time just flies by

I can't believe how quickly a week passes. On Monday there was still snow on the ground. After several days of rain, it has all washed away, but biting wet cold remains. I am incredibly grateful that we got cold and rain rather than the snow that's hitting the upper midwest and eastern seaboard, but this is not a normal winter for Memphis. I think we'll all be ready for the first glimpses of spring that usually come at the end of February.

This week has been a busy one- I'm working on settling my business taxes and getting all of our documents in order for the accountant. I have a Valentines Day self-imposed deadline for turning it all in. We've gotten a serious decluttering and home-improvement bug at our house and have been hacking away at things we don't love or use often enough to keep. Organizing what we're keeping- from toys to books to food (a full freezer inventory was Tuesday's accomplishment) to clothes.

This week I also spent some time at a new space that is going to be one of the best new spots in Memphis! If you know me on Facebook, you may have seen something about a new retail location for me this spring. Or you may have heard me mention Trolley Stop Market. My good friends Keith and Jill Forrester are opening a new restaurant/deli/grocery/market in April. It will be all local produce, meat, honey, coffee, baked goods (including my friend Uele's awesome granola), skin care, and pottery! It opens in April, M-F, and you can read more about it here. I can't tell you how excited I am about this shop- both as a producer and a local-product enthusiast.

My excitement about the Trolley Stop has carried over into the studio. I've been making lots of vases- both bud vases like the ones I showed you on Monday- and larger versions. Jill grows gorgeous flowers- which will be a major component of the market. I also pulled out my box of two porcelain clays I ordered last year. One brick is hard and well, brick-like. The other is still soft enough to throw with. I haven't used porcelain in over 5 years. I couldn't tell the difference between my usual smooth stoneware and the trickier porcelain after the pieces were finished, so I abandoned porcelain in favor of the more-reliable, easy to use "porcelaneous stoneware" clay.

Fast-forward to 2009 and my problems with the berry bowl cracks. I was desperate to solve the problem and bought two porcelains to try and I bought a new hole puncher to try with a new hole formation. The latter two ended the majority of my production issues and the porcelain sat, forgotten. Today, I am both low on my standard clay and thinking about teacups. I opened the softer bag of porcelain and threw some with it today. I'd forgotten how much I love this. It has the consistency of cream cheese and the color of buttercream icing (for reference, the back bowl is my regular clay and the porcelain is in front). It is harder to throw- the eggs that I tried weren't successful, but the teacups were. I envision a set of lovely thin teacups made out of this clay. I even have a special (also abandoned) glaze in mind for them.

My. I seem to have had a lot to say.
Have a lovely weekend. Stay safe, and stay warm. I'll see you again next week.