Pottery Sale Sunday

Here's a photo I took early this morning of the tables of pottery in the main patio at Spanish Village. There was a great deal of beautiful work. I admit I succumbed to it myself, buying two pieces made by a potter whose work I've admired for four or five years. I'm very happy to have it. Both pieces are a bluish green color reminiscent of the green that was popular in during the Arts and Crafts movement. I suppose that's why I like it. My own house dates back to around that time period. One piece is going home with me. The other piece, a covered jar, is staying here in my studio. It now holds tea bags and artificial sweetner. It looks much nicer than the cardboard boxes. I'm gradually adding a few pieces that I enjoy. I have the vase Jon made and some clay pieces made by some of the children in the clay classes. Now I also have a mug their teacher made this summer. It's blue, yellow, and green. It's perfect for my tea. And now that the weather is turning cooler, I enjoy having a mug or two when I sit in my studio.

Today there were a large number of people in the Village. They were all interested in pottery and glass. Not many people were interested in my jewelry. But I don't mind. I enjoy seeing all the people, and I always spend my time working while I'm here, so I'm never wasting my time. In fact, that's one of the requirements of having a studio: you need to be working in it. Because we're in Balboa Park, which emphasizes education, we are required to provide education at least in an unstructured way. And we're encouraged to teach classes, too, if we want to. Certainly, Andy, the glassblower next door, teaches all the time, usually two students a day, five days a week.

I worked on some jewelry today. Sometimes I make the same style of necklace over and over again, just using different stones with the gold-filled wire. But today I tried a variation on my usual style. And I'd like to continue to push myself to try new styles, different designs.

It's funny though how pieces can sit around for awhile until I think they will never sell and then suddenly they do sell. I've had that experience several times recently. I don't really like pieces to sit around too long. I like to keep updating my work, so that everything is fresh and new. It is true that even though I use the same method of attaching stones together, I do use different sizes. I go through periods when I make small, delicate pieces. Then I go through periods when I make large, chunky pieces. Looking in the magazines for ideas is a big help. That give me ideas for proportions. And as I make more pieces, my standards of excellent go up. My workmanship is at a higher level and the materials I use are nicer. I'm fussier about the stones. I don't want to spend so much time on stones that are not a good quality.