ShellHawk: Back and Forth

So this is it: the last day of 2011. Looking back, it was something of a mixed bag, as are most years. There were some losses, some gains, and some personal growth-though not enough personal growth in terms of exterminating some of my bad habits. As I've said before, I'll be perfect next life! This one is still a work in progress.
Losses:
Hauntcast. I've had a couple of eps come up on my iPod over the Christmas season, and found I miss it. The positive that comes out of it is that I'll actually have more time to make things and focus on my business. Being an adult is overrated, though...


Gains:
I expanded my business this year, though I've been procrastinating on getting my numbers together. I'm getting a better sense of my market and the best methods for my sales: sales shoot through the roof when people can see and touch my art. Note to self: Spring open house is a must, and signing up for more art fairs is also a must.
I expanded my practical/technical knowledge of my craft this year. My pumpkin pots are better than ever, and I have some great new ideas for them for 2012.

"He's just so fluffy!"

Respect of my teacher and clay hero: I was pleasantly surprised my teacher commented that I really deserved my "A" this semester. Coming from him, that's high praise. I still have a long way to go, but at least someone who knows what they're doing thinks I'm on the right track.
My work was shown in an international ceramics show, and was purchased within 10 minutes of the show being open to the public. (Now if only I can get my current sculpture finished in time to submit for this year!)
My new puppy! Lots of joy and frustration (and expenses) involved, but worth it. Though while I was gone for Christmas holiday, he turned utterly evil and started to destroy things and actually decided that digging in the fireplace was a fun new sport. Apologies to my house sitter!


All in all the gains outweighed the losses, and really, that's all you can ask of a year. Indeed, sometimes the things we view as losses turn out to be opportunities in disguise.


Looking forward, I'd have to say that I'm going to be more focused on staying organized this year. I'm expanding the business a little more, so I'll have to actually figure out how to use my new phone's calendar or whatever to stay on top of deadlines. I'll especially have to keep up with the day-to-day bookkeeping, a task of which I've been neglectful because I hate it, pure and simple.
I'll probably have to scale back even more on my Hallowe'en prop building, because I'll need that time to actually make my business go. As I said on the last episode of Hauntcast, "Don't spend productive time on non-productive resources." In other words, if I want to make my business successful, I need to spend the bulk of my productive hours making that happen, not playing on Facebook or building props or whatever. I'll probably be posting less frequently, too. 
Again, being an adult is highly overrated.
There's a frightening sense of responsibility in knowing that my success (or lack of) in 2012 is almost entirely going to be a direct result of my actions.
There's also a growing sense of excitement.
So here's to an exciting (in a good way!) 2012 for all of us. I hope it brings you joy, health and prosperity!

Christmas Eve 2011

Click to watch, and Merry Christmas, again!

Merry Christmas! God Bless Us, Every One!

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, or whatever Solstice-ish holiday you may celebrate.


I know some of us have had some pretty rough times this year (and the past several years, really), so what my Yuletide wish for us all is a turn of the tide in 2012, toward a brighter, more prosperous future!


God bless us, every one!

Easter. Christmas. Whatever

Click below to watch, and hit "play all".

New in the Shop!

 New in the ShellHawk's Creations Shop, along with a few other things! Get 'em now in time for Christmas. 
Seriously! I'm putting the shop on vacation tomorrow night and won't be back until after New Year's!

The End

Of the semester, that is!


Just a few pics of some of the stuff that came out of the kiln at school this year.

I made this pitcher for a friend who lost a similar one in a fire. Unfortunately, the pitcher was in a cooler spot in the kiln, so the part that was supposed to be blue turned out purple. I sent her a note to ask if she wants it re-fired next semester, so we have another shot at the blue color, or if maybe she wants a different one made. We'll see what she decides.

I made three pitchers this semester. Well, technically, I made four, but I trashed the other one because it was truly awful.

 I had a lot of fun making this gargoyle pitcher. I'll be making more in the future, for certain!

I like how this one turned out somewhat mossy-looking.

This vase was made from porcelain, then I carved the design into it. The celadon glaze turned out perfectly, which was a blessing, since celadon can be anywhere from blue to pale green. I'm really very pleased with it.


I had a couple of larger plates, too, though I haven't taken pics of them as of yet. One of them really needs to be re-fired, as the glaze fluxed enough to start to flow, but not enough to allow the bubbles to smooth out. When bubbles cool, they can leave tiny shards of glaze that will continue to break off, something you definitely don't want to use for food!


I'll be posting these and one of my plates on my Etsy shop shortly, though if you want them by Christmas, you'll have to order them by Friday, as I'm closing the store for vacation Saturday!


Well, onwards!

Lost in the Woods

This would make a great facade for a walk-through...


Image by Chuli-Stock on Deviant Art.

Hungry

Images by s_kessler.

Flower Car Barn Find

This article about Argentinian funeral cars was posted a year ago. It just fascinates me that these were all custom made, hand-carved cars. What an amazing find!

Sam Says Goodbye to "The Boys"

And gets his puppy hernia fixed, too.


Did you know that dogs can be born with hernias? I didn't either. It wasn't giving him trouble, so with the vet's recommendation, we waited until his neutering to have it taken care of. Sort of a two-for-one deal.


There's not enormous drama involved with this for us. We don't intend to breed Sam (Can you imagine me taking on one more completely life-hijacking task? Really?), so we did the responsible thing and had him neutered on Tuesday. There was a lot of going back and forth on what age to have it done. Some people say as soon as four months, some people say it should wait until one year. We decided to split the difference at 7 1/2 months. Since I never act stressed at the vet's office, and my vet's office has a great team, Sam was totally relaxed when he was led off by a veterinary tech, and wagged his tail at one and all. Even through the closed door, I could hear them fussing over him and telling him what a good, handsome boy he was. That made me feel good.


It was very gratifying to have one of the vets comment on how stable a dog I have on Tuesday morning when I dropped him off. You have to figure that veterinarians see the full range of dog owners, from the crazy pet hoarders who love their dogs too much and never set any boundaries for them because they think it's mean, to the ones who plainly do not care and either abuse or neglect their dogs to dangerous levels. That compliment made my day, because it means I'm doing my job.


Anyway, I found out my little puppy now weighs in at seventy pounds! Wow, that happened fast, huh? And I found out that though he cried really loudly when they put in the i.v. needles, he didn't nip at anyone or show any signs of aggression. Another good sign. He came out of the sedation well, and they let me know I could come and get him early.


So now, it's Sam's first experience with both pain that doesn't go away in a minute or two, and "The Cone of Shame."

Not surprisingly, Sam hates The Cone of Shame. Whined about it for several hours straight, although he also could have been disoriented by the last of the anesthetic working its way out of his system. That night, he was up and down, bashing the cone into the walls so much that I had to get out of bed and go lie down on the couch to be with him and allow Mr. ShellHawk to get some sleep. Around two a.m., Sam crawled up onto the couch with me (something he never, ever does, because he knows he's not allowed on the furniture without an invitation), and went to sleep. I think he was not only needing his "pack leader's" reassurance and closeness, but was hoping I could make it all better and incidentally take The Cone off. It was a very special moment. I threw an arm over him and managed to go to sleep for a little bit.

He seems better today. Now, all I have to do is keep him from playing with the other dogs. *sigh*