Tuesday's... Over!

Coffee in the Chicago skyline mug, "Let's Get It Started" by the Black Eyed Peas on iTunes. Another day, another deadline looms. Full house again today, and four phone calls already done this morning--one more to go as soon as the dealership opens.

It's still summer for another two days (longer if you follow the regular calendar and not the school calendar) and I am already starting the planning for the studio multi-artist winter show...

Or I would've started the planning for the multi-artist show back almost *nine hours ago* when I started this post! But the day had other plans for me, and I finish it without having fired a single piece or made any headway on the article I have due tomorrow for Profitable Glass. Yes, there is shelving in the office closet and the rain gutter/rain barrel system has been exhaustively designed--and the former studio is much closer to done than it was--but otherwise the day has been almost a complete production loss.

The bright side to my cloudy day is that I am still on schedule with my orders because I can power up Bettina and crank through them starting tomorrow. I did get them all entered into the computer both on the firing schedule and on individual orders. Tomorrow I have *got* to find both uninterrupted writing and production time... and good luck with that!

Monday Already?

La Croix blue fizzy water in the can, "Good Enough" by Evanescence on iTunes. Glass has not been Incarnate today. I did get a quick post in on Stranded in the South this morning before dashing off for my day, but everything since has gone pear-shaped. Now it's 4:00 PM and I am calling the day Good Enough. Tomorrow I fire--and I'm going to pull out the big guns and fire both Bertha and Bettina with full fusing loads. J has a friend from down the street over right now and they are playing in the pool so I'm working outside and watching them. I still haven't finished entering the orders from the BMAC into the computer, or updating the firing schedule and those tasks (and this post) will take me through till Dave gets home at 5:30.



In the meantime I got my book projects back from my publisher thanks to Becky the Wonder Assistant who went up to Asheville on Friday. While she was there she took a little gallery tour and checked out a couple of galleries I'm in. One, the Grovewood, has only one piece of my work in, but I have a big order to ship them this week or next. And they also use one of my pieces in the header on their website (shown above). The other, Blue Goldsmiths, has quite a few pieces--including the lattice shown at right which is already sold.

Today's big accomplishment was getting a shelving unit from the Container Store for the closet in the studio office. Becky has been grumbling about the piles of crap all over the floor, but I haven't had anywhere to put it all so it's just stayed on the floor. Tomorrow I predict deliriums of happiness from Becky with the installation of more storage space.

Okay, off to enter orders!

The End of Summer

Coffee in the Austin skyline mug, the quiet click of typing keys for music. What the heck happened yesterday? There was no post! I hit the ground so fast in the morning that I never got a chance to sit down and post (that'll happen on days when I have nine people spread between the house and the studio to supervise). Suffice it to say, it was a big day, and I'm glad it's over (and I got caught up on the week).

I have reconciled myself to needing another day of transition before I get back into full production in the studio on Monday. Actually, it's three days, but I am really trying to take weekends off this fall. Heck, if the workers of the fine state of Utah get to go all French on us and go to a four-day work week, I should get weekends off. Sure, some of them are working 10-hour days, but who isn't?

And it's a good thing I am waiting an extra day before I begin full production (which requires cutting lots of sheets of glass) as my Bullseye order won't be in till the end of the week next week, and I am completely out of normal width clear sheets (just shy of 20" wide). All I have left are a few 21" wide sheets that were mixed in with my last two orders, and I like to save those for when I need to cut a 20" round.

Today the former studio will be carpeted and the water lines that used to run to the three-bin restaurant sink in it will be re-routed to a laundry tub in the garage. There is already a workbench complete with an 8' X 4' pegboard over it in the spot in the garage where Bertha used to sit. It will be like there was never a studio there at all!

Now off to contemplate the last week of summer. School starts next week, so even if the weather says differently, fall is here.

Where Am I Going and What Am I Doing With This Handbasket?

Dancing Goats coffee in a Kavarna go-cup, some Enya-like music wafting through the air. It's a Kavarna Day! Jessie is off to the zoo with Becky the Wonder Assistant and her nephews, Dan the Carpenter and Dick his Trusty Assistant are working on other projects today, and I am firmly ensconced in my chair ready to do web damage and beat the firing and order schedule and the to-do list into shape (and now listening to Rags to Riches performed by Tony Bennett... it's an eclectic musical morning here at Kavarna).

August is turning out to be the Lost Month. When I look forward to August, in my mind I see a Ward and June Cleaver kind of time where we all relax and enjoy the end of summer and prepare for the start of school. I see me wearing pearls and gingham and sipping a gin and tonic as I watch Jessie and the spaniel romp on the lawn. I can't quite wrap my mind around the image of Dave lounging in crisp slacks, white socks and wingtips and puffing contentedly on a pipe, but almost. Instead I'm off balance, off center, wobbly, anxious and grumbly. I can't find my happy place--or get anything done. There are too many one-off tasks looming.

I think it all has to do with change and routine. I do very well in a crisis--when the world ends, I'm the gal who will get you through it without falling apart. I also do well when life is all settled into a placid routine with no projects threatening, no travel, nothing unpredictable on the horizon. However I completely fall apart in the transition times--coming home from vacation and trying to get the home and hearth into the settled routine state, coming back from a show and shifting gear from presentation and sales to production and shipping. This post-BMAC is worse than usual--I think because we were only home from the vacation in Montana for a week before I took off again to do the show. July was essentially completely atypical time, off-schedule and out of routine.

I loved the vacation--couldn't have enjoyed it more, but I looked forward to getting home to routine (and my own bed) again. Then I had a good show and got my display and materials all stored in Philly for the February show--and I was ready to be back in the studio and in the daily routine again. But I'm home--been here a week--and I can't get my mind inserted into a routine! Okay, it's only been a week. It feels like a month, but it's only been a week. If I can keep it to a week and GET BACK ON THE HORSE IN THE GROOVE, I'll probably be okay.

Time to go look for a horse.

The Dog Days of Summer... Are Over

Coffee in the Los Angeles skyline mug, "I've Been Thinking About You" by London Beat on iTunes. The dog days of summer. If one were talking about the weather it would mean (here in hte northern hemisphere) the hot sultry days of July and August--and I would be accurate in my nomenclature. However the dog days (according to Wikipedia) also refers to a time period that is hot or stagnant or marked by a dull lack of progress. Bingo. The dogs have come to roost in the studio and the house. Everywhere I look I see projects in a state of languish.

__________________

In the past several hours since I started this post, ducks lined up, and ducks broke rank. Ducks lined up, and ducks broke rank. Wash, rinse, repeat. I have failed to ship for the third day in a row, and I did not fire a fuse load either. However I got carpet chosen, paid for, and scheduled (for the former-studio-now-basement). The pool (one of those above-ground Target things) is drained and ready to clean. The to-do list and the day tomorrow are organized (and Jessie is set to go to the zoo with Becky and her nephews away) so I can have a Kavarna day and maybe get caught up on paperwork. And, finally, the glass order is in to Bullseye and reviewed, I hope they'll be ready to ship soon. Tomorrow the supports for the new kiln shelf are also scheduled to arrive so I can do the break-in fire on Bettina's new shelf.

Quack.

Some weeks really do seem to jerk along in fits and starts and my evaluation of my performance changes every half hour. Time to move along with the evening.

Deadlines and Birthdays

Coffee in the Atlanta skyline mug, "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens on iTunes. It's August 11th today, Monday, and I feel the weight of the month pressing down on me. The deadlines begin to pile up starting Friday and reach a crescendo of effort the day after Labor Day (early this year--September 1). Some of it's production--the least scary and most comfortingly predictable of the things I do--but a lot of it's writing, designing, webbing and other hard-to-time-quantify activities. Activities that could go easily and quietly into the "done" pile or that could turn into a day (week?) down the rabbit hole at a mad tea party. I don't have a week to spare.

And while I am dwelling on upcoming scary things this fine morning, I am going to be help-less again come September: Becky the Wonder Assistant is heading back to corporate America for a Real Job. After almost a year with steady help, I can't go back to a one-person shop--I need to hire someone new. And this time it won't be a friend helping me out on a part-time temporary basis--it'll be a Real Employee. I am hoping for a mother with little kids in school who just needs something with flexible hours and a little extra family income (not the rent).

But let's end the post on a positive note. Friday was Dan the Carpenter's birthday and we had a little party in the studio for him. I didn't taste the cake, but I trust Southern Sweets. I'm sure Dave will get an evil chuckle out of the singing cake plate being inflicted on someone else for a change.

Saturday Studio Day

Coffee in the Montreal skyline mug, "Choctaw Bingo" by James McMurtry on iTunes. The rest of the family is enjoying a cool breezy Saturday in the sky chairs on the front porch while I gear up to go to the studio and fire two loads (Dave is hairless). I didn't get a single load fired during the week so I have three to do this weekend. I should start out Monday back on schedule.

Now I wait with my fingers crossed to see how soon Bullseye can get me more clear irid sheets. I ordered 90 on Thursday, but they are completely out right now and I don't have a production date. I am not panicking yet.

Projects for next week include designing the backsplash for our kitchen (which will also be written up as a how-to project for GPQ using the new kiln shelf from Ditore Glass Works), designing a hanukiah or two for the Jewish Museum of New York, and figuring out what I'm going to submit for a Niche piece this year. Oh yes, there'll be one Kavarna day for web work and writing up the next article for the Studio Start-Up column for Profitable Glass. And then there are the daily firings--if I don't run out of glass...

Green Paint That's Red

Coffee in the New Orleans skyline mug, "Fast As I Can" by James McMurtry on iTunes. I thought I'd have a little time to edit the movie I took of my booth at the BMAC and get a good post up this morning, but life already has other plans. I need to get a kiln load in and then I'm off to Home Depot to get paint for the former studio. We're going with Freshaire paint--an eco-friendly paint with no VOC's--in "Evening Peruvian Lily" in the Botanicals collection. The paint is more red than it looks on the web--it's a warm terracotta color.

So the first paragraph of the glass blog is about paint for a no-longer studio. The reason for that is easy to see--the work of today is shipping, firing, and more paperwork catch-up and I already wrote about that on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tomorrow is officially movie day, let's see if I can get through today with no catastrophes and make it happen!

Thursday Tradesman Day

Coffee in the Chicago skyline mug, "Vacation" by the Go-Go's on iTunes. The carpenter and his assistant have finished the drywall and trim in the former-studio-now-basement and are priming everything and painting the trim and ceiling today. The dryer repairman is here replacing the igniter on the dryer (fried by lightning). Becky the assistant will be here any second and she will take inventory of all the frit so I can get my Bullseye order in this morning. I think I'll also have her do a quick box count before I order shipping supplies for the day. Both of those tasks should have been completed yesterday, but the day was already full, full, full. Didn't fire either.

Now off to wax the legs and then get back to everything I didn't get done yesterday. It would have made more sense to make yesterday's task list the list for the week instead of the list for the day...

Back From Philly!

Coffee in the Austin skyline mug (I would have picked the Atlanta as I am soooo glad to be home, but my spouse brought me coffee in bed this morning--he's soooo glad I'm home too--so he picked the mug), there is no music as iTunes is updating. I am home, life is good.

The BMAC this summer was very small--fewer artists and fewer buyers--but it was still my best BMAC yet, edging out this past February by a hair. I also had a *great* time participating in the Arts Business Institute's panel discussion on the impacts of wholesaling for the visiting artist program. I hope I can work more with them.

To quantify sales for the show's bottom line, I picked up 10 new galleries and took orders from five existing clients. I had a few more personal shoppers than usual, but overall it was a great show. I am really looking forward to working with the new galleries, and I'm glad my existing customers were also able to place substantial orders. Best of all, two of my existing clients requested new pieces so I have fun design work ahead.

Also on the fun list, I got a call from Marlene at Ditore Glass Works yesterday and my new kiln shelf has shipped! I can't wait to get it in Bettina and try it out. The week while I was at the BMAC was pretty rough for Dave and J and Dave says his cut for it is getting the new backsplash for the kitchen bumped to the top of the firing queue. The timing ties in nicely for the article I am doing for GPQ on using the Ditore shelves for firing large pieces. The only downside I can see to the shelf is that I won't be able to get it in and out of the kiln by myself--it will probably need to be a permanent fixture (it is 30" X 71" and weighs 144 lbs).

Today I have to type up and email out all the orders from the BMAC, desnarl invoices with a couple of galleries, write up an order for metal for Bill, and figure out and submit a glass order for Bullseye. Oh yes, and I have to update the firing schedule, fire a full load in Bertha, and order shipping supplies... Nothing like hitting the ground running!

BMAC Day 1

Coffee in the Starbucks go-cup, the hum of artists and buyer voices for music. I have been lax in posting the past first of days--first due to lightning, then travel, then set-up for the summer Buyer's Market Show. Now the booth is done (I actually had everything priced and the lights adjusted *before* the show opened for once!

So what's been happening the past few days? Oh boy. We had a severe thunderstorm in Atlanta on Tuesday night. We had 2200 lightning strikes in a half hour in a very small area. It was exhilarating, and I didn't know enough to be afraid. It's not like I went and stood outside in it or anything, but I did sit right by the window on the second floor working on my laptop. I was lucky. The alarm system in the house and the studio and the new 3-in-1 fax machine were not so lucky. I spent over two hours on the phone with alarm company and ended up replacing the panel in the studio (for over $300) because the dialer was fried, and then rewiring all three keypads in the house system. Then the phones worked again--but the DSL did not so I had to completely reboot the modem and router (and I recabled the whole system). It was exhausting, hot stressful and took forever so I did neither glass nor web work the entire day.

Then I left for Philly and had the first day of set-up. I thought I'd have either the time or the energy to post, I was wrong. It was 91 degrees and humid the first day of set-up and it was all we could do just to get through it and collapse at the end. the second day of set-up (yesterday) was a bit cooler outside, but still stifling in the convention center hall. I managed to do price tags for the show after a room service dinner (with white wine) and during Con Air on TNT. They're showing True Lies tonight and I have to say it's more appealing than going to the Museum of Natural History for the Buyer's Market party. On the other hand, it would be a good business move to go to the party and mingle with fellow artists and buyers. I just don't think after the week I had that I have the margin to spend on my business.

And speaking of business, this afternoon I am on a panel of speakers for the Arts Business Institute Visiting Artist Program discussing The Impacts of Wholesaling. I am really looking forward to it. Becky the assistant is participating in the visiting artist program except during the panel (someone has to mind the booth) and I am looking forward to picking her brain on everything she heard after the show.

It's the middle of the first day. I've written two orders--one new gallery put a toe in the water for three pieces and one repeat customer filled the empty stock spots. Time to get selling and come back to write more later.

Wallow No More

Coffee in the Austin skyline mug, "Learn to Fly" by the Foo Fighters on iTunes. Though my day of apathetic wallowing is over, I scintillate not. I am, however, back in high gear preparing to leave *tomorrow* for the summer BMAC. I understand there will be free high-speed internet access from the show floor this year so I'll have a chance to publish fascinating posts from Philly. Now if I can just get out of this slump (slumping, after all, is for glass not mental state) and write perkily again...

In addition to packing, I have three orders to ship today and I'm out of Styrofoam peanuts so I'll need to buy a bag for full price from the UPS store. Ugh. While I'm out, I'll also open a new (local) business checking account and deposit a bunch of checks. Money comes, money goes. I probably won't have sample sets to display at this show as I ended up having to deal with a banking crisis instead of firing yesterday, but I can add them to my website and product list.

And speaking of website, I need to finish the wholesale portion *today*. I have been talking it up to gallery and store owners for the past year, time to make good on it. Then there are the pesky quarterly sales taxes to file, and the land-line phone line is out (both studio and home)--probably from the storm last night--so I have to hunt down what's wrong with it. Wednesday Funday!

The Week Begins to Slide

Coffee in the Montana Grizzlies go mug (same as yesterday) many hours ago, "Into the West" sung by Annie Lenox from the Lord of the Rings soundtrack on the iPod in honor of Loiosh. It's been a rough few days and I am behind on blogging. Too much life happening to have time to write about life.

Yesterday I left early and drove to Greenville with all my work for the BMAC later this week. By noon it was all packed in a crate there, ready for Bill and Elaine to drive up tomorrow. Today I create a sample set to take to the show and work on an order I hoped to have out by tomorrow. I probably will not make it on the order as I am emotionally and mentally drained from too much in too little time. I spent what little morale I had left this morning struggling with UPS to get them to lift the signature requirement on all packages sent to our house.

Sometime in the future I will get videos from Montana up, and I'll rediscover my aplomb. For now, off to listen to some George Winston and at least do the sample set.

Friday At Last

Coffee in the Austin skyline mug (in honor of Bryon and Vanessa who are visiting from that fair city), "Cloudy This Morning" by George Winston on iTunes. It's the first time I've had a minute to miss Montana since my return Tuesday. The week has been crazy busy, but it's winding down--which is good as I pulled a muscle in my back yesterday getting the new kiln lid on Bettina and have limited movement today. Got to get back in peak condition by Thursday for the BMAC.

The firings continue apace as do writing commitments. I have my first regular column (on product viability) coming out in the Fall issue of Profitable Glass (going to press today), and I have the second column (on pricing) slated but not written for the Winter Profitable Glass. I also have a how-to article for either sidelights or a backsplash for a kitchen stove using special large, baffled ceramic shelves that are perfectly flat and smooth and don't warp for Glass Patterns Quarterly's Winter issue. Never a dull moment here. Hot and muggy moments, yes. Dull, no.

Another short post today I'm afraid. Too tired and sore to scintillate. Vacation and birthday review coming up on Stranded in the South over the weekend (Saturday's Movie Day!).

The Beat Goes On

Coffee in the New Orleans skyline mug (I want a Missoula mug!), "In Without Knocking" by the Mission Mountain Woodband on iTunes. I got everything done yesterday. The biggest task was the ad for Profitable Glass--which I finished at 9:00 pm. I like the result.

So far today I took the cat back to the vet for a glucose curve (she was diagnosed as diabetic but in otherwise good health by the vet yesterday--not bad for a 17 year-old cat), dropped the dogs a the groomer, left the child with Dan the carpenter to be handed off to Becky the wonder assistant at 9:00 am, and now I sit in my doctor's waiting room... waiting. By 10:30 this morning I will be in the studio and Doing Glass!

Yesterday's firing went well, and I checked in with both Jeff (for the new pieces I did for him for the BMAC) and Bill (for our BMAC shipping and display status check). Today I have another big firing, the last follow-ups on outstanding invoices, and Web Work. I am hopeful--confident even--that I'll have at least a rudimentary wholesale ordering system for my galleries ready by the BMAC. Now if I could just get a cd of hi-res images of all the work together...

The vacation is over, but I am well-rested and glad to be home. Leaving Montana it's always touch and go for me as to whether I'll be able to settle back in home right away. I pine. but this time I came home to a beautiful blooming garden with lots of new growth on all the plants I put in before I left. Just walking through the studio garden and checking out the plants lifts my spirits--and what a great place to put the glass "mistakes"!

Home!

Coffee in the Atlanta skyline mug, "Racing to the Red Light", by James McMurtry on iTunes. Back in the saddle, and the studio, again. Full firing schedule through the weekend, then up to Greenville with all my work for the BMAC on Monday. I am flying to the show for the first time and Bill and Elaine from Elliott Metal are driving all of our work up in a rental truck and then flying back. I leave Thursday accompanied by Becky the Wonder Assistant. It will be good to have four of us to set up the booth.

Today: fire, finish a full page ad for the fall issue of Profitable Glass, take the cat to the vet, clean the pond filter, clean the pool, supervise the carpenter and electrician who are finishing out the basement, and breathe. J has the rest of the week off to get back on Eastern Time (she is still sleeping now and it's almost 10:00). Time to go throw cold water on her. Heh.

Hey! I just had a big black ant chewing on my toe! I didn't know they bit people. I was just sitting here blogging and minding my own business when I felt something poking at my toe. I thought I just ran my toe into a sticker or something but when I looked down there was a big black ant viciously and methodically attacking my toe! He didn't live long.

Okay, off to get the kiln load in and do some attacking (of the day) of my own. It's good to be home.

The Birthday

Coffee of indifferent caliber in a small Styrofoam cup, the waterfall on the first floor of the C'Mon Inn for music. I sit on the small balcony off of our room and endeavor not to panic at the upcoming day. Today is my father's 80th birthday and I have planned a surprise dinner party for him at Finn & Porter. I had nightmares about it all night last night. I dreamed that there were three floors of party, Russian waiters, and hundreds of people pouring in--too many to count and I didn't know any of them. Add to that that I kept getting driven away from the party with tons still to do and dropped off far away with no way to get back except to walk--even though I knew it was a dream and I should be able to just place myself back at the party, I couldn't. And in the dream I had forgotten to get a cake... and I woke in a sweat to the realization that I forgot to order a cake. Thank heaven for Bernice's Bakery. In Atlanta we have Southern Sweets and rely on them heavily for all celebratory baked goods. I am happy to find my hometown has not let me down and I'll be able to get a couple of cakes at Bernice's to feed the 26 people coming to dinner...

After this morning's trip top Bernice's we are heading to the restaurant--I haven't been there since it was taken over by Finn & Porter and redecorated--to pick out the wines and appetizers and look over the room for decorating. Once I have seen the room we'll go get flowers, balloons, etc. to decorate it with. I think I'll also get paper and markers and set Jessie to make a birthday sign that we can have everyone write their names and a message on for him to take home.

Why am I stressing so much about this party? I have no idea. Probably some deep Freudian thing about daughters seeking validation through their father's approbation. Whatever. None of this has anything to do with glass--and probably won't today even though I have great Internet connectivity again.

Tomorrow I'll finish the new firing schedule (two asap orders came in over the past week that I need to get out before Philly) and I still have about half of my work for the Philly show to get done in the few days following my return from Montana. Off to hyperventilate...

A Real Book Signing!

Coffee was in the ceramic mug from the Uptown Diner in Missoula, music was from the Sirius satellite radio in the car. I picked Dave up at the airport in Missoula last night and on the drive up to the lake this morning we stopped at Barnes & Noble so he could get reading material. I did the cursory I-wonder-if-they-have-my-book-check, and they did! I, as nonchalantly as possible--which is to say not at all, carried it up to the customer service counter and asked if I could sign it. The clerk was suitably excited to have an author in the store and was delighted for me to sign it, and just as I was starting, I saw a step-cousin-in-law I hadn't seen for several years. She took this picture of me signing my book. I signed in the wild! And what better place to see a copy of my book in a bookstore for the first time than in my hometown and the place where the glass all began for me.

Now off to pack and head to the lake cabin to stay for the next week. Posts will be few and far between.

Soaking Up Montana

Coffee in the very big huckleberry mug, the utter quiet of Montana for music--no, wait, the yappy terrier next door for music. When all else is so quiet, the terrier is like nails on a blackboard. Oh good grief--I've been around my father the curmudgeon too long!

Though I didn't post yesterday, I did work. Take a look at the Morceaux de Verre part of the Work section on Siyeh Studio. I will get a bunch more up there today, and then I'll tackle the behind-the-scenes, for-galleries-only catalog ordering system.

Of course since this IS my vacation I also spent some time in the lake, and I decided to reward myself for website virtue by posting the video of lake frolicking here. Ah that every day could end with a float on Flathead Lake (funny how the best site for Flathead on the web is not a .com, .net or .org, it's a .name domain). In the first part, I am floating alone, tethered to the dock by a long rope tied to my foot. I have my Kindle (the thrill of living dangerously with electronic equipment in the water) and a plastic cup of sauvignon blanc. Peace. But then I am joined in the boat...

Joomla Woes

Sauvignon blanc in a cobalt blue water glass--Italian style--in anticipation of the pizza to come, the sounds of dinner being put on the table for background music. It will be a quick post.

Today's video is on Stranded in the South, I can no longer pretend they have anything to do with the Glass Incarnate part of the day here in Montana. And there was a Glass Incarnate part of the day. I struggled through Joomla components this morning trying to figure out how to integrate the photo gallery with the menu system with the on-line catalog and ordering though Virtue Mart (wholesale for galleries only) for my website. I failed. I am frustrated. I take it up again tomorrow.

Is It Wednesday? Who Knows/Cares? It's VACATION!

There was coffee--hours ago, and the sound of J and Mom playing Pick Up Stix in the background is my music now. They are also the source of my movie today. I sit and update my wholesalecrafts.com page with all the new work as they play. Later we'll go to the lake again to swim, collect more rocks, and for me to float in the big chair thingie tied to the end of the dock by my ankle.

Clearly, as the following video will show, Dave has not taught his daughter to be ruthless enough. She felt bad that Gramma had lost the first game of Pick Up Stix and was already losing the second game so she took matters, or sticks, into her own hands...

Vacation Continues.

Cold coffee in the huge huckleberry mug, some western musical soundtrack of my Mom's in the background for music. I put off posting today waiting for a good video. But the videos I took are of Mom's bird Sam refusing to perform on command, and Dad's dog Jig playing catch and sitting for J--which translates into a bunch of jiggly wiggly camera motion all around my parents' small living room. I got seasick filming it so I can't imagine watching it. Video tomorrow.

Real work was also done today. I ordered the last pieces of the display for the BMAC, brought up my accounts receivable up to date, and contacted everyone who is past due. It was scary to realize that I have five figures out in receivables and half of them are past due (over Net 30).

Now I'm going to break and go out to the lake with the family for more lounging in the sun and floating chair. Back with a video 9and to work on the website) tomorrow.

Returning

Coffee in the amorous (the polite way of putting it) bunny mug, Sam eating seeds and my father drinking coffee for music. The doors are open to let in the cool Montana morning breeze, and the loudest noise I hear is the refrigerator occasionally kicking on and humming. The absolute quiet here is startling. There's no doubt I have become acclimatized to living three doors down from one of the busier streets in Atlanta--and having my studio nestled close to the same street. It's a street where cars and trucks provide a ceaseless bass note on which all the other city sounds build. Heck, even our birds are noisier--even with the windows closed and a well-insulated house, the finches, cardinals, sparrows and all the other neighborhood birds raise such a racket starting as soon as it gets light that it's impossible to sleep through! I think the sheer absence of background noise woke me here this morning (that and the fact that it's two time zones later than Atlanta.)

The video is my panorama from my parents back deck this morning. Thank you to George Winston for the song "Returning" from Forest.

Away from the studio, yes, away from work, no. The Buyer's Market looms inexorably, and the website cries loudly to be updated. Today I check in remotely with Bill, Becky, and Stacy about the status of the studio and BMAC prep for the week (and worry at their heels like an amped up terrier). I also contact Patty and Dinah Hulet with a proposition that I have had no time to get to them for over a week now. Later, a leisurely kayak on the lake with J and my Dad while Mom lounges on the dock in the sun. Ah, Montana.

Saturday Movie Day

Coffee in the Atlanta skyline mug, J singing in the background for my music. It's Saturday movie day, and today's movie is from the fireworks last night. No, it has nothing to do with glass but everything to do with the mental health of the glass artist. The video isn't about great fireworks--they were okay, by no means great, it's about people cheering for them and celebrating being alive, being together with friends, having a day off, and enthusiastic optimism about life in spite of the economy, the upcoming election and the continuing war in the Middle East. For me it was one of those rare, perfect moments of building a community--one of the first ones I've had here in Atlanta.




Ok. I've reflected, I've basked, now it's time to get to work. I leave for Montana tomorrow and I have an order to prep for shipment Monday, lights and foam core to buy and carpet to order for the BMAC, and all my work to inventory for the show to see just how much I have to make when I get back from Big Sky Country.

It's not like I won't be working while I'm there (at least for the first week). My parents have dsl and I plan to buy a wireless router at Best Buy when I arrive so I can work on my website from anywhere in the house--even out on the deck looking over the lake. I am very excited about this busman's holiday--no contractors to supervise, no kilns to load or orders to ship, just web and catalog and printed materials for the BMAC to create. J will hang with the grandparents--they can entertain her. Dave will be out for the second week and I'll have vacation and relax (and read) then. I do plan to post--at least for the first week--and there'll be plenty of video both here and on Stranded in the South... really, Stacy.

Happy 4th of July!

Coffee in the New York skyline mug, the sound of the garbage truck receding down the street for music. I'm breathless. Who knew the garbage collectors worked on the 4th of July? That's practically anti-American! And it caught our whole street unaware--we were all running out and waving at them to come get our cans and then frantically dragging said cans to the curb. Whew!

Today is a work day in the studio too--at least the morning is. The afternoon will be at a 4th of July picnic with the other rising first graders (that's what they call the kids who are going into first grade in the fall. Who knew?) at one of the families' house. (Did that apostrophe go in the right place? Plural possessive is always so complicated.)

I need to get on a blog aggregator. The spouse just started a blog (Professor Schadenfreude's Cavalcade of Wonders and Software Development Blog) and within two days he was geting 138 hits a day because he's on a java blog aggregator. But there don't seem to be any blog aggregators (sites whose purpose is to list all the sources of information for a specific group--like java developers or artists--in one place to make it easier for interested people to find them) specifically for artists or craftspeople. Bummer.

Okay, off to fire. Enough putzing on the computer. Happy 4th again!

Studio Baby Birds and Schedules

Goats do Roam white wine in a Riedel stemless wineglass, "The Night of the Infernal Machine" from season two of the original Wild, Wild, West tv series for my background music. The day is almost over, and I failed for the second day in a row to get a kiln load in. That makes me two days behind--with no spares to use to catch up. It sometimes happens, and there's nothing to be done except to be flexible, and to recover as best I can. I did get two shipments out today, and I will have the pieces Jeff Manpearl commissioned for his new work for the Buyer's Market show done and read to ship on Monday. I will not be in the studio to ship them, that duty will fall to the lovely and capable Becky (the assistant), who will continue to work while I am in... MONTANA!

Yes, I have two more days in the studio and then J and I are on a plane heading for the wilds of Montana to celebrate my father's 80th birthday with the family. Sadly, we won't be able to be there for the actual birthday--we have to come back on Sunday the 20th. But we'll be there just before the birthday, and, heck, when you've made it to 80 what's a day or two either way?

The photo is from the studio news of the day Tuesday. I mentioned that I was afraid the cheeping in the chimney would end badly, and it almost did. Tuesday afternoon J had a playdate with an old friend and I brought her mother over to show her the studio. We walked into the gallery room to find baby birds all over the floor in various stages of fledging, and the sound of a lone peep emanating room the chimney. I rounded up the stragglers on the floor and got up into the chimney where I found the last of the hatchlings clinging to a brick and peeping for dear life. A few phone calls later and I was on my way to a local vet that acts as the go-between for the wild bird rehabilitators in the area. Turns out I had five baby chimney swifts, and I left them in the vet's capable hands, a meal already being mixed up for them. The chimney swift woman was to pick them up by 7:00 and they would become someone else's problem!

I have enough problems of my own--chief among them a dearth of firing time. On the other hand, the former studio basement is on its way to becoming a finished part of the Griffith manse--and the future home of the great loom that now lives in our dining room.

Tomorrow is another day in the studio during which I will celebrate my independence from the basement and the cube--two fates worse than death. Happy 4th everyone.

Here's the Rest of the Post!

Coffee was ages ago in some mug or other--who knows which? and I listen to the whir of the ceiling fan and the frantic beating of my heart for music. I got one sip of coffee this morning and then it was put down somewhere as I managed carpenters--who are finishing the former studio (the unfinished basement), talked on the phone with Licha about vitrigraph specs, watered the new landscaping, made sure the garbage men took all of the last of the moving debris away, monitored the process of the assistant, and diddled with a thousand other details before 10:10 when I discovered I was already late for a 10:00 appointment.

The afternoon has thus far been consumed with desnarling a major banking snafu, feeding the child, finishing the watering and now sitting down to post. Still two shipments and two kiln loads to go before date night with Dave... Aaaaagh!

Thanks to Mindy for the wonderful Wordle (shown above). Somehow this morning I managed to post just the wordle and no blog. In case you were wondering "what the heck?", now you know the rest of the story...

Work and References--It's All About Marketing

Coffee in the Denver Architect series mug, the chirping of baby birds in the nest in the gallery room chimney for music. Every morning when I come in the studio I check to see if any birds have fallen out of the nest and down the chimney--as happened last year a couple of months before I bought the studio... It ended badly then and I have a horror of a repeat.

New series going out in the world today: Tropical. It has a lot of the same colors as Cosmic (which was formerly Cosmos), but it avoids the darker tones, incorporates a new blending technique, and I think really zings. Passionate is still my favorite new series for the year though.

The pieces pictured are (in order) Tropical Koi (wall), Cosmic Framed Poppies (wall), Tropical Koi Float (stand), Tropical Float (stand), and Passionate Poppies (stand). The glass in all but the Passionate poppies is 24" X 16", the Passionate Poppies glass is 12" X 18".

Notice the difference in the metal work between the koi wall and stand pieces. I wish I could get these pieces to photograph as well as they look in person. The colors are so stunning and vibrant, and there is incredible depth in the glass... but it just doesn't come across in photos. I'd be tempted to blame my poor photographic skills, but the professional photographers who have tried to capture these pieces have not fared much better than I did.

A final note on the pictures: Personally I prefer the Poppies in Passionate--I think there's too much competition between the dark glass and the dark metal in the Cosmic Poppies.

In other studio news, I ran across two articles/blog posts on Siyeh Studio and the book this week. The first is on Sustainable Living, sustainable living articles, blogs and links site on the Zimbio zine network. It was written by the Best American Arts people about The Greening of Siyeh Studio. The second is a blog post/review of A Beginner's Guide to Kiln-Formed Glass on the Hawley Studios blog.

Writing this blog post today and continuing the catalog of references to Siyeh Studio and the book on the net is part of the preparation for updating the main Siyeh Studio website while I'm in Montana for the next two weeks. I want to get all the articles written, the blog moved over, and and the online catalog of all the work done. Yes, it'll be a working vacation.

Dragging

Coffee was in the Austin skyline mug, "Suffragette City" by David Bowie is on iTunes. I'm pooped. I dragged through yesterday, and I'm dragging through today. Four shipments to go out ranging in size from a small bracket in one to four 16" X 24" pieces with stands in another. Then there's a kiln load to cut and get into Big Bertha... and it's already 1:30 pm. Oy. Becky the Wonder Assistant has a cold so she was dragging today too. Only Jessie--who is in the studio all week as she has no camp scheduled--is perky. Nothing like a perky six year-old to make you feel really old and draggy.

The vitrigraph experiment was interesting. When I opened the kiln yesterday to take out the empty flower pot I instead found a half-full flower pot. Because of the lower temperature for the flow, we would have had to pull another couple of hours to use all the glass in the pot. Good to know. Next time I'm going to put it in early in the morning and plan on pulling around noon--rather than starting the whole process at 2:00 pm. We had a fun time loading the kiln--as shown in the accompanying video. It's all about play and experimentation here at Siyeh Studio.

Saturday Movie Day!

Coffee in the New Orleans mug, the sounds of the washer and dryer (it's laundry day) for music. Yes, it's Saturday and I'm posting--I think I'll make Saturday the official movie day. I missed posting Thursday last week and it's just thrown me all off.

Today's movies include an excerpt from a "show" that Jessie put on this morning for Dave and me, and the promised garden video (thanks to George Winston for his song "Reflection" from the album Winter Into Spring which I used as the soundtrack for the movie).

The rest of the "show" will trickle its way on to Stranded in the South, but the part included here (completely spontaneous and unprompted, I might add) is all about Glass Incarnate.



We finished playing with the vitrigraph yesterday about 6:00 pm. Everyone got a chance to pull and twist molten glass stringer--even Jessie (though she had to stand on the step stool and was closely monitored by three nervous women). We kept the temp pretty low (I think it never got above 1650 degrees) so we got twisty rod more than stringer--which is what the group wanted. The lower temp made for a more controlled, wider flow. The width showed off all the colors in the pot nicely. There is a good article by Phyllis L'Hommedieu in The Flow magazine winter 2007 issue about pulling glass rod from a vitrigraph that was the basis for our play.

I wanted to put up the video showing the prep leading up to pulling the rod/stringer, but the 128 mg size is making everything choke. I'll edit it down a bit and post it tomorrow. Monday I'll post the video of the glass flowing out the bottom of the kiln.

Everything Got Done!!!!

Coffee in the Austin skyline mug, "Mad About You" by Belinda Carlisle (originally of the GoGo's) on the iPod--a random selection from the studio mix playlist. So I didn't post yesterday. I'm lucky I'm posting this morning. Every day this week has entailed hitting the studio at 8:30 (as soon as the J is off to camp and D off to work), working like a madwoman till 4:00 when I pick up J, and then back in the studio till 7:30 or so to get the kiln loads in for the day. Fitting in dinner, pool maintenance, Sprout time--and a little bit of Rock Band--has taken everything I have and more. The madwoman part of the day is all about supervising the final moving and landscaping, talking to vendors, partners (other artists) and clients on the phone, and shipping. I am so tired right now I can't see straight--and it's a play day in the studio!

Dee and her friend Sylvanie are coming to try out the vitrigraph and Becky will be here to work and play some too. Her nephews were here yesterday (and will be back today) and I helped them each make their own piece (fused yesterday, to slump today).

______________

So the day is already over and *amazing* things have been accomplished. I sit at the computer and finsh this post as Sylvanie, Dee, Becky, Patrick, Gabe and Jessie pull stringer from the vitrigraph in the coldroom. Though now that the vitrigraph is mounted in there it isn't such a cold working room anymore.


Two full kiln loads are in Bertha and Bettina and a fix fuse is in Middle ground. The garage has been completely cleaned out and almost everything has finally been moved from the old studio (in the basement) to either the new studio or the new studio shed. What an incredible week! I am going to finish with a couple of pictures of the new landscaping--I'll make a cool movie this weekend from all the footage I shot the other day.


And what a great feeling--everything I wanted to get done this week actually got done! Tomorrow, I rest. Have a good weekend all.

Late, Late, Late Wednesday

Geyser Peak sauvignon blanc in a stemless Riedel glass, "Brass In Pocket" by the Rock Band Pretenders (Dave on guitar) for music. It's evening, I am just ready to get in the shower, but had to post before I finished for the day. Jessie gets to lie down with me for ten minutes before she heads off to bed, and that's after I take a shower (which is next). Dave is going to bring creme brulee and something sticky (Gran Marnier?) up to bed after the J has departed, and I won't make it back to the laptop again ce soir.

Today finished the front yard landscaping (in successive trips I fit 33 bags of river pebbles--and a bezillion plants including three flats, 50 bags of mulch--and 12 boxwoods and five assorted annual/perennials, and 23 bags of drainage stone in the Odyssey minivan. Honda rocks.) There was also a kiln load and a shipment. It's late, I'm pooped. Movie tomorrow.

Broussard Tuesday

Coffee in the New Orleans skyline mug, "Home" by Marc Broussard on iTunes--both are in honor of Marc Broussard whom I was fortunate enough to see live last night from about seven people back at a private concert in an 800 person venue (the photo is from Dave's Blackberry). It was the last night of the tour and the band was on fire (literally--it had to be 95 degrees in the audience, I can't imagine what it was like under the lights). The Sons of William opened for them, and they were really great--I'm going to be getting their first album.

Started the morning in the studio by finding one more thing that was stolen in the burglary--the craftsman stained glass lamp from the office. It was just an inexpensive Home Depot lamp, but it was a special wow-I-have-a-real-studio-not-a-space-in-a-basement purchase and I was really bummed to reach to turn it on only to find it gone. (It's also sad when a glass artist can buy a stained glass lamp from Home Depot cheaper than she can make it--but that's another story.)

The last of the dirt arrives today and then all the plants I bought over the weekend go in. The studio is *really* starting to come together outside. And with Becky riding herd on me, it's also coming together inside. Pretty soon I'm going to turn her loose on my desk and watch my papers magically file themselves (they will cower and run in fear from Becky).

My glass order--150 lbs of frit--from Bullseye should be here tomorrow and none to soon as I will run out of yellow medium today with more cosmos, passionate, fresh and flame pieces to do (all series that require yellow). Still haven't finished the firing schedule, but I am keeping at least a day or two out on it so full loads are firing daily. Today is the last day of single kiln firing. Tomorrow I start back in the two-loads-per-day cycle as I will have a full fuse load for one kiln and a full slump load for t'other. (As the kilns are both 72" X 36", that's a lot of pieces.)

I had more to say, but I can't remember what it was (the morning is underway and I have writus interruptus) so I'm going to get to work.

Monday

Coffee in the Austin skyline mug, the sound of pickaxes hitting dirt and cars driving by the studio for music. The garden soil for the front of the studio arrives today and before it gets dumped, I'm having the workers punch drainage holes in the existing compacted soil around the elm and sweetgum trees. The studio is a multi-activity place today. I have to ship, begin the daily full-load firings that will carry through the next two weeks, supervise landscapers and assistant, and organize the production and shipping schedules for this week and next. Gaaa!

The reality of the small business person: I could have done all the paperwork and organization over the weekend, but this past weekend I chose to spend with my family and not work at all. Today I pay for it as it didn't go away because I didn't do it and now I'm trying to think and plan in the midst of the Monday morning chaos.

Now off to plan.

Friday at the Circus!

Dancing Goats blend coffee with real half 'n' half in a big mug with holly berries, pine boughs and poinsettias on it, world music of some flavor piping out the speakers. Yup, it's a Kavarna day! It's a Kavarna day AND a day of four people working at the studio. Handy Dandy Dan the carpenter is putting up the vitrigraph kiln and the toilet paper holder in the bathroom, Capability Becky the Assistant is supervising two workers who are moving all the remaining glass from the basement to the studio and the shed...

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And I'm back! I was posting quietly and then I had to run back to the studio to do a second-round task list. Dan is done and gone, Becky is finishing and going soon, and then the two guys left will be on yard duty prepping the new front beds for the garden dirt delivery on Monday and getting rid of the worst of the kudzu and crabgrass in the backyards. Studio bliss. I have a vitrigraph installed and a playdate already set-up with some flameworkers for next Friday. I need to call Licha to see when she can come and play.

This afternoon Jessie finishes week two of Circus Camp and Dave and I are going to the show at 2:00 (more video opportunities for me!). Before we go I'll finish my piece list and firing schedule for the BMAC and get the metal order for it to Bill. When we get back, I'll ship a couple of orders and fire a full kiln load--it'll be a long day, but what a successful week!

Back to work. Pictures next week of the new front of the studio.

Life Lessons

Coffee in the Denver skyline mug, "In Without Knocking" by Mission Mountain Woodband on iTunes (I'll go in without knockin' to the first saloon I see in this town. Been in the saddle thirty days, oh, Montana bound. This ain't no time to be polite, I may be spoilin' for a fight. I'll be raisin' hell and drinkin' whiskey down. So come on in without" knockin', stay till the last dollar's down."). My father's 80th birthday is 30 days from today and I have FINALLY hammered down the details for his surprise party in Montana. Today I put together the invitation and send it out to everyone.

What does this have to do with a day in the glass studio? The glass artist is a whole person--as is everyone else. It's naive to think we can compartmentalize our lives into set time and function slots and make it all work (the home slot, the work slot, the spouse/partner/parent slots). I am simultaneously a glass artist writing the web portion of an article for the upcoming issue of Profitable Glass magazine, a child planning the party of a parent, and a friend recovering from a night of spontaneous waitressing and bartending for a friend in her restaurant--that's a story for Stranded in the South--and those are all different slots. What about all the roles/tasks we have to juggle at the same time in each slot? I have a carpenter and an assistant to organize and supervise today in the studio (the employer role of the glass artist slot), I have pieces to create and fire, the aforementioned article to write, the firing schedule to update.... the list just goes on for the glass artist slot (and all the other slots). Throw the knife, catch the knife, throw the knife, catch the knife.

So where am I going with all this? Is it bothering me? Am I complaining that this is what life has turned out to be? Not a bit of it! I am consumed with joy at the full richness that is my life at 47. I was a better waitress last night than I was 20 years ago when it was my regular job, and the reason I was better is that I more mentally flexible and adaptable than I was 20 years ago. I am more confident of myself, my abilities, and my skills. I never once got flustered last night, and I truly jumped into the middle of the deep end with no paddle. The water was just fine.

I believe I was able to work as I did last night because I keep my life and my time fluid. I don't have a work slot that goes everyday from 9:00 to 5:00 followed by a home slot. I work as much and wherever as it takes to get each job done, and the importance of each job in each slot is constantly evaluated and re-prioritized as necessary so that the musts do get done when they need to, some nice to haves get accomplished, and many things are left for later. there is never--and will never be--enough time to get to everything in the in-box and happiness comes from realizing and accepting that one, hard fact of life. The slots and their jobs rise and fall in the hierarchy of importance, and their flow ensures the balance of my life and my ability to surmount new challenges with grace and verve.

Enough writing about working, it's time to actually work.

Beat

Coffee in the Austin skyline mug, "Learning to Fly" by the Foo Fighters on iTunes. It's only Wednesday and it feels like Thursday--in some ways this is a Good Thing. Normally by Thursday I am beat from working a hard, full week.

Yesterday--with the summer cold--was a solid 10+ hour day. And at the end of it, the shipping room is AWESOME! I can't take a picture of it, but I'm tempted to use the video camera and pan around it so you, too, can share in the splendor.

Today, more organizing, cleaning (including vacuuming with the studio vacuum I got at Home Depot yesterday and cleaning the bathroom!), another kiln load, and preparing for tomorrow's great web day. Now Dan's here for another day of carpentering so I had better get moving. I close with pictures of the pieces that came out of the kiln and shipped yesterday. The round is 16" in diameter, the rectangle is 24 x 16.

Unngh

Coffee in the New Orleans mug, "Rock Anthem" by Diesel Boy (from the album "Rode Hard and Put Away Wet") on iTunes. I thought about listening to Marc Broussard to complete the New Orleans theme (and to prepare for Monday night when I get to see him live!), but the Diesel Boys album title was too appropriate to pass up. Ungh. I am laid low by a summer cold. All I want to do is sleep and cough, but the former is not on the cards for today--I have no control over the latter.

I didn't ship yesterday. Between almost running out of gas (twice) and dealing with a glitch in the studio alarm system, I was kept hopping right up until Jessie's new teacher came at 5:00 for a home visit and the work day ended. Today Becky (the new assistant) comes at 9:00 so I have to be ready to work (she's very prompt--unlike both me and my former assistant Stacy...). She's shaping up both me and the studio. Dan the carpenter was in yesterday and got the white boards up, the bubble wrap dispenser up, another frit storage rack put up, the front porch siding painted, and miscellaneous other things fixed. Between Becky and Dan I'm going to be organized by the en dof summer--whether I want to or not.

Now off to drag my behind to the studio (I'll get dressed and brush my teeth first).

Honor

Coffee? What coffee? That was HOURS ago. No music either--rush, rush, rush. The phone has been ringing off the hook, emails flying left and right, to and fro, heigh ho, heigh ho. I wouldn't be posting except, well, I do it everyday. So today's post comments about shipping (got to do it next), orders (they trickle slowly and steadily in), and credit card fraud. No parentheses for the last one--it gets its own paragraph.

I did a little calling around after I found all my credit card info on the Arabic language credit card fraud site. I called my clients and the other artists I know who were on the list. I also called a couple of random people just to make sure they knew what was out there. Though most of them knew there had been fraudulent activity on their cards (most, not all--one had not), no one knew from where or how. Guess EZ Pedestal not only didn't notify me, but they didn't notify anyone else either. And since they were aware of the existence of the website back in April--and that all of our personal info and card numbers was posted on it--I'm really, really surprised they never told any of us. Liability worries? I don't know. But it wasn't very honorable.

And that's today. Off to ship.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Being On the Internet

Coffee in the Los Angeles skyline mug, "Out Here In the Middle" by James McMurtry on iTunes. It's random, but if I'd picked, it's the one I would've picked. Last night I Googled Siyeh Studio--as I periodically do just to see what's out there on the great, big interweb thingie--and I was shocked to find my name, address, phone number, email address, and Visa credit card number and expiration date on the web! There is an Arabic language youth site called Dos1.com that has a message forum which Google translates as "Forum Credit Card world of credit cards". Someone hacked the EZ Pedestal site back in April and posted dozens of credit card numbers with the corresponding personal information on the forum.

Was I surprised to find my info there? Absolutely! Should I have been? Probably not. This is the world in which we live, and I had someone tell me today (in connection with this credit card issue) that Americans are perceived to be naive because we are not taught from infancy how to work the system, to cheat, to lie and to steal well. Two of my clients and two other artists I know were also on the list. Small, sad, world. An interesting note: I was also able to get right to the page where my info was listed by doing a web search on my credit card number.... A useful Google tip if you think your credit info is out in the world and you want to find where.

Other searches turned up more positive results. Profitable Glass Magazine has their on-line profile of Siyeh Studio up. I found myself credited (in a former life) on the acknowledgments page of the book "The Life of Arseniev: Youth" by Ivan Bunin, Andrew Baruch Wachtel--I went to get the book on Amazon, but the price for vanity was a bit too dear.

I also found a cool blog called Made in the USA which features reviews and giveaways of American-made goods, and they featured one of my platters donated by Best American Arts! The comments about my work were especially gratifying (and that could have been ugly). The give-away itself was linked on another site.

I guess the post should have just been the Good and the Bad--though the Bad was pretty Ugly too.

The Summer Rolls On

Coffee was in the new Denver Architect series mug (thank you, Aunt Sheila!), "The Girl With the Weight Of the World In Her Hands" by the Indigo Girls on the iPod. It's a random and not particularly appropriate song, but very pretty nonetheless. Pia is in the cold room experimenting with Bullseye Glass as a pottery glass/additive. I have already been to Commerce and met Elaine this morning to pick up the steel I had ordered from Elliott Metal Works. Now I have a big kiln load to get in, photos to update on the studio website, and a glass order to get in (still). It's a day!

Later this afternoon I will take Aunt Sheila and my cousin Katrina to the airport so they can continue their journey to Peru. Dave will pick the J up from circus camp as she is taking an extra trapeze class after regular camp today. Life is Good.

Back In the Studio

Coffee in the new Orleans skyline mug, the sound of the washer draining and my fingers on the keyboard for music. Becky Wang sent me email again overnight. My, she's persistent! I am meeting with my new assistant for the summer this morning, and I have a kiln load to fire (back in the hot box), but at least I found and fixed my AC problem.

Yesterday as I was walking around the studio checking to make sure all the heating and air ducts were unobstructed, I noticed that the vent in the shipping room looked to open into a great, gaping hole instead of into an air duct. I took the vent off and, sure enough, when the floor settled earlier this year, the duct had slipped out and fallen to the crawl space floor below. No wonder the house was not cooling well--I was blowing a lot of the cold air into the open crawl space below the house. I pulled the duct back up and fixed it in place, and I'm cooling right down now. When it's 95 degrees out I just have to cool the studio down with more than fans. I am being as energy conscious as I can, but the heat is just killing me.

____________

Now Becky (the new assistant--and NOT Becky Wang) is hard at work breaking down cardboard boxes and unpacking shipments. I am going to inventory frit and get in an order, and then put the kiln load in for the day. Whoo hoo! We're rockin' and rollin' again.

Spam

Coffee in the Atlanta skyline mug, "See You Again" by Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) on iTunes. Dave just rolls his eyes and comments drolly on the similarity of the effects of menarche and menopause on women. Whatever. I am now 47 and I no longer feel the need to hide my more juvenile tastes from the world. And I never liked the Who. So there.

Today as I continue to work on the computer I thought I would share a couple of my favorite recent spam emails sent to Siyeh Studio (no edits--they are as I got them). From yesterday:

"Hello Sales,

I am American citizen residing in Russian Federation,I got your contact from my friend in your country and i am very interested in your product which i will like to buy because due to the quality .I will like to make an enquiry regarding to place an order through the MAIL ORDER and kindly advice me if you can ship to Russian Federation and if you accept fast means of payment,i.e credit card (Master Card or Visa Car) Get back to me Asap so that i can provide you with the product i want to order from you.

Hope to hear from you soon and Kindly get back to me with your website again.

Thanks and Write Back

Becky Wang."

Oh yeah. I guess American citizen doesn't mean speaks English, but this was too awful. And for creativity a la "The Sting" (you can't con an honest man) purportedly from the Internal Revenue Service:

"Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
United States Department of the Treasury

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal
activity we have determined that you are eligible
to receive a tax refund of $184.80.

Please submit the tax refund request and allow us
6-9 days in order to process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons.
For example submitting invalid records or applying
after the deadline.

To access the form for your tax refund, use the following personalized link:

http://0xCA.0x80.0x1D.0x2/www.irs.gov/

Regards,
Internal Revenue Service


Document Reference: (0xCA.0x80.0x1D.0x2)."

Return address on the email is service@irs.mu.gov. Now that I've chuckled for the day I'm off to the hot box aka the Studio. Lots of videos on Stranded in the South.

Hotlanta

Coffee in the Denver skyline mug, "(If You Were) In My Movie" by Suzanne Vega on iTunes (from the album 99.9 degrees--oh the appropriateness!). I have an almost irresistible urge to video something, anything. Good thing it's "almost" as Spielberg I ain't. Summer continues to burn here--thank heaven it's not a big glass studio day. It's Monday so it starts with a non-glass activity (ikebana). It's 77 degrees right now with a projected high of 95 degrees. I am just not going to be firing today! For once I'm glad the orders are light.

Today I spend in the AC. I'll meet Mike and do web work (I feel like the geek in the movie XXX every time I say that. Reminds me of him talking spy smack about "wet work"). Then I'll get J from Circus Camp and go for a late afternoon swim. Tomorrow is soon enough to make the piece list for the August BMAC and to order glass from Bullseye... and to fire the upcoming orders.

When Your Only Tool Is a Hammer...

Coffee in the Denver skyline mug--in honor of my aunt Sheila and my cousin Katrina who are stopping here next week on their way to Peru, "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" by Elvis Costello on iTunes for Jessie (it's one of her favorite songs) in honor of her last day of Kindergarten!

Yesterday I finished updating the gallery list and the Google map on my website of locations where you can find my work. Whew! Pretty, huh? And I learned the secret html that makes weblinks open in a new page or tab--rather than navigating away from my page. I feel smug. As iTunes alternates between songs by Elvis Costello and Elvis Presley I realize that I have filtered my library by "Elvis"... It's an interesting playlist.

Today I go full gear into prep for the August Buyer's Market. I need a little more carpet (I use the FLOR House Pet in Hummingbird and love it--the squares are much easier to move and store than a roll and the purple POPS!). I also need a full set of new lights, another set of pedestals, and I am investigating hanging hardware recommended by Sara Creekmore at ACRE--a first set came yesterday and I am going to try hanging on a grid panel with it. Surprise, surprise, it's already time to order from Bullseye again--I am low on several frit colors and sizes. I think I might skip the glass this round and just go for frit.

Next week sees new help for the studio--I am meeting with a friend who wants to be my new assistant for the summer on Wednesday and getting together with Mike, another friend who gave me website work for Christmas, Monday to jump start him on Joomla and go over where I want to go on the site next. Not much firing to be done, but that's okay as it's still a bezillion degrees outside and the temps still climb.

Off to shower--get washed and dried before I get all sweaty again--have a great weekend!

The Penultimate Day of the Work Week

Coffee was in the stainless go-mug (it's done now), " 'Round Here Somewhere" by the BoDeans on iTunes. Got my car back from the shop this morning--Dave dropped me off there after we took the Sprout to school. It is just sliding from perfect to getting hot right now. 9:00 am. *sigh* The morning was achingly beautiful here at 8:00 and I wished it could just stay like that all day every day--70 degrees, faint breeze, hazy sunlight, deep shade from the lush trees everywhere. But no, it's supposed to get to 92 degrees today and that's just too hot to do anything outdoors (or in the studio). Good thing I'm on-line and pushing paper all day in the AC at the house.

The gallery update on the website proceeds apace--I should finish it this morning. Work yesterday was interrupted by a run to the American Girl store in Alpharetta for a Gotcha Day present for J. Gotcha Day is actually May 21 and we are just getting around to celebrating tonight... we've been busy. So tonight we have presents and cake and go to see Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull--maybe at the drive-in, maybe in an indoor theater (after all, it's HOT out there).

The most exciting news from yesterday is that my friend Jeff made me a new Goddess to replace the one that was stolen! He left the glass out of this one so I'll be forced (twist my arm) to put my own glass in it. I am so psyched and it is so beautiful. Thank you Jeff (hug, hug!). I'll post a pic when I get the glass in.

The Week Goes On

Coffee in another little paper cup, "Let's Dance to Joy Division" (and celebrate the irony) by the Wombats from Dave's computer courtesy of his ear buds for music. Wow. I am married to an inner teenager. He said he needed something to pick him up (and Kavarna is big into the mope this morning) and, well, if the Wombats don't do it, nothing will. Me, I'm a sucker for those little male Sheffield voices. "So happy, and we're so happy, so happy..." and we're at Kavarna.

Three orders shipped yesterday, a piece was redone for the second time (done for the third), and a piece was slumped. Lots of people sent money (Huzzah!) Dave just shared with me that the song above is off of the Wombats upcoming album "A Guide to Love, Loss, and Depression". Oh boy. "And now another song about a gender I don't understand..." The Wombats (and my spouse) are so cute.

Last night I finished updating addresses, phone numbers, and websites for my gallery list. Good-bye Nicholson House! That's a definite two, maybe (unconfirmed rumor) three galleries I was in that closed this spring. Now that the gallery list is done, I will put it up on the web. It'll be good to have a full reference up there--and on a Google map too! Next step is getting pics of all the new work up in the running slideshow on the front page--and getting all the articles written about the visit to PoP and Hoypoloi in the spring, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston placement, the Profitable Glass article... More oy.

One last shipment to go out today and the rest is paperwork, fax this, write that. Call this one, email that one. And the week goes on....

The Greening of Siyeh Studio

Dancing Goats coffee in a paper cup, Zohar's Onethreeseven on cd for music. Yup, it's a Kavarna day! Yesterday, as Stacy pointed out in her comment, was NOT easy. Six orders went out, two were rescheduled (with components refired) to go out today, two of the six were sent out as partials--one has a piece going out today and the other has two pieces going out tomorrow (I had a large piece thermal shock during slump for the first time in, well, a VERY long time!). Three kilns fired yesterday, two full and one half full, even though the day started with no firings scheduled at all--all to correct mistakes. Even minus the mistakes, twelve boxes weighing 357 lbs were shipped yesterday. Whew! The only time one day's shipping came even close to this was the corporate gift order for 114 pieces, and that one was a LOT easier to pack (Stacy would ask how I know as she packed that whole order). I do know that it was a lot easier to ship as the client sent me pre-printed labels and scheduled the pick-up themselves.

Today I work on the website--I hope to have ALL the galleries listed and mapped by then end of the day--and do mop-up shipping and firing from yesterday. Tomorrow will also have a Kavarna morning and more web work.

So yesterday I mentioned the greening of Siyeh Studio. I am very excited about where I am now in the process and that it matters to someone other than me--there is a growing number of galleries and other vendors who support green art. So how am I green? Think Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Reduce. I have a zero-waste process for my production work. For the Morceaux de Verre pieces there is no unused scrap, and the small amount of mixed frit left from each piece is reserved for another new series called Frittered. In addition to reducing my materials use, I limit my energy consumption as much as possible. I fire at night in the summer and cool with fans instead of air conditioning. I hope to have my schedule worked out enough to fire in the morning in the winter and use fans to move the heat from the kilns through the studio for secondary heating. My lighting is all fluorescent--even the front porch light bulbs are long-life fluorescent spirals. The attic has been finished off so I can have insulation blown in--further reducing the energy needed to heat and cool.

Reuse. The most exciting development in the studio is efficient water management. I took a class in making rain barrels last Saturday and came away with five--three for the studio and two for the house. Two of the studio ones are designated for grey water from the studio sink and lap grinder and the third is for the gutters (which I have to buy and get installed in the next couple of weeks). All the water is for the new landscaping I am putting in the front and back yards. I already use very little water in the studio, and being able to reuse everything but what goes down the toilet is going to be GREAT.

I go through a lot of sheet glass and many, many 5-lb jars of frit a week. The sheet glass comes packed between sheets of thick fibrous paper that are good for weed control in the garden, art materials for papier mache, drawing and painting for J and her school. The frit jars are #1 plastic and recyclable, but I am never short of people who want them for storing screws, nails, small toys, pasta, crafts--the list goes on. Whenever I have a sack full of empties I either give them to my carpenter Dan (who parcels them out to his friends and neighborhood handymen) or I take them to J's school and leave them in the conference room for the teachers and other parents.

Recycle. I have applied for my own studio recycling bin for all mixed paper, old magazines and diet coke cans. Cardboard boxes and fluorescent light bulbs require runs to two different drop-off locations. I got the addresses this morning and I think it'll be worth it to make a run every couple of months.

Now if I could just get Dave behind the idea of a studio goat to keep down the weeds in the back and chickens for fertilizer for the garden...

Summer Time, and the Studio is Easy

Coffee in the Chicago skyline mug, the splash of water from the fountain weaving in and out of the lily pads in the pond and the shrill trumpet of chipmunks quarreling with squirrels for music. It is summer in Atlanta. The weekend saw the last big three-kiln firing for awhile on Saturday, and lots of gardening including two classes, one on making rain barrels (I now have five--three for the studio and two for the house) and the other on making a succulent hanging basket. The small pond was relocated to the front yard (from the front porch) and stocked with plants for the fish to live in and eat. The back deck was cleaned and now hosts all the house plants and orchids for the summer. I even cut down all the six-foot high poke weed, trimmed the trees up, and hired Bruce from down the street to weed the beds.

So why is my Monday morning post full of gardening? Because it is a time of transition in the glass studio. Today sees the last big group of orders from the BMAC and ACRE go out. Though there are still orders to do from both shows, there are no more days when more than two orders go out, and the orders themselves are small. They are also staggered through November and my next show isn't until August with the summer Buyer's Market.

Today I have Stacy to help pack and ship, and tomorrow and Wednesday are both going to be web development days. For the rest of the summer I will spend at least one day a week on web development and marketing and one day on business process. A third day is dedicated to studio optimization and going green (more on that tomorrow). The remaining days are enough for production. Normally I would be looking to the summer for product development too, but the new glass and metal pieces and glass colorways already created this year are enough. Better use of the time will be getting a catalog created on the website and setting up on-line wholesale ordering for galleries.

And now off to clean and sign and pack and ship. Huzzah!