annie singletary ceramics

annie dillard, “the writing life” is a must read in my opinion. i’m reading it for the 3rd time and it never ceases to amaze me and fill my head with new inspiration.

even as a potter i find endless words of wisdom from dillard’s writing about her own struggle in being a writer. every artist alike deals with “writers block” and as i struggle through my own period of this i am comforted by her words.

the latest quote that is helping is this:

“Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.”
— annie dillard, the writing life)

i believe she is saying here to pass on what you have learned by teaching, discussing, this is funny but blogging too.

also i find more meaning. i think even learning more myself, to never end the discovery process is so important. i have a rule for myself to take a class or a workshop once a year. it can be in anything actually, just so i never stop learning. this is hard with kids, but i find it so important, especially when you have had a summer of making 350 mugs and don’t have time for much else.

i also think she is saying to share what you have inside through your work. get it out so that it won’t spoil and become a vacant land of forgotten and wasted ideas.

so, besides mug after mug after mug for a large order, i’ve been getting my ideas out and making these:

[View with PicLens]

there are 2 subjects that have been on my mind a lot lately, they are totally unrelated. motherhood and viruses.

i am 12 weeks pregnant. as i am thrilled about having our second baby, it comes with challenges. i have been very sick the past few weeks and therefore have not been able to get into the studio.

now, i am feeling better. but seriously lack motivation. i am sketching, thinking and reading a lot, which i find all to be great things to do when uninspired. however, i miss it but just can’t seem to get in there. i have found that being a mom is difficult in the creative process because there is always something else that needs attention. there is always someone that is needing you and totally and completely deserving of you as well.

i think a book should be written about this subject. motherhood and the creative process it could be called. anyone ever heard of such a book?

next subject: viruses

thanks to a very wonderful blog friend, meredith. thank you so much. i discovered that my blog had a trojan virus attached to it.

for the past month i have been dealing with this. my great professional web friend, Clark, came to the rescue.

he loaded an old version of my site and saved me…..totally saved me from having to redo my entire site. i learned some valuable lessons from this and i would love to share them, as i am not in the studio very much right now so i can do this instead…..it makes me feel useful.

*passwords to everything must always be a unrecognizable, a capital letter helps and a number too, physically write it down, don’t store it in computer or ever send it over email.

*when having wordpress there is a responsibility you have to update plugins often, they are updated because bugs were found and so you need the new version. as far as updating wordpress itself, no need for this as often but maybe sometimes as it may change some things about your site

*delete all spam messages sent as comments, report as spam

*always have an updated version of your ftp files saved, this is your site, if something happens you can always have the clean one to upload

*for wordpress you need to have the security scan plugin, it scans your site for unusual items.

that is all for now. I have learned a lot from this experience about how hackers are just sitting there typing nonsense in until they get in. there is no order to it, no reason for the sites they hit. If you are vulnerable in any way, they will strike. i mean my passwords were all the same and had my dogs name in them, talk about vulnerable.

We are surrounded by another winter wonderland up here on Wallace mountain. The great thing is we have power this time, so you would think i would be working in the studio while Dan can be with Will, but no, i’m  drinking tea, cooking split pea soup and making chocolate chip cookies.  Just too cozy in here.

Against all Skutt manual advice, I placed my kiln outside, here she is covered with a tarp to shield from the winter weather. Haven’t had any problems yet with this set up, although i looked out there this morning and it was at 29 degrees…brrr. don’t think that will hurt the elements, anyone ever experience any problems with electric kilns outside?

beautiful isn’t it.

The guys sledding, we just happen to have one of the best sledding hills we’ve found right on our driveway…but you better be well stocked because you can’t get down it.

hope everyone is having a warm winter day.

After Christmas and the big push, I am now reflecting on some issues i have.

This entry is to air some of the questions i have been confronted with lately.

Right before i left to go out of town for 2 weeks, I decided to listen to a good friend of mine and go ahead and risk my ego again (isn’t that what artists do so well after all).

I sent some images into a local gallery, this place being a goal of 5 years from now, I went ahead and chanced introducing myself to them. Unbenonce to me, they actually wanted to see my work in person so I took some work over and got an incredible critique and sold some cups to them wholesale.

So, my foot is in the door. Now, I am not what I would call a production potter, however, they have asked me to change some things about my website to make it more user friendly. The gallery manager asked me to get together my images in a printable format or to make a portfolio of all that i do with all the color options. She showed me some of the big time potters books where all of what they make is listed as well as the color options. I learned a lot from this visit.

Is this the direction i should be going in? I want to be in that gallery so badly and grow this foot in the door that i have, but am i ready to make objects over and over again without being able to change some things. Am I needing to make another “wholesale” type work that will sell specifically at certain galleries and shops?

Something that i have always enjoyed about my work is being able to change when i want, try new things, surfaces, etc. But, will the wholesale world stop this for me? I know that other potters do certain things for wholesale and other work for different venues, but am i able to keep up with that with a small child at home?

I’m excited to be able to have started this relationship with this gallery and others, the feedback is priceless to me, especially since I’m not in a public studio anymore where the feedback was at my doorstep.

Working is all i can do. Keep working. that has been my motto all along.

But, I’m curious how others came to where they are in marketing their work right now. I just bought the book Crafting as a business by Wendy Rosen, which seems to have very valuable information in it. I was curious about the Buyers Market for American Craft which is held in Feb. in Phil. I was wanting to go there as a visiting artist to see what it’s all about. They suggested this book to newbies.

It’s hard not being around a lot of potters to ask anymore. I’m really starting to feel the heat of not having community around me like i used to.

There is the clay club that meets in various places around that I have not participated in like i probably need to. Then, there are relationships with other potters that i have kept up and those are priceless. Also, taking a workshop or class here and there and teaching have helped to keep me in conversation about clay, these are all good i feel. But, there needs to be more.

Funny, the first thing the book suggests to do is find community and a mentor. I think I will move on this somehow…..

This brings me to the blog.

Meredith Heywood at whynotpottery.com has come up with this amazing idea to have a show with all these potter bloggers. The show is to present the value of having a blog as a potter and how the writings have helped connect and fulfill a missing link in the studio; community. This is so interesting to me as i strive to find this in my own world with clay.

I’ve enjoyed reading about Meaders pottery in cleveland, georgia. The thick tradition of the pottery being in their blood. This commitment is beautiful to me, but i wonder, did any of them ever feel trapped by it? Making the same things over and over again, the orders were large and the workers were few, that means they probably worked all day everyday making the same things.

I used to work for a production potter that worked this way. We were filling wholesale orders. That is what I did, make the same objects over and over. Not sure this is what i want.

whoo, that was a lot. Better take a break. I can’t think this way for too long or i’ll get depressed.

Back to the studio i go…..only 30 min. until nap times over!!!

My big push for the shows is over and they went great.

I was pleased with both of them and had a great time. My home show in my town was a great event and i loved introducing my pots to the town i live in. It is important to me to have a presence in my own town.

I have pots left from the shows, so check my etsy site for updates if you missed it and wanted to get something special for someone.

www.anniesingletary.etsy.com

order before Dec. 18th to get by Christmas.

Or contact me: annsingletary@gmail.com for other inquiries.

ok, here’s what was most popular. I called this the triple dipper and i sold out of them. you can use it for so many different things that i think that’s what is appealing about them. It’s very funny though, i can never predict what will sell. this is something I always hear from potters.

Is there a way to know? you make 5 of an item and sell out, so you make 12 for the next show and don’t sell one.

Interesting ways of retail…..always keeps you guessing.

here’s some items i have left

I’ll be back in the studio after Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Until then I’ll be trying to post a little about various things.