News From the Nest

It's been busy at the Nest. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, and quite recently, but it remains true. I'm busier now than when I had a full-time job, and I'm still looking for one of those.

Some folks have contacted me for special orders of my pumpkin pots, which is great! Even better is that I've managed to throw some larger pots without them collapsing, so once I can do that consistently, I'll be offering them in my Etsy store. It shouldn't be long. I've also been working on some small, hand-carved pumpkins that I'll fire and either paint or glaze; I'm not sure which one I'll do yet. Maybe I'll do some of each. Since both Pumpkinrot's beloved Bean and Ghoul Friday also do tiny pumpkins, I made a conscious decision not to look at their little guys so I'm not copying their designs or faces by accident. It's kind of tough to avoid similarities, since jacko faces can look very much alike, but I think they hold my style, rather than others'. I'll do a reveal soon, and you can let me know if I've succeeded.

The reason I decided to make some tiny pumpkins is in preparation for a show I hope to be accepted into in September. (It's the Folsom Fine Arts Festival, so there's a chance my stuff won't be considered "artsy" enough, but I'm crossing my fingers.) I wanted small, inexpensive things that folks can buy in addition to my larger pots, and I think if I make enough of them, they'll move. I'm working my ass off to make sure I have enough different products to fill a 10'x10' stall. If all goes well (i.e. if I can get a few people to help me), I'll set Stewie up in the back of the stall as a draw. I'm hoping they have electricity so I can plug him in.

Teaching has been going well. Last week I put together an idea/resource guide for them as a handout, since it seems they needed one, and I found out that the Parks and Rec department has a projector that I can use and I can hop onto their Internet. So, I got to show a couple of videos to them last week, and plan to show them another one today: Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned Wood in these pages before, but for those who don't know why she's such a hero of mine, it's because she was already forty years old when she started to learn ceramics and she continued to work in her studio until she was 104. She passed away at age 105. (Considering my grandma is turning 101 next month, I'm hoping that continuing in art and ceramics will keep my mental acuity up for a long time, in case I make it as long as Oma!)

I'm in process of writing my Hauntcast segment right now, too, and managed to justify buying a book I needed for research. (I've had a bit of a shift in attitude about book purchases. Since I've made a major effort to get rid of many of the books I've been schlepping around for the past thirty years or so, I'm very picky about the books I purchase these days. They have to meet certain criteria, and this one fit the bill.) I had another topic in mind initially, but wasn't able to find as much research material on it as I would like, so I'm bumping that topic onto the back burner for a couple of months until I can find what I need. July's segment topic has already been decided; I just need to get it written up and recorded in the next couple of weeks. I'll probably be asking for your help in finding that elusive information for my August segment, so stay tuned!

Lastly, please remember the postcard giveaway that's going on right now! Rules here. I include my postcard from My Postcard Printing in every package of pumpkin love I send out to people, so they have my various haunts right there for them. I only have one contestant right now, but I'd like to see more. Good luck, all!