provide subsidies to help poor people pay for care, guarantee patients the right to select any doctor they want and require everyone to purchase insurance, with exceptions for those who can't afford to.

Insurers would be supposed to offer a basic level of care and would be required to cover all comers, without turning people away because of pre-existing conditions or other reasons. Insurance companies' profits would be limited, and private companies would have to compete with a new public "affordable access" plan that would for the first time offer government-sponsored health care to Americans not eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or other programs."

taken from the following link: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090606/D98L1MI00.html

Especially relevant reading the latest issue of Ceramics Monthly where several ceramists mentioned they don't have health insurance and simply can't afford it. And those are kick-ass potters mind you. Really talented people! This is not right!

Diana Fayt (on the cover above) is featured in a current show at mudfire ("Bay Area Pottery Posse") that really turned out to be lovely. I was actually afraid to be completely crushed by it. There are several people represented whose blogs I read and who have it going on. Having a low self esteem myself and not quite believing in myself often I was ready to be blown away. The show was extremely good and it was great to see it all in person, but I was not crushed. Actually I was quite uplifted by it. Totally attainable.


I thought our little Cabbagetown Posse is actually really good. We've been working hard at it and still have ways to go, but we are doing good! What I had expected were much larger pieces by some potters. But they were all sizes I am doing. I definitely have to refine and tone down all the variety I am doing and really make sure to only let the good pieces through. Weed out quantity over quality, but I'll do it. I am hopeful!
If you need to compare notes, check out our etsy sites:

vesselsandwares
Green Lotus

Playing ketchup!

Ok, I really mean catch-up. I finally downloaded some images. Here are my new large vases. I really like them and they make a fine addition to our house. I hope they will make a fine addition to some high-end boutique soon and other people's houses!

My home-made tomato pots. The plants are growing like crazy in this lovely wet spring weather. Amazing how they just yearn to grow upward. As do I !

The latest spring fashion for barbies. Home made bras!!! Per request of Noah.
How great! My favorite past time when I was growing up was to take leftover fabric from my dad's alterations shop and make dresses for my barbies. Now I'm designing and sewing with Noah. It couldn't be better!

Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a fabulous mother's day. I certainly did.
My little son woke me up wishing me a happy mother's day. I just know that we was
holding on to that thought for days and remembering it first thing was very special.
I got some sweet roses and a nice pancake breakfast. Then we were going to drive to the
Botanical Garden to see the Henry Moore exhibit, but I preferred to dilly dally and play
Animal Crossing and cuddled with my sweet baby Sophie while the boys ran errands.
Then the weather was so pretty and I had Rick remove some crazy roots out of the garden.
The kids asked for the sprinkler and I continued on my garden project, digging a little
trench for the new brick border. I'm really digging it. Literally.
So it went along with worms and such, a little errand to Hancock and mending some
things that have been piling up. I worked out for an hour to the new Fitness Coach
Wii CD and the gang came back from the farmer's market and prepared a low country
boil that was delicious! We talked Southern and it is especially hilarious to hear Noah
speak with a Southern accent. Cracks me up.
He came up with this thing "I am dirty on the inside" and it is so funny. He has quite the
ear for that stuff. Accents that is. No idea where the dirty thing came from.
But he likes to makes us laugh...
Now I took a nice little salt bath and wanted to record this lovely day. Hope you had one
too! Photos will follow (as soon as I find my card reader. I have this silly habit of
misplacing items for weeks at a time and then they will turn up eventually.
Maybe I should clean up more often!)

Trees Atlanta

Yesterday (and today) Trees Atlanta is having its annual tree focused art show.
They were so gracious to include one of my vases in the show. It is a really nice collection
of art (needless to say, haha). Their space is brand new and very beautiful, and who knew,
it is three minutes away from our studio! They had super delicious food catered by
Whole Foods and an open bar - hmmm, gin and tonic is my favorite drink!
There was a lot of confusion on my part which piece I had submitted that I kept on bringing
the wrong piece and finally got it right shortly before the show opened.
Anyway, while I was there my piece sold.
Good thing I had the vase that I exchanged before still in my car and now I have
another chance of selling tonight. Yay!
The piece that sold was one of my favorites and the first one of the series. sigh.
I think the reason I kept on messing up with bringing the wrong vase was because
I didn't really want anybody else to own it. It looked quite lovely on my piano.
Well, I'm not complaining...

“Overnight Success takes fifteen years”

Here is a great article my sweet hubby emailed me today. I found it very interesting and it has this funny cartoon that says: "We need to talk and after that, you need to shut up!"
So funny. That's all the energy I have for tonight. The kids are beating the crap out of me every night at bed time... oh, and since I'm now nature girl (or something) I found a luna moth in our yard yesterday and met my first two black widows today. They were so pretty.. yet so dangerous...
good night!

http://lateralaction.com/articles/hugh-macleod/

Inman Park Festival

I spend a beautiful day at Inman Park Festival yesterday.
We have a new routine. We, that is Devanie Schilpp and Jeanette Zeis, my studio gals.
We have been going to Pilates on Saturday morning. I have finally started to exercise
again. It feels so good to wake up that tired body. It is so essential to my well being..
We found this fantastic place called Dance 101 and I just want to live there. Ok, maybe
just go there three times a week would be heaven. It is a dream come true to me.
Dancing is the best!
I have been at it for 4 weeks now and the past week I have also been making more
conscious decisions about what I eat. Just trying to eat more fruits and vegetable and
to drink more water will hopefully improve my waistline. After all it's time to jump
into the pool in 1 month with the kids.

So, going back to what the post is about the festival. The weather was absolutely perfect,
even getting hot actually! Blue skies and no worries whatsoever.
Here are my favorite sellers:

Karis jewelry had a fabulous booth & display. I love the necklaces and glass rings.
Unfortunately I am too clumsy to wear something so fragile.

There was a potter that I have not seen before and I love her work. Very beautiful.
Unfortunately I cannot really find her on the net. Too bad, but her name is Darra Jannuzzo.

This Photography was awesome. I love all Eastern imagery and this one with the flags was
my favorite! www.zenography.net



Jinnie Lynn Dykes own Wingo. Awesome necklaces. I saw at least three that I wanted to own.
Great work and she sells on etsy! I actually met her at another festival before and we traded
some pieces. It was fun running into her again and am glad to know that I influenced her
Chicken Marsala recipe by introducing her to Panko a couple of years ago! Ha!



And then there is Brandy. She didn't have a booth at the festival but was showcasing her
daughter beautifully in her designs. Really cute kid's clothing!



Dryads Dancing have fabulous furniture. I totally loved the tables and small cabinets!



This Atlanta painter has been around for a few years and I love the fun and quirky imagery.
I should own one... i'm thinking. www.rlandart.com

American Craft Council Favorites - Part 2

Just wanted to continue with my previous blog about my favorite sellers:

James Borden makes these wonderful timepieces. They are unbelievable and breath-taking.


Linda Chamberlain does beautiful paintings:



a fabulous sculpture and painter, who had the most fabulous booth set-up to top it all off
David Bryce:


Another potter with fabulous painting skills. The more I looked at it, the more I discovered, and the more I loved it: Elisabeth Maurland


Amy Gillespie, a textile artist! Nice compositions and interesting, different work.


And last, but not least, a couple of wood artist, specializing in functional pieces. Everybody needs wooden spoons in the kitchen!

Woodspoon.com & Moonspoon.com:

American Craft Council

I am a little bit late blogging about this, but nevertheless I wanted to share my favorite sellers at the American Craft Council show we had in Atlanta several weeks ago. It was the best show I've seen so far. There were so many high quality artists there and I found them to be very inspiring.
Here are some of my favorites in no particular order!
Eshelmanpottery I loved for its clean lines and modern feel. Would love to own a set of pieces.
It was so perfectly made and well thought through.

Akira Satake, a Japanese potter, had awesome pieces. It made me yearn to go to Japan and learn their way. So perfect...


Kelly O'Briant has such charming work. The painting she does is so sweet and made me want to paint. She was nice to share what inspired her. I hope I can open myself up and let all my suppressed imagery shine through one day.


Sandra Byers has amazing porcelain pieces. A true veteran she has been working with the medium for decades and truly know to be patient to make the porcelain so translucent looking.


Mitch Yung has amazing wall hangings. Love the scale and texture. Really nice work!

...just noticed.

This is interesting. Here is a comparison between the shot I took and the shot Heidi took.
That's the difference in knowing how to use a camers... haha!
Can you tell which is which?

Weak Performance

So, I've struggled a bit writing this blog. Although I am very excited about my new large vases that I'm working on, I am wondering what in the world I should be focusing on. I am doing too many things and need to reign myself in. I'm going to try to really focus on my angels for the next year.
I won't be able to stop myself from trying out whatever strikes my fancy, but I am going to put the focus on my angels. I am also pretty ready to update my website. I mean, it has only been 4 years or so, no need to hurry or anything....

We also have a new member at our co-op. Her name is Joanna Stecker. She does absolutely fabulous work. Makes me a bit verklemmt. I wish I was that good. But as my dear husband says, it's always good to work with and around people you admire. So here's to that and hopefully learning from her.

Here are some pictures Heidi Geldhauser from our labor of love shot for me. They will all be uploaded to the website soon.