Notes From a Pandemic

Cross-posted from www.offcenter.biz.

Field Notes from a potter in a pandemic:

• Saturday Market has added a useful feature to their website: a real-time map of who's participating at the Park Blocks on any given Saturday. It's under the Visit Us pull-down tab, in case you lose this link.
• Market has been wildly variable. I've had a couple of weeks where I didn't make grocery money, a couple that were startlingly good, and one that was the best single Saturday I'd had in 27 years at Market. (Holiday Market doesn't count. Holiday Market is its own thing.)
• Speaking of Holiday Market, preliminary news is that we won't be indoors at the Fairgrounds this year. There's no way to maintain distance, limit exposure, and make enough in booth fees to cover the expense of renting the venue and paying for publicity. The answer seems to be to stay at the Park Blocks, Saturdays only, with reduced hours, 10 am-3 pm. They're still working out booth layout and allotment. I'll update here and at my blog as I know more.
• I've updated the In Stock list to reflect work from my early August firing. A lot of the kiln was taken up by special orders (one a 40-piece set!), but there's still new work, and three new patterns!
• One item back in stock again, after a long hiatus: Dinner Salad Bowls. I always liked the form, use it a lot for everything from pho to pasta to yes, big summer salads. Never had a good place to display it in the booth, though, but since so much of my custom is coming online these days, I thought I'd bring them back. Currently available in bunnies, elephant, fox, hummingbird and otter patterns.
• Tsunami Books sold several of my tall mugs in quick succession, so I've brought them another dozen, along with some pie plates. Check the Find Us link for details.
• I've scheduled a shared glaze firing with another Club Mud potter for late September, so I'm taking custom orders again, through September 24. Email me your orders as soon as you can!
• Why the hell don't people cover up their nose!?

And now, a word

Clay Fest Online had a soft open/sneak preview this past week. 34 potters are represented so far, and we hope to have more in coming weeks. I've created some advertising panels for email, FaceBook and Instagram that will roll out in September. In the meantime, the site is basically functional right now.

One of the things I did for my page was record a video, of course. Thought I'd share it here.





And here's one of the ads.