Buffalo Cauliflower on Free Form Plate

 

The cauliflower was only OK - needed thicker batter. But the plate! I need to make more plates like this. All food looks good on it. 

I'm not gonna publish the cauliflower recipe until I get it right. 

Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts

 

I have sort of a ritual with my hiking buddy, who goes by Hiking with Yowie on instagram. (Here's me, btw) We do our hike (or snowshoe, or bike ride, or paddle), then we find a local restaurant & have lunch. Yowie is vegetarian, so we always look for a place that has good choices in that vein. Last week we hiked the Gannett Woods trail to Shed Pond, then came back to Augusta & ate at State Lunch. We both had salads as our entrées, which were fine, but most memorable was the appetizer: Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts. 

I liked those so much I decided to try them at home! I've had an air fryer for over a year, but until recently basically only used it to heat up fishsticks. It can be a quicker way to prepare healthy foods (& an energy saver!), so I made a resolution to learn to do more with it. First I learned homemade chicken nuggets - no batter, no oil, but juicy, spicy, & quick! - and now I have figured out this new dish.

Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts

10-12 Brussels Sprouts, cut in half
Optional: diced red bell pepper, 3/4s cup
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 cup Dry Roasted Peanuts, no salt
1 clove & 2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Honey
1/2 teaspoon Ginger
Splash of Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/4 teaspoon Cornstarch

I rarely measure when I cook, so these are approximations.

• Mix soy, ginger, honey, hot sauce  & 2 cloves garlic together. Whisk in cornstarch to thicken. Heat in saucepan until just boiling. Reduce heat & stir in peanuts. Remove from heat after 2 minutes.
• Toss cut brussels sprouts (& bell pepper, if using) with 1 clove garlic & cook in air fryer 9 minutes at 400°. 
• Place cooked vegetables into bowl. Pour sauce mixture over & toss to thoroughly coat. 

Makes 2 servings if side dish, one if main course. 

Doing Well by Doing Good, 2023

 

It has been s few years since I sponsored a cat at Kennebec Valley Humane Society. As I am working on getting my groove back, I decided it was time to do so again. As with everything in this business, it all starts with inventory. Yesterday I threw 20 little cat-dish-sized bowls, which I will sell to raise money to sponsor a cat's adoption fee. 

I expect these to be fired in mid-February, and the sale to commence shortly there after. 

Also this week, I got the ball rolling on the 2023 Maine Pottery Tour, learned to make Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts, and hiked to Shed Pond. So beautiful! 

It All Starts with Inventory

 

As I said in an earlier post (which I published but then accidentally deleted, well done, Lori), I am sort of starting over in 2023. I got very lackadaisical in my studio work over the last couple of years - maybe just hard to gear up again after the pandemic, or maybe just getting older; that's what we are here to discover. I would like to get back to bringing more energy to the business. Actively seeking accounts, making video tutorials, applying for fairs & grants, all that stuff. 

It all starts with inventory. I can't create or respond to opportunities without it, so this month is all about making. 

Yesterday it was plates! I rarely make plates, except as class demos, but I got this set in my mind as sometimes happens, the desire to reify it was quite overwhelming. I put off a bunch of other stuff that I really should be doing, because I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate until this set of plates was a thing in the world. 

Today I am making jaunty jars, & small bowls, applying for the art fairs I have neglected for the last couple of years, & sending out an organizing email for the Maine Pottery Tour.

I'm Ready: 23 for 2023

23 for 2023

1. Catchphrase: Try Harder. 
2. Learn to use my air fryer. For real, not just fish sticks.
3. Clean my car regularly. Started this today! I'm a tidy person...except my car. It's gross. 
4. Stationary bike 5 miles/day
5. One social thing/month. For introverted me, this has to be intentional. 
6. Rebuild art fair display. Not looking forward to this! But it has to happen. Maybe it'll be fun...?
7. Take time regularly to really appreciate the abundance of love, comfort, and beauty my life has been blessed with. Truly, I used to know I was the luckiest person in the world. I am no less blessed now; more so. I just don't notice it as much. 
8. 10+ hours in the studio each week - actual making tasks (as opposed to kiln maintenance, admin, cleaning)
9. Back to blogging! Blogs have fallen out of fashion; I'm pretty sure no one is reading this, or, like, less than 10 people. (I no longer have a stat counter, so, who knows, it could be a million. But I think 10 is more likely.) In a way this is freeing! I don't have to worry that I am being boring or sloppy. It's a place to put my thoughts, like it was in the beginning. If you are out there, thanks for reading & I love you! I hope you aren't bored. :)
   Anyway, one blog post a week, average.
10. 5 Postcards to voters/month. Maybe I can do better than this - sometimes, anyway - but trying not to be unrealistic or overload myself.
11. The year of the dishwasher! I think this will claw back about 3 hours a week for me
12. Learn to use instagram to sell 
13. Utilize social media better generally for promotion & audience building
14. 5 new outlets - preferably wholesale, but well-established, local consignment is good, too
15. Stay hydrated! The 8-glasses-a-day thing turns out to be bullshit, but still, staying hydrated is a good thing. Let's say 40 ounces a day, min. 
16. Do better about birthdays (2 of them, anyway.). I suck at birthdays, not entirely by accident. I know I am forgetful & I know I have a lot to remember, so at some point I made a decision that I had to let go of something. Better, I decided, to control what I forget, than just start dropping balls. I sort of decided that, since I don't really care about my own birthday, it would be ok to not try to remember other people's birthdays. Just clearing something from my plate so I don't forget crucial things. I still feel that way, but 2 of my nephews are kids, & I am going to remember their birthdays this year. 
17. Explore an idea I have: making clay videos for Patreon. 
18. Kayak the Nonesuch River, through the Scarborough Marsh
19. Get back to Acadia! It's a couple-three hours away but so much to see & do. I hate that I haven't been there since 2019. 
20. A purge! I have a lot of stuff. Don't we all? More comes in the door every day. I need to get rid of some of it, & create some sort of habit or process to do that regularly. 
21. Related: clear up two massive clutter sites, my desk & the tool closet
22. Related: create attic storage area
23. Spend more time with Doug

A lot of this list seems a little, idk, grim, I guess. Work more! Work harder! I think that's because my personal pendulum has swung to far in the direction of recreation: Hiking, biking, kayaking, binge-watching, book-reading, & cat-cuddling. I don't need nudges to do easy, laidback stuff - I do plenty of that without prompting. I want to see if I can get back to being a go-getter! I am prepared for the possibility that I am just not that person any more. If I don't end up doing these things, or I do them & I am less fulfilled in my life rather than more, I will have learned something about myself. 

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope your is everything joyful. 

Opportunities & Ruminations

I spent the last post kind of ruminating on whether I want to keep pushing so hard to sell more pots, so I can spend more time in the studio, or whether it would be better to just stand in the place where I am, enjoy having, not lots of money, but enough, & a little time to do other fun things like hiking & kayaking. (Yes, I hike in the winter. In Maine. Yes, it is cold & yes, it is fun!) 

But, as nice as all that sounds, I feel like I want to take one more run at the Big Push. I want 2023 to be a year of grabbing opportunities. I feel like, for, well, reasons, I've spent a couple years just doing what it takes to get through each day, each week, & not really thinking strategically or pursuing any goal beyond that. I'd like to get back to more planning, more willful directing of how my life goes. I've been coasting, not in the sense of not working hard (seriously: LOL) but in the sense of just relying on the efforts I've made in the past, opportunities I have pursued in the past, to hold up my sky. 

And don't get me wrong! Coasting is great! But it's time to get back to steering this boat, finding, pursuing, and creating opportunities. Here are a few that are on my radar:

Opportunities

Maine Made dot com
Art Fairs
Downeast Shop
Center for Maine Craft

• Gardiner
• Portland

Patreon - clay videos? 

So, yeah, I guess I am back to what was my New Year's resolution for many years: try harder. 

More, Better, Healthier, Happier

 As I said in my last post, I am making a list of 23 for 2023: a list of guideposts for the New Year. The items on the list- habits, experiences, goals - fall roughly into 4 categories: More, Better, Healthier, Happier. With, of course, a lot of overlap between them. 

New Year's Resolutions are an opportunity to examine assumptions. Like, do you really want the thing you think you want? Or does it just seem like you ought to want it?

Sometimes I think about that with regard to spending more time in the studio. When I was a young potter, I always thought that I would be a full time potter, in the sense that I made my entire living making pots & selling them, maybe with the occasional workshop here & there. That is not, mostly, what happened! I make more than half my living teaching clay classes. This is partly because it's so much easier to make money that way! & right now I am questioning myself: is that really so bad, to do a fun &easy job more than the fun-but-hard job? I've always felt like it makes me less of a professional, but...1st, does it? Does it really? And 2nd, why do I care about that? That's just image, perception. What matters is how it affects my actual life. 

Of course, making pots is satisfying in a way that no other job, however rewarding, could ever be. But does the exact ratio matter all that much? Like, am I right now spending the optimal amount of time in the studio? I always think I wish I spent more time in the studio, but...maybe the reason I don't spend more time in the studio isn't because I don't have time. Maybe it's because this is how much I want to. 

There was time (maybe it's still that time! not sure) when push-push-push was my main mode - and if that doesn't work push harder. Let me tell you, pushing harder works! Business-wise. But does pushing harder make me happier?

The Year of Starting Over

For the last few years - since about 2016, honestly, when it felt to me like the world started to go insane - I have posted less, & not just that, I have worked less. Or, no, that's not right, because I have taken on more classes, but I have spent less time in the studio. I want to change that. I have so many ideas of things that I could do or should do, but somehow I never seem to get around to doing them. 

I guess that's what I want to look at for 2023: is it just that there are not enough hours in the day? Or am I spending time doing unproductive things, & I could reclaim that time? Or am I just older & don't have the energy I once had. These are some things I want to use the next few days to think about, as I start setting my intentions for the New Year.

Most of 2023 will be the Year of the Rabbit, a sign of peace & prosperity. I could really use some peace & prosperity! That's what my resolutions are all about this year. 

23 for 2023 is a list of habits I want to change or acquire, experiences I want to incorporate, things I want to accomplish, & maybe some things I want to pare down. I'm still working on my 23 for 2023 list, but I think I can divide it into 4 categories: Better (make better stuff); More (make more & sell more); Happier; & Healthier. 

Maybe you want to play along! If you are creating your own list of 23 for 2023, post the link here! 

 

Looking Ahead

Ceramics is a funny medium, from a sales point of view. By now - mid-December - it's way past too late to make things for the holiday shopping season. I've shuttered the online shop for the season - I'm not confident I could get items shipped in time, & anyway most of the pots are in stores or pop-up shops. 

So, for me, I'm in year-end mode already. New Year's Resolution mode. Long time readers know I love New Year's resolutions, although the last few years have made those more challenging to keep. 

I will make them again, of course! My feeling is that even if they don't completely work, a couple of months of improved habits is better than none. And sometimes they do work! I'm not a "stop trying" kind of person. 
Although lately - for months now, actually - I have sorta lost my work mojo. That's been evident in the thin offerings here. Is it because I am teaching more classes? Doing more outdoor recreational activities? Because my mother, almost 90, needs more of my time than she used to? Maybe! There are, after all, only so many hours in the week. But I still spend plenty of time reading books I've already read, streaming mediocre shows, or mindlessly scrolling social media. Maybe I am just older & more easily tired, but I would love to get back the level of energy & enthusiasm I had for all sorts of creative pursuits back in about 2015, before the world went insane. 

So, watch for my 23 for 2023! As you might guess, it will include more posts here & more time in the studio. Start brewing up yours, & share them with me! 

Pricing, Sorting, Packing...

 

After a 2-year hiatus, I am once again preparing for the Portland Pottery Holiday Show! The show runs from December 16th - 23rd, at the studio at 118 Washington Avenue. 

The opening is Thursday night from 6-9, & I am especially looking forward to this, as there are many friends & colleagues I only see at this event. 

In other news, I have deleted my twitter account. I thought I wouldn't care who owns the site, & I wish I didn't have to care, but I really don't want my business showing up next to Nazi tweets. Will it affect traffic to this blog? Maybe! But I can find other avenues. Like Post! 

I think the main thing affecting traffic to this blog is the thin stream of content. In the New Year - you remember how I love New Year's resolutions - I will attempt to post at least once a week. 

Anyway! If you are anywhere near Portland Thursday night, stop in at PP - I'll be tending bar. Merry, happy, holly-jolly, etc. 

New Pots in the Online Shop!

Just in time for Small Business Saturday. And, you know, Cyber Monday, & the rest of the holiday shopping season, right up to December 15th, which is the latest I could get a piece shipped in time for Christmas. Here are some of the new offerings:

Garlic roasters! If you have a cook in your life, they need one of these. Roast garlic is soft & spreadable, & has a milder, sweeter taste than raw. I'll tuck a recipe in the box with purchase! Get one here. 

This is a larger serving bowl, about 8 inches in diameter & 4ish inches tall. The slip trailed flowers are pretty exuberant, I guess I got carried away! The glaze is a greatly altered Leach White - like, so altered it now only shares one ingredient - plus some chartreuse Mason stain. It's satiny & smooth, and while I wouldn't call it chartreuse (Mason stains don't always express the expected color, especially in reduction) it's a lovely spring green. See more here! 

You know how I love to make butter dishes! I have a few new ones in the shop. This one has a periwinkle interior, another results of my playing around with Mason stains. See more here.

Loads of little vases, just over 4" high, listed today as well. Little enough to bring some beauty to your workspace. Or even your car - they fit in the cupholder! 

Thanks for looking, & I hope your Thanksgiving was as full of love & family as mine. 

Saturday in the Studio

I had hoped to fire the kiln today but as usual glazing took longer than I expected. When will I learn? Survey says: Never! 

By 8 pm last night I'd finished glazing but still had to make cone packs, wash kiln shelves (a few, anyway), & mix wadding before I could even start loading. Sure, I could have done it, & been lighting the pilots at midnight, and there was a time when I would have done it: when push to the max was the order of the day, every day. That's not how I roll, these days. Maybe I am just older & tireder, or maybe I have a better perspective on work-life balance now. In any case I decided to call it a night, pour a thc-infused lemonade, & watch a couple episodes of Lower Decks. I'll fire tomorrow. I can't unload until Tuesday at the earliest, no matter what, so I am not losing any time.