This morning, on my quest to loosen up my traitor back, I walked and walked, (and then walked some more….c’MON, back!)  I only stopped when I found some new ideas, cast aside on leaves and dirt on the side of the road, and thought that maybe finding time again to look around, wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

One (wo)man’s trash is another’s idea for some glaze treatments and a “hole-y” lamp….

I just pulled the switch on a kiln load of all my faithful designs: Hydrangea, Rosie, Tweet, Cheery-o.  And while I still love the designs that have been with me since the get-go of this whole mud-slinging enterprise, I’m ready to develop some new things.  So while I am taking some time off due to a back injury, caused by too many hours at the wheel,  (yuck, OUCH, and soooo annoying…) I am trying to use the time constructively, and do some idea and inspiration gathering.  Try to keep those creative juices flowing.  My big spiral notebook is at the ready for pasting and sketching.

Thought I’d share some juicy tidbits from today’s culling:

Katie’s Pencil Box

Ledansla Gorgeous photos, where color and domestic life are the stars, from the blogs of Katie’s Pencil Box and Ledansla.

The Clover Market in Ardmore, PA.  First visit there and may I be so bold as to suggest it might be my new favorite?  Loved this market.  LOVED it.

This three-year old market, nestled in the charming town of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, is held one Sunday per month, April through November, and is a beautifully curated collection of handmade and vintage items.   It’s a juried market, so there are NO cheezy Barbie toilet paper covers or dried flower decor – only gorgeous handmade or curated vintage things: handsewn linen pillows, blue-dotted mugs with handles that fit perfectly in your hand, letterpress goods, silver jewelry cut fine as lace.  There are vintage necklaces and dresses by the bushel, and colorful mirrors whose frames are made from vintage tin.

A little food truck is parked near the stalls, giving out samples of small batch, natural sodas to passersby.  Inside a nearby building are some other food vendors with wares like oatcakes, gluten free macaroons and grilled cheeses made to order.

The remaining dates for the 2012 market are:

JUNE 3

SEPTEMBER 16

OCTOBER 14

NOVEMBER 4

10 am – 5 pm rain or shine

12 E. Lancaster Ave.

Ardmore, PA 19003

Visit www.clovermarket.blogspot.com for more info.  FYI: they have a lovely blog with lots more info and eye candy.

p.s. Don’t miss Milkboy Coffee in downtown Ardmore for live music and a damn fine latte.

I’m in love with this photo by Adam Bartos. The blues, the “framing”, the pair of palms.

The blog world lends itself to putting our best feet forward. Our lives are curated and polished and styled, lit in flattering light.  All those flaws are hidden safely away.  But lately there has been a “revolt” of sorts, among some smart blogs, like Creature Comforts, and Make Under My Life.  ”Concerned / frustrated / flummoxed about the vast cavern between true reality and the presentation of “reality” on blogs,” a group of these bloggers have lately been writing posts about those rumblings that never make it to the page, thoughts that are too embarrassing or ugly to get air time, or things that are, well, real.

I, too, sometimes feel the pressure of always needing to inspire or to be creative here.  I feel a certain responsibility toward my followers and honestly, toward myself.  I want to keep this place pure and inspiring and a chronicle of all that is good and beautiful in my (and our) lives.  But I thought these writers had a good and valid point, and I wanted to join the chorus of those who are interested in transparency and honesty.  So here goes:

I hate Instagram. I feel as if it’s cheating to get a good photo, so I refuse to use it, but since everyone I know uses it, I feel like I am being a big fat snob.  It just seems to me to be the photographic equivalent of that recording software Britney Spears uses to get her voice on key.

Sometimes I eat cookies for lunch.  JUST cookies.

I bought a fish to teach my 9 year old about responsibility.  It’s not working.  I hold out as long as I can, but I always end up feeding our beta fish, Buddha, (who I believe, after he swallows those little fishy-smelling pellets, looks up at me with pitiful gratitude.)

Summertime makes me sad, and I feel as if I am missing something wonderful, because everyone seems so happy, but I don’t get it.  It’s hot.  It’s humid.  My hair cannot be contained. Weeds multiply. The kids need to be occupied.  I work less because the aforementioned kids need to be occupied.  Bathing suits and I are not friends. My husband and GOLF.  And did I mention it’s hot?

I haven’t mopped the studio floor in almost 6 months. No excuse and Yuck.

I don’t think I have ever, EVER, gone without yelling at least once a day at my kids.  That being said, I have never, EVER loved any two beings more than my children.  Sometimes it frightens me how much I love them.

I get along pretty great with one sister and pretty rotten with the other.  It’s a constant source of aggita.

I still wear shoes and jeans from college, which was TWENTY years ago, and I have no business wearing either of them.  This brings me to the thought that I am not really that good at being a girl, which sometimes gets me sort of down.  I hate clothes shopping, spa days, bling, chatting on the phone. What else is girly?  See?  I don’t even know. What redeems this thought is that I secretly love a good piece of gossip and interior design, baking, keeping my toes polished, and vintage handbags.  So maybe there is hope for me yet?

I am afraid that I will wake up tomorrow morning and I won’t have one, single, solitary idea.

Now, step back.  This blog posting will self-destruct in 30 seconds.

With updated business cards courtesy of Heather at www.vivalaviolette.com!

It’s official! Mudstar Ceramics is one year old.

Like most toddlers, Mudstar has been at once fussy, temperamental, giggly, and delicious. She’s contributed to a lack of sleep and many happy days. She’s been a test of patience and a source of pride.

Today is the Spring Shoppes at Johnson Park School, and last year at this time, I was stressing over my table coverings, a logo, how to run credit cards, how to set up shop. It took me untold hours to get ready for this one day event that benefits my boys’ school. Though I’d been selling on Etsy and completing commissions for a while, it was my first time where my face would be right next to my work. I was so nervous!

Now I have several shows under my belt, some of them juried, some of them with thousands in attendance. I have had people turn up their noses at my prices, wax rhapsodic over my lamps, buy multiple pieces, take cards that turned into wedding jobs and also that turned into nothing.

I am proud to say that today was easy. Packing was easy. The set-up a breeze. Ran credit cards on my Square like a pro. Though the Shoppes is a smaller scale show, it will always have a place in my heart for what it represents. Right now, I’m selling my art down the hallway from where my little third grader is reading a story, with confidence, to his old first grade class. And we’re both happy.

Wish me luck!! Tomorrow night at the Lawrence Library: it’s the One-Act Playfest! Six Delaware Valley playwrights (self included, happily,) have their work read by local actors. 7pm is sold out, but there are still tix for the 9pm.

For all you local folks: just sayin’… Tix can be reserved @ 989-6920.

BALANCE!!!

I see a playground-variety see-saw in my mind. For it to work properly, both sides need to be equal, and even then, balance is precarious at best.  But, if both sides are NOT an even match, they have to work extra hard going up and down, and up and down, pushing and kicking, to have any kind of fun.  It’s tiring work, and it’s easy to give up.

Lately, this is how I feel:

And, to add insult to injury, I’m not exactly sure which guy I am.  Both?  (Though currently, the state of my jeans is causing me to lean a certain way…)

If you’re an artist, chances are you’re probably a little crazy when you give over to your inspiration.  Yes?And it can be exhilarating and exhausting.

I came across this quote the other day:

“…it’s the nature of art to yield.  When you’re an artist, you possess a drive, you clear yourself of it, you relinquish the outcome.”

I love the idea that the act of making the art, is clearing yourself of it.  I always feel better when I’ve made something and it vaguely resembles the idea in my head.  I can get quite single-minded when I’m in that state.  Is that drive?  Maybe.  But more often than not, I think it’s just called dogged.  (I love that word, dogged.)

dog·ged  (dôgd, dgd)

adj.

Stubbornly persevering; tenacious. See Synonyms at obstinate.

I am definitely in the right line of work for dogged.  (Okay, and maybe obstinate…) Glaze mishaps, crappy firings, cracks when you least expect them, even the amount of time needed to bring a piece to its proper fruition can be infuriating.  Dogged implies not giving up, and stubbornness.  Check, and check.

I have not written a post in three weeks.  Three weeks!!  I love writing my blog because it marks a place in my timeline: what was inspiring me, frustrating me, making me happy.  Be assured, I haven’t been napping.  (Could someone define nap for me?) I have finished so many big, big projects over the last month.  (And I promise to share next time…with pics!)  But for now, even though I have lots to do, I need to make sure I at least TRY to find some balance.

I will doggedly TRY. Woof.