Potters Council Show NCECA 2012

I am thrilled to find out that my Pillow Bowl has been accepted for the Potters Council Show, "The Chormatic Edge" at NCECA 2012 which is in my hometown Seattle!!

If you have been following my blog, you must have read about the learning experience I had with these pillow bowls. I had titled the blog entry "Try Try Try till you succeed". Being accepted for this show does show a measure of success. So if you have an itch to try something new, keep at it and you will achieve it.

Handbuilt Lidded jars/ mugs

I have been experimenting with a new idea of decorating my surfaces which is a conbination of my slip decoration and adding color in a different way.

These are my initial pieces with which I made the surface of the mugs by rolling on to a textured surface that I slip slip decorated. And then I ran a brayer on the raised surface to add the black color to the raised surfaces. Don't know how this will look when finished but I like the look so far. What do you think?

Since I am still experimenting, I think these can make cool lidded cups or even sugar jars. Do you prefer sugar jars with the lid cut out for a spoon to go in?

Charan Sachar in The New York Times

I am very excited to share that I have been featured on the Front Page of The New York Times (SundayStyles Section) today (August 14th 2011). Grab your copy today!

Here is a clipping from the article with some great pictures taken by Stuart Isett
"Charan Sachar, 37, a former software engineer who lives near Seattle, used to spend his downtime perusing Etsy, the D.I.Y. crafts site. He daydreamed of an unfettered life at his kiln, creating Bollywood-inspired teapots and butter dishes.

In January, after 12 years in software, he quit to devote himself full time to his online store, Creative With Clay, which sells stoneware he designs and makes. (Last May, he told his story on Etsy’s “Quit Your Day Job” blog.)

Now, instead of spending his free time absorbed in visions of clay, he spends as much as 70 percent of his day on administration. He is not only his own boss, he is his own accountant, sales director, marketing manager and shipping clerk."

I have listed several new items in my Etsy shop. Thank you all for your support through out these years. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you.

New Booth Setup

Almost every year, I make changes to my booth. This time the change is big and it costed big too $$$. After a lot thinking, the Caravan Canopy was just not working for me. It has been very strong and stable for the shows I have done over the last few years. The thing that annoyed me most about it was the cross bars at the top. They blocked the view of platters and dancing Divas which were hung on my back wall. Very distracting. So after a lot of research, I purchased the Light Dome Canopy. I like the open high ceiling and bright light in the booth. This gave me the oppurtunity to add some color to the top as well.

They are a little time consuming to setup, but I bet it gets better with time. The most annoying this has to be putting the top on. With two people it is a breeze but with a short guy like me, it is a challenge.

Would love to hear about the canopies and setups other artists have. Feel free to tweet and leave your comments.

New techniques and New work

I am so excited about this new way I am decorating my work. Of course it is a lot more intricate and lot more time consuming and I wish I had warned myself what I was getting into. :)

I am liking the slip decoration in black and then filing in all the colors. I feel like a kid again, painting in my coloring book with my mom asking me to stay within the lines.

As you can see the designs are a lot more intricate and detailed. Very inspired from henna tattoos. I like the tightness of the designs and how I can give it multiple colors in the small tight spaces. Takes me forever to decorate these. I will probably use this technique on my larger high end pieces like my platters and dancing divas. See pictures of some finished work below.

I will have all the new work at the upcoming Edmonds Arts Festival (June 17th-19th)

Quit my Day Job

I am glad to annouce that I finally quit my day job and I am now a full time potter. It is going to be interesting to see what unfolds.
Etsy did a feature on me last week with my story and here is the interview.
http://www.etsy.com/storque/seller-handbook/quit-your-day-job-creative-with-clay-12750/
Thank you all for your support!

Pantry Storage

I am thrilled that we finally have pantry storage in our kitchen!!
Ever since we moved into our house (few years back), we have been struggling with storage. The kitchen is big, but the cabinets dated pre-Costco, so all shelves are fixed and nothing fit in. So we were storing stuff in our garage. Have gone back and forth several times thinking about remodeling the kitchen, but the expense always is a shock!
I found this pinkish brown corner armoire on craiglist and which would need some work but would be a perfect addition to our kitchen. It is all solid wood and was in excellent condition. And for $40, a steal!
It had some missing hardware and the color was weird. Instead of repainting it another shade of brown to match our existing boring cabinets, I wanted to go wild on this one. Went with a soft lime green with chocolate brown accents which goes very well with the backyard and brings the outside colors in.
What do you think?

Added new hardware and shelves and finally have storage in the kitchen!!