Open Studios: after the event...

Today I’m recovering from our four-day Open Studio event. I feel as though I’ve been on my feet for weeks! We had a very successful and enjoyable time. In my last blog entry I mentioned we were sharing a venue in Freshwater - which is one of the more remote areas on the island. So we were really pleased to count 592 people through the doors over the weekend! We met lots of new customers and also quite a few fellow artists too (including some potters – which was very good for me because I could ‘talk shop’ about ceramics with them). Overall I think we all had an excellent time and lots of people said how much they enjoyed coming to see us. So you never know, we might just do it all over again this time next year!

Anyway, I managed (in all the busy buzz of holding a stall) to remember to take some photos. However, the interior shots didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped. So instead I thought I’d blog these exterior shots of our venue – which was a lovely old thatched building (Freshwater Parish Hall).

(By the way, my homemade button display board was a hit: sold lots of buttons and had lots of lovely comments about them too. So I’ll definitely be taking the board with me to the next event…)

Open Studios

This year my sister and I (as Osmosis) are taking part in the Isle of Wight Artists’ Open Studios 2010. It starts this Friday (16th of July) and ends next Monday (19th of July) so it’s not long to go! We’re exhibiting in Freshwater on the island and will be sharing a venue (Freshwater Parish Hall) with 5 other artists including painters, sculptors, jewellers and other craft makers. This means visitors will get to see a wide variety of arts and crafts all in one place – so there should be something for everyone! You can see our listings and find out more details here.

In the meantime I’ve been busy planning what to take to the Open Studios in terms of stock – but also putting together details of the display. In fact the display part seems to take the longest! Since it’s a four-day event this time, I decided I needed to think more about how to show off my buttons. Normally I put them in wicker baskets or arrange them flat on the table: but this really doesn’t show them off properly. So yesterday I had a brain wave and re-commissioned my cork pin board from the studio. I gave it a few coats of white paint, pushed in some nails, and hey presto, a simple, lightweight display board for my buttons! And it cost me nothing because I already had everything to hand. Anyway, these are some shots of the result.

I’m really pleased with it. I think once it sits in amongst all my pots and other display pieces it’s going to look a treat.

Anyway, wish me luck!

Buttons and Bags

Just wanted to mention this gorgeous bag pictured above. It’s made from pure Jacob and Mohair wool mix in a natural stone grey and hand crocheted in one piece by Deb Scudder of pipistrelle. And (you might recognise this) Deb has finished this beautiful bag with one of my little raku buttons in a mustard and white crackle glaze! I think they work beautifully together and I’m so pleased to see my little button doing what it was intended for! This truly is a unique piece: and you can read a more detailed explanation of the making process in the listing for this bag in her folksy shop and also her blog.

And here's a close-up of the button before it found its true purpose in life!

Thanks again Deb!

Wistfully thinking of paint

There seem to be two themes running parallel at the moment and instead of pots and paint it's been pots and computers! I've had quite a few orders lately which has been very exciting - so lots of tissue, bubblewrap and trips to the post office. Although of course now I'm a little concerned because my stock is so low! So I've also been trying to make lots of pots to catch up.

Summer is upon us and I have a busy show season ahead right through into mid August. So I've also been making preparations like printing out flyers, ordering new moo cards and putting links up here on the blog. I've started a new feature on the side bar called 'Events' to cover upcoming shows. So please do look to your right (!) and see what's on in case you're in the area. I plan to update it regularly over the summer with the latest news. And I'm sure I'll be blogging about the events too as and when they happen.

My other news is I now have a lovely new, much needed MacBook Pro! My old mac was having trouble loading images on-line poor thing and had started to make a strange clickerty whirring noise. I wasn't sure how much longer it would survive. But now I've transferred all my files and settings and have a lovely fast connection and bigger screen. However, a couple of days ago - barely a week after getting my new laptop - I was sitting down late in the evening to finish some emails when I knocked an entire mug of piping hot tea all over it. I couldn't believe it! A pale brown pool of tea all over the place including the coffee table, the carpet and sofa. Priority though was given to the laptop and I went into automatic disaster mode running backwards and forwards with cloths in over-calm silence. Miraculously the laptop survived and didn't explode into columns of tea-smelling smoke. In fact all the tea-soaked items, furniture and carpet are absolutely fine: to look at them you'd never know! Clearly I'd been awarded a get-out-of-jail-free card there!

While all this has been going on I've been planning a new painting in my mind - and it's a bit frustrating that I haven't had time to begin. New ideas for paintings don't come every day! So I hope in the next few weeks I might get a chance to paint - let's see!