Fall Toad

20091114_1cropen
Originally uploaded by fiddldede

I have been playing with some watercolor pencils lately. While trying to find some challenging subject matter I found this toad in my files and I decided to do a quick study. Well it is Saturday the fifth day in a row with no sunshine. It remains mild in temperatures if not wet. The ground needed a good soaking before it freezes.

Today I will be continuing to list new items in my Etsy store , and continuing the efficient packing and shipping department program. I think this will be my last chance to put the hoses and garden tools away, it may be warm but it feels like snow!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Home shows and studio tours

Having just participated in two home grown art shows in the last two weeks, I am full of ideas for next year, and am actually looking forward to the meeting tomorrow to share my ideas and hear others too.  We meet year round , on a monthly basis to organize and keep our show growing.

Our original "Sticks and Stones Festival" was  held outside of town.  The concept of sticks and stones being that art was everywhere, and those early shows always included rock stacking, and some stick sculptures with visitor participation encouraged. 

We switched this year to an in town location at the Kanabec History Center in Mora.  This change of venue gave us better parking, some indoor options in case of rain, more room for guest artists,and best of all, a permanent wooded spot for the Labyrinth, another feature of our event.   The wood fired pizza oven was completed by Paul and several volunteers and was a big hit with the crowd.  We had even more visitors this year at the new location.

We charge no admission fees, nor do we sell food.  The whole thing is based on donations  except for the Artisan wares.  We feel that the visitor will  have more money for buying craft work if they aren't obligated in other ways.   We have always been able to break even on food and entertainment just by collecting donations. 

The show Paul helped with this past weekend had a cider press running all weekend and it was a big hit.  We are thinking of adding a cider press next year, would compliment the pizza oven.

Reports are that the participating artists did well.  We added 20 artist booths to the show this year.

I love the concept of the Studio Tour / Home show, and the artists and craftspeople taking it back into their own hands to present their wares.

As we have expanded and grown over the years, the show has become less about my own sales, and more about getting people out and giving them a taste of what the local art community has to offer.  My Department has been booking the entertainment.   It was really gratifying to hear other artists saying it was a well run show and they wanted to come back.  I highly recommend that other artists do the same in their communities.

Fall shows and Studio Tours

Whew Sticks and Stones is over with, and I have recovered I think. A lot of planning goes into our growing show, and we had success this year in putting on a good one.

This all started several years ago when a few of us that held a home studio tour decided to hold the tour in one place, which for the first years was held at the Hovland sawmill  north of town.  This year we held it in Mora at the Kanabec History Center.  The preliminary count shows  over 1000 attended so we were happy that the change of venue did not hurt the numbers.

The visiting artists that I spoke with were happy with their sales and the show in general, and several already want to come back next year.   For me , it has become more about the show than sales. I am the music coordinator and lined up the entertainment for the show, as well as played in one of the bands.   The Whistlepigs String Band was fantastic, an the Fidddle Pals were terrific!  Not a lot of people attended the music, and that was probably the layout more than anything.   All part of next years planning.   Planning that will start next month already!

Paul is in Maiden Rock Wisconsin this week, he is participating in another homegrown event
The Fresh Art Fall Tour
http://www.freshart.org/

The first frost came which always gets me a little sad. Our gardens and flowers in Minnesota are too short lived!

Internet overload

Well I am probably reaching the boiling point with internet overload! I was plugging along happily with my website http://www.paulmorrispottery.com/ and the shop I was running at http://www.MorrisPottery.etsy.com/ when my daughter went to college, she asked me to go on facebook and I resisted, but this spring when she was visiting , she got me started. About the same time yahoo ended the blog beta that I had been using, so I started this one .

I guess it is like the feeling of getting a stack of books handed to you and told "The test is tommorow" My mind works on a tactile basis and that is how I learn. Using computers requires me to create my own pictures in my head about how all the networks connect and which ones are most effective, and it is very difficult to get my brain around in my own website organization much less the bigger picture.

I actually wanted my blog to be about other things I do besides pottery, but it all seems linked up somehow. I figured out my video editing program and made a youtube demo on slip trailing, and this too, has opened a floodgate of possibilities in my imagination of things I can do!!

http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjpRWzqpvP0

I am feeling overwhelmed , but in a good way, because of all the possibilities.

What I am waiting for is for some one to invent a way to "feel" a piece of pottery online. Then the 3D people would have equal footing here.

Well there are still a few beautiful days left of autumn, so I am going to make a point to get out and enjoy them before winter sets in. I will save the wild ride of learning curves until the winds howl outside.

To those of you who have followed this blog, Thank You, if I haven't added you yet, I will, when I straighten out all of the sites and connections and passwords!

Denise

Goodbye Summer....

We have been enjoying a few days of the most incredible weather. Seventies and sunny, cool evenings. There is a touch of color appearing in the dense green of the forests. I asked Paul if he would trade living in a warmer climate with longer summer if there were no fall. He said no. I agree. I love spring with the promise of sunny days, but I love fall too, with its' blazing salute to the coming of winter.

A quiet Sunday Morning

We are expecting the Winchester crew in tonight after the Uptown art fair is torn down. They will be bringing our daughter home for the week. She helped them set up and tear down the show, and wishes we were still doing art fairs. If things go as planned, we will be entering some that are closer to home. The Uptown is a real ball buster, and with the weather they had this year , I was glad not to be attending.

I know Paul feels he did enough shows for a lifetime during the nineties, and it's taken these five years to regroup and figure out how we wanted to do things. This hiatus would not have been possible without my online sales. I am finding that the quiet months on the internet usually occur late spring and early summer, so it's perfect timing to get out and sell in real life a little bit.

Well I am going to tidy up the house a little bit for the company tonight.