Cheers!

"Every year you make a resolution to change yourself. This year, make a resolution to be yourself."

Unknown

I think that is about as good advice as any. I am sure by now you have received a million messages about making resolutions-or not. I don't make resolutions as I am an incessant list maker so therefore have too much to do already.

I have been focusing on ceramics and my Etsy shop as it is pretty hard to eco print in this part of the world as all the plants are asleep. Ceramics does have a meditative quality about it; I listen to books while rolling the clay out and cutting out the buttons or pendants. I did do some experiments with the mucky leaves in the flowerbeds, with mixed results, as expected. The thing is that by now most or all of the chemicals that produce color in the leaves are soaked out and washed away (leaves that have been saved and pressed are a different matter-more on that later), but here are some samples of what I did get:

The top picture is a maple leaf that must have travelled from across the street, over my house and into the backyard; the bottom is black walnut. The orange/rusty marks are onionskins. This was done on silk noil, a fabric with quite a bit of texture, so the prints aren't as crisp as they would be on something like crepe de chine.

We had a good Christmas, I got a wonderful book called "Blue: In Search of Nature's Rarest Color" by Kai Kupferschmidt. It goes through the history of the study of color and then has sections about plants, birds, animals, and sea critters. Oscar, as you can see, got a catnip pillow from a dear friend of mine in Portland Oregon. And for some deranged reason seems to be a fan  of the book as well, he has already managed to put teeth marks in it (see bottom right hand corner of the book). I practically have to lock myself in the bathroom in order to read it, otherwise he is trying to take it away from me!

So, January will be spent hacking away at the never ending to-do lists. Updating email lists, rewriting a syllabus or two, deciding on an art fair schedule, taxes, etc. We haven't gotten much snow this winter, which is a shame. Aside from needing the moisture, when chained to a desk staring out the window, snow is much nicer to look at than the gray foggy winter we are having.

Happy New Year! 

Zen and Cats

 "I have lived with several Zen masters-all of them cats."

Eckhart Tolle

I have been rereading Pema Chodron's When Things Fall Apart, an advisable book in the middle of a pandemic that seems never ending. It is tempting to keep thinking that things "will get better when fill in the blank". I keep doing that to myself over and over. Not long after the year began I was reading an article on the Black Plague in Europe. It started in 1346 and faded out by 1351, or about 5 years give or take depending on who you ask. This may seem somewhat depressing, as it did to a friend who said something to the effect of-"But that was before modern medicine and electricity!!" But, really, I found it to be helpful. Especially with all the talk about lack of enough vaccine doses (for the first time in a very long time I am "too young" for something) and now teenage mutant ninja virus variants and all the rest. This isn't going away anytime soon, so it seems to me that it is better to have that expectation than to be constantly disappointed that things don't go "as planned".  There are just some things that are out of our control, and the pandemic has pointed that out in spades.

I especially started to put this altogether when I read the chapter in Ms. Chodron's book called "Nonaggression and the Four Maras". As to what is a Mara, the story goes that on the night when Buddha was to attain enlightenment, he sat under a tree. While there he was attacked by the forces of Mara (basically demons) but when they shot swords and arrows at him, their weapons turned into flowers. The Four Maras are described as Devaputra mara, seeking pleasure or partaking in activities that kill pain in a detrimental way, such as addictive or compulsive behaviors for instance; Skandha mara is our reaction to having the rug pulled out from under us; Klesha mara is reacting emotionally to a situation in a way that makes whatever bad thing happen even worse; and Yama mara is basically thinking that if you just do enough, you will be in control of your life, and when totally uncontrollable things do come along, like the death of a loved one or plans change due to a pandemic, you basically bring the other maras crashing down on your head. Read her book, she says it a lot better than I can.

So, while I was pondering all this I decided to work on some small collage pieces to be placed into Pottery Place Plus. I have some small stretched canvases (9" x 12") that were calling to me. I started with enough eco printed fabric to "slip cover" the stretched canvas, and let it go from there. There was a lot of digging around in the studio, not to find anything specific, but to see what looked like it wanted to be together. So these were a meditation of sorts.

I am also trying to take a page from this little sentient being. When I feed her in the morning I sometimes ask her what her plan for the day is. She tends to blink slowly at me as if to ask "Plan? Who needs a plan?" If the weather is good it might be a day to go have a walk about in the yard, if the weather is bad it is a day for sleeping on the bathroom rug in front of the heat register. This day she saw that I was changing the sheets, one of her favorite activities! Never miss an opportunity to chase the sheets around! 

I guess the takeaway here is that I am not sure when we will have art fairs again so focusing on my online stores is the way to go. I do have work in several galleries, which are hanging in there, so I have to keep them stocked. Soon it will be time to order silk to have things ready to go when the fairs start back up again, albeit fall or beyond. One day at a time.

Speaking of, you can see my eco printing HERE and my handmade supplies HERE. My work is showing at Pottery Place Plus in Spokane and Essential Art in Moscow Idaho and hopefully this summer at Entree Gallery in Nordman Idaho. 

Early Winter

"Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people's legs like house cats."

Sarah Addison Allen, The Sugar Queen

One of my favorite winter scenes, red hawthorn berries and white snow.

The cactus are safely ensconced in the sunroom for winter.

Here is our house cat, very displeased with the snow.

The damage from an early snow, the leaves were still on the trees, making the weight from the snow more than the trees could bear. Our patio furniture is under there somewhere. Now it is so cold that to try to brush away the snow could do more damage, so we wait for warmer temperatures and hope there is no wind in the meantime.

 I have been passing the time at the sewing machine, you can see the results of that in my Etsy shop under needle cases, I  hope to get some other things done for my Square shop and Pottery Place Plus as well. Then I hope to get back to winter time eco printing activities and more blog posts.

I hope you are safe and warm and wish you peace in trying times.

Decision Made! Well...Maybe, I Don't Know, Let's See What Happens

"This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it."

Dorothy Parker

and/or

"What fresh hell is this?"

Also credited to Dorothy Parker

There is not much eco printing going on since it is still pretty cold and the plants are keeping their heads down, as are we all at this point. I have been spending so much stressful time on the computer, that by the time I get around to this blog I am worn out and haven't been keeping up with it. Here is an update of life in semi-isolation.

Adding things to my Etsy site, next week's task is to explore other selling options. If nothing else, by the time this is over I will have a much better online presence. With everyone at home, and finances uncertain, I don't expect tons of sales, but at least I will get a lot of things done I should have been doing all along. Thanks to all who have been buying, even small purchases help a lot.

These two images are of a series of works regarding the effect of textile production. The series is called "Unraveling: The Effect of Fabric on our Environment, our Culture, and our Health". Or some such thing. It is scheduled to show in September. I will be writing more about it over the spring and summer. The top image is for a piece called Worry Dolls, regarding child labor (yes, this is still, unfortunately, "a thing") and the bottom is about what happens to first world clothes when they are dumped on the third world. If you donated clothing labels, this is where the lion's share of them went. Still trying to decide on that screaming pink thing dead center in the middle-may have to de-emphasize that.

 Life around the house goes on as normal.

Lots of wandering around, both in the yard and over to the river and back. 

Mr. Man is getting ready for gardening season. His health is good, we are trying to keep it that way by staying home. I am learning all kinds of new digital web skills because of this! (imagine frowny face here)

Buddha excels at self isolation.

Anyway, needless to say, I don't know what will happen with the show season or my intended class schedule. With no crystal ball it is hard to tell. Galleries, like the Pottery Place Plus and Essential Art will eventually open again and classes can be put together at the last minute, while not ideal, it is possible. The art fairs are another matter. Are they being held, is it worth the expenditure during a year like this, are all questions with no answers at the moment. 

I want to thank my friends and local art community for all the help thus far, you guys are the best!

Snow Dayz

"Snow is covering us. Close your eyes and dream. This is one story. There will be another."

Jeanette Winterson, The Stone Gods

Unlike a lot of my artist brethren I tend to shut down at this time of year. I have no interest in running around pelmel in order to get that last sale in during The Commerce, I mean, Christmas season. I did about 20 years in retail and can't say that I enjoyed one winter season ever. It was appalling. I can't be sure if it was because it was so busy, so much emphasis on acquiring, or if it is just that while I enjoy four seasons, my body and mind tend to feel that this is the time of rest and being in the mall for many 12 hour days in a row is anything but. Not to mention that left to my own devices I am a pathological introvert and that is just too many people for me to deal with all at once. You would think I would have a better attitude since this has not been one of my better years financially. But I also take to heart the saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. So, I choose to use the down time to ponder what changes need to made.  I was encouraged by my Etsy sales and the summer shows and I am grateful to everyone that supported me. I feel the need to do over the blog, it has been awhile since I have done that and I don't take advantage of all the things it offers. In the meantime, it isn't like I have been laying on the couch for days on end either.

I have been working on a series that at this point is being called "Unraveling: The effect of the garment industry on our health, culture, and the environment." (subject to change). I picked up this old style projector at Art Salvage in order to enlarge drawings onto fabric itself or to make paper patterns. Having no AV cart and joints and muscles that will only bend so far for so long I had to improvise-the history of art comes in handy for so many things!

Today we woke up to snow, since the temperature is to remain above freezing and the rain will begin this afternoon I decided to go out and take some snaps while it was still enchanting.

A favorite piece of garden art made from a pitchfork and bike chains, among other things.

Brick patio on winter break.

Siberian Iris pods wearing snow hats. I didn't pick them this year as I have so many saved already. I would like to learn electro forming and do something with them some day.

We brought the porch cat inside for the winter as she had developed a sneeze. She has turned into a pretty good little house mate- uses the litter box and hasn't seen any reason to climb the Christmas tree so far. Here she is trying to sneak out to kill a few birds for a midday snack. Sorry darling, the cold and wet might bring back your sniffles and needless to say the birds are enjoying your confinement.

If I don't see you before then, Merry Christmas!

"Free" Shipping?

This is a bit of a rant, so I will counter that with some nice pictures, I promise. Recently Etsy announced that they will only let sellers rise in their search engine if they offer free shipping. They encourage sellers to "adjust" their pricing to cover the cost of the shipping. Meaning, the shipping is not free, but included in the price. 

New Work

This raises some questions and issues.

1. A brief explanation of how Etsy works. In addition to taking a percentage of the sale of the item, they also take a percentage of the shipping charge as well. Due to the increase in postage in the last few years the amount I charge is usually about on the nose for what the post office charges me and doesn't include the price of packing materials (in my case not that big a deal since I use recycled whenever possible) or the time it takes to pack it up and take it to the post office. I could go on some tirad about what my time is worth-but that aside, look at it this way. If I had to hire somebody to help in the studio I would be paying them, so their wage would be going toward packing up your order. I decided that I was better off to make the shipping charge look reasonable than to actually account for the all expenses involved, so I am not charging what it really costs to get an item to a customer as it is.

Taking pictures in the garden and fiddling around with the filters on the phone.

2. Let's say for the sake of argument that I just go ahead and raise the price of each item the amount I am charging for postage now which is about $3.95. So, a customer orders one button or pendant. No biggie, they are paying the same they would have anyway. But, if a customer buys several items they would be paying that added cost on each item, way more than they would have since up to this point I do a flat fee. The boxes I had to buy for the ceramics to ensure they reach you in one piece hold several pieces and the added weight is minor, so it is a way to encourage people to stuff that pup full! Why not keep the price of everything clear? To have "free shipping" all the time also doesn't allow me to use it as a marketing tool, instead my only options are to do some sort of discount on the already over priced item. Again, why not just be clear that there is a value for the item and a value for the shipping?

Here are some of the students of the eco printing on paper class I taught at Art Salvage.

3. Speaking of pricing. I started up this version of my shop in February and after a fair amount of research came up with a pricing plan that covered the cost of expenses and labor and was competitive. So when you search "ceramic buttons" or whatever you type into your browser you will see similar pricing for similar work not only on Etsy, but out on the web in general. Adding to the price only makes me look like I am charging too much or think a whole lot more of myself than I should! My inclination as a shopper is to not click on the Google listing for the higher priced item, meaning, I may never see that the shipping is included. Then there is the whole matter of refunds. It may seem like semantics but there are actual laws regarding what you call things in advertising. When something is called free, it is supposed to be free. If a customer wanted to return something in the past then the normal procedure is to refund the price of the item, not the shipping, as it was shipped after all. But if you call it free shipping than technically speaking you weren't charging them for it to begin with so they get the entire purchase price back regardless of the fact that the money was spent at the post office and the item delivered.

This studio helper gets paid in cat food and treats. That being said with non-opposable thumbs she isn't much help in the shipping department.

I tend to be an over thinker, so I will close this by saying a few things and be done. When I put scarves or other higher priced items in the shop it is truly, honestly, free shipping. You hate the thing when you open it up, you can send it back (following my return policy) and you get the price (all of it) back. It is just cost prohibitive for me to do that on $6-15 buttons. Etsy's new policy applies to things over $35.00 so it shouldn't make that much difference items priced under that amount, in theory. I guess my problem is that it is just another way that people don't understand the actual value of an item or person. People working in the small studios are not the same as Amazon. We don't have those resources. If somebody paid me a hundred bucks a year for no other reason than to pay me a hundred bucks a year, then yes I would give them free shipping. Hey-now there's idea! I will let you know where to mail that check. It is one thing to have the rest of the world devalue your education and skill, but then to have an organization that is supposed to be supporting the arts devalue you, it is very disheartening. Etsy should quit worrying about trying to compete with Amazon and go on education campaign about how things are made, along with the time and skill it takes to make them,  and why it is better for the economy and the environment to shop small.

Where did June go?

When I go to art fairs that are far afield I like to try to see what is at the museums in the area. On the way to the Edmond's Arts Festival I went to the Mood Indigo show at the Asian Arts Museum in Seattle. I spotted this sleepy little family on my way back to my car.

I stayed with a friend in Portland to do Lake Oswego Art in the Park. Every time she left the house her cat tried to convince me he was hungry. Notice the curling of the tail around my toes-Bo is a shameless flirt.

I won Honorable Mention at Lake Oswego! Both shows were really good, well run and lots of great customers!

But now I am home and in my studio, I love traveling, but working in the studio is best. There were so many things waiting in the garden it was hard to figure out what to use first.

What Happened to September?

Or, from the looks of this blog, most of July and August as well?? Lots of travel and then racing home to make more stuff and then going back out again seems to be the answer. Mostly fun and successful like the Anacortes show, some very wet like Sequim ("No, those are not bunions on my feet they are just barnacles!") I also taught sun printing to a group of Japanese students from Mukogawa University that were here in Spokane and had a blast; their choices of colors were so different than mine and were so wonderful! I went to a friend's paper making soiree and ended up doing a botanical transfer method on silk. I want to play around more with that, but the weather is changing so it may have to wait until spring. Why can't I ever find anything that is not dependent on good weather? Maybe this is a sign I should just hibernate all winter.
Tonight I have been delving into a filing cabinet drawer. I do actually have some new pursuits but I am having a bit of trouble getting started. I decided to attack the drawer as I knew there were things in there that had inspired me in the past. WHOA! This was like an archeological dig! Finding all this stuff was just as powerful as looking at an old photo album. Seeing the magazine pictures of quilts that had inspired me, some enough to actually make them, along with toys for my kids (where did they get to? The toys, not the kids, I know where the kids are-more or less), holiday decorations and stuff for the house. One thing that touched me was the pattern for a wreath I had actually made for my mother, I know it had to be shortly after I got married so that was 25 years ago or so. I know there was some frustration and cussing going on as I remember my new step daughter asking me what "that word" meant and my husband looking at the ceiling. The other mind blowing find was a cut out from a magazine called "New Ingenue" that was out briefly in the 70's. Although it was a fashion magazine it was not like "Seventeen" at all and they always had section about making stuff out of thrift store finds (hummm.......that upcycle thing isn't new after all!). When I look at this pile of ephemera it amazes me how much of a part of my current life many of these things still are. The other thing that cracked me up was on the back of a 15 year old quilt picture-it was a magazine article explaining to quilters how to "explore the web". It made it sound like you needed safari hat and a flash light-who knew?
Well it is time to get ready to go out on the road again, this time to Issaquah Washington for Salmon Days. As you can see Gladys would prefer I stay home.