An Underground Studio

For most ceramic artists and most likely any type of artist, the thought of setting up a workspace in a dark, dank basement would make them cringe.

Its one of those situations that typically occurs to artists as a last resort. This happens to be my case, although I have worked in basements in the past, the one in our home scared me.

It looked like it was straight out of the Silence of the Lambs. All it needed was a 15ft. deep pit and a poodle named Precious.


If your asking why wouldn't I set up a studio in the barn? The answer is there is no insulation, and the cost to insulate it would be a fortune.

Some day that will happen, but for now the basement I must go.

I started by raking up all the debris from the dirt floor and then began to shop vac all the walls, beams and any surface that was there.
As I was cleaning I started to fall in love with the fact that my studio would actually have stone walls.


I continued to clean for the rest of the day and even washed the walls to make sure there wasn't a speck of dust.
When I was complete I sat down on a chair and looked around and thought to myself " I could get used to this".


The next day I went down and started to hang inspirational images that I have collected over the years, to bring some warmth to the space.
I moved around shelving and tables till it was just felt right. This is the result.


I know its most likely not a dream studio or even close, but its suits my purpose.


So now it's time to get to work and create with clay again!

A Soapy Venture

I have decided to share with all of you my new venture in soap making. I call it a venture because I don't quite know if the soap will appeal to people at the pottery or my soon to be up and running Etsy shop.
It all started several several years ago when Stephen and I decided to make soap for gifts one Christmas. We made naturally scented soaps such as orange clove, cedar, and lavender oatmeal.

They were a big hit with our friends and family, but the following holiday we never got around to making them again.


Last spring when I was working on plans for the pottery, making soap was on my long list. But with all the work that had to be done around the house, gardens and pottery, the soap making got nixed again.


It wasn't till this past holiday season that I got into the mood to make soap again. I pondered all sorts of scents to experiment with, and decided on two.

Cardamom Lime and Orange Clove would be suited, I thought for the season, and the extra cardamom soaps would be a perfect spring scent to sell at the pottery.


So I got to work by starting with all my ingredients. I hand ground all the spices with my mortar and pestle, and then began to zest all the citrus, and placed them in my bowls.

I then melted the translucent soap base in my huge double boiler that I just use for soap making.
I then added the ingredients one by one, gave it a good stir and poured the boiling mixture into molds to set.


After a day of setting in the molds I cut them to size and placed them between layers of paper to cure.
It was so beautiful to see them laid out all together on the table, they looked like jeweled candies.


The following weekend I gathered up a bunch of my little porcelain bowls and dishes and placed the soaps in them and tied them up with ribbon. They were all ready for gift giving, and the response was the same from friends and family.



I hope when people stop this coming spring to the pottery they will want to get some homemade soap and make this, a not so soapy venture.

What do you think? Want some soap?

Sounds At The Studio, Christmas

Christmas music is that genre that you can only listen to at this time of year. I have lots of favorites and always break them out after Thanksgiving and play them constantly till the new year.

Stephen and I have like, probably most people associate some non Christmas music with the holidays.


The following "sounds at the studio" play list is a combination of traditional and non traditional holiday tunes.

I hope you enjoy this compilation when you are trimming your tree, roasting your goose, or making some pots.

Happy holidays to all of you!

Calling Cards

Today I just wanted to share some images of the new calling cards Stephen made me for the pottery. He printed some 500 of them, so they should last quite a long while. They will live in a little bowl in the pottery and be carried in my back pocket.


Stephen also produced some double sided cards for our home, the M.H. Merchant Stone House. The one side is a historic image of the house when it was first built, and the other has the information.

Anyone who makes a purchase at the pottery will get each one of these little cards, stuffed in their bowl or bag or you could just stop by and grab a few.

The First "Concrete" Workshop

One would think that since I'm a ceramic artist the first workshop to be held at the pottery would be clay related.
Close but no cigar; with the success of the concrete leaves, and my sweet mothers admiration of them. The first workshop was to be the construction and techniques of working with concrete.


My mother saw my leaves in photos and was entranced with their beauty. She wanted to see how I made them so at her home in New jersey, I purchased a couple of bags and made some concrete leaves and pots to show her.
Well that did it. That night she called her two best friends to tell them of the little demo; and all of them being extremely creative they decided they wanted to come up to Cornwallville and make their very own concrete treasures.
It was settled that they would come up in early October for a weekend of relaxation and learning.

They arrived early on a cold Saturday morning, full of energy and excitement. They barely even put their bags down before someone said " When are we going to make the leaves? ".

10 minutes later, the ladies were dressed in their " best " dirty clothes to play with concrete.
We all went down to the pottery and got to work. I sent them down to the pond to find leaves and anything else they wanted to experiment while I started to prep the area and mix the cement.


They returned with seedpods, grasses, bark and of coarse leaves.


I then showed them my techniques on how to prepare, place, and cover the leaves for their entombing in concrete. I learned all of this from trial and error of using several hundred pounds of the stuff as well as doing some online research.

Several hours later everyone made two large leaves and several pots and troughs that will be covered in a another post this coming spring. All of this making and creativity worked up a real appetite, so we went into the warm stone house for some roasted vegetable soup and savory muffins.

After lunch we relaxed by the fire and shared our experience of the day. We later went for a beautiful walk, saw some wildlife, and had an amazing dinner, before we tucked in for the night.


The next morning the crew was as anxious as I was when I first started making objects out of concrete. They said they couldn't really sleep, that they couldn't wait to see their creations. So not a second later we bundled up and headed out back and began to turn over the leaves and open up our pots and troughs.



The results were amazing, everyone had experimented in different ways with different materials giving each one of their pieces a unique touch of their own. I showed them how to clean their work and give it an aged look if they desired and then we packed up the leaves carefully in the car.
We headed back up to the house and picked them some flowers from the gardens so they could take another little piece of Cornwallville home with them.


Before we could even say our goodbye's, they all stated how much fun they had and how they couldn't wait till next time to come up to the house and create more!

This coming summer of 2010, I and the Cornwallville Pottery will be hosting various ceramic artists with different skill sets and offer various workshops covering different topics.
Camping will be permitted on the property as well as a few available rooms in the stone house. Please check back later in the spring for details! This is another great endeavor that we are taking to link the pottery and our home to the public.

Pack it up, pack it in, Let it begin.

It's early November and this post begins in my studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I have been at that location for almost two years sharing it with three lovely and talented ceramic designers. It's a beautiful west facing studio with high ceilings and a view of the Williamsburg Bridge.

Since we moved upstate to Cornwallville, I have been completely absent at the Brooklyn studio.
As you know I have been busy setting up the pottery, and as winter comes and the barn doors close; it is time to set up the new studio in the stone house basement.

I went to the Brooklyn studio one morning in late October with an empty car, and the will to start again in Cornwallville. It took several trips up and down the service elevator to empty the contents of my space. Several hours later, and a deep sigh of sadness and optimism, I was ready to head north with my ceramic life.

I am truly going to miss the girls and all the inspiration, laughs, and beauty that we shared there.
It was a great time, and now it's time to open a new chapter of the book.

Thank you Lisa, Lorena and Sarah.

Concrete; The Clay Alternative

I have always been attracted to working with other materials whether drawing on wood blocks, watercolor painting, or working with paper mache.
It is in this constant curiosity of discovering new materials that my new obsession was born.


It was late summer and the gardens were in full swing. The sunflowers were beaming like sunlight, the sedums were blushing rose, and the alocasia ( elephant ears) were in full glory down by the pond. It was these massive leaves that put me into a creative frenzy.


I wanted to make large ceramic leaf platters but with my studio and tools still in Brooklyn I had to take a different coarse. Then it popped into my head CONCRETE.
I have seen concrete leaves before in magazines and garden shops and had always wanted to make my own.
So I set out to the local hardware store and bought a 60lb. bag of concrete mix and rushed home. When I got back to the house I picked some of the largest leaves I could find, and gathered an old wheelbarrow, gloves, and the hose. I then went to the back of the turkey coup and started to mix and experiment.


I only got two leaves and one pot out of the one bag, but with new pieces still hardening up I knew then that I was hooked.
The next morning I ran out back to see the results. The first leaf I turned over, the left side crumbled in my hand.
I was too eager, so went back into the house and waited a couple of more hours before I would try again.
The second time was the charm with a beautiful perfect leaf bowl as the result.
As soon as I saw this new piece I went back to the hardware store and bought 3 more bags. When I returned I went into production mode and made a dozen leaves of all shapes and sizes.


They will cure for the upcoming winter in the barn and then they will be ready for the gardens and available for customers.


I am so excited to introduce these new garden ornaments to the pottery! They are beautiful as simple objects and useful as water catching basins for the birds that visit your properties. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have enjoyed making them!