My On-Line Pottery Shop Update Sunday

A quick note tonight to let you all know that I will be updating my On-Line Pottery Shop on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. EDT. I will have lots of new pots - pitchers, vases, mugs, platters, and more. I've been working on these pots since late spring. Here are a few that will be available.

I use a white clay for my pottery. Each piece is thrown on my potter's wheel or built by hand from slabs that I roll out in my studio. Once the pot is thrown, I let it dry slightly and then apply handles if needed. These handles are pulled by hand. When completely dry, I use a sponge to clean up the piece. 

Each piece's decoration is completely different. I assess the shape of the pot and then decide upon the flowers and motifs I will use. Each color has to be hand-painted 3 times in order to obtain the strong color that I prefer. I outline each shape with thin black lines using a very fine liner brush. 

Once I build up enough pieces, I fire the pieces in my pottery kiln. When the pieces cool, I unload them and then paint each one with 3 layers of a clear glaze. It's all very time consuming but I really do enjoy making ceramics. 

Stop by my On-Line Shop on Sunday to check out the new pieces. Here is the link. 

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. 

Things I've Been Doing Since May 2020......

Hello Blog Friends! It has been a very long time since I have written here. So long that the blog platform I use has changed its format and I am bumbling around trying to figure it out! We humans all over the world have been living (with a little luck and care) through the Pandemic. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would write such words but here we are in the Autumn of 2020. The days are long with more and more news in the news cycle. It seems to be going faster and faster - sometimes I feel like I have news whiplash. But you all know that. 

I haven't written here, nor have I written any newsletters since May. I haven't felt like I have had anything to add to the world. What I have done is kept my family close. I've cooked a lot of meals - finding comfort in making and feeding my family. I've also been making a lot of pottery in my pottery shed. 

And I have planted, weeded, mulched, and harvested from my veggie and flower garden. The sunflowers and flowers and veggies are pretty much over for the season but there are dribs and drabs of color as you can see in the photo below. 

Like many former bloggers, I have stayed active on-line but have turned to the Instagram platform to share what I have been up to.  I did a 100 Day Project (#100DaysofPottery) which kept me creating, going and photographing. You can check out my project HERE. 

Most recently, I have been sharing photos of my sunflower garden which I used to share here with photos from my DSLR. I haven't picked up that camera since MAY! My phone is just too easy to use. You can see recent photos of the sunflowers on my feed HERE. I have added a couple videos on a IGTV channel which you can see HERE. 

We (Farmer Mark and I) have been doing the Amherst Farmers Market since May when it started up again. The Town of Amherst moved it onto the green grass common as opposed to the parking lot. There are lots and lots of health and safety precautions in place. It has been really nice to see people and help them feed their families with our pasture raised lamb. The market continues until the middle of November. I would love to see you if you are local or up for a drive. 

I've been bringing my pottery and tea towels too. It has widened our customer base because there are limited folks who will purchase lamb and so some new eyes have found my sense of color and pattern appealing. I love talking about color and pattern and the handmade and also about cooking lamb so every Saturday has been a bit of fun. 

I will try to post more here on the blog this fall. I miss hearing from you all and reading your comments. I hope you are healthy and safe. Drop a note in the comments to tell me how you are faring during what is now the new normal. 

XO to all of you -- my internet friends.     

New Pottery for Sale Thursday May 14 + Thoughts

Big News! Tomorrow, Thursday May 14th, I will be adding about 40 new pieces of pottery to my online webshop. Here is the link to check out my new pieces. The sale goes live at NOON EST on Thursday. 

Here are some of the pieces I will be adding to the shop. I am still making and hope to have Shop Updates more than once a year. 

I've been posting over on Instagram many of the new pieces as they have been decorated. I started doing one of those #100daychallenges which really helps me to keep working and going at it. I am going to continue to decorate and make more pottery as the months go by. 
Honestly though - I must say that I wonder if I am wasting my time making these pieces. So much time goes into each piece - especially with the hand painting of each design. Here are some of the things that go through my head as I paint......
• OMG - is anyone actually going to have any money to purchase this stuff during/after this Pandemic? Will the world go into a financial depression like the early 1900's? Will history repeat itself? 
• How relevant is my art and life considering that people are sick and dying in massive numbers all over the world?
• If people aren't interested in my pottery, what am I going to do to make a living? How am I going to replace that income? 
• Chances are I will not be able to have a Holiday Open House next December. 
• In these days of mass-produced junk, does anyone appreciate the one-off handmade object d'art that costs way more than a $3 mug at Target that is designed by some hip young thing or even Liberty of London. 

As you can see, I have lots of doubts and insecurities about my art. I think most artists do. Do you? I also think that the Pandemic is causing so many folks to reassess their lives and what they want out of them and where they will go next. This is a natural thing to do in times like these. I think back to other difficult times in our history - 9/11/2001, the financial meltdown of 2008. Those times shaped so many people's lives and futures. I worry about the young adults who are graduating college with huge student loan debt. Where will there be jobs? How will they pay back the loans they took out to make a better life? I think about all the small colleges throughout the USA - how are they going to keep their doors open if students don't enroll? Where will all those people find work who have been employed by those institutions? I worry about the different people in the USA and all over the world living in densely populated areas who can't get proper medical care. Oh gee, it all is just so much to take in and process. 

I know how fortunate I am to be able to walk out my door without a mask on.... to gather eggs from my chickens and eat one for breakfast, lunch and dinner.... to be able to stack wood for a fire that will keep us warm next winter..... to have a space to plant a garden to reap food and flowers and beauty from. How fortunate am I to be living in quarantine with two people I love and enjoy their company? How lucky I am that no one in our extended family has fallen ill yet?  

Through all of the thoughts, somehow, I keep making and painting the pots. Although it is not the road to riches, it is where I am now in my creativity and design life. I can spend hours lost in the colors and the patterns and the shapes and the object. I think about pots to come, patterns to come, ideas to try. It's easy for me to think about those things - it is how my brain works. It isn't as easy to think about how I am going to sell the output though.

So those are my thoughts for today. Check to see more pots tomorrow over on my website. As always, I appreciate your support of my work and life - whether financially or spiritually through your comments and through your reading. 

I hope you all are well and safe and enjoying the new spring color. 

Life, IGTV and Back at My Pottery

We are getting into the swing of isolation here at the farm. To tell you the truth, for The Farmer and me, it isn't a lot different than normal. We don't see many people during the day - maybe a wave hello to a neighbor or the UPS guy but we normally don't see or talk to many folks. Julia on the other hand is missing her friends at the community college she goes to. She's trying to keep in touch with them via FB and texting which seems to be a full-time job for her. I don't miss doing the drive to the school one bit and am finding I have much more time in my day. 

I've been FaceTiming with Mom who is in her mid-80's. I've been calling her from the barn when I'm done helping out and she has loved seeing the sheep and the new babies and learning about what goes on. It went so easy with her that I decided to try an Instagram TV video. It's 4 minutes long or so and YOU CAN WATCH IT HERE if you are interested. I may try to do another one of these. You can follow me on Instagram HERE. I love this platform and I think it is a real help in these times. Lots of bloggers from the old days are starting to do Instagram TV videos so check them out if you are trying to distract yourself from the news. Here are a couple folks I have enjoyed videos from:

Food Blogger David Lebovitz has been making cocktails
Block Printer Molly Mahon has been demoing potato printing
Melissa Weiss has a making pottery series

These links go to their Instagram pages. If you are looking at a computer, you will find a small little logo above above their feed which takes you to their IGTV channel. Or you can see in their feed the same logo on each little box which will let you watch the video. 

If you find any IGTV channels you think I might like, let me know. 

I'm back at my ceramics. Just before the State of Massachusetts closed down, I ordered 750 pounds of clay thinking that the supplier would be closed down and I wouldn't get it til who knows when. Surprise! The supplier also has a medical supply biz so my clay arrived in 2 days which meant I had to move 750 pounds of clay TWICE - to my car and then into the living room. I was wonder if I could do it because that's a lot of weight for me to move but I did it. Now to get my throwing muscles back again!

Here are some photos of the recent decorating I have done on pieces that were already thrown. I have a lot more pieces thrown that I need to get painted. 

Stacking it up on my bookcase:

Today's platter project. Each color needs to be painted three times to get nice bright colors.

The start of a big bowl decoration...... I used to just wing it and paint. Back in December, I decided to try to pre-plan each piece by sketching out what I was going to paint. The pencil lines will disappear when the piece is fired in the kiln. 

Here is is finished:

 

Stay safe everyone. Stay home. Stay healthy. 

Thinking On This New Tile Project.....

Looking forward to this year, I'm thinking about this....

I want to make a tile backsplash for the wall behind my stove shown above. Last year my 18 year old propane powered stove/oven finally could not be repaired. I had to get a new one that fit into the same spot. I had a beautiful Thermador tank that I loved but this time around, could not afford the price of a new one. The stove I got is okay but nothing like that Thermador cadillac. I'm used to it now but it is "tinny" feeling and I know it won't last as long as the old one. I will say, it has good power -- even more than my tired old stove. The last one had amazing insulation and the kitchen didn't get hot in the summer. This one's insulation stinks and in the summer I barely used the oven because it really raised the heat in the kitchen. I'm not a fan of hot kitchens - except in the winter like last night when it was 16 degrees outside. 

I'm not sure what the tile backsplash is going to be yet but these photos have got me thinking. I will probably use purchased bisqued tiles and decorate them with underglazes. I will not put them on the wall permanently but will mount them on cement board and attach that to the wall somehow - like I did on the tile surround in our library. (Photo by Rikki Snyder from my book Crafting A Patterned Home available on my website at a 2 for 1 promotional offer now.)

Hope I can get to this project soon. 

New Pottery and Tea Towels in My Webshop

I finally updated my on-line shop with some new pottery and tea towels. I will be shipping all orders on Friday. After Friday, I will not be shipping until the New Year. 

Hop on over to see the vases and small platters that are available. Thanks everyone for looking. 

Wrap-Up - 5th Holiday Open House

We had a fantastic Holiday Open House a couple weeks ago. I'm just getting time to process and upload the photos here to share with those of you who are interested in it and too far from here to visit. If you did come to the Open House THANK YOU! We had an incredible crowd and it was so much fun to meet many new folks and see old friends. This event is a huge amount of work in all ways - physically making things to sell, decorating the house, strategizing with the friends I invite to do the event, cooking treats to share and more..... I find it so worthwhile though to share our colorful farmhouse to folks who are curious and share my love of color and pattern. 

I was so busy that I didn't have any time to take any photos. Plus, my phone was being used to process sales. I really wish I had photos of the house filled with wonderful people. Over the last two weeks I have been reviewing the conversations in my head, trying to remember names and faces. 

If you are a creative artist and you have an interesting home or studio, throwing an Open House is a great way to get your message out there. It takes nerve to put yourself out there for people to judge you - because face it - you invite judgement when you invite strangers into your space. It is a great way to meet new folks in your community - whether virtual or local. I had so many lovely folks come who followed my 100 Days of Vases Project on Instagram this past year. It was so fantastic to meet the folks who commented and cheered me on. 

Another highlight of the weekend was meeting Eva who has been a loyal blog reader,  Facebook commenter and longtime follower. Eva's daughter Lisa brought her mom to the Open House as an 80th birthday gift! It was the actual day too! How special. I wish I had a photo of the two of us together. I was late getting set up (no surprise if you know me!) and Lisa and Eva arrived right on time. Eva sat in the wing chair and watched me scurry around getting things more organized. She was delightful and I'm so happy her daughter brought her to meet us. Eva had the best time exploring the handmade and handpainted decoration of our home. I'm glad we could be part of her 80th birthday - what a plus to a great weekend. 

Special thanks goes to my friends Alicia, Deborah, Gail and Juliana who added to the celebration by bringing their beautiful wares and helping to host the event. I couldn't do it without them. And thanks to Laurie B who did all the tallying of sales and wrapping. And to Cathy and Cynthia who came from Boston to help out. And lastly, thanks to Julia and Mark who put up with the incredible chaos of preparation, making pottery, figuring out the logistics, and me being in a frantic mood. This year we had the added drama of a massive snowstorm. Mark spent most of the day between selling our farm raised lamb keeping the walkway sanded and salted. Our neighbor Sid plowed the snow from the field where cars park - what a fantastic guy. I called the Road Crew to alert them of the event and Dave was here with the town truck sanding the road so people didn't get stuck. Many of the folks who came from far away had not had experience with a gravel road in the snow - that definitely added to the drama of the visit and the weekend! Many wondered how the heck we live here through the winter. The snow definitely made for an unforgettable weekend. 

Here are the photos - sorry there aren't any of the farmhouse with people in it. Maybe next year.  Thanks again to all who came.

 

Pop-Up Pottery Sale in Randolph NJ Monday October 14

Popping in today to announce a Kristin Nicholas Pop-Up Pottery Sale next Monday October 14th. 

Hours - 4 to 6 p.m.
Place - At the home of my sister Jennifer 
            7 Chelsea Drive, Randolph NJ 07869
Cash and credit cards accepted.

Here is a link to Google Maps. Randolph is about an hour west of NYC. Jenn's home is not far off of Route 10. 

Come see my pots, pick up some Christmas gifts or treat yourself. Meet my Mom Nancy, sister Jenn, daughter Julia and me! 

Garlic and Arts Festival Wrap Up + Announcement

Oh my gosh - it has been a flurry of activity since I last wrote here on the blog. I made it through the Garlic and Arts Festival the last weekend of September. It was a fun time - but a whole bunch of work organizing my booth, making the sign and getting all the pottery made and finished. You would think this would be easy for me since in my past life I did trade shows for over a decade. Truth is, I always had a great team I was working with and we helped each other. Now I am on my own to think of it all and no one to bounce anything off of.

I started making my pottery back in June working towards this festival. I've made lots and lots of pots. Some of them aren't even finished yet but I will begin decorating again soon for Holiday sales. I started an Instagram 100 day challenge which helped me to focus and really pump out the ceramics. It is called #100daysofvases. You can continue to follow it on my Instagram page @kristinnicholas. I am on Day 63/100 so still have a bit of time to go.

For the festival, I was incredibly fortunate to have some help. My sisters Laurie and Nancy came to visit on Thursday to help price and wrap everything which was awesome.  I can't imagine how long it would have taken me by myself. My good friend Kay volunteered to help out in the booth for the 2 days. Mark and I went to set up the tent and bring the furniture the Friday before the event. We weren't sure what we were walking into because the Festival is on a field and so I had to be prepared for all kinds of uneven and muddy ground. Since we live only about 35 minutes away, I brought some furniture bookcases for display. I used the tables we use at the farmers markets. To keep the bookcases steady, we used leftover fence posts from our portable electric fencing and tied everything up with some jute twine. Clever huh? Good thing farmers don't throw anything away. I still wasn't sure about the wind and possible rain and all my breakable ceramics..... so I brought some incredibly heavy antique brass ecclesiastical vases and filled them with water and sunflowers to help steady everything. It worked!

Kay and I arrived early Saturday morning to bring all the ceramics and set up the display. Kay and I unwrapped it all and tried to make it look as good as it could. I had harvested lots of zinnias and sunflowers from my garden to add to the color and vases.

Here are some photos of the display. You can see the sign I painted a couple days before in the first photo on this post. The booth looked cheerful and the sign and my homegrown flowers added a lot of color and joy to the display. Kay suggested I make some little bowls for succulents and she contributed the plants and potted them up. They sold quite well. 

Generally it was a good couple days and so much fun meeting all kinds of folks. I wish I had made more sales but I really think I had unrealistic expectations of the event. The people were incredibly nice and interested but most were there for the food, music, and education that the festival provided.

The bottom line was this event helped me to work towards my goal of producing more of my handpainted ceramics - ultimately to have for holiday sales on my website.

Thanks so much for being on this journey with me. The #100daysofvases continues over on Instagram. (I'm on Day 63!) I've got more ceramics in the works as I have been making some larger bowls and vases and pitchers thinking towards holiday sales. I realize many of my readers are not at all interested in what I am doing now. I keep this blog going to record what I am doing and so I can check back in on my progress. 

Now for the awesome news - my sister Jenn is hosting a POP-UP POTTERY SALE at her home in Randolph NJ next Monday October 14th (Columbus Day). I'll post the specifics in a second post tomorrow but wanted to let you all know tonight if you are up for an adventure on Monday.