Time to keep moving...

As we come to the first year anniversary at the Shanks Ceramic Studio, time again has us changing directions. A little less than a year ago I decided to rent a building and open a community ceramic shop. I have been teaching pottery wheel, hand building, and other fun community clay classes. Along with those awesome classes we have had the opportunity of offering weaving classes too! Thanks to my friend Jill who has been doing weaving some 30+ years. All the classes have been a success, and the studio space has been a real delight to run and create in. 

Unfortunately, the owner of the property has passed away and the building has been sold to a new owner. They are looking to move their own business in the space. So, once again as most artists are used to doing... We are on the move. Out of this space and into the unknown. It is sad for my students and the community that this is happening. I am looking for a space I can build or buy so that the next studio is more permanent, but until then only the universe knows what is best and where all this is going. 

As this movement continues I am still creating in other media. There is no reason to stop creating because of your studio space changing. As artists, we must evolve with it. Embrace the moment and try to find inspiration that feeds your next creation. I currently take each day to pack and move the studio into my basement to store until the next location. In the evenings I have been using my living room as my creative space. Because clay takes up a lot of room and is quite messy. I have been exploring other media that is more portable. I have decided to give soft pastels another go and I am thoroughly enjoying the medium. It has probably been about six years since I have played with pastels. I must say it is really bringing joy to my day. 

Stay Tuned for what the future holds! Thanks for reading!

Peace,

Nicole Shanks

What's Happening!!!

So it has been some time since I last wrote down the happening in the Pottery Zen world. I had my first professional art show. It was a wonderful experience. I now understand that I need to step up my tent display to make it comparable  to all the professionals around me. I am looking into buying the Pro Panel art fair displays for the tent. They are versatile as well as breakdown into collapsable walls and shelves making them easier to transport. You are able to buy the display in pieces so you can start with where your budget starts and build it up from there. It seems to be the industry standard for art fairs and really allows for the mobile, stable aspect of the business. I will probably be ordering the first half of my tent display in a week. I will write more information once the product has arrived and I get it set up. I can post pictures as well so you can see what half the display looks like. 

As far as sales go for my first fair. I did ok. I have learned that having a theme will help bring my booth together and create unity for my viewers. I think by unifying my pieces and creating a pleasing display it will help my sales go up as well. When people are given less options on design/style and more options on function it seems they like being able to mix and match items. Like a cup and bowl, or pitcher and cup... etc. Plus having a wide price range from $10 or $20 up to $300 really opens your doors as a seller to all income ranges that are looking to add or start their collections of pottery. 

As an artist at this art fair I learned other new things like stepping up my lighting one more notch. I found some track lighting at Home Depot that I bought an attachment so they can be plugged in versus hardwired. They should be here on Friday which will allow me to try them out. More to come on those as well. Another learning curve was having a cooler in late August full of water and healthy snacks. The snacks at the art fair were OK, but expensive for what kind of food and how much you get. Another thing is having a fan available for air flow on 100 degree days. It really helps get you through. Extension cords, power strips, sandbags, tape, and chairs have multiples available at all times. Have a good amount of cash change for those cash buyers. Square is great, but sometimes the readers aren't great. Have multiple readers if possible. Business cards go like hot cakes so have a ton. Set up a mailing list and have a sign up sheet in your booth. 

Art fair donations... Don't be surprised if the art fair wants you to donate something for the kiddos. Have some extra things in your box that you don't mind donating!

As you can see a lot I have learned, and so much more to take in. Stay tuned for more to come!

Pottery pieces I made!

Below are some pieces of pottery I have made in the last 4 months. This particular grouping has some pieces that have sold while others are still available for sale. Pottery is a forever an exploration and education in science, design, and presence. 

The Holidays are almost over...

December has ran away with it's days and we all seem to be hanging on for dear life as we are steered into the New Year. 

On December 21st I picked up my diploma from college. Yep, I did it! Finally! I have my BFA. It is truly anti-climactic though. I am starting my Masters degree right away. I really have no time to waste anymore. I am already in debt for college and nowadays a Bachelors degree is as simple as a high school diploma. So here I go again. On the 24 month road to my MFA. It is worth it though. It is giving me time to work on my art and learn more things that I wouldn't have had time for. I am leaning for my main focus to be more 3D than 2D. It is something I am enjoying more and I can always play in 2D stuff on my own. The 3D work is the work I need more time as an apprentice. With that said the New Year will bring me new beginning as a college graduate, and a true masters student. Something I have learned about being an art student is that everyone has a love for some kind of medium. Rather than try to be the best at all of them, it is time to focus on your hearts medium and what calls to you more. 

As I mentioned in the last blog I got my own potters wheel at home. I am busting out pieces left and right to start building my collection of things. I already have events on my schedule for 2016 where I will be attending art events to sell my ceramic art. It is truly exciting to see your dreams, goals, and work come together. So far it look like in June I will have be at Liberty Courtyard winery in Evansville, IL and in November I will be at an Art & Wine Walk in Belleville, IL. That is as far as I have gotten in my schedule for the sales events. I am running into an obstacle of needing to purchase a tent for the outdoor art fairs. There are a lot of opinions on what tent to buy. I think I am going to start with the $300 EZ Up type tent. Not that I will pick that particular brand, but something like it. Once I get that I will be able to start the process of art fairs and see if that will work for me and my medium. I would like to try 3 or 4 fairs this 2016 year to get my "feet wet" with the idea of this business avenue. I will have to find a way to fund this purchase to get things off the ground. 

Other than these two items I have been full force throwing clay and planning for next years events to try and reach people with my art. I am in the infancy stage of all this, but I am truly blessed with what I have rolling so far! 

Until the next post... Happy New year!

Blog Break...

I got my new Shimpo VL-Lite potters wheel a week ago yesterday. That has been the biggest reason for my absence in my blogging. I was having trouble with it. It seems to have a slight wobble. My husband helped me to level the wheel. Our old basement floors are not even and we thought maybe that could be the problem. It has helped a lot. I am now in the process of trying to get to work. I was thinking to throw at least two pieces a day. I think with this kind of work ethic I should be able to grow my inventory as well build my skills more and more everyday.

I am in the process of working on a commission for a church. They need two chalices and one more plate. I threw a plate last night. I actually like how it turned out. I am going to try and throw eight more. I was thinking I could do two sets of four with the same glazing design. I also was wanting to continue my work on making cups tea, coffee, cocoa, or soup. Different sizes, shapes, and glazes to create that perfect cup for speaks to someone.

Other than those initial thoughts to get going in my potters studio. I am in the process of looking into art fairs around the United States. I thought that this would be a good place to start. I am hoping down the road I am able to make a living at selling my pottery at art fairs, local shops, and who know,  maybe even out of the U.S. What a dream come true to be able to travel all over for work.

Just wanted to stop in an let you know what was going on in my world. As soon as I get some pieces drying I will shoot before pictures so you can start following the journey of my creations!

A Day Throwing and Firing!

Today I woke up at 5:30am to get back to the studio and fired up the cone 10 kiln full speed ahead. The weather here is seasonly warm which made the fire go much faster. My studio mate Cindy was losing her mind as she felt as though it is firing too fast, but only tomorrow will we see the results. The kiln should finish some time between 6-8pm this evening. We will have to let it cool down, and open it up tomorrow afternoon. 

While all this fire was burning in the kiln I took this time to throw a few cups and create some new texture. Below are some of the pictures I snapped of the cups I created while waiting to see what the cones are doing. Just thought it would be fun to share some work in progress. Enjoy!

Learning New Things!

Today was a great learning experience. I began my day finding that for the first time I waited too much time to trim a piece of my pottery and it got to hard to trim. It is still a successful piece, but it didn't get the opportunity to turn into the cup I was hoping for. This has only driven home the idea that I am looking forward to picking up my own wheel to have at home. I will be able to be closer to my work so I will have the opportune time to create my vision. I will also be able to work on more pottery as it will be readily available all the time. I have a 30 minute drive to my studio space now, and  it makes it difficult to swing by and check on the progress of drying clay. I will keep you up-to-date on when I get my new wheel. Hopefully this weekend, but we will see how it all works out. 

The other fun and exciting task I took on today is firing my first cone 10 gas kiln. Up until now I have only fired electric kilns up to cone 6. This is an awesome opportunity! Ceramic studio assistants Cindy and I loaded the kiln this afternoon around 3pm. There were a ton of pieces to load, and it took about an hour to get them all loaded and stacked safely on the shelves. Then we hit the gas and lit the fire. I spent the next 6 hours drawing a life-size skeleton, and got home about 10:30pm. So now it's time to get about 5 hours of sleep and back to the kiln in the morning to turn up the heat and bring it all the way up to cone 10 which is approximately 2350 degree fahrenheit.

So with that said... I am off to bed. More fun learning to do tomorrow.