There is a reason why moving is at the top of the list of the top ten most stressful events in life. I am here to concede to the truth in that. Our house/studio sold and closed on the 3rd of June. Hooray! I admit that I thought that it would sell a bit faster than it did, but I have always set unrealistic goals for myself. Finding another home has proven to be quite the challenge. To make things...
It is very difficult to squash the creative bug once it has been loosed; set free. Three months and sixteen days since the fires of the kiln went cold and the shelves bare. The fingers are becoming twitchy and the mind races at a breakneck speed. The little monster, spreading disquiet, begins to creep along the perimeter of contemplation. The uncomfortable sensation of creativity scratching and...
It's time to let the secret out. Fire Creek's studio is moving this spring! The husband will be retiring in May, after 28 years with the City of Boise. It has always been the dream of ours to move deeper into the heart of Idaho. Though we aren't sure where we will end up just yet; expect it nestled among the mountain peaks. The of the studio move is to find a slower pace of life and a bigger,...
Hand painted Dusk was falling and the brisk September chill crystallized the air. I rounded the corner of the narrow, dirt road that led to the rented cottage on the lake. They startled at the sound of the car engine and scattered up the hillside. Perfectly camouflaged, their dusty brown coats keeping their secret, until they moved. They warily watched as the car slowly drifted to a stop to...
Shelves are bare, purchase limits are a regular thing and gas prices are through the roof. We live in a crazy, upside down world and the hits just keep coming. Inflation and supply shortages affect everyone and the clay community is no exception. With the shortages of raw materials, and an uptick of people finding the joy of clay, many glaze suppliers and distributors have no other option than...
Welcome awkward rose bunchers, carnations clump mutilators and mum bouquet manglers! The hours of staring glassy eyed at YouTube videos, desperate to learn the black magic that IS flower arranging are countless. The money spent on community education classes only to have arrangements still sitting haphazardly in the vase, is worthless. You are not alone. I have a confession to make. I once was...
Potters hold fast to superstitions and folklore. Take, for example, the temperamental kiln god. Some devise tiny ceramic icons in their likeness to gain their favor, others beseech the tiny terrors for just one more successful glaze fire. Perhaps it is the unpredictability of the work...even with the most careful planning, things just sometimes go terribly awry. Glazes run off the pot and stick...
I believe that any artist you ask will tell you that creativity never ceases. Often, creativity is relentless and chases away the hopes of peaceful sleep. An obsessive call to express what lies at the very core. A newly learned technique sprouts tendrils of endless ideas that nag until they come to life. A well crafted piece sparks further exploration of design. Creativity is a pull; a driving...
We're told they would be found in the small thicket of Russian olive trees that lay beyond the edge of the campground. A promise that the trees would be thick with them. The wild patch of ground is thick with waist tall brambles and thistle. We gingerly pick our way through. There is no way to quietly trudge through the bracken, no way to sneak up on them without notice. The trees seem empty,...
The inspiration behind the new rabbit tiles. As we all have lately, the arrival of that dreaded virus has resulted in giving us all a lot of spare time on our hands. There are many of us that are desperately searching for ways to creatively fill the long hours that fall between the cup of coffee and the evening cocktail. If you were to peruse the pages of my sketch pad, you would find about a...
