<![CDATA[D.Wilson~Art Pottery & Design LLC. - Blog Journey]]>Sat, 29 Oct 2022 03:09:33 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Fire & Drop]]>Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:43:05 GMThttp://www.dwilsonart.com/blog-journey/fire-dropPicture
What a crazy week it has been! For once I did not believe I was under any deadline to get the kiln filled and fired. I was leisurely creating bunny vessels and olive oil bottles when my friend and designer, Richard Ott, insisted this past Tuesday that he would need those bunny egg vessels by this Friday for the Junior League of Hartford's ShowHouse. That didn't leave me much time to get everyhting glazed. Of course Richard doesn't understand that you can't just 'whip up' some pottery. There is a process. Also, you can't fire a whole kiln with just a few items in it. You need to fill the kiln. Not only is this the most economical way to run it but all of your pieces generate a radiant heat that plays off of each other. So My friend is thinking "oh it's just a few pieces" when in reality its a lot of work to complete in 2 days. A glaze fire takes 7.5 hours and then a 24 hour cool down before you can open it sooooi needed to be done glazing and in the fire by Wedensday night!
I was scheduled to be working my part-time job the next couple of days so that gave me two evenings only to get all my glazing done. They were late nights and maybe some pieces were glazed in haste but i got it done and the bunnies were safely delivered to the Showhouse yesterday afternoon where i was greeted with champaign and cheese. Thanks to my french friend, Cecil from France, I was able to get everything carried in with one trip and set up.
In the photo above eleven bunny egg vessels line the window ledge in Richard's parlor.
About Showhouse...It was a dump! Several designers came in and each brought their own personal taste and creativity to the house. It is now stunnning (except the kitchen where no designer was brave enough to tread). I am honored to be a part of it. The rooms are very inspiring and all are completely different.
I will have work available in the retail space called "the Boutique" (glamorously located in the garage). If you are interested in seeing more showhouse google hartford showhouse 2012 for media reviews or visit the Junior League's website for ticket information http://www.jlhartford.org/?nd=showhouse2012aboutpage
]]><![CDATA[Small Steps to Big Happenings!]]>Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:24:57 GMThttp://www.dwilsonart.com/blog-journey/small-steps-to-big-happeningsI started the day with a little pow wow with my local artist friend, Stefanie Marco, of Kindspin Designs. Stephanie is filled with light and enthusiasm and her work is fun and inspiring! She is a wife, a mother and super productive with her work in numerous venues throughout the year. All this AND a social life! I'm so glad we met and became friends. We share a vision of an all-encomapssing artisan's design / performance / gathering community space. I'll be sure to keep you posted about what we're up to when we are officially up to it! Check Stefanie  out on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/kindspindesign

 
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In 2003 I had sketched a vision of a building where i would help promote other artists and artisans. There is a community gallery, a D.Wilson~Art Home Design Store, A funky bookstore cafe (with patio), Artists Studio workshops, performance space / communtiy room and then living spaces up top with a rooftop garden patio of course!
]]><![CDATA[Force Quit.]]>Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:11:50 GMThttp://www.dwilsonart.com/blog-journey/force-quit
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Sometimes we do too much, we get sick and we are forced to slow down or forced to stop what we are doing altogether. I believe this happens when we don't take the time to check in with ourselves and forget to take better care.
I've been trying to do it all and over-doing it in the process. I've come down with some sort of flu with stomach virus. Severe stomach bugs will prevent you from doing anything! All you are able to do is curl up in a ball clutching your tummy and groan. Your closest aquaintance is the bathroom floor. Awful!

I'm not entirely surprised. I'm working part-time at the DesignSourceCT three days a week and then the other days I spend in the studio, pressuring myself to get bunny vessels done by easter or another collection done beofre my next show. Somewhere in there I try to have a little bit of a life and do something with family and friends.
I thought this new schedule would be completely manageable but I am short on studio time and it's going to be difficult to get inventory up for my spring / summer / fall shows. sigh. But there was nothing I could do at all yesterday and I need to keep resting. Eh, whattareya gonna do?
What AM I going to do? I hear my pottery guru, John Macomber, saying "This isn't a part-time job, Dave". It's true. It's easy to spend 10-12 hours a day in the studio and only produce enough pottery to make a small supplemental income. This is part of the reason why I took the part-time job...for more supplemental income. I am mostly being paid in experience right now. The DesignSourceCT is a wonderful design environment, I'm interacting with terrific people (and designers) which I am good at and don't have much opportunity to do working alone in my studio all day. I am exposed to wonderful designs and inspring fabrics that influence my pottery work. Overall its just good to dressed and get out. But it is definitely a trade off and has slowed down my evolution of being full-time successful design potter. Everything was happening very quickly for me and now i am applying the brakes. I'm going to do what I am humanly capable of doing and try NOT to overdo it. In a couple of months re-evaluate my scheduling and my plans. I really like being part of DesignSource. I'm hoping for lots of raises and no promotions. I don't want anything  
Anyway, I threw some pots over the weekend and rolled out some slab dishes and olive oil bottles. I HAVE to get into the studio for a bit today (sick or not) or everything is going to dry out on me but i still feel blah. C'est dommage, non? (it's too bad) 
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