I am glad the camera was right there. Spike HAD a perch on this window sill. He and his big po po sort of brought it down... nearly 7 years that perch was there, and, well, Spike is a big boy. I had to repair the window sill and paint....I love how cats like to help with paint jobs, right? Eeek! He did not get too messy... you can see he is quite happy with his new window perch. We had a scratching post bolted to the wall in the other room and I moved it and bolted it next to his favorite window. He is spending all his time on it :) This sh!t took FOREVER in an already busy day...but totally worth it because it got me furiously house cleaning and sorting and organizing....
Speaking of CLEANING and ORGANIZING you have heard me mention I am organizing my work and what is my favorite this and that. It is a profound experience--I have always just bumbled along, not keeping track of anything (well, aside from pics) and for the first time I have listed my favorite glaze decorating schemes as I have told you---33 so far! I organized them Friday, and my buddy Trevor made a table out of a window and he gave it to me, what a lovely display in the center of the studio! The other day this whole thing came into focus when, aside from the fact that I delight in being reminded of my favorites (see piggy banks at bottom of this post!!!!!) I had a customer visit, ordering ten mugs custom made. I pointed at the tiles and said "what do you want?". HA! A reminder and reference for me...and customers!
I am also trying to figure out my favorite pottery shapes, as I have said. My haircutter Michelle last week, she is also a potter, hears me say "I am writing down all MY favorite shapes and pots" and she is like "but wait, what about customer's favorites?" and I am like "I don't care about customer favorites" and she is like "!!!" and I explain "when you make your favorites you do your best most heartfelt work, you make an A+ not a B-, and believe me, customers are drawn to your best" and she is like "???" and I explain further "sure, I am picky about what I do...had a customer in the other day asking me to make pots with bees, and I was like I am not in the mood to make bees....how about Godzilla instead?".
I am a lot like Van Gogh. People have no idea what is bouncing around in my head and why... :)
SPEAKING or organizing and sorting and Godzilla, here is a favorite class of mugs, the fanciest ones I do, the ones with a big fat character on the side opposite the handle (lefties cannot complain...plus the character needs to be out of the way of the drinkers chin and mouth). I just added the frog and you already heard about Godzilla.... I really need to update my webpage soon with all this www.garyrith.com .... but yesterday I got a bulletin board of my favorites started!
You are probably pretty tired of the humdrum piggy banks in pink or what have you....go modern, brighter, more fun! Spotted piggies by me at my etsy shoppe!
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8 comments:
You've been BUSY! Love the picture of you and Spike. Great idea with the window table. Do you call that window dressing?
Yowzer wowzer...you are so energized, you must have my share! Gorgeous pigs, mugs and love the tea pots too! Yeah on window table and Spike's window repair.
Your comments about making what you like are spot on. I'd say when you make what you like it's "your work". If you're making pots the way the customer wants the work is "somebody else's". In part when we bring someone's art into our lives we're bringing something of the artist too and not just 'made to order' stuff.
I think the idea you introduce could be applied to other art forms ad to other artful ways of living.
Glad to see that Spike is earning his keep by helping out. You are definitely a busy man, with wonderful results.
I love that table your friend made for you.
We can never tire of piggy banks because they mean cash in our POCKETS!
So, what happened to your lovely little kitty tiles with the various glazes? I remember those fondly!
Love the window table! The glaze tiles are a great idea for clients. So much to like on one blog post! Nice job, Gary!
I often wonder: What is Gary sipping from today?"
Spike has it made in the shade....and the sun too.
Painting with a cat in the area is quite difficult....but you pulled it off. :)
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