Retail or just creative?

Sold to some wonderful customer last year.  I'm feeling less and less interested in the retail portion of being creative.  Of course having the green energy to buy groceries that I love is something that I should also think about.

What the clay studio won't be doing during Sourwood Art Festival this year.

I'm feeling like making more hand built things, sculptures of something or another...

August is not the greatest time to be outside trying to sell pots in Black Mountain, which is one of the reasons BMCA will not have their booth out this year.  However, the Sourwood Festival is lots of fun, so I'll probably go through and see what's there.  I'm just relieved to not have to sit on that concrete and hope for sales.

I haven't brought this sugar creamer set out yet this year.  Of course it might be because I love it too much to sell it. 

Making a scoop for sugar (or splenda) was harder than I thought it would be...so it got a "sweet" name on it.

my journey again

Well, having taken a frew breaths, I'll share some of the nature photos (these are the last, I swear) from my trip south last week.

Crescent Beach on a Mon. afternoon was almost deserted.  The trash overuneth, so over the weekend it had been busier. 

I was initially worried that these fisher-people wouldn't want anyone nearby...but when I went to wade along the water, I discovered why nobody was in the cool water.  Jelly fish were dead along the sand, and though I walked a half hour in the water edge, I kept my eye out.  You don't want to argue with some jelly fish, and I wouldn't know Portugese Man of War (I think that's what they're called, or something along those lines) from pussy cat jelly fish.

This shows the boardwalk across the dunes...and some newcommers slathering down with their coconut oils.  I didn't bother to put any on...as I was only there less than an hour.

It was a lovely rest-stop, and soon I was on the highway again for parts north...after waiting for the drawbridge in St. Augustine...

The new Bridge of Lions still has the lions, but it isn't as pretty as the old one, at least to me.  I also drove by the apartment I'd lived in back before 2000, which was empty and for sale (the whole empty duplex apartment building) as it had been last year when I visited.  I liked the newish green paint, and missed my red door in the former grey walls.

The next day I returned to the highway after a safe motel stop for a storm which brought really high winds and rain through the area (it hit before dawn in Brunswick where I stayed).  By that afternoon everything was sunny and cool, but there were still some scarey winds that would gust occasionally.

After a week in tropical lush green FL, I loved seeing spring again as I also loved seeing land that rose up before me.

It's hard to see, but not only were clouds great and white, but snow lay upon the mountains north of Black Mountain. 

With this view now I'm almost home.  Of course I put the camera away as I unloaded the car, greeted a very clingy cat, and enjoyed shopping for my own food not an hour later...lots of fresh fruit and vegies!  Eating on the road I usually lose a few pounds...that I notice, but nobody else ever does.  Mainly I just eat one meal a day.  After all, not getting much exercise.

I thought several times of keeping track of the money I spent on gas.  And that's as far as I felt like going with it.  I just needed to see those family members, and no high priced gas was going to change that.

Maureen Minahan Joyce



Kissing Mugs made to bring as smile to your face



Maureen Joyce is a busy woman: mom, wife, teacher, business woman, student, artist currently working in clar...and probably a few other things I don't happen to know about.  I met her about 3 years ago when I first started coming to the clay studio of the Black Mountain Center for the Arts, which had just opened its doors as a teaching studio.

Maureen exemplifies an energetic talented artist, who can somehow take time to help her students (and children probably too) with carful attention, not a bit rushed.  Though I'm pretty sure she's figured out how to get a few extra hours in the day compared to me. 

She has studied at Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University, continuing her education at Pitt University,  Community College of Allegheny County, Harrisburg Area Community College, Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey , and most recently participating in the entrepreneurial program at ABTECH CC here in Asheville.Although Maureen is originally from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania she has lived in Manhattan New York, Indianapolis Indiana, Carlisle Pennsylvania, Milford New Jersrey moving to Black Mountain in 2007.

She joined a partnership of Morning Sky Pottery with Geoff Bird last year, exhibiting their wares in an outdoor gallery retail space  on Cherry Street here in Black Mountain, showcasing local art. .  Maureen frequently could be seen demonstrating her techniques of throwing and altering her pots, shaping many faces into mugs, vases and other sculptures.  These are her signature pieces.  Maureen is also a driving force of the business aspect of Morning Sky.

She has been busy from the first at the clay studio at BMCA, from being a student, then a studio assistant, to becoming one of the teachers just 3 years later.  And that's not all, she shares her great ideas with all, including inviting other clay experts to give demonstrations at our clay studio, or take students on field trips to other potter's studios. She's had several pit firings of pottery on her property. She spearheaded a wall tile exhibit for the last Holly Jolly show and sale at BMCA. She helped with the signage of the studio, and writes most of the blog that is here:

http://blackmountainartsclay.blogspot.com/

Maureen has succeeded in having a family life and an art career.  I look forward to watching  this talented artist develop and change as she goes forward, learning, sharing, and experimenting with clay.



Maureen Joyce, center in white blouse at BMCA studio