Author: lepennyj

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Penny Thoughts

IMG-1941At least once a week, I find pennies when running, walking or just out and about. Sometimes one, sometimes a handful. I have this thing about them being heads up.

True or not, some part of me believes heads is good luck, tails not as much. So the latter get tossed up to see if they’ll land the opposite way and wait for someone else that might need a little luck to come by and find them.

It’s not a great story but that’s where the name LePennyJ came from.

✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤

I’ve long tried to figure out how to explain how I chose it when I started working with clay.  And, it’s always been the same reason but I’ve had a difficult time putting it into words outside of my head. Maybe I’ve done it this time.

The J was always easy. It’s me, Jessica. And, Le? Nothing to tell there really, it just seemed to fit. I feel very lucky for the opportunity to: play in the mud (basically), to make useful (and not so useful too) things by hand, to share the good works with others, to learn from the frequent accidents (both happy and the not-so-very also). So, that’s the rest of the story.

 

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Get to Work

IMG-1414Bunch of chores at the studio this morning – lots of clay to recycle, a few bowls to trim (probably my least favorite part of the making process) and a redo on a piece that I got a little too “creative” with . . . it was a nice simple piece and I should have stuck with a nice simple glaze. But the gas kiln was being loaded and when it’s good, it’s very good so I played. Likewise, the opposite can also be true . . . and I’m back to the beginning. Which is okay, and not an altogether bad place to be.

Anyway, thinking it was going to be a pretty quiet morning, I revived my ooooollllllddd MP3 player on the drive in and was pleasantly surprised to find there were a couple of things I hadn’t yet listened to on it. “One More Thing” was a great distraction, short blips of stories just quirky enough to keep me engaged (and laughing) all the way through the tasks at hand. Next up – “Calypso” and Etsy updating.

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MarketSW Prep

IMG-1144I have LOADS of prep to do for the MarketSW coming up on Friday so I got started a bit earlier than usual (and I’m still working).

Photo is the unpacking before the packing. Every time I do an arts market or craft show, I unpack pretty much every piece of pottery I have in stock. It’s a pain, but worth it. Why?

One – ceramics are HEAVY, so if there are pieces I’m not terribly excited about anymore (or they have a specific theme that doesn’t fit the location or time of year), I don’t need to carry them with me.

Two – I hate pricing works. I think most artists/artisans have trouble with this! With everything out though, it’s a good time to review price on anything that’s previously been shown in relation to newly added ceramic works so that I don’t price my new pieces too high (or to low!) and check back on what seemed effective (or didn’t) last go.

Three – This process gives me an idea of what my display will look like, what colors are prevalent in my works, what shapes and sizes all the pieces I want to show are and how they’ll work together. Again, sometimes this means taking out pieces I love because they just don’t fit with the rest – which is hard!

I’m so looking forward to being back with new works (still hoping a few more tiny houses will be ready by Friday) and some old favorites. It’s looking like we’ll have good weather, maybe by the afternoon it will cool off a bit! One of the great things about this market though is that there is music, food and drink both onsite at LotSW and nearby. Friday night made.