.Time.Flies.

I moved into my space one year ago. !!!

Time.
Flies.

I have made some amazing connections in the ceramic, creative, and business community in Chicago since I got the keys to my Ravenswood Corridor studio.

A lot has changed too.

I am working with stoneware more then porcelain. Something I did not foresee...but it is more effecient in a space that fluctuates in temperature are much as mine does.
And..most of all..
I AM PREGNANT.
30 weeks.
A lil'lady named Josephine Parker Ames will be born in September. She will be the ninth Josephine in the Smith (Mortimer's mothers maiden name) family tree. She will be known as Parker..which is an Ames' family name (for instance..Mortimer's middle name).

So, along with finalizing my ceramic line and getting ready to ship out my "look-books"...
I have been busy doing baby research, nanny search, professional studio cleaning service search (and sealed)...endless list...

...SOO MUCH MOM STUFF. 

...I'm SOOO tired today. 

My belly barely fits in the scene! (30 week belly bump)

.Words.of.Wisdom.

.I have a Confession.

I find great inspiration from...
FASHION.
In high school and college my rooms were covered in fanciful photographs from Vogue.
Grace Coddington's genius as a Fashion Editor spoke to me as a young lady stuck in the hills of West Virginia. She allowed me to escape reality with the imagery she created with the help of her creative team.

I have watched the Diana Vreeland documentary "The Eye Has to Travel" almost everyday. 

...Just randomly...

I place my Ipad near while doing laundry, dishes, and domestic diddies.

Simply, I find strong and creative individuals truly energizing.

.Utility is Useless Without the User.

I will be apart of Thursday, October 3rd's Brave New Art World and River North Art Walk.
This performance will take place outside.
Taking it to the Street.
EXCITING.
 

“I do not consider pots finished when they emerge from the kiln, but only when they have been christened with their first mouthful.”– Sandy Brown

         Utility is Useless without the User is an interactive pottery performance piece.   Pottery is not intended to be an idle pedestal piece; it is made to be used and enjoyed.  I will have forty 6-ounce vessels that incorporate a bell chamber[1] on display. Participants choose a cup and I fill their cup with water.  After they celebrate the moment, they may take their vessel home or I place the cup in a canvas bag and break the cup.  

           

       I am a child of the eighties brought up in the boom of the nineties and graduated college during the recession.  “The more one can get for less is best” became the motto.  America consumes bubbled-wrapped products from outsourced and often exploited factory workers, not knowing their faces, hands, and way of life.  During my performance, I want people to have chance to put a face and personality to the vessel in their hand and enjoy a one of-a-kind product.  Handmade pottery is about being with people and engaging with them in the material world.   
          
          Destroying any vessel does not mean death but rebirth. The shards will be donated to a community mosaic program.

...And some will make my mosaic urn...obviously.

On a side note:
It is a metaphor for life.  There are moments when one will think, "Wow, I love to blank!" With passion and dedication they strive and work diligently to fulfill their goals but ....it doesn't work out.
Alone in a mental mist their dusk begins. 
...Finding footing in unknown scenery...
They fall.
They tumble.
They break.

At least I did.  

But, you stand. 
You mend.
You walk to the dawn.

And you learn how to live a different life in a new light. 

---

[1] My drinking vessels include a chamber in the foot of the pot that makes a chiming noise when used.

Photos by Emiley Smith Photography.
http://emileysmith.com

.Stamp It.

With the help of Socwell, LLC of www.4Clay.com my stamp is made.

"Everything comes at the appointed time." Ancient Chinese Text