NEW in the SoupShop

Remember the dishes and decals from months ago. I finally listed them in the SoupShop

One a Day

2008 was a busy year in which I focused intensely on one body of work. 2009 is going to be the year of one project a day. It may be a large project broken up into smaller projects, a one full day task or a small thing like sewing buttons back on a dress or baking a pie.
Jan 1st 2009 started with my New Years cards. I redrew some of the Wycianki snowflakes, made a print gocco screen and printed a big batch. They will go out tomorrow. This is the first year I have actually finished the cards. I have a slew of unfinished deer cards from two years ago


This is the start of tomorrows project. A collection of vintage decals and some thrifted diner ware

APF - Marty Fielding

Visit Martys new shop online

support this great guy who just had a baby. Diapers are expensive you know.

My Little Secret

So some people ask how I manage to not have a real teaching gig or coffee shop job working as a potter.

Here is my dirty little secret. I sell beads. Yes beads, and not beads made by me either.
Beautiful vintage glass and plastic beads. Beads that are often the inspiration for my patterning

Here is a sneak peek at my store - Peppermintsoda

APF - Liz Zlot-Summerfield

I love the way Liz uses Terra Sig and Glaze for a shiny and matte combo.

APF - Ron Meyers

Ron Meyers gave a very interesting and some what humorous account of his life and endevours to figure out his work.

APF - Kowkie Durst

This is work by Kowkie Durst of Portland OR. I love the ones with bicycles on them.




So I just got a call from Molly Miller at The Northern Clay Center invining me back to the American Pottery Festival next year. I think perhaps I should finish uploading the images from the 08 fest before I sign the papers for 09

Tumblers to Washington State

I really love internet interactions with people I do not know. Scott from WA asked for two tumblers and this is the pair I sent him. He just emailed me to say he loves them. Yeah! I like sending my work off to people I know only through email. It is a whole new type of relationship
I think these will have a great home.
Thanks Scott.

PMA Preperation

The first batch of work for the PMA came out this weekend. It looks pretty good.

The American Pottery Festival - At Long Last

Welcome to The Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis MN.I was invited this year to a gallery pottery sale called The American Pottery Festival. It featured some of the countries best potters/dish makers. I was honored to be included and still not entirely sure I was ready to be there. I flew to Minnesota on the heals of the RNC. The airport was loaded with police officers and their dogs.

This is Sunday Morning at least an hour before the center was open. People are lining up to get in on the raffle for Warren Mackenzie pots. They are some die hard fans.



Here is my work all set up. Stay tuned for images of every participants work, some pictures of the amazing people I met and a private tour of Maren Kloppmanns studio, It is an amazing space.

American Pottery Festival

Yeah it's Pottery Festival Time. I will be in Minneapolis this weekend at The Northern Clay Center. I am so excited to see all the work. Stay tuned for tons of pictures as soon as I get home.

Just Desserts

The Clay Studio is opening two new shows on Friday September 4th. One is Fellowship artist Colleen Toledanos exhibition subFoundation
The other is Just Desserts. A grouping of dessert settings by eight artists. I sent them round two of the Love-Lies-Bleeding series.

I will be in Minneapolis the week of the opening but all you Philadelphia blog readers should head to The Clay Studio anyway. It will be a good showing as back to school month is always crazy in Old City.

Oooh and Jenn Allen will be showing in the Bonovitz Space. Her work is always super.

In Use

This is what Stacy Jo Scott Said about a piece on my work that she recently bought.

"This particular piece reminds me of that old enamel ware often used for camping that one can still find in antique stores, where the rims are often chipped off to reveal the rusting metal underneath."

I am so happy she likes it and that she sent me an in use photo.

These are some lovely plates Stacy made.

Love-Lies-Bleeding

I just finished my first attempt at the Love-Lies-Bleeding series. I think I like them. Check out Mays post with the same title to see what this is all about

The Corporate Cog

I am so happy to think that my tumbler is helping Amy of The Corporate Cog able to get through the night. Check out her post describing all the things chipping in to save her sanity (those being the items pictured below).
Image borrowed from The Corporate Cogs Blog

Sometimes Life is Scary

These little beauties are fundraisers for Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania Advocates(PPSPA), which is the wing of Planned Parenthood charged with affecting legislative decisions made in Southeastern PA. You can get them in my Shop NOW

100% of the selling price of these dishes will be donated to this organization.

These dishes are food safe porcelain
2" x 3.5" x 4"
Perfect little ice cream bowls or for something like nuts and raisins or a dip of some kind.

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This is the blurb from Planned Parenthood:

The government is greatly involved in the availability of birth control and information about abortion and often the decider.


- Consider whether public schools are going to include sex education that's more comprehensive than teaching abstention. Planned Parenthood is fighting an uphill battle to counteract the effects of the Bush administration's obsession with promoting "abstinence-only" programs instead of real, comprehensive sex education. Now, at least 1 in 4 teenage girls are infected with an STD.

- PA's legislature has failed to hold a floor vote on the 'EC in the ER' bill. The bill would ensure rape victims receive information on and access to emergency contraception at every Pennsylvania hospital. Currently, half of PA hospitals don't provide this standard care. We don't have enough supportive legislators to pass birth control for rape victims in hospitals.

- Millions of women across the country are facing a crisis when it comes to their access to birth control. Due to a legislative error, the cost of birth control is skyrocketing for college students and low-income women — in some places women are paying 900 percent more for birth control than they were just a few months ago. The law went into effect over a year and half ago, but Congress has failed to fix it.

Planned Parenthood is under attack on multiple fronts – in the courts, in Congress, in the state legislatures, outside health centers. Reproductive health care is under attack – in doctor's offices, in hospitals, in pharmacies, in schools. Planned Parenthood fights anti-choice extremism on every level. We work in the streets, in the states, and in Washington, DC to advance women's health. To keep our doors open and continue serving the millions of Americans that come to Planned Parenthood every year for information and health services, it's clear that we need to step into the electoral arena.

We need to ensure that elected officials support policies and programs that help women and their families, not hurt them. That means we need to get the right people elected and push commonsense preventive health care policies to the forefront of the political dialogue. This means that Planned Parenthood needs a (c)(4) entity to engage in political activities. This event and the (c)(4) are not about the candidates themselves, its about the issues that we're advocating for. Sure as a byproduct - an intended byproduct - PP helps elect elected officials but it's really about educating voters about where candidates stand on these important issues and creating relationships with elected officials to make sure that women's health care issues are addressed properly by government. For the time being, elected officials and public policy makers are a critical player in achieving Planned Parenthood's core activities.

WOW...PMA and ME!!!

I just got the call. I am going to be doing the Philadelphia Museum Craft Show. I am so excited!!!!
My good friend Ingrid Bathe is doing the show as well. My I am going to be crazy busy for the next few months. But I really am so very excited

Glaze Mania

Bisque fired and wet sanded work ready for glaze.
Lines inlaid with red glaze.
Condiment dishes all drawn up.
Everything else under-glazed and ready for color.

Along came color

Yeah, all ready for clear glaze.

Trade Yeah

Yesterday the wind was gusting and my curtains blew the only Julia Galloway piece I own right of its shelf. I was so sad I nearly cried. I had purchased the tumbler at Julias last Clay Studio show, It was a real beauty.


But....there is hope yet. I promptly emailed this amazing lady and asked about trading. Normally I would have been too bashful but Julia had recently invited me to participate in a show she is curating so I figured she might like my work. She said yes!! Yeah, I am so happy. I will post a picture when the trade happens. For now be content with this lovely bird tumbler.

Studio Improvements

The door to my studio has really seen better days. I think the building I am in was abandoned for a long time before the current owner bought it. The windows in the door are all cracked, not the prettiest thing to look at. I decided to try to fix this yesterday while waiting for my kiln to turn off.
I took contact paper and cut it to the size of the window panels and then stuck some of my paper stencils to the contact paper.
It fixed the outside but the inside still looked crappy so I just painted the windows blue.










A big improvement I think. I also cleaned the balcony and set up some plants and lights. I think the last time that was cleaned was at least 10 years ago. So some small but noticeable steps toward making the place awesome. You can come see in October for the POST open studio tours if you like.