E-newsletter Clarification

I love that Intown surprised me with the feature on their recent e-newsletter blast! They are great ladies doing delightful things for our downtown.  Support them!

One point I have to clarify is that this blog is not the best place to go for information about Studio 550. If you want to learn more about Studio 550 go to the Studio website.  If you want to sign up for the e-newsletter for the studio, again, go to the Studio website and sign up on the top right (not the sign up immediately to the right... that is for the Monica Leap Ceramics e-news, which is not the same thing.).

If you are reading this, then thanks for visiting!  Come visit us this weekend for our 1-day workshops. You get a chance to try out our classes for just a day, no commitments. We'll run a workshop day every second Saturday of the month. One in the morning 10-1PM in clay or stained glass and a second clay workshop in the afternoon 2-5PM.

See you in the studio!

Let the fun begin!

I am so glad construction is over, now we are on to the fun part. Programming! 

I have the awesome task of finding people in the community who are intensely passionate and excited about what they do, and then making a home for them in the Studio so they can share what it is that they do best with the rest of the community - you. 

I'm always interested in meeting new teachers and am always interested in new ideas for programming. If there is something that you have always wanted to see in Manchester, maybe the studio could be the place for it. Get in touch with me a let me know at info@550arts.com

Really, this blog is supposed to be the site for my personal pottery updates, but you might find that I don't post here as often now that the Studio space is open. If you watch the calendar on the Studio website, you'll what I'm up to: http://www.550arts.com/calendar.

Regardless, even in just the first month and a half we:

- Have a full pottery class of wheel throwers who are completely jazzed to be there (they come in to practice and everything - it warms my heart!)

- Held workshops in felting, bookbinding, stained glass, knitting, clay, and more

- Invited community members to make over 40 ceramic bowls to donate to the Empty Bowls event to benefit the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter

- Held monthly Argentine Tango social dances (every second Saturday!)

- Started salsa social dances (starting every third Saturday)

- Offer weekly Tai Chi, Yoga, Belly dance, Hula hoop, poi spinning, and AMAS martial arts classes

- Monthly Date Nights on Fridays 

- Parent/Kid clay days on Saturdays

- Hosted "Studio Parties" for happy groups of friends and businesses

- Exhibited functional ceramic pottery from over 46 artists around the country

- and so much more. 

If you'd like to learn more about the studio, check out the website (www.550arts.com), and read about it in the Hippo's article by Kelly Sennott.

The construction dust clears

I'm not sure how to explain everything that happened since November 2011 til now concisely, but suffice to say, construction is a bitch. Over the past year I worked with the Southern NH Planning Commission (working out my City and Regional Planner Muscles - which are mostly keyboard typing muscles), became the General Contractor for finishing the redevelopment of a 20,000SF building, became a day laborer on the construction site, and all the while, trying to keep Studio 550 alive in the eyes of the community.

I originally moved home to NH in 2010 to start up a community art/clay center in Manchester, NH - Studio 550. We were slated to move into an old warehouse in early 2011. The building was left over from the times of the Amoskeag mills back in 1890.  Unfortunately, a few bad general contractors, plus a few bad sub-contractors and we were left hanging with just the idea of a studio and a broken building. 

I'd rather focus on the positive though, and say that in construction was completed in November of 2012 and December 15, 2012, we had our grand opening! None of this would have been possible without the help of family and friends, who put in countless hours to help bring this to where it is now. Classes started January 7th, and now I have the challenging and incredibly exciting task of learning how to build a business and creating a community centered around the arts!  

All this is to explain why I have not been as prolific in the studio as I usually would be. We are currently engineering glazes and, now that the studio is set up, and the kilns are plugged in, I am ready to rock... right after I fill these classes and market this workshop, and schedule the next few shows, and make sure the residents have what they need... No, I think I'll start throwing this weekend. 

Thanks for sticking with this and cheer me on to whatever comes out of these fingertips in the next few days!

For more information on Studio 550, see www.550arts.com

'tis the season

40 pounds of clay in 24 hours isn't so bad after not throwing for a few months!  Between recovering from wedding planning and getting things in order for Studio 550, my family's community art center in downtown Manchester, NH, life has been full!

But no more excuses. I'm making new work to show at the Downtown Manchester's first ever Holiday Market at 1000 Elm Street on Dec 1, 8, 15, & 22 from 10-5pm. There was such a strong demand for this that there is a wait list! The quality of artisans, bakers, and craftspeople will be stunning. 

I will share booth #23 with Studio 550.  There will be a raffle for a free Studio 550 membership, Studio 550 gift cards, ceramic art, and who knows what else!

Come visit!

 

Brilliant!

Here is my most recent submission from Jo Shields, a NH resident who makes stunning handmade jewelery!  Jo, Esina Navarro and I just recently did a demo/craft show together at the Artstream Gallery in Rochester, NH.  Esina makes hand carved and decorated walking sticks and crocheted pieces for your winter warmth.  My favorite is her ingenious sushi scarves! 

Much to my delight, Jo bought this little dish at the end of the day and put it right to use holding her business cards! I love it when my pots get used!

Check our their websites: www.jo-shields.com  and www.WyvernStudio.etsy.com

Root Beer Float Ghosts come back to haunt me...

THIS IS ONE OF THE VERY FIRST ROOT BEER FLOAT MUGS I MADE!

The first time was my senior year in college when I decided my senior show was way too serious in content (all emotional, narrative, and black and white and dark brown - see below) so I decided I needed another element of fun and I made all these functional things last minute that were all dessert related (ice cream bowls shallow enough so you could lick the bottom clean, dessert dishes with luscious edges, and root beet float mugs) and had them all out there for sale - And then I fully stocked the tables with root beet, ice cream, cupcakes in ice cream cones, cookies, brownies, and I don't even know what else!   We all walked away fatter that night.

A good friend of mine who I fought practically every week in class (karate class, that is) in undergrad sent this one over - Chris S.  You taught me a lot while we were beating each other up.  Thanks for bringin back the memories! It looks like it fits so well in the palm of your hand! I'm glad you got this one! 

If you don't know, I'm asking people to share pictures of their pots of mine, and in return I'm going to have a drawing at the end of the year for a free Monica pot - so if you have pictures, please share!

The Dripps and their Drugs...

Does this make me a drug pusher? Hey, if it makes kids take their vitamins, I'm all for it!  Thanks to Dripps family for sending this picture along!  You, too, might be the happy winner of a Monica pot this December.  The next drawing (with a whole new batch of pictures and entries) will be pulled on March 15, 2012, my birthday. 

These little dishes were part of the take-away party favors from Alex and my wedding this past weekend.  Oh, yes, that's why I haven't been producing like a mad woman in the studio and why I haven't been posting as much!  I was busy with life! 

The party favors can be seen in the pictures below.  They were these little sake dishes, some of which were part of the sake dish tapestry I made at Watershed, with a little organza bag laid on top that had little nuggets of clay in them.  The clay nuggets (often called seed bombs) had basil, tomato, and sugar snap peas wedged into them with a little note telling a story about the cycle of clay and the cycle of life... ah yes. So cute.  Thanks for the photo below, Whitney Tranchemontage:

But hey, no worries, the wedding is over and life moves on! 

The development for Studio 550 is back in motion and I'll be putting out a call for entries soon for our January/February show. Stay posted!

Strictly Functional Pottery National 2012 and Open Doors Nashua

Look for this piece of mine this weekend (and online) at the Strictly Functional Pottery National show in Pennsylvania! Possibly the most coveted show to become accepted into as a vessel maker and one that I've wanted to be part of for a while. If you're in PA it's a fantastic collection of functional pottery and worth a visit.

http://www.strictlyfunctionalpottery.net/

Also, New Hampshire folks Open Doors in Nashua is November 5-6 from 12-4 in the Picker building. If you are in the area, please come! We'll be doing studio tours, free wheel lessons, and tons of other fun stuff all weekend. There is lots of other cool stuff going on around town too. 

http://www.nhopendoors.com/

Sorry for no new updates and the last minute show notices. It's wedding weekend!

Crepes! What else would put on a plate?

Thanks to Jim, the owner of the Pipeline Pottery, for sending in these two! The grand kids are thoroughly enjoying their crepes on some freshly made brushwork plates!

Inspiration is everywhere

I just recently returned from a weekend in North Carolina. There for a wedding and surrounded by great people and friends, here are a few things I saw that just about blew my mind!

I woke up in a tent drowning in a sea of tall grasses. Between the tent wall and the rain flap was the silhouette of some grasses and other weeds. I missed the chance to photograph it as I saw it, but here is a quick recreation (thanks to Alex, who is holding the bag)

RDU Airport. Public art is awesome!

I really enjoy running my hands along this wall. There is so much texture. Like nature, you can experience it one way from a distance, but you can experience it on a whole other level when you get up close to it.

Who knew nature had more than just blades of grass? Haha, silly me for getting stuck in a way of working. The next plates and mugs just might have more going on than clumps of grass.

Life is so simple if we let it be.

Let the sharing begin!

As you may or may not know, I'm running a little competition this year. People send me pictures of themselves using my pottery, or of just my pottery in use, and one of those lucky ducks gets a free piece of my pottery at the end of the year! Next year it will be on my birthday, because I'd rather give stuff away than get it. Everyone likes free, right?

At any rate, here are some of the submissions I have so far. If you have a piece of mine, send over a picture! I can't wait to see them! If you don't already own one, what are you waiting for?

One of my favorite people from SU: Sarah enjoying her apple sauce!

Two espresso mugs from my fellow Aikido buddies in Montreal: John and Marilene

A present from a father to his daughter: Joanna's Seder dish

Salad Days, Salad Days!

The Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts is a wonderful place for clay artists and all sorts of other people in mid-coast Maine. The 9th of July (this Saturday) is their annual Salad Days fundraising event. A $30 donation gets you a handmade limited edition salad plate made by Gratia Brown, a grand buffet of salads made by Watershed's very own summer chefs. To add to the event, there is live music, a wood kiln unloading, and an invitational sale of work from past Watershed clay artists.

If you are in the area, please come! It is always a lively and fun event for the whole family, and you are supporting a great place.

I've been busting it in the studios to make fresh work for the sale. The kiln is cooling as I write these words - hopefully it'll be cool enough by tonight for me to unload and pack up again to bring to Watershed tomorrow!

A preview of the work pre-glazing:

There is also some new work on the Etsy shop. Plenty more will be going up there after this kiln opens: Shop on Etsy!

Studio practice - go.

I've recently begun a new method of working, and I'm sticking to it.

Between 7 and 9AM: Wake up, tend the garden, work in the studio until lunch. Regardless of when I start working, I give myself an uninterrupted 3-4 hours. I don't check email, I try not to answer my phone, I don't walk to the kitchen to snack. I work in my living room studio.

From 12 and 2PM on: Lunch, computer for email, marketing, photographing work, taking care of Studio 550 business, etc. Studio 550 is the art center my family and I are starting up in Manchester, NH. If you know of any aspiring artists who are looking for a studio to work in as a resident artist for a year, send them my way.

And the rest of the day I mind the pots I made in the morning, probably do some intermittent studio work at night, and reserve time for fun/reading/relaxation. The result has been a better structured and more productive day. Here are some of the fruits of that labor:

Bowls and pie plates

A recreated French butter dish for my Aikido Sensei

Bourbon cups and tumblers

Plates with brushwork

A close up of those plates with brushwork

Pots that make you smile

Still playing with the bike idea, but making mugs and bowls. Also, I'm breaking into some more nature inspired brushwork pieces! I'm focusing next on larger pieces - serving bowls, serving dishes, and vases.

Etsy happened to me.

It's a good thing for both you and me, but after years of putting it off, here it is!

Monica Leap Ceramics on Etsy

NCECA - Watershed Greens & Grog show

Here is a sneak peak at what will be for sale at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts Greens & Grog show at NCECA in Tampa, FL. It all just came out of the kiln just this weekend! Get it while it's hot (and it will be hot in Tampa)!

Bourbon glasses, with brushwork on the bottoms - $20 each

Bike cup, sliptrailed and stamped - $26

Green salad plates with brushwork and slip - $35 each

Bike cup, sliptrailed and stamped - $26

Bike cup, sliptrailed and stamped - $26

Bike cup, Detail of bottom, sliptrailed and stamped - $26

Bike tumblers, sliptrailed and stamped - $28 each

Bourbon cups, with brushwork - $20 each

Bike bourbon cup, sliptrailed and stamped - $20

Bike cup, sliptrailed and stamped - $26

and much more!

Cups! Cups! Cups!

All on display at the Artstream Gallery in Rochester, NH:

Pie! Pie! Pie!

Pie plates galore - dishwasher, microwave, oven safe. I use two in my kitchen regularly! $48 each