Survival of the kindest and the plague of positive thinking

I am so happy to know that a cuddle hormone exists.

mmmm...serotonin
On the other hand...

Happy New Year

God Jul and Happy 2010 from the whole crew!

Keep your prefrontal cortext well-fed.

Tales, relationships

As it was.

As it is now.

Bear, Little, & Arturo. A good brother has always got your back.

Tales, Bear and Little go 3-D

Bear and Little and Arturo (not pictured) are about to embark on adventures in another dimension.
They are chomping at the bit to get going. Patience children!

Tales, Arturo is loopy

He's about to graduate from college (cum laude!)

He does love cake.

New tiles in the etsy shop; Arturo cracks me up with his goofy grin.

In the studio, work in progress

I have been working on a new tile series combining text and image. Above are initial pencil sketches on the bisque tile. I work out the lettering on the computer first to control my chaotic handwriting.
Here they are, slip trailed and ready to glaze. I have some orders for customized table tops for children, just putting the name of a child in place of my character's name.
I haven't really figured out marketing for the 6" tiles yet. I think they need to be in a retail setting. I doubt that anyone would actually install them in a bathroom or kitchen. Gah, I really hate marketing...

Tales, meet Thackery

Thackery (hedgehog) is both intelligent and practical. Self-taught in everything from yoga to sailing and navigation to mastering high finance and the stock market, he knows how to learn. Pessimistic about the human race and the future of the planet, he doesn't let his gloomy world view interfere with the joy he finds in life and nature. He is tender-hearted, but not sentimental. He is a crack shot with a rifle and a fantastic dancer. He will only speak of things that really matter and is not afraid of silence. In fact, he loves silence. He is happiest in warm places with sunny beaches. He is extremely self-sufficient. He loves his family with a fierce passion and is godfather to Arturo and Little. Thackery is Yeti's best friend, they will talk dharma long into the night, fueled by carrot cake and red wine.

Tales, Arturo

A new tile series of Tales characters with text is in the works. Blue & white and black & white.
So busy right now, lots of work... great! But I am still obsessed with Tales and that's all I really want to do.
Yeah, I'm kinda spoiled.

Equinox

From the whole crew: Jam, Malone, London, Woodrow, Lucy, Ranger, Clementine, Bothell, Yeti, Gwendolyn Fig, Little, Arturo, Ruby, Ivy, Boise, and Bear.
It looks like Bear is sulking, but he just needs a break from everyone (except London).

Happy Valentine's Day from the whole crew

finished tags

Remember these? They are fun~I want to make more; these are 6" x 3", but I may make some little ones.
Mr. Cranky wants to nail these up on trees to surprise people in the woods. I like that idea, but I would want more nails holes so they would stay put.

new work; blue and white tile

Lucy and Yeti have a baby boy. they name him Arturo. He's an adorable little otter.Yeti and Lucy have a baby girl. They name her Little. She is a pudgy wee bear. Lucy is a single mom. Arturo is six and Little is two. It's hard sometimes.
Bear and Little bought new bike helmets. Little has crashed with alarming frequency, so the helmet is always on now. She is considering sleeping in it..
Bear wins a race. He rides so fast, he has to wear goggles to keep the bugs out of his eyes.
Creepy Joe comes on the Bear on his first day of work. Joe is one of the chefs, but Bear refuses to be intimidated.Ranger whispers to Gwendolyn Fig. She is puzzled by the conversation. Ranger speaks so fast and has an enormous vocabulary; the way he strings words together is both stunningly creative and enormously confusing.

Tales, dissention

Not everyone gets along all the time. Arturo and Yeti don't.

in the studio, tags

Turning tales into tags. These are meant to hang up wherever...bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, office. I will glaze them in 'beeswax' (creamy white) and put a splash of color on the figures.
At 6" x 3" they are a little big for ornaments, but I have smaller ones in the works.
Remember the first iteration? I'm finally getting back to the series.

Hello 2009!

Wishing you the best of everything in the new year!
From: Lucy, Ranger, Arturo, Woodrow, Yeti, Boise, Ruby, Malone, Gwendolyn Fig, Jam, Ivy, London, Bear, & Little.
It will be so much better than 2008.
No more Bush! Yay, Obama!

Happy Winter

Season's greetings (for whatever you celebrate this time of year) from Yeti, Lucy, Arturo, and Little.
We like Solstice best because it means that the days will getting longer from now on.
Yay, sun!

Tales; this week

Yeti builds a table. It is a profound table.

Yes, tables can be profound.

Bear goes shopping. The big one is for Lucy!

Okay, no its not.

Little really gets into wrapping presents, she's the family expert.
She loves to buy presents and is better at it than anyone else.

Boise breaks his elbow skateboarding. He refuses to see a doctor. He won't take anything fo the pain. Yet he expects to be able to play drums with his band on New Year's Eve. Hmmm...

Arturo got straight A's for the first term of his senior year in college. He took really hard classes, too. He been on the Dean's List every term so far. Yay, Arturo!
Lucy is careless while stacking firewood and the entire row collapses on her. Yeti and Arturo rush to help her with damp cloths for the blood and ice packs for the lumps. Lucy is stoic, but when they leave her alone she cries and cries.

Open Studio

I made new signs (finally).
That's Lucy pointing the way (above) with Arturo and Little (below)

We set up the dinnerware on the new table in the house.
It was a glorious sunny day on the first Saturday.
I made apple cake, pumpkin spice bread, and spinach feta bread.
We had hot spiced cider and cranberry sangria to drink.
We always have pots set up in the studio.
I like to put out a selection of work on sale too.
A table full of plates (below)

A row of bowls.

We love seeing our friends and meeting new people at our open studios. We never get huge crowds, so there is always time to hang out, snack, and chat with our guests. It's pretty cozy.
I was sure that predictions of snow on the second Saturday would keep anyone from driving out (we are in the hills), but it was just a tad slushy and drippy so most folks came out anyway.

I send out a black and white postcard to announce the show, but I just realized that email invitations can be a lot prettier. I want to build up my email list so I can use both methods; leave me a comment or email if you would like to be on my list.
*I don't send out more that one to three invitations a year and I promise not to share your info