The Studio Tour.

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A new piece that sold at the tour

The only bad thing about the studio tour was that there are no pictures. None. Not even one. I was way too busy talking to all my friends to take pictures, my studio assistant John was too busy filling drinks, refreshing appetizers, and flipping records to take photos, and Rachel was my accountant, taking care of all the sales, receipts, and overcharging my friends. (Seriously, to all my friends who paid $3 too much for your new mugs, let me know and I'll give you a special gift sometime. Rachel did not mean it, she didn't realize I had lowered my prices for the event, and she wants me to be rich.)

About 40 people came to the event, we think, but it was hard to keep track. I'll have to get a guest book for the next one. THE NEXT ONE??? YES! That's right! As soon as I get the new kiln in the yard done, I would like to have another one, and let my friends help me fire the kiln.

So in the case that you haven't noticed, there is not a store on my site anymore! That's because all the work is now available at Coffee Friends Coffee Shop. I now have to make all new work. All new ray guns. And all new space helmets. And all new everything. Excited yet? Yep. Me too.

P.S. I made 16 new wine cups yesterday, four are already sold, two sets left. Who wants em'?

STU, STU, STUDIO TOUR!

STUDIO TOUR!!! NEXT WEEK!!! I HAVE A LOT TO DO!!!
What: A chance for you to come check out my studio and my new work!
Enjoy wine, beer, and Ariane-made appetizers!

When: July 24, 4-8pm

Where: Trailer Fire Studio! 2606 Sammye Ave. Gillette, WY (out in Fox Park)

Who: Open to my family, friends, collectors, admirers, and their friends. Only the coolest people I know. (Probably you, if you are not sure, email me or call me)

Why: Because I want everyone to come see my studio, my new work, and I want you to tell me what you think, and buy what you love!



Can you believe it, they asked me to come back to the library!
Yesterday my studio assistant John and I went to the Library's teen room for an art fair where teens were invited to come and learn about different art careers, art mediums, and just generally get inspired. I had a terrific time demonstrating and answering questions! Since it was in the basement, and it was a small space, they asked if I would do something that wouldn't require a pottery wheel, so I threw a piece on the wheel the night before and altered it and let the kids watch and ask questions. I think it went really well and they seemed to dig what I was doing. I also had to come up with some answers to some pretty intense ceramics questions, there were some extremely intelligent kids there, go figure, smart kids at the library. It was great. One girl had the coolest dinosaur t-shirt. I was jealous.

STUDIO TOUR!

I spent the better part of last week in bed, trying to fight off some sort of summer sickness. But as my health has returned, it's brought along some kind of new manic energy. I have been working like a maniac for the last few days! Yesterday Rachel helped me photograph my new wine cups. I LOVE these cups. I'm tempted to just put them in the cupboard! Alas, I already have too many cups in my cupboard, (the latest hint was when I loaded our dishwasher with cups, and there were still a dozen that wouldn't fit.) I think this might be the most of one thing that I've ever had available for sale at one time before. It was very satisfying to line them all up on the deck and try to fit them into the picture frame. One of the difficult things about trying to photograph these cups all in a row, is that I really lack a place in my house to set-up a backdrop, get good light, and have the ability to get far enough away to get them all in the frame. So we used the ramp that leads to our front door. It is a pretty nice incline, which made things more difficult, the wind was blowing, and it was pretty darn warm outside, (only to cool off shorty after we were finished.) I didn't know Rachel was taking the picture of me with the cups, but I think you can see the frustration on my face.

The good news is, I got the shot I wanted!

As I talk to other artists and friends about this business of making and selling art, a lot of folks seem surprised when they realize how small my studio is and that I'm doing all of this out of a small room in my trailer house. It seems that there is a misconception about pottery studios, that they are very messy, they have to be big, and you need a lot of money to get started. Well, I love to burst the high budget bubble. When I tell people that I got started with less than $1,000 in equipment and supplies (including a Brent CXC wheel, a small electric kiln, clay and glaze supplies) I can see the wheels turning behind their eyes about what might be possible for them to do with the same amount of space and money. And as for the messy part, well you'll just have to see when you come to the studio tour, the studio is the cleanest part of the house! I don't think that space and money are huge factors either. It's much more about determination, passion, and of course, LUCK (that's how I got my wheel and kiln at garage sales for less than $500!) Not to mention the incredible support of family and friends who have helped me feel confident about what I'm trying to do. SO! In an attempt to further inspire others to start their own studios, (and to help bolster sales) I'm going to host a studio tour! Dates and times, coming soon!!!

Also in Trailer Fire Studio news... I'll be DEMONstrating at the teen room at the CCPL library at 2:00pm this Thursday. If you know any teens that could use some encouragement to pursue the arts as a career, send them down!

My wine cups got smashed!

As many of you know, I am not a big drinker, a little wine once in a while or a beer on a hot night is usually my limit. But a lot of folks have requested that I make some wine cups, and so I did. At the same time, I was also trying out some new glaze and I thought it would be nice on the dozen new wine cups I just made, as well as a dozen tall tumblers, and half a dozen space mugs. But to my surprise and their demise, the glaze shrunk more than the pieces, and it literally tore them apart as the glaze cooled. When I opened the kiln, disgust is the only word that comes to mind that even remotely describes how I felt. $#%& *$&^%# %$#@& Would also work.

It was enough to make even me want a strong drink.

Disappointed, but determined, I went back into the studio on Monday and made 18 new wine cups. I threw away all of the broken pieces with a little tear in my eye, then I threw away that glaze, with a little vengeance in my heart. "DAMN YOU DEVIL GLAZE!"

These little frustrations, miss-fires, and poopy glazes are all part of it I guess. And maybe I will eventually get used to it, or get so good that this stuff doesn't happen (that would be nice). But I will say, the sound of shattering ceramic in a dumpster is still a bit of a thrill even after all these years (or beers).

arianejimison.com

I finally made the plunge yesterday and created a real working, not-so-lame, website. Check it out. www.arianejimison.com This means that I finally have a way of selling my work without paying high commissions. I'm really excited to see how it all works out.

I think this is an appropriate time to reveal my secret weapon in this endeavor I've embarked on. Yes. It's Rachel. Rachel Kalenberg has been my collaborative partner, an inspiration, my financial supporter, and my best friend. We're also getting married in a few months, so there's that too. I really want to say a big public THANK YOU to Rachel for all your help, support, patience, understanding and for helping to create this beautiful vision of our life together. It's better than I ever could have imagined.

And I have a mighty imagination.

Down to Earth

These mugs were all going to be brightly colored SPACE MUGS, but the initial firing got too hot, and only certain glazes would stick. Thus. Down to Earth Mugs. I'm pretty proud. They are hard to tip over. Because their bellies stick out (not unlike my own) their rims are protected from chips, and they are very comfortable to use. They hold about 10oz. of coffee (chai, tea, tang, whatever) and when I hold one, I somehow feel sophisticated. If they make ME feel sophisticated, just imagine how they will make a sophisticated person feel.

Special.

You can't spell demonstration with out "demon"

Yesterday I had what I thought was going to be a "little" pottery demonstration at our public library. But it turned out to be a big one, with over 130 people watching! They told me there would be over 100, but I guess I didn't believe it. Librarians never lie.

It's been gloomy, cool and rainy for days, and even yesterday morning, but when it came time to load everything in the car to go, it was HOT and humid. And after the demonstration when it came time to unload, it was even hotter. Of course after all the work was done, it rained heavily, and cooled everything off. It is my theory that the pottery gods don't look kindly upon self-promotion, or using pottery as comedic performance art, or something? My pottery wheel weighs at least 150lbs. and then there's: clay, tools, a chair, a bunch of finished pottery to have on display, extension cords, water bucket, towel, sponges, and a dolly to carry it all, and it all has to fit in this tiny car (it is not parked in my neighborhood in this picture). It's all heavy, and the wheel is especially awkward to get into the back of the car by yourself. AND IT'S HOT! I'll stop whining, you get the idea.

After I was already running a couple of minutes late, and was half way to the library, I realized that I forgot to get clay. When I finally got to the library, my new studio assistant John Morgan, was there to help me set-up, and it all went very smooth after that. John took pictures, and since he is in one of them, I assume he had some help. I guess I should tell you, I now have a studio assistant/apprentice!My brother's girlfriend Sara Morgan kept telling me that she had a brother who wanted to get into pottery, when I met John we really hit it off. We made a deal to trade his work time for studio time. He's an amazing helper and I think I can help him too. I'm excited to see what he creates in the near future!

Back at the library. At first the crowd of children were all nicely arranged around the tarp, but it soon turned into a cozy little circle, with lots of questions, and requests and fun facts from them, such as, "My dog's name is Jerry." And they asked for great stuff, like, "Can you make the moon?" and pizza, one kid really wanted me to make pizza, and another kid was petting my arm.

At the middle of the demonstration, I stopped to explain some of the ceramic processes, I showed a bisque piece (fired once but has no glaze on it) and it so happens that it was a bowl with wings, that can also be used as a space helmet. So I modeled it for them, with a raygun. (You'll have to click on the picture to see this)

Speaking of RAYGUNS! My good friend and sometimes collaborative partner, Melissa Wickwire has said that she will help me make holsters for my rayguns. I cannot even believe it. I will have so much more fun in the kitchen now with my new raygun salt & pepper shakers! PEW! PEW PEW!

Today, I'm pretty sore, tired, whiny, and lethargic. I have a headache that could kill a normal person, (one without a space helmet). All the excitement yesterday must have been too much. Which leads me to say, you can't spell demonstration without "demon".