Offering Thanks, Making Plans

Thank you, my friends and customers. You helped make December 2014 my highest sales month this year, both on the website and in The Gallery Downstairs. I'm always looking to grow, improve, and also try to create new designs. Your interest and patronage this month gave me a real boost!

What to do now? Save or spend? I'm thinking of buying a de-airing pugmill (that is a biggie) ...more ready-made underglaze colors at $10-$40 a pint...a couple of new Bison trimming tools (a decade or so ago, they were $55 apiece)...and of course December's sales totals don't meet all those dreams. I'm getting carried away. So I will let another quarter or two go by, and try my darnedest to make good work and keep those sales going. 

I figure, if I can make it to advanced age, with clay work happening in my hands, I will be happy all the way. (And seriously, a pugmill to knead and de-air my clay would really help my back and wrists along the way.) So I've got  (theoretically) lots of making of work to do yet, and maybe, if I follow in the footsteps of Mikhail Zakin and Karen Karnes (Ms. Karnes is still working and showing), and that amazing Mama of Dada, Beatrice Wood, I may still have time to use that pugmill and those expensive tools, and there may yet be a good bit of time to experiment with colors and clays and forms... 

Imagine that. 

Slump Molds for Vessel Making

What on earth are these? They don't look like anything anyone would buy, do they?

But they are important parts of my studio! They're two kinds of molds. Believe it or not, they are going to help me create vessels.

I made both kinds last month. First, the pile of oval (plus one big round) rings without bottoms were made by throwing (spinning) on the wheel. They've already been bisque fired in the kiln. 

The other oval, platelike one sitting on the rim of the kiln is dry clay, ready to be bisque fired. I made it by slumping a slab of clay into one of the big bottomless oval rings. 

These are all called slump molds. 

They are the sort of things I can use to make oval and round vessels in lots of sizes out of clay slabs, without sitting at the potters wheel all the time. They can be used over and over. I need variety of movement and physical effort in the studio, meaning incorporating time away from the wheel when making vessels, so as to keep my back from complaining too much. Also, the sweep of surface on the vessels made by slumping clay slabs into these molds means great canvases for my brushwork. 

More tools, made myself! Enhancing my business infrastructure daily, and economically.

Fun to Watch Video of Dan at Ingleton Pottery

I'm busy loading the bisque kiln (first of two), cleaning up a messy studio, and teaching today, so here's a video to watch instead of reading my pottery musings!

(Dan at Ingleton Potters made this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frn7HmpJVVk)

Dan's got quite a few How-To videos on his Youtube channel, and he's fun and instructive. This one's quick and kind of mesmerizing. Holy Swiss cheese, Batman!

For those of you who were way ahead of me with Pinterest, I finally got onto Pinterest in the last week (click here to see my Pinterest Boards) and I'm finding it fun and habit forming. Today I added a 'Great Videos by Potters' Pinterest board to my page. There are so many cool videos to see by generous potters to be found on the Web! I'll add more as I come across what I think are the best. You can find the link to the ones I have HERE. 

Happy Chanukah to my Jewish readers!! I'm celebrating, too. 

Personalized Honey Jars

A customer who bought a honey jar some months back really loves it and wanted to give this item to some friends as a holiday gift. She asked me to make five and to personalize them. Glazing was up to me. Turnaround time was about three weeks. I enjoyed this one!

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New Works in Progress

Yesterday and today, I made slab vessels, which are in very low supply in the gallery (both online and off), and one small jar, thrown as a demo for a student.

Freshly formed clay "trays":

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(Except for the textured ones, I am giving these underglaze color. I often decorate work when it is freshly made, then clear-glaze over it for the second, final firing in the kiln.)

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(Black underglaze on the big rectangular platter. I haven't etched this last one yet with a sgraffito design...)

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(Sgraffito done.)

and one thrown jar with lid:

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The ones without underglaze are still like blank canvases. So I brush black underglaze on selectively, and here and there I etch through it with a fine wire loop tool:

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These are quite a lot of fun to make.

When they are bone dry they will go into the first firing of the kiln, which goes to about 1600 degrees Fahrenheit. After that, they will be glazed by dipping, pouring and brushing with the wet glazes. Then they will be loaded into the kiln again for the last firing, to about 2200 F. I'll post those pictures in a couple of weeks.

New Designs and Items, Plus One-Week-Only Sale 10%-20% Off

What's new at Mimi Stadler Pottery?

Selected items on this website (see menu at the very top of the page) are now 10%-20% off for one week only. You may have gotten an email from me about it already**. Sale begins today, December 3 at 8 a.m. EST and ends on December 10 at 8 p.m. Browse through the pages to see what's a great value! 

In addition, I have just updated my website with new pieces. Here is a sampling:

The new Chanukiot (Chanukah menorahs). Good as a Chanukah gift for someone very special, or for a one-of-a-kind gift any time of the year. Each is quite different from the other. This is one of the three I just took from the kiln.

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(Chanukah menorah in black, chartreuse and white. Photo Mimi Stadler 2014)

The new Cog Mugs are not up on the site yet, but will come out of the next kiln and be posted at the end of the week. They are delayed because I am going to put them back in the kiln to refire for a smoother glaze finish. I want them to be at their best! Here is a preview of what they will look like. They have nice, all around interesting surface decoration. When they are ready, they will be $24 each; remember that part of the reason you may like these is how interesting their labor intensive creation process makes them. There are ten cog mugs. You can contact me at mimistadlerpottery@gmail.com to reserve one. 

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(The cog mugs have something to look at on every side. Photo Mimi Stadler 2014)

Two new serving pieces.

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("Grasses" tray with handles. Photo Mimi Stadler, 2014)

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("Bird" serving tray. Lots of texture on this one. Photo Mimi Stadler, 2014)

Looking ahead to spring and summer, Grandparent Vases, just the right size for dandelions and violets from the yard brought in by little ones. A wonderful gift for parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents and friends you may know, and very inexpensive!

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(Only about 3" tall- Grandparent vases! Just $10. Photo Mimi Stadler)

So this is my shout-out from the Gallery Downstairs, where the shelves are full of some terrific things. Just please remember, the sale is one week long, and then it's done for at least six months and possibly a year. 

And last but not least, happy regards from the busy studio, where I am mixing up little batches of new glaze colors to try, my students are learning at a rapid clip, and I'll be making pottery for spring through the cold months of winter. In the meantime, I'm planning a one-time event for the evening of December 7th that will bring three couples or friend pairs into the studio to play with clay for a fun evening...

*(I respect my readers, and since I did not ask you first before adding you to my list, I hope it was welcome. I wanted to quickly apprise you of this limited time sale. If you would like to opt out, there is a simple, clear way to do so provided at the bottom of the emails. If you choose to stay on the list, I promise not abuse the privilege of emailing you. Once a month would be extraordinarily frequent, and it is much more likely to be four times a year. By the same token, if you are NOT on my email list and would like to be, contact me and I'll add you- go to "Contact", way at the top of this page.)

Pressure of Deadlines!

Seasonal work has the pressure of deadlines. 

The studio is covered in objects all at some stage of glaze application.

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(Glazing has begun. Feet and lid galleries are waxed. Notes on what and how are being written.)

Those five honey jar sets I've mentioned lately are needed just before Christmas.

Glazed chanukiot (that's Chanukah menorahs in contemporary Hebrew) are at long last ready to go into the kiln. Chanukah begins the evening of December 16th this year. (Although it is true, if they're not ready for Chanukah, they still make wonderful wedding gifts.)

The big mugs will have complicated glaze designs on them, but today these are still partly covered with black underglaze, partly by latex resist, and still waiting for more glaze application. The completed pieces will be revealed, after glaze firing, (drum roll!) on my pottery page on Facebook, (yes, that is a safe and clickable link...) and in this blog by Sunday afternoon, November 30th. Check back!

Students

This year I started teaching in my studio. My first student is on her third 8-week session, working on the potter's wheel. My two handbuilding students have had their first two classes and are picking up technique and information rapidly.

(Trimming a foot on a bowl)

How is it going? Really fun. They are all learning at a happy pace and I really enjoy teaching. I have taught many summer campers from age three to twenty for a couple of weeks at a time (a very short term basis), and a few teens in my own studio over the years, but until now I haven't taught adults on a regular basis.

(Building a bowl from a slab)

It is a bit of a challenge doing all the work I need to do for my own pottery. Saturdays (Sabbaths) and religious holidays are out of the picture in the studio, always, as I have that priority. So now I am often in the studio evenings and Sundays to compensate.

There are new designs to plan and try, always bread-and-butter pottery (bowls, less expensive serving pieces) to make and trim, glazes to mix up and use on the pots, kilns to maintain, a floor to mop, tables and wheels to keep using and keep cleaning up, and a gallery that really needs dusting at the moment and re-stocking after each kiln load. There is this website, where you are reading my blog. There's learning how to publicize the gallery and website, and brainstorming with my business consultant now and then. It was busy before...and now I really enjoy working with these great students. I sometimes wish I was 27 again, as I was when I started working with clay, full of energy and with a body that was stronger and more flexible without lots of hard work to keep it that way. (Gym, gym, gym!)  

Sometimes I wish that my way with this medium could have been a straight path instead of a hop hop hop through the random open spaces in a busy life. "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride..." I can't really regret what wasn't, since during the years I wasn't able to focus on developing as a maker of objects, I spent my energies raising three terrific kids, and worked hard at it. I started the linear path of this career very late, with my website and gallery now about a year old, but people do that all the time; it's called a second career! At this point my professional life is pretty engrossing, and wants tending almost every day, even with the relatively minor obstacles of an semi-aging body to work around. 

It's about making, selling, and about teaching, too. There's a lot less cooking and laundry, and I don't need to drive anybody anywhere or put several schedules ahead of my own like I did as a full time mother. Life's gotten full and interesting in ways I used to hope would come about. I don't think I'll ever retire.

After the Potters Guild Show & Sale

Monday, after the Potters Guild of NJ Fall Festival (show and sale). The pottery left unsold is in boxes in my gallery, to be unpacked and put back on the shelves. 

It's a very good time to pause for radical shelf dusting in The Gallery Downstairs. Needs a floor mopping, too. But... maybe on Friday. So much to do before then, making pots, trimming them, teaching, blogging...

A show can mean a long day for me, and one where I am on my feet (my choice- there are chairs but I prefer to move around) and looking for diversion. I do love to talk about the art and craft of pottery. It's the teacher in me. 

Once, one lovely gentleman asked me all about the kiln the wares are fired in. He was a chemist in his late 80s. He asked me very intelligent questions. I enjoyed that chat. He didn't buy anything. That was fine. Other people did.

Sometimes, it is someone asking me about commission work, because they like my work but I am not showing something in their color palette or a particular item. I've been asked for mustache cups, curling iron trays and butter keepers. I've been asked for sets of dinner plates and cereal bowls, or personalized honey dishes. This time I was asked whether I would make some of my birds as rattles. You know- what a great idea! Glad I had that conversation. It will add the dimension of sound to those birds.

My colleagues in the Potters Guild of NJ keep growing and improving in pretty spectacular ways. Here are just a few of the potters.

(Judy M., left, originated this show and has managed it for years. Beth D., right, is a big seller here, as is Judy.)

(I walked in and immediately began my shift at the wrapping table, with Mary, a new member. It's a big Guild- shows are a good way to get acquainted.)

(Su N. and Ellen M. never fail to make me laugh and have been doing so for some time now. That's one of Su's face jug people peeking over her head from on the shelf, unbeknownst to Su. These guys hate to be left out of the picture.)

(Linda G. and Carol P. were doing a shift at the money table. Even the work shifts have some fun in them, when done with friends.)

(For a newbie, my tablemate Tracy G. sold lots of good work, including soap dishes. He combined his daughter's handmade soaps with his handmade soap dishes for great gifts that really sold. )

(A love of antiques and a great hand with a glaze brush give Nancy a special, one of a kind way with plates and more.)

(Amanda K's cranberry and white glazed ware and ceramic jewelry were beautiful. That's Fran E. looking on from the back- apparently she coordinated her sweater with Amanda's pots... Fran is our monthly Guild meeting host at her beautiful studio, and Amanda is one of our potters who has grown as an artist by leaps and bounds in a short time.)

(Norma M. in front of her pottery. I kept wrapping up her work at the wrap table...Go, Norma, go!)

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(Martha B.'s 2-part vase was too good not to photograph. It was one of many great pots on her table.)

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(I had a good look at Barb D.'s goblet/vase/candle arrangements, which were right next door to me. There is always much to look at on her table, and plenty to buy.)

(Linda A. draws with brush and carving tools on her pottery. Caught here at work...)

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(A close-up of the amazing Linda A. at work on a buffalo cup. That's dry, unfired clay she's drawing on with those gifted, practiced and most capable hands.)

(Diane S.'s work is to the right of her in this photo.)

(That's Debi R. on the left, queen of Topaz Cocker Spaniels and recent children's book author about a special cocker spaniel- can you spot the doggies in the photo? Playful pups are everywhere here. Seen with Debi, a browsing guest, aka my friend Nancy posing with an apple slice.)

Was it a lucrative day? For some. The Guild members collectively took in a good bit of profit, although some did great and others, just a little bit of business if at all. It's work, but good work. A fun day? For all, I think. Wish I took more photos of these artists! Maybe next time.

Get it Right the Next Time

The eleven fat-handled mugs came through the bisque fire unscathed. The handles stayed on. The bottoms remained intact. 

I note this because years ago, when my mugs were thrown on the wheel thicker and I rushed them into the kiln sooner, once in a while a bottom blew out or a handle developed cracks. Today this is rare. First, I throw a lot thinner and the mugs can dry evenly. Second, the stoneware clay I am using this month is great for sticking together when attached, unlike my favorite porcelain which is frustratingly ready to crack at all joins. 

These mugs stayed intact despite their neighbors in the kiln, a pair of chanukiot (Chanukah menorahs) that exploded quite thoroughly on the adjacent shelf, flinging big and little shards a foot all around. These were two of the chanukiot I wrote about recently, the ones with the wire at the top. They exploded because they are still earlyish prototypes of a thrown and altered form, which in this case means they are unevenly thick. And I confess, I hurriedly and insufficiently dried them, just like my first mugs so long ago. The moisture still in the thick parts escaped too quickly in the heat of the kiln, and boom... or actually more of a "whump"...

Is it a given that after 29 years of making pots I will "get it right" the first time? No. And is "right" a stable quality from one to the next? No. The odds are good that I'll figure out the angles of this particular challenge soon, though. Eventually I tend to. So: "How long did it take you to make that chanukia?" Twenty nine years and counting...

Meanwhile, these are the chanukiot that made it, a diverse lot, about to be glazed:

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(Chanukiot or Chanukah menorahs, not yet glazed and fired with the shiny stuff)

And just for fun, here are the beer mugs with underglaze stripes already bisque-fired on, about to start getting some detailed glaze treatment. The big handles are hollow, by the way.

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(fat (hollow) handled mugs, ready to glaze and fire with color)

Feisty & Fabulous Festival of Autumn Artwork

Seeking appreciators of the handmade and individual, for attendance at a warm and wonderful pottery fair. Must love unique, interesting and beautiful artware. 

The Potters Guild of NJ Fall Festival and Sale will be going on this weekend at 1459 Deer Path, Mountainside, NJ! See the show and visit me, right-hand side, middle of the room, between 12 and 5 PM on Sunday, November 16. 

No admission fee. 

I'm Calling it the "Potters Guild of New Jersey Extravaganza"!

Why "extravaganza"? Because there are over 40 of us potters and sculptors in one big room. That's an extravagant number of personalities and a luxurious surfeit of pottery to see and choose from! 

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(Honey jar on the upper right is mine. As always, you can see more of my work on http://www.mimistadlerpottery.com.)

Potters’ Guild Hosts Annual Pottery Festival & Sale  

Where:   Community Presbyterian Church

                     1459 Deer Path

                     Mountainside, NJ 07902

(Mimi's friends: Please note that you can bypass the church entrance and come right through the parking lot to the side door to the right, where the show will be in the large, pleasant social hall. See you Sunday!)

When:    November 15th and 16th, 2014

                   Saturday 11 AM to 5 PM                           

                   Sunday Noon to 5 PM - I will be there in person only on Sunday, 12-5 PM

Highlights: This increasingly popular event draws hundreds of customers from

throughout New Jersey and the tri state area.  Available for sale will be a fabulous

selection of vases, wall pieces, pitchers, teapots, platters, casseroles, raku and pit-

fired vessels in varying colors and styles, and one-of-a-kind sculptures and decorative 

objects of art. The show is the perfect place to find a unique item or gift.

Admission:   Free and Credit cards now accepted! 

Directions:   Route 22 to New Providence Rd, Mountainside. 

                        If going east on 22, cross over 22 at New Providence Rd. 

                        If going west on 22, go right at New Providence Rd. 

                        Follow the double yellow lines up the hill to Deer Path. 

                        Go straight ahead to the church. 

                                For more information please go to PGNJ website:  http://www.pottersguildnj.org

Wiring Up, the Possibly Successful Tale of a Partially P.O.'d Potter

Wire. High temperature wire, in fact. It will go to at least 2232 degrees Fahrenheit in the kiln and keep its strength.

I learned about high temp wire from Sandy Simon at the 2013 Women Working With Clay symposium in Roanoke, Virginia. Over several days, I watched Sandy throw vessels with apparent spontaneity yet with evident care as well. One of the things she did was insert Nichrome wire into the lids and sides of vessels to act as knobs and handles. (http://traxgallery.com/category/artist/sandy-simon/) Last time I was at Ceramic Supply, I picked up a package of high temperature wire, thinking of Sandy Simon's work, but not sure where I might use the wire.

Sometimes, at need, something I've learned comes back as a possible solution for a problem I am having in the designing of an object. My chanukiot are a case in point. I had recently been making 8 indentations in the top of each chanukia, each indentation to accommodate either the bottom of a candle or the bottom nub of a glass cup bearing oil and a wick. But the stress to the clay where I pressed the indentations caused cracking in the drying phase of the chanukia.

When I went to load my recently made chanukiot, now dry, into the bisque kiln, I found large cracks in two places. One place was at the point in the body where I'd pushed together the walls of a thrown porcelain cylinder to create the flattened chanukia form.

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(You can see the score marks inside the crack, where I pushed the walls together right on the fresh pot on the wheel.)

The other cracking place was on another chanukia, where I'd pressed in the aforementioned indentations on the top plateau.

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(This one cracked where the top of the pot came together, and where I made indentations for the candles.)

I went icy calm; I'd put several hours of work into each piece by now, had dried them slowly, and these had now messed with me. I decided at that moment to make two radical changes. First, I would change the clay I use for strongly altered forms like chanukiot, from porcelain to stoneware. (The heck with YOU, porcelain.) Porcelain is too finicky and resists staying altered (it likes to revert to its first thrown state), and it is stupid to keep using it in place of something that is more compliant with a complex form.

So I banished the porcelain and got out some groggy, buff colored stoneware, the kind my students use, that is so much more forgiving than the !?*&!#^ porcelain. I got on the wheel and made three chanukiot, in a burst of adrenaline. I improved the form a bit, too, while I was at it; I threw the new chanukiot on the wheel upside down. The foot was made at the top of the piece this time, with the intent to turn it over to alter it. That way I would have a nice, trim, finished foot. (It's hard to trim a good foot on a piece that's no longer round!) I turned the form over right side up to work on after. I saw right away that the move to stoneware was a good change*.

Second, instead of putting any dents into the top of the first new chanukia, risking stress cracking again, I got out the high temp wire and created one long row of triple loops, evenly spaced from one another.

(Unscientific yet functional measurements for the oil cup/candle placements and low-tech apparatus for hand-forming the wire. I made the loops by hand but started the first one on a nail to anchor it.)

In essence, these look like 8 mini springs with a short length of straightish wire between them. They're made of one uncut length. I left extra wire on each end to bend down and stick into the top plateau of the soft clay of the chanukia. I did this for all three chanukiot. I hope this works out to be a good design, because I really like it. My main concern is that glass oil cups (there's a set of them in the box in the photo above) might be heavy for the wire once the chanukia is done. I used 17 gauge wire. 24 gauge is also available, although that much harder to wind into loops.

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(Chanukia, wired. You can see the finished-looking foot, which I threw at the top of the vessel first, then turned the completed vessel over to flatten the walls together. This underglazed chanukia has not yet been inscribed with sgraffito, so it is like a blank canvas.)

Will the  clay crack as it dries and shrinks where I stuck in the ends of wire? I hope not. (The wire will be unyielding as the stoneware shrinks around it. I made the insertion holes roomy, but are they roomy enough?) If that happens, this is one more year when I won't have any of these ready for Chanukah. And I did start more than two months ago. My take-away here..? Next time I start SIX months early. 

To bolster hope's springing, I'm making my most logical, educated guesses. The days of leaning on dumb luck are long over. However, the days of this simple material having the last laugh on me are probably not.

My sister in law asked me, "Can't you make a more simple design?" It's not a bad question. The answer is probably "No." I have to design 1) for my aesthetic 2) to give the buyer something special, and 3) taking into account the nature of the clay, underglaze, glaze, and kiln, no small set of variables. Last, 4) I have to design something the buyer will understand and appreciate. Constant accommodation has to be made for all. I have to be flexible, flexible...flexible. I simplify it all to the full extent that I can, and still be able to call the piece individual and handmade. 

Anyway, Sandy Simon, thanks for the inspiration. Here's hoping.

(* I do intend eventually to make a video of this whole chanukia process, once all the steps turn out to be the right ones on a regular basis. It's interesting enough to share.)

Why I Put a Pottery Gallery in my Suburban Home

196 Windsor Way in Hillside, my suburban 1950s neighborhood, is very pleasant. If you've been in a well-maintained New Jersey suburb, you've passed houses like mine plenty of times. It's a white-painted brick ranch with dark red shutters and some shrubbery. But unlike most (if not all) of this plain-variety house, it has a pottery gallery downstairs. If you've read my blog before, you may know about it.  But have you stopped in? It's worth a visit.

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(As you come down into the gallery)

The Gallery Downstairs is almost two years old now. It's an unusual business model. The purpose of a gallery is for people to come and see what's inside, and buy if there is something they love and appreciate. But an ordinary house in the suburbs has no volume of people on foot who may come in on impulse.

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(Big vase, small teacup)

It's a beautiful exhibit and sale space, with regular-height ceilings and good lighting. As one of my visitors said, "It doesn't feel like a basement!" I've furnished it with pedestals and wall shelves that are almost minimalist, and filled it with several years of work and a few older pieces I've taken from the archives lately. I put new work into it as it is made. 

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(Washcups and serving plates)

That it's hidden away is both its problem and its secret charm. It's an art-in-clay surprise, tucked away where you can find it- if you know it's there. Those who do visit are very favorably impressed.

For locals or those who will be traveling nearby, it's worth a drop-in visit. I welcome browsing and, in case you fear pushiness on my part (is it my potter-ly bulging biceps?), I usually enjoy telling you how things are inspired and made, if you want to know about those things, and then let you browse in peace. Think of it as an ongoing pottery craft show with no entry fee. You can come on up and ring the doorbell. I suggest calling 732-492-8558 as well, even if you are already on my front porch, just  in case I am absorbed in work down in the studio and do not hear the bell. Unlike other gallery owners, I will likely answer the door in a clay spattered apron.

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(23 mugs and a small blue bowl)

Here is what motivated me to create The Gallery Downstairs.

1985, when I started making pots, is long enough ago that my work has really evolved. Inventory has accumulated well beyond the number of pots I like to take to shows. In the last few years I've created a wider range of interesting pots than ever before. I'm in my most productive phase in my pottery life so far. There are many more pieces that I like than I ever liked before. I want people to see them.

But the shows get harder to do. I have been thinking for some time that instead of packing the pieces up for shows, repacking the unsold ones and unpacking them again to put away in my kiln room "archives", I would create a regular display space for them. So I put together a show that would be up not twice a year, but all year round. 

Psst- Pass it on! It would be very satisfying to "unhide" my little gallery. If you'd just like to come see the work in person and move on, that would be fine, but do pass on the word! And if you need something one of a kind, or if you are going visiting, it's a great place to pick up a gift. Birthdays come up, housewarmings, and engagements. I would be glad to help you find what you want in my Gallery Downstairs. And if you don't see what you would want, we can talk about a custom order, too!

Refreshingly Different Chanukia (Menorah) Designs

 These chanukiot are time consuming, labor intensive, and refreshing.

You are welcome to follow the process:

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(Freshly thrown and altered chanukia, made on the potter's wheel and altered, with added shamash)

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(Black underglaze coats the unfired chanukia.)

(Underglaze dried; liquid wax was applied and it dried; I then cut designs through the underglaze coat.)

Not done yet! Adding white, chartreuse and red underglazes...

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(Chanukiot, still unfired clay, with colored underglaze inlay in some of the sgraffito decoration.)

Now to dry for about 6 days, then put them through the first (the bisque) kiln. More late next week after I glaze them and put them through the glaze fire.

(I think a silent mantra...Don't crack, chanukiot. Don't split, explode, warp or otherwise mock me. Because chanukiot in my studio have a checkered past, but these are the best yet and I'm still optimistic.)

Testimonials Wanted!

What an old-fashioned sounding word, "testimonials"!

Do you have a piece I made? Are you willing and able to email a photo and/or a quote? 

As I work behind the scenes on modifications to my website and plans for my business, one small but really nice thing going on is a collection of photos and quotes from owners of my pottery. Would you opt in?

You can be in the photo with the pottery, or not, as you like. Pots in a setting in your home or office would be super. A quote with the photo, from a couple of words to a few sentences, would be really appreciated. A 15% off reward on a future purchase will ensue in short order, in fact, to express appreciation. 

Thank you in advance!

Making Work, Planning for a Show

The Gallery Downstairs is filling up with interesting things. Pottery of a fairly individual character doesn't go out of style easily. Sometimes I put away items when they come out of the kiln, and reevaluate them from time to time. I've just done so for the first time in a while. I am now displaying colorful, functional wares of this year and last, and some more monochromatic and sometimes one-of-a-kind pieces from previous years that I like and feel are good enough to present. Some of the vintage pieces are super interesting now that I see them out of the "archives". These are "concept pieces" that are not on my website...yet. They really liven up the gallery and could easily liven up someone's collection!

As we have been since 1995, the studio and The Gallery Downstairs are at 196 Windsor Way in Hillside, NJ. The front doorbell and the side bell both work now, Hallelujah! Our phone number at the studio and gallery is 732-492-8558.

In the studio, I am making pottery for Chanukah. October is a bit late to be making new work for this holiday, but there it is anyway. Last Minute Mim, still at it! Mugs and simple items like that are almost always available for holiday gifts, along with the other objects, and serving platters and bowls (many) that are great for hostess gifts and your own table. They're mostly on my website, and the photos are representative (depending on your screen resolution and color settings), but seeing the work in person and holding it in your hands (yes, it is a "please touch the pottery" shop) really helps you decide more easily what you like.

Update: I'll be showing work in the Fall Pottery Festival and Sale on Sunday, November 16, at the Community Presbyterian Church in Mountainside, NJ, in their large, well-suited social hall. The church is right beside the beautiful Watchung Reservation, in case you want to make it a Pottery Festival + day-in-the-park sort of Sunday. I'll be among approximately 40 potters and sculptors of the Potters Guild of NJ, who are my colleagues and friends. (They will be showing Saturday, November 15th, as well, although my work will be there without me on Saturday.) This gem of a festival is a chance to see all sorts of aesthetic and creative angles on the very varied and vibrant world of clay art. Come, and bring a friend! I'll post an invitation on Facebook at Mimi Stadler Pottery as it approaches.

Another Update: Please go to Mimi Stadler Pottery on Facebook and Follow and Like the page if you haven't already! I'll be posting a "win a mug contest" to break up the February doldrums, with automatic entry only for Followers. 

I Opened a New Shop on Etsy!

Last week I was not in the studio per se. I was in my office, working on publicity for my business. I love the artful challenge of making the work, but the challenge of "sending them on to new homes" is pretty large and takes lots of time, too.

I heard that some of you enjoy going to Etsy to browse and shop for gifts. I shop there sometimes myself for unique handmade gifts.

So yesterday I opened an Etsy shop. My own unique, handmade gifts fit the profile very nicely!

My shop has several honey dishes and small, decorative singing birds today, and it will grow as the days pass. This week the honey dishes are there and are duplicated on my website, because it is a short honey season right now. (I also have them right in my gallery if you are near Hillside, NJ. You can stop in. 732-492-8558.) But most of the time, the Etsy shop items will be just on Etsy, like the birds you can see there today. 

I will be among all sorts of other sellers of handicraft on Etsy, as compared to being the only one on my website. I look at Etsy as short term gallery exhibits of my work, changing as sales occur and changing completely every season.

Click on my Etsy shop to go there. Please do consider Bookmarking it into your Favorites so you can easily go back again as I update it! 

Browsing for Vases in The Gallery Downstairs

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(The display as you enter the gallery. changes frequently)

Come in 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. most days and be greeted with vases and covered jars among all the other objects of interest. The ones shown above are $28-$65, at The Gallery Downstairs.

Seen elsewhere around The Gallery, more vases among the pots on the shelves:

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Come see what other beautiful and interesting one-of-a-kind objects are in The Gallery, too. 

You'll find The Gallery Downstairs side by side with my studio workshop at 196 Windsor Way, (Hillside, NJ). It is through the side door of the house, and, naturally, downstairs. 

Studio workshop and Gallery - 732-492-8558. If I am in the middle of working with clay I will return your call very shortly, so do leave a message!

Browsing for a Purple Cat in The Gallery Downstairs

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(Cat:) This hedgehog looks...whisker-licking delicious!

(Hedgehog:) Gulp.

$25, the pair.

Going up on my website on Monday, September 15, but till then, these critters can be reserved by contacting me.