Torso:  Almost Done, hand and slab-built ceramic, one-of-a-kind, 21"t x 11"w x 7"d, by Tammy Vitale, $400.00

As it turns out, while on vacation I went to a pretty cool $1 store and there I picked up a bag of green "beach" glass for the grand total of $1.00.  And there it was, sitting on the landing at the top of my basement steps, waiting for me to take it down into the supplies area (as if there were such an organized area; but, for the purposes of this story, we will let it be an area).  And I went by it, took it up in my hand and down into my studio, and there was the torso sitting there awaiting her fate (which, as of yesterday, I thought would be a hammer and a new totem or two.  I even had the totem support ready).  Light bulb!  So, ladies and gentlemen, introducing Almost Done.  Her belly jewelry are a spiral and a moon, and while I wouldn’t have chosen this as my first design, I think someone will fall in love with her, because she seems to be pretty happy with herself.  The hammer has been put away. (For new folks to the blog, scroll down to the previous post and see how she came out of the kiln).

While I was trying to take her picture, and keep her from toppling the cube over, I managed to mess up the support table, which I brought from my parents house and must be about 40 years old.  It’s aluminum, light and portable, and I’m not very happy that I did that.  I guess the pixies are still out and about.  They can go home any time now.

I have been very focused this week and made my way through a lot of work.  Not everything I had hoped.  Apparently 10 gallery contacts a day (including follow-ups when they happen) is not going to work and if I keep setting it at 10 I am likely to get discouraged.  I have to remember that part of what I’m doing is trying out rhythms that work in a balanced way in my life.  So I think I may adjust to 35 a week (which would be 7 for 5 days or 5 for 7 days, but I only want a maximum of 5 because I want days off….my goal:  actually have free days!).  I will try that next week and see how it works.  To that I add 2 hours a day in the studio every day either cleaning or working or both for 5 or 6 days, perhaps the 6th day being "play/no revenue" day to free up space for intuition and funk.  What!  only 2 hours a day you say?  Well, that is 25% of an 8 hour day, more if I want only a 6 hour day (goals, goals – shorten, work better, more focused then go relax), and, truth be told, probably more than I average now.  I figure if I do it every day then the rote work gets done, the bins get full, and I get more time to play in the mud.  It’s sort of like doing a painting or some type of creative art daily – you get all the regular stuff you’re used to making out of the way quickly and then you have to start filling up the space with something.  And something is always an adventure – you just never know what will come up!

What do you have planned for your weekend?  As soon as I finish here I’m going to go journal around my business and this past week, and do some work on my perfect client (as it turns out there are several layers of this because I have person to person clients, wholesale clients and retail clients and I have to figure out what each type wants (because we always figure out ways to get what we want) and fill that want better than anyone else.  Just a small task for the day).  I also started straightening up the studio yesterday as I finished up the last kiln load (and there are several pieces in the kiln patiently waiting and another torso ready to fire, so I have to make some more work to fill up that kiln load), and it is beautiful out – we are finally having autumn days, and I’m thinking I need to run to the hardware store, buy fresh water trays and start bringing in my plants.  So I have a full day cut out for me and I’m going to do it leisurely! 

Here’s a great blog I ran across yesterday:  Ceramics Junkie.  Enjoy!

thought for the day:  Brainstorming and mind-mapping generate ideas and visual images.  when you’re stuck, list what comes to mind spontaneously, no matter how unrelated the thoughts may seem to the matter at hand – the crazier, the better.  Psychologist A. H. Maslow once said, "If you are afraid of making (a) crazy mistake, then you’ll never get any of the bright ideas, either."…reject nothing.  The sorting process comes later.  Nita Leland,   The New Creative Artist: A Guide To Developing Your Creative Spirit