Paradise City Arts Festival, Memorial Day

So it is now a week after the show but Paradise City was a success. Being someone who has just started doing a few large retail handcraft shows, I never really know what to expect and I feel like I'm usually rolling the dice. But I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome, handed out a ton of cards and sold a bunch of pots. Having the first hand contact with people who are interested in taking home your work is great. Good research, good feedback, and some nice momentum to return to the studio to make more. Next on the list is getting a couple of boxes to Red Lodge Clay Center an then get work to the Society Of Arts And Crafts for a featured artist window display at their location on Newberry Road in Boston.

This was one of a number of small, medium and large whiskey flasks made for the show. I'm going to be making a bunch more of these in the next few days.

And the icing on the cake was my 1950 "Zero" brand fan, donated by our good friends to keep me and booth-goers cool. The weekend was super hot, and although the show was indoor, the arena was still open to outside air flow and I didn't come with a fan. This little gem was in our friend's barn, and I don't know how many people commented on how perfectly it fit the booth, and one woman even wanted to buy it. I don't know if I should take that as insult or compliment, although she left the booth without and pots...

Kiln coming down!

So we have been in the middle of a house and studio move for the past month or so, which I wouldn't recommend to those who have a number of deadlines in the studio, but the lure of land and family has pulled us to the country.
The studio is still operational, but the soda kiln needed to be relocated. I wasn't too sure how successful the disassembly was going to be as we have been spraying six pounds of soda per firing for the past five years or so, but the majority of the brick came free with no problem.

It's hard to remember after six years how many brick it took to build a kiln, but having to move it again is a full reminder. I think I'm still recovering. Satisfying to do, but man I'm paying for it.

Someone is going to have a sweet BBQ patio for sure, with direct line right to the natural gas. As I get through a redesign of the kiln and get to building I'll post more pictures of the progress. Having so much room, and the ability to build to suit, I am pumped to be able to work in a number of sustainable attributes to make the studio a lot less impactive. More to come soon.