What are you working on this week? I'm trying to remember what I was doing two months ago, before I thought "hey, I wonder what it would be like to release an entire line of ceramics at once instead of just doing the set piecemeal?". Hahahahaha! But, seriously. When did summer start?! I've lost a few weeks. Last thing I remember it was, like, late March!
In ceramics, I'm somewhat taking a breather after finishing the redesign and new pieces in The Marie Collection. I'm doing a number of new color test tiles, because I already have the next line of ceramics in my mind; chocolate clay and light colors that seep into the impressions of the doily but let the chocolate show through... so I'm Contemplating Color. Yeah, y'all may have to stage a Color Intervention. "Hi, my name is Lorena, and I love color!"
I'm also doing that thing I do every few months, and sorting through extra bisque I have lying about, deciding what to do with it. It's a really limited number of things, really -- glaze it, throw it away, or let it continue to sit. As I'm moving away from slipcast ceramics I find that if I have backstock of pieces that haven't had any interest in a while, even though I worked on casting, cleaning, and firing... I'm pretty willing to just pitch the stuff. There are a few things I'm just slapping random glaze colors on, though, and I'll start firing those soon. Whether I'll put them on my primary site or add them to my languishing Etsy site just to have something there, I don't know... but I'm sure there will be an answer about that in the next few weeks.
In soap, well, I should have already started making soap this week, it is supposed to be the main topic of my week! But, some end-of-May shenanigans pushed my work abilities back a bit, so I'm running behind. And instead of taking time to make a list of things I need to make, I'm taking time to write this post instead. So, hopefully, I'll make a list this afternoon, and start making soap tomorrow.
In yarn, there's not a lot going on this week. Towards the end of next week I'll get International Club in the mail, and start getting Domestic Club ready. And next week's focus is supposed to be yarn, so by Sunday I'll need to make my list of what needs to be restocked. Oh, but I also do have some restocks that I just haven't had time to wind yet, so maybe I should try to get THOSE finished before I take inventory and wind up dyeing stuff that's still sitting on my drying rack! Oh, to be shackled by being only one person, hahahaha!
In other things... what else is going on? I think I mentioned somewhere that I've joined the Open Forge program offered by one of my local blacksmiths (how lucky is it that I live in a place that has more than one local blacksmith willing to teach classes?!). That's getting ready to start in June, and I'm excited/nervous. What if I am terrible at it outside of the classroom setting, and forget everything I've learned? Or what if I love it - which I clearly do after just a few classes - and want to do it all the time?! If I had a forge here at my house I might not get too much else done... hence joining a community forge, so that none of the tools are stored at my house so that I'm not tempted to stay up all night making things. A set place and time will work just fine for me!
And I think I might have mentioned that the sister of my blacksmith friend is an amazing ceramic artist (seriously, check out her Instagram feed). She's in between studio spaces right now and until she goes back to UF in the Fall for some post-bac ceramic work, I've been inviting her out here once or twice a week to use my space for throwing and carving. Even though it hasn't been going on that long, I honestly can't remember if I was nervous about sharing my space with someone or not - although we make totally different types of things, our heads are very much in the same space. Having her out here is like having another me, that I can talk to and get answers not in my own voice. Having her energy and inquisitiveness and creativity out here has really been exciting, and I'm honestly going to be a little sorry when the summer is over and she has access to everything at the University at all hours!
ANYWAY. That's about it for me this week. What about y'all? What are you working on? I feel like I've been buried in work for a few weeks and haven't been reaching out to y'all, and I miss your voices. I hope everyone is well!