Trip to Asheville and studio floor

Mom and I took a quick one night trip to Asheville last weekend. We went to Highwater to grab some kiln furniture and hit most of the museums, galleries, and studios in the area. Our lodge was so nice. The view was incredible and it was so peaceful.

Also check out my work in progress floor in my studio. Eegads kind of scary! I still can't believe that soon I'll have my very own ceramics studio. I get more excited every day.

Studio update and Spring (might be here)

Can you guys tell?? Progress has so been made. I've mostly been on cleaning duty because that shed is shock full of scary mold and dead bugs. Also our handy man put in a drainage system this week in front of the door so that water will no longer rush in when it rains... Causing the aforementioned mold. I'm starting to search for kilns, flooring solutions and more storage. Meeting with the handyman tomorrow to discuss steps for the kiln pad!

Also Dolly's is full of fun spring prints and some really cute new greeting cards, from Brooklyn of course.

Studio BEFORE shot and new work at the Makery

I'm SO excited today because my family and I have officially decided to turn our dark, dirty, and moldy shed into my clay studio. This is obviously a very before shot. We have a ton of work to do and I still have to get a kiln etc... But I'm SO excited to finally be doing it. I'll keep posting in progress photos!

I also switched out most of my work at the Makery with new stuff in fun bright spring colors!

Sweet Arts

Just a quick post about an upcoming event that I'm involved with.  The Durham Art Guild has a big fundraising auction every year with a silent and live auction of art and non-art items.  This year is the event's 20th anniversary and it is going to be more glam than ever.  If you live in the area this is the only place to be next Friday night.

And also I thought I'd share some hilarious old photos from a couple previous Sweet Arts.  My friends and I used to dress up crazy.  One year we were all brides and another we were all European Royalty.  I laughed so hard at these photos, we all look so young!

Snow, Meringue, Ceramic Flowers

Here goes a completely disconnected post but these were just a couple of images I wanted to share.

The first is from my back yard today. We actually got some serious snow in North Carolina yesterday and today. Pretty much snowed in, people in the south tend to freak out over snow but it's quite pretty.

The second was my first attempt at meringue kisses. They were so easy and came out perfectly! I don't know why I've been so scared of them for ages.  Literally I whipped together 4 egg whites, 1/2 teaspoon corn starch, 1 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, pipped them out onto a buttered and flowered pan and baked them for 1 hour at 225. Easy peazy. I'll be making many more batches I can tell.

The last are just some sweet vintage ceramic flowers we have at Dolly's.

Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow.

Goings On: The Makery/Kickstarter

Phew, February is kind of kicking my ass.  I've got my hands in a lot of different pots (is that the correct expression?) and I'm feeling really overwhelmed a lot of the time.  But!  Everything I'm doing is so exciting.  I'd thought I'd write to share one of my newest involvements with a great new shop in Durham, The Makery.  The Makery started as an online shop selling hand-made goods from North Carolina.  Now The Makery has opened up a permanent shop in the Central Park area of Durham, which is by far the most creative and exciting part of town.  So, I'm very lucky to be selling my little ceramics there, yay!

But, The Makery still needs help with some funding for a few last things that will really make the shop great, so check out our Kickstarter fund!

500

I can't believe that I am writing this, but this is post #500 for this little blog.  I started this blog in high school before the internet blew up and social media took over.  Facebook wasn't around yet, not to mention smart phones.  I'm still pretty behind the times on all this technology stuff and that's ok with me really. 

This blog has changed a lot since I started it as a teenager.  A lot has changed for me, I graduated high school, moved to Cleveland, OH, graduated college, traveled a lot, moved back to Durham, NC.  Most importantly I now focus mostly on my art and creative endeavors on this blog, with little bits of my personal life and my Durham community.  I know my posting has never been very regular and although it is New Years and I could make a resolution about posting more often, I won't.  I'll just say that I hope to have some really fun and exciting things coming up and when they do I'll be sure to record them here.

I'd like to dedicate this 500th post to my two grandmothers on my mom's side, her mother and her step-mother.  I lost them both recently.  They both died at 97 and a few months apart from each other.  They were both incredible women with many talents and I was lucky to have them in my life.

Here first are some images of my grandma Dorothy Darling, and wasn't she the most darling?  The black and whites are the oldest pictures I have of her,  before she joined the Miller family and married my grandfather.  The colors are from later in her life as a Miller.  That purple blanket now belongs to me; it was one of my favorite things of hers.

She had the most amazing cheekbones, no?

And this doll below is my grandma Betty.  She loved playing keyboard and did so until very near the end.  I can't stress enough what a kind, loving and understanding woman she was.  And check out that tribal print top she has on!  My mom always told me how stylish grandma was in the 60s and 70s while she was growing up.  

Loving and thinking of you always, Betty and Dorothy.