Glass Incarnate

Meh

2010-01-06T08:47:00.002-05:00

I sit and mentally debate the wisdom and effort of the concept of coffee. Meh. Too much. I'll wait till Dave gets home Fridy night and can make it for me again. I contemplate turning on the Apple tv and listening to 93XRT, Radio Chicago (as I did all day yesterday), but, again, too much effort. I languish. But not for long.

Today sees a glass delivery from Bullseye, finalization of travel arrangements for the Dallas Market show next week, a few orders fused, fleshing out of plans started yesterday for the February Buyer's Market so I can be ready for my meeting with Bill and Elaine in Commerce on Monday, preparations for a visit from Laurie Dickson of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston this Sunday, the mortgage refinanced... yeah, I'm slowing down alright. *sigh*

It's 21 degrees in Atlanta right now but I no longer feel the cold. I'm wearing a heavy cotton mid-length-sleeved shirt, two sweaters and fleece slippers (I have pants on too, but they're nothing out of the ordinary). A nap sounds really good, but it's time to head to the studio (where two sweaters are a necccessity) and get to work. Yeah. I'll crank up the iPod, dance around a bit, make a cup of chai latte with the tassimo machine, and all will be right with my world again.

How Can I Already be Exhausted?

2010-01-05T19:39:00.002-05:00

Ice-cold milk in a tall glass, Todd and Jessie chatting over pizza for music. I posted so much yesterday that I deserve a rest today. Besides, it's tired, I'm late... and I'm clearly a single mother again (Dave is in Austin for the week). *sigh*

Goals--The Posting Triofecta!

2010-01-04T09:49:00.000-05:00

This post, too, I began over a week ago, and though I've already posted twice this morning, I'm going to make it a trifecta today and be back caught up for tomorrow. The final big topic for the turning of the year is goals. What are worthy goals for the upcoming year? Let's start with analyzing the major activities and components of the studio--shows, showrooms, representation, partnerships, production work, retailing supplies, marketing, hosting events, and teaching--and go from there.

Shows: I like doing shows well enough, but I am beginning to question their value. Clearly the state of the economy last year had a negative impact on show revenue, but long-time show artists have noted a steady decline in the return on investment (ROI) for shows since their heyday in the early 90's. My comparative data (for wholesale shows) doesn't go that far back, but I do feel that big the buyers I used to see a few years ago have either cut back on the show attendance or eliminated some shows altogether. (One of my best buyers from the northeast that I met at the Buyer's Market several years ago asked me recently if I was doing the Atlanta show this year because she won't see me in Philly--the hop-skip-and-jump airfare is too high.) If I want to promote my new work to her and to others I won't see at my shows, I am going to need to do some other marketing be it advertising in magazines, or putting together a print or digital catalog/mailer, and totally revamping my website (has it been two years already?). But I don't really have the time, money, or energy to do both shows and heavy marketing.

So what to do? Well, for starters I will do only three shows this year. I am not doing either Dallas or Atlanta again (well I will be doing Dallas as I have the showroom there and I am required to be in it during major markets). I am not adding either the One Of a Kind wholesale show in New York, or the New York Gift Show, or the George Little show in Chicago. I will carefully evaluate the shows I am still doing (the Buyer's Market in February and August and ACRE in June), and I will consider not doing any of them next year.

Shows cost me about $5,000 each to do--that's almost $15,000 a year between booth fees, storage, drayage of materials to and from shows, exhibition fees, hotel, meals, airfare, etc. And I don't even count the physical and mental toll, or the lost production time in the studio. If the revenue I see from a show is $10,000 or under, then I am spending 100% of my marketing/business growth budget for less than 30% of my annual income--bad ROI. (Sit ROI, stay ROI.) I can't help but feel a little judicious, targeted, less taxing traveling to galleries combined with magazine advertising, print and digital media and mailings would cost a heck of a lot less for the same revenue received

Permanent showroom: I will end my presence in the showroom at the Dallas World Trade Center--it was a failed experiment and not just because of the environment. My business model is not geared towards working with the decorator/designer market directly and that's not where I wish to put my energy.

Representation: I am not interested in any of the opportunities that I was presented in the past year for wholesale representation of my work. While at first pass it looks attractive to have someone repping your work to stores, galleries and decorators, I would rather both make the first impression and set the expectations for the relationship myself (Control Freaks R Us). As for representation to the decorator market, again, not my target demographic. Too high-maintenance, too much effort for wholesale work. Designers essentially take the same time and effort as clients for regular commissions, but they pay between wholesale and retail as they charge their clients retail and are paid themselves with the difference. Not worth my time.

Partnerships: I love producing collaborative work with other artists and want to maintain this component of the business. I am both stimulated by their work to create new work of my own, and I'm also able to produce a lot more quality work because I am not responsible for 100% of it.

Last year brought me four new partnerships--two in my own studio, the third with another studio-owner, and the fourth with my local Community Gardens. First I have Lee Ritchie running the hotshop, teaching all the glassblowing classes, and producing all my roll-up work. I also have Brian Renoud maintaining the torchwork classroom and teaching the beadmaking classes. Both of these have been rewarding beyond my wildest expectations. I love the stimulation of other people in the studio doing their own thing--great energy, and I also appreciate being able to offer more learning opportunities and more studio work than I would be able to do on my own. Lee and Brian are both completely reliable and responsible and dedicated to growing their individual components of our teaching facility.

The third partnership with Lori Schinelli for the Bullseye kilnglass resource center (KGRC) is just really getting going now. Though I opened Siyeh Glass Resource Center in October, Lori's portion of our KGRC opens the 23rd of this month. I look forward to seeing a revenue jump from her classes (more on that under retailing supplies below).

Lastly, as part of my new Resource Center initiative I partnered with the Oakhurst Community Gardens to teach classes through them in November and December. All but one of the classes were offered in my studio/resource center, but the OCG did all the advertising on their website, collected the fees, etc., and just paid me based on the number of participants. There were a few kinks to work through, but I think we've got it down now and I look forward to teaching more for them in the spring.

Production work: Even though I love working with other artists, it's time this year to get back to expanding my own individual work not just in terms of new colorways and piece styles, but in new production series (coming this year: the mosaic series and production roll-ups!). This past year I noticed I have a skewed vision of my income because it included all the collaborative income. While I don't have to make 100% of the work in my collaborative work I also don't make 100% of the income. Once V is caught up on last year's books it will be interesting for me to see if my sales are increasing , stable or decreasing when I factor out the income from the portion of the collaborative work that isn't mine.

For collaborative work, I am also dependent on the production schedules of my partners. If they're booked for production and I'm not, I have to turn down or push back work (and, therefore, revenue)--not something I can afford to do right now. So if I spend all my energy (as I have done in the past couple of years) developing and showing new collaborative work, I am effectively maximizing sales of that work and minimizing sales of work that's 100% my own.

Retailing Supplies: Now that I have a permanent part-time employee, I like having a studio with regularly-scheduled open hours. And it makes me feel less guilty about having an employee to work on the mindless parts of my production work (and to make me consider taking on new series work that has a higher proportion of mindless work than my other series). Though the retail aspect of the business has yet to bring in any noticeable revenue I expect that situation to change when we are teaching more and when Lori is up and running and churning out those beginner classes.

Marketing: This year I am still working on marketing in the cheap. I can't afford to invest a lot (much at all) when I still have three shows to pay for and a bad year to recover from. But I will get the websites for both the studio and the resource center running smoothly and being updated frequently.

Hosting events: Last year I ended the year with two artist open houses in December and the beginning of Date Night in the hotshop. I was really pleased with both endeavors and look forward t expanding both concepts this year. It was good to have people in to the studio to shop, schmooze and nosh for the Sleigh Rides (artist open houses) and I would like to see us do another one before Mother's Day/Graduation/the summer art fair season. Date Night has been wildly popular with participants and I have expanded it to include not only wine, cheese and chocolate but also a slideshow on cd-rom memento of the evening and an after-date treat at the Chocolate Bar (through another partnership I am currently working on). Now we need to get Date Brunch in the Hotshop and Date Nights in both kilnforming and torchworking available.

Teaching: I knew I was going to love teaching glass. The positive feelings I had from writing the book, working with the Waldorf 7th graders, hosting open studio in 2008 and 2009, and teaching one-on-one were only reinforced by the workshops I did through OCG and I very much look forward to teaching more regularly next year. Speaking of which, someone called from Delphi about teaching a woprkshop or two there this year... better get on that.

2009 in Review More... and Stress

2010-01-04T09:07:00.005-05:00

A mocha in a to-go cup from Kavarna to drink, the ticking of the cloak and the snoring of Ernie the Monstrocat, asleep on the couch next to me, for music. Is the juxtaposition of these two sounds paradoxically philosophical, or philosophically paradoxical or do I just like the sound of those words together and have no idea what the hell I'm talking about? The ticking of the clock goads me to think of all the tasks I have waiting for me when I finish posting (now that the holidays are over and it's back to studio as usual). Ernie's snoring makes me think of the goals I have been working on for the new year--a major one of which is to take it easier and slow down a bit.

The last 2-3 weeks have been time out of time for me. The week before Christmas I pretty much gave up on worrying about the things I didn't have done, planning of any kind, and juggling finances (that phrase can be understood to mean gave up on worrying about all three of them or gave up on worrying about the first one and doing the next two--both interpretations are valid). I stopped blogging (and boy did I hear about THAT!). I slept late and played Dragon Age on XBox till the wee small hours. I blew glass in the hotshop for the sheer joy of doing it (and for Christmas presents). I had a massage and a pedicure, went to a couple of movies, had dinner with friends, played lots of Race for the Galaxy with Dave and took naps. I didn't read as much as I would have liked, but that's maybe my only treasured activity in which I didn't indulge.

Throughout all, the house was full of family and pets, and chaos reigned. Yet I slept all night every night--no 4:00 am wakefulness--and I didn't dread the next day... ever. Yesterday, in contrast, I dreaded the looming week, slept poorly (partially from the knowledge that I had to be up at 6:00 to take Dave to the airport), and felt weighed down by the world. I was initially puzzled this morning on my way back from the airport by my stress level. I mean, I could understand my reaction if I had a job I hated and was having to go back to it after vacation. But I have ostensibly got myself into a position where I love what I do, do only what I love, and do it at my own pace. What could be so stressful about that?

Then I had a revelation. Nothing had changed in my situation but my internal, unconscious response to it. Over the past year I have became so accustomed to fighting through every day that the need to gird my loins against anticipated stress and demand has become second nature. Without any conscious effort on my part at all my preparation for a normal day includes fretting and anxiety about... everything. If I go on like this, I am setting myself up to be unhappy and to fail this year.

Life has not changed with the end of vacation. Yes, we all have to get up for school and work again (no more Dragon Age on weeknights till 2:00 am), but I like and look forward to the things I do in a day as much now as I did during the break. There is no reason for dread. Dread is a knee-jerk reaction learned from the overscheduling and overcommitments of last year. That was then, this is now, and I AM going to slow down this year. I bit off way too much last year and some things need to be scaled back (ya think?).

Clearly my body is trying to tell me something, and I'm going to listen to it as I plan my goals for 2010. Really.

2009 in Review

2009-12-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

It seems like all I have to do to find myself in interesting times is to mention them. The events of the past four days that prohibited me from getting this post up as intended on 12/31 (though I am setting the effective post date as 12/31/09, we all know it's really 1/4/10 today) will have to wait till I get the backlog out. Here is the promised Year in Review for 2009 begun over a week ago and finished this am:

On this, the last day of 2009, I look back on the Interesting Times that made up the previous 364 days and I fervently hope for less interesting times to come. Here were the monthly highlights of 2009:

January:

Todd joined me on the road to do shows
Did the Dallas and Atlanta gift shows for the first time
Got first department store client—and resultant headaches
Leased a permanent showroom in Dallas in Hemisphere Design Gallery
Decided to host a summer camp in the studio for 5th graders and up.
Signed up to attend BECon 2009.

February

Had to implement UPC codes for department store client and plan for EDI (electronic data interface) implementation.
Dave was laid off from CNN and took a new job for a significant pay cut … in Austin. (Since then CNN has experienced a 40%* drop in viewership. We do not think this is coincidence.)
Upped my liability insurance to $1,000,000 (at the behest of Hemisphere in Dallas).
Developed new small format glass and steel pieces for product line.
Did the Buyer's Market show in Philly-it was down 64% from the previous February.

March

Had my first full month of single-Momhood as Dave started work in Austin
Went back to Dallas for the real set-up of the showroom in Hemisphere (Dallas).
Redesigned the office and sorted seven years worth of business and personal financial papers
Invited to Bullseye's instructor workshop
Decided to begin selling supplies and teaching formally out of my studio

April

The crawlspace under the studio flooded and took out the hotwater heater in the process.
Attended a roll-up workshop from Jonathan Schmuck--the first multi-day class/workshop I'd taken in years (ever?).
Worked with the Waldorf School 7th grade class to make their big auction project

May

Decided to build my own hotshop for blowing glass at the studio
My storage facility in Las Vegas informed me that they had dropped my crate of glass after the last show, breaking much of the work I needed for the upcoming ACRE show.
Did the ACRE show: Worst set-up *ever* and sales down 75% from the previous year.

June

Postponed my planned summer camp till summer 2010
Picked up the furnace for the hotshop, tools, cullet, glass, etc., from Sara and David in New Mexico.
Began building the hotshop.
Attended BECon in Portland--met Cynthia Morgan in person... ooooooh!
Took the second class in forever--a casting workshop from Linda Ethier

July

Broke my leg tripping over the dog and had to have surgery and stay off of it for a couple of months...
The same dog caught my laptop usb cable with her tail, pulled it off the coffee table and broke it.
Headed back to Portland on crutches for the Bullseye instructor workshop

August

Went directly from the instructor workshop in Portland to the summer Buyers Market in Philly... still on crutches.
The summer Buyers Market followed the trend I saw at ACRE: tighter rules, pissier union workers for set-up, fewer buyers, fewer artists, less money (sales down 34% from the previous summer).
Got back to Atlanta and began the process of applying for an ARC (America's Recovery Capital) loan from the Small Business Administration.
Took my third class of the year/ever, this time on pate de verre from Delores Taylor.

September

The crawlspace at the studio flooded again--this time all the way to the top (over five feet of water at one time) and it took out the furnace this time.

October

Became the proud feeder/supplier (never "owner") to Ernie the Monstrocat--a by-product of my visits to Portland.
Opened Siyeh Glass Resource Center--an official Bullseye kiln glass resource center--with a weekend-long event.
Had the new Waldorf 7th grade class in the studio and the hotshop for a field trip.

November

Had my first-ever artist open house and holiday sale--Siyeh Sleigh Ride the First--at the studio with five other artists.
Launched the teaching component of the Resource Center with the first six-week-long beadmaking class.
Finalized the ARC loan (after a 105 page fax...).

December

Hosted Siyeh Sleigh Ride the Sequel--another artist open house and holiday sale.
Started hosting Date Nights in the hoshop--wine, cheese chocolate and blowing glass for two people for two hours.

Just listing it all has exhausted me. I'll further evaluate my choices and growth directions next post.

*Actual figure** should probably be researched by someone somewhere.

**Dave did the research and it's 30% of total primetime audience.

Last Night's Date Night

2009-12-30T10:41:00.002-05:00

A quickie--pics to come later. Got the following via email this morning from last night's date night in the hotshop participants:

Brenda,

We had an amazing night with Lee tonight. He taught us at a pace that we both were comfortable with and was extremely patient with us. The wine was great and the cheese was delicious. It complemented everything we were doing and definitely made us feel warmer in the cold (and the glory hole helped too :D). This was beyond what we both imagined and it really made it a very special night for us. I can't wait to pick up the glasses we made. We can stop by on the morning of the 31st before Vivienne leaves for Singapore. Thank you again for the wonderful and memorable date night.

Sincerely,
Sung & Vivienne

Yep, this is why I do what I do.

Back Before the End (Of the Year, Of Course!)

2009-12-29T11:25:00.004-05:00

Coffee in the San Francisco mug, the sound of Dad microwaving his breakfast for music. I just finished the longest break I have taken from posting in almost four years... Wow. Time to get back in the saddle, take stock of the year passing, and plan for the year to come. But, you might ask, where you been? Oh, here and there. Mostly there. I was in the hotshop obsessively blowing Christmas presents, entertaining family in for the holidays, preparing for Christmas before the 25th, and playing Dragon Age since (thanks, Dave, just what I needed--an XBox game to add to take up all the time I got back when I quit Mafia Wars [and more]!). Yesterday I reluctantly dragged myself back to work (people want to take classes in the resource center, they want schedules, descriptions, and costs--the nerve!). I have five orders/projects left for this year that I will finish this week and count as done in '09. Then I start 2010 with a clean slate.

What shall I write on this pristine slate? Goals, plans to achieve those goals, a means to avoid seat-of-my-pants business management. In fact, let's not just write them on the slate, let's write them here in the blog. To ease myself back into blogging (organizing myself), I think I'll take the next few days to do the year-in-review and the year to come. It will be interesting to see if I can plan my studio growth and goals out here, and review and evaluate my success (let's avoid failure if we can--it's just another "f" word) as the year goes along.

(NOTE: Since I wrote this Tuesday and it's now Wednesday I'm going to go ahead and post it for Tuesday and get on with the meat now on Wednesday!)

Too Much for Tuesday

2009-12-15T21:50:00.003-05:00

Homemade sangria in a Riedel stemless red wine glass (and a big one at that), "Radio Nowhere" by Bruce Springsteen on iTunes. I have missed the comfort and routine of the drink-and-song opening for my postings lately. I have been discombobulated and running the Red Queen's Race (even more so than usual) for the past month. "How could this be?" you might ask. Well, it's complicated. I mean, it's not like I've been swamped with orders. No, it's more a juggling of a little bit of many, many jobs. Right now I wear a lot of hats.

We had a *great* Siyeh Sleigh Ride the Sequel over the weekend--people really came to shop. Last time people came to nosh and schmooze, this time they came with wallets at the ready and many angels got their wings as we cha-chinged the cash register (at least metaphorically) all weekend. Tomorrow morning (because I am just too tired tonight) I have to reconcile all the sales for everyone, make up the spreadsheet detailing everything from our sales to our credit card fees (paid to Dee as we used her wireless swiper for instant transactions) and sales taxes. Then I have to write up checks for each of our shares. It's a tight time of year and we are all waiting for our little shot in the arm from this show.

Today I had two open studio people in--one a seven year-old doing his second small plate (for a gift) and the other another Waldorf parent making a clock for his father for his 80th birthday. Both will come back tomorrow or later this week to make another project. For my part I hope to make it to the hotshop for another lesson or two this week, and I have Christmas fusing to do (and another last-gasp holiday order to get out).

Now it's after 10:00 pm, Bruce just finished belting out "Further On (Up the Road)", and I need to get to bed to collapse into my eyelids. Goodnight, and God bless us every one. Pics tomorrow from the weekend... Maybe.

Siyeh Glass Date Night in the Hotshop!

2009-12-14T07:54:00.002-05:00

I was more than a little worried when temperatures plummeted at the end of last week and we went into our first date night in the hotshop with temps the mid 30's F. But our participants showed up in long-sleeved layered shirts (all natural fibers, of course), hats, and down vests for the standing around time. Lee had also put up clear plastic panels on two side walls of the hotshop so it was a bit warmer inside than outside. (It's amazing what a 2300 degree glory hole can do to warm even a mostly open outdoor room!)

Great fun was had by all--I can't wait to do the next one!

Pooped

2009-12-10T18:09:00.001-05:00

There always has to be someone in the bunch to ruin it for everyone. In this case, it's this person who has been posting spam links in the comments of my blog. The first time I just deleted the two comments, but there were *seven* spam comments up again this morning so now I'm moderating comments. Apparently this person has nothing better to do than plod through the word verification system in order to post comments. *sigh* Sorry real commenters.

Today is the first day of set-up for Siyeh Sleigh Ride the Sequel, and I found out yesterday I also inadvertently scheduled a class on Sunday at the studio for ornament making and I have 12 people signed up for it. Time to expand the studio again! There is a 10' X 10' deck off the kiln room and what else do we artists who participate in shows have that is commonly 10' X 10'? Tents! So we're putting up my lightdome tent, screwing the poles to the deck and attaching them to the walls so it's sturdy, putting walls on three sides and opening the french doors to the kiln room on the fourth side to heat it Sunday if it's cold. Voila, instant classroom!

___________________

The day ran away with me--setting up for the show and putting the tent up off the deck (tent footprint 10 X 10, deck footprint 9-1/2 X 8... And yet we got it done). Details, and more, tomorrow. Time to go home I'm pooped!

The Quickest Of Quickies

2009-12-09T09:51:00.004-05:00

Today's post really should be about the difficulty of staying on top of ANYTHING once you add a retail supplies space, classes and open studio, a hotshop (where YOU play too), a torchwork classroom, and artist open houses to your production studio and schedule. And it would be about that topic in all its whiny glory if I wasn't already late to get out to the hotshop and blow before the studio opens to the world at 1:00. Later!

P.S.
When I posted this entry to the blog I got the confirmation screen shown at right. I just bought a Jim Moore Tools puffer yesterday--scary how accurate Google's ad targeting is...

Join Our Mailing List... Please

2009-12-07T12:02:00.003-05:00

Is it really only Monday? I feel... old today and like a lot of time has passed since I last posted. I moon nostalgic this morning and think of the long-gone days (before I was even born) when a small business owner had a little shop, worked hard, and only had to know their business and be honest, efficient, friendly and have a desirable product of good value to wildly succeed. *sigh* I spent last night and this morning setting up an account with Vertical Response to manage the studio newsletter and emails. Yet one more technology and business practice t master. Then I sent my first batch email about Siyeh Sleigh Ride the Sequel (hurtling towards us this weekend). While I was at it I also created a widget to "join our mailing list" (shown at right in the administrative section of the blog). I haven't even posted this blog yet, and someone has already signed up to join the list from the widget!

Now I had better get a couple of kiln loads in--it's not all internet and web work here at Siyeh Studio!

New Work, New Day

2009-12-05T09:08:00.004-05:00

I type my post as I eat my cereal. Symmetry would have me eating Post cereal, but it's Kashi. If Dave hadn't eaten all of the Honey Bunches of Oats, it would have been Post. Today is the Taylor Kinzel annual Glass show and yet another Siyeh Studio artist has joined this year's show--Lee will be exhibiting some of his blown glass pieces (in addition to our joint roll-up pieces) and we will have Siyeh Studio paperweights for sale! Todd made wreaths as his new work for this year, and they are STUNNING! Dee is right, I promised pics, and as the camera is still on walk-about (since mid October now) I had to take them with my iPhone. The quality of the photos is lacking, not the quality of the work.

As you can see from the roll-up pic, the Pop Art work is enjoying a come-back. We did two more in the hotshop last evening and they went even better than this one. The only thing that didn't go as I had hoped was that the shape of the last one was not an urn (big at the top and small at the bottom). There is a special tool blowers use to get that shape and it allows them to blow the piece after it has been moved off the blow pipe onto the punty and is called a soffietta or puffer. We don't have one, we need one, it's not free. *sigh*

Okay Lee is here to polish a few last paperweights and to label everything. Got to go!

A Night In the Hotshop

2009-12-03T18:31:00.003-05:00

I instant message with Mike about the Siyeh Glass website updates and wait for Lee to get back to the studio so we can do two roll-ups in the hotshop tonight. We don't have an oxy-propane torch set-up out there yet so I am a bit nervous about how well our seams are going to turn out. This effort may be doomed to failure--Jonathan and Tadashi both spent a LOT of time torching the seams on the roll-ups. But both the pieces we're doing tonight have a clear layer on top so maybe they'll seam up better than the mixed opal/transparent-many-colored-surface rollups do. He's here! Off to blow.

A Quick Post Before Tuesday Ends

2009-12-01T22:54:00.003-05:00

You might have noticed that there have been no posts so far this week. I have been consumed by Mafia Wars for my web warm-up time and weaving in the evenings. Yes, it is fall and the textile jones has kicked in bad. So far I have finished three scarves and am warp speeding through a fourth (oh so pun intended). I have also been taking private glassblowing lessons from Lee in the hotshop a few hours in the afternoons, and, though I may never make anything professionally, I am having a GREAT time working up gifts for my Christmas list.

Orders have been sparse for the past few weeks. I took one at the end of the week last week for one platter to be dropshipped to a customer, and I took another today for several pieces to ship to a gallery in Scottsdale asap. I had to scrounge for stands for that last order as Black Cat is slammed with orders through the end of the year. Add those two orders to the custom sconces I am working on and a few remakes from the summer's big awards order and you have my current paid kilnforming. I am, of course, making pieces for the Taylor Kinzel glass trunk show this weekend and Siyeh Sleigh Ride the Sequel next weekend, but work I do for both of them is on spec and I am having difficulty working up ambition for spec work right now. End-of-the-year brain drain.

For the first year in memory I actually have time in December for fusing Christmas gifts. In fact (as you might have noticed from the beginning of this post) I am making many of my gifts for 2009-in spite of the fact that I am staring down the barrel of 39 straight days of houseguests (and their pets) starting this Sunday!

Now off to bed to fall into my eyelids.

Turkey in the Kiln

2009-11-27T15:06:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (And thanks to Colin and Chris for the wonderful smoked turkey which was NOT cooked in the kiln--we just kept it warm in there for a couple of hours.)

Second Post Today

2009-11-24T10:31:00.003-05:00

To make up for the lack of post yesterday--and because it's just too funny NOT to share--I post again this morning. While many kilns will be taking Thursday off as their owners celebrate Thanksgiving, Middle Ground--my 22" clamshell--will be called into service as a second oven to keep the turkey warm. For the first year in about 10 Dave is not deep-frying the turkey. Instead, our friend Colin is smoking one (but how do you keep it lit?) (I couldn't resist) at his house and bringing it over. Colin and Chris have lots to cook, we have lots to cook, and our house here (unlike the one we had in Austin) does not have two ovens and an extra-large cooktop so we are cooking in our respective houses for the first part of the day. Dave is almost obscenely excited at the prospect of almost cooking in the kiln. I can't imagine what he'd be like if I'd actually let him cook with it. (Before we moved here he had a steak at a restaurant in Alpharetta that cooked their steaks in a kiln and he said it was one of the best steaks he'd ever had.)

Rip Van Winkle

2009-11-24T09:04:00.004-05:00

A large Dancing Goats coffee with a shot of chocolate and some half 'n half in a Batdorf Bronson mug, laconic jazz on the sound system. It's a coffeeshop morning! I feel like RVW after the 20-year sleep: I have woken up and the world has moved on. Summer has been and gone, fall is almost over, and what have I been doing? Sure, I can list a million things that got done, but I hardly remember doing *any* of them. Now I wake up and I have a hotshop, seven mega-minor torches and the accompanying great big whanging tanks (plural) of oxygen and propane, a glass resource center, a new permanent official part-time employee, and three new business associates/partners in my ventures. Wow!

The orders--but for one that came in yesterday--are done for the year (or at least the time being), now it's time to play and plan. This afternoon--and every working afternoon for the next few weeks--I will be taking a couple of hours to blow glass. I have had three lessons from Lee, and I am up to small blown vessels. I am going to practice this form for the next few weeks till I, if not master it, at least become relatively proficient at it.

Planning is for the new booth at the BMAC in February. Bill and I had planned to plan some months ago and it just never happened. First I was busy, now he is. We also didn't go to Philly to get our booth and work that's up there now to bring it home. Should've done it in September when we had the chance (though I don't remember much of September either...).

Siyeh Sleigh Ride the Sequel in 2-1/2 weeks, the Taylor Kinzel annual glass show the week before that. Let's see what new and creative work I can get done between now and then--and I'll try to stay awake.

And On The Fifth Day She If Not Rested, Relaxed--A Lot!

2009-11-20T09:05:00.005-05:00

Coffee--with Ghirardelli sweet and dark chocolate in it--in the Chicago skyline mug, "Rockin' In the Free World" by Neil Young on iTunes. I am back on my game!! Ernie and I celebrated with a little Mafia Wars on Facebook after I took Jessie to school and now I'm ready to move on with my day. And a beautiful day it looks to be , indeed. Dave gets home from Austin tonight (whoo hoo!), J has a sleepover at a friend's, (whoo hoo!), and the house is CLEAN.

But this blog is supposed to be about GLASS so let's get back to there. The new postcard is on the presses as I type and should be shipped out this afternoon. A hint for all you artists who do postcards through one of the online places: Begin the order process, get as far as the "upload your images" step, and then put the project on hold and wait. Very likely your phone will ring within an hour and it'll be someone from the printing company who wants to know if you need any help. When you tell them that you're under the gun and need your postcards quickly, and in order to get them quickly the shipping will cost more than the printing so you're trying to decide whether to do them at all, they'll likely offer you all kinds of perks like one day turn-around at no charge and personally moving your proofs through the process as quickly as possible so you can use ground shipping instead of UPS' outrageously expensive one or two day service. Just my (frequent) experience. If you're one of those people who plans their printing weeks or months in advance, ignore it as we have NOTHING in common!

Today in the studio sees the completion of all those pesky little tasks (like pay the IRS last year's taxes... oops) that have been accumulating since, well, since June when life accelerated to warp speedier than usual. My inbox will be--if not empty--seriously depleted, papers will be appropriately sorted and filed, and I will begin the end of the year fresh. I can't believe December comes in a week and a half. Not only are the days in December some of the shortest of the year, it's also the shortest month because of all that we try to cram into it. Well not me folks! Not this year! Sure, my parents are coming from Montana to visit over Christmas with their bird and their dog, and my sis-in-law is coming the weekend before to make a gingerbread house with the J, and we have Siyeh Sleigh Ride, the Sequel the weekend before that, and Taylor Kinzel's annual Glass Trunk show the weekend before that, and Thanksgiving the weekend before that, and that's NEXT weekend... Heck, I guess I better enjoy the quiet of this weekend, hadn't I?

Seriously, it feels good not to have ANY work scheduled for the rest of the year. My orders are done, and I get to play and make gifts and fun things for the rest of the year (blown glass tumblers anyone?). Maybe the most exciting thing on the end-of-the-year horizon is that MY BOOKS WILL BE DONE AND UP TO DATE thanks to V the bookkeeper extraordinaire. For once I won't have to spend the weeks after Christmas sorting through little bitty slips of paper and trying to remember what all I spent money on (and what money all came in) during the past year. Whoo hoo!

The last pic in this post is from Lori and is me being crowned Queen of the Sleigh Ride at the first Siyeh Sleigh Ride. Around my neck is one of Todd's new, gorgeous wreaths (the blue "ice" wreath), and he is crowning me with a, um, wire tree... More fun and frivolity sure to occur at the next Sleigh Ride too so I expect to see More Of You There!

I'm a Woman

2009-11-19T23:11:00.004-05:00

Sprout up and to school? check. Dave's car dropped off for service? check. Laundry folded and put away? check. Kitchen cleaned? check. House straightened? check. Cat box cleaned? check. Fruit flies decimated? check. Post card made for Siyeh Sleigh Ride the Sequel? check. Little girls picked up from school for playdate? check. Orders shipped? check. Bunny cage cleaned? check.Classroom set up for beadmaking class tonight? check. Dinner and Top Chef at Keith and Mike's? check. It was a fully rounded day. It was an Enjoli day. May there not be another one for awhile.

Dave comes home tomorrow for another three weeks--I can't wait. Back in April when he took this job and was gone Monday through Friday *every* week, I looked forward to the time when he would only be gone one week out of four (what we have now). But now that we are there, I find that one week gone out of four is still too much. I miss my spouse and I dread (i.e., count down to) the time he leaves and count again with great anticipation till he comes home. Tomorrow the new postcard--it couldn't compete with Enjoli today.

Tuesday Goeth

2009-11-17T20:58:00.003-05:00

I wasn't planning on having any wine tonight (AJB Syrah 2003 in a Riedel stemless red wine glass). Nor was I planning on being in the studio till almost 9:00 pm again (especially and not get everything done). Add them to a list of things I wasn't going to do/that weren't going to happen today, and you'll have my day.

I woke with a spring in my step and (finally) the ambition to clean the kitchen (a bomb went off in it Sunday and left the dregs of Thai take-out for six and wine bottles strewn everywhere), slay the laundry monster (the hulking skulking pile of clean in the laundry room from the weekend), and get caught up on major bills and finances. Oh yes, I was also going to go to Commerce to meet Elaine to get metal pieces for orders that need to ship, and I was going to put in a couple of simple kiln loads (a firepolish and a slump). Easy peasy, I thought to myself.

I breezed through getting the Sprout up, dressed, fed, kitted out with lunch and snacks for her brownie troop, and safely deposited at school. I sailed through the Commerce run--and picked up a big order from Black Cat with an asap ship date. I figured I'd be able to squeeze it in today and ship Thursday (it's a two-fire order). Hah. The gods despise hubris and trounce all over it at every opportunity.

The afternoon--back from Commerce--started well. I got a call from Stephanie at the Oakhurst Community Garden that my holiday dish class for tonight only had one person signed up so it was going to be cancelled. I say "started well" not because I wasn't looking forward to teaching the class but because I was looking forward to an evening relaxing with the J at home, rewarding her for being so patient last night, and relaxing a bit. Then things started to speed up.

Brian arrived and I really needed to talk glass bead classroom set-up, tools and class details with him (and to help him incorporate his business online). Then Lee showed up (expectedly) and I needed to talk hotshop tools and equipment, classes, etc. with him. I also had to settle up with both of them from the past two shows and their equipment expenses to date. Then the phone rang and it was a woman who had just called the garden about tonight's class and had two--maybe four--kids who wanted to take it. So I called the other person who had been signed up and told her the class was on if she was interested. Then I realized it was 3:30 and I still had pieces to get out of the kiln, a couple of orders to ship, and my easy kiln loads and the new order from Black Cat to get in before 5:00, the J to pick up at 5:00 AND a class at 6:00 to set-up and prepare for!

Some things had to be put off. I'll talk to Lee tomorrow. I'll ship tomorrow. I'll talk to Brian Thursday. Black Cat's order will go in tomorrow. The class turned out to have seven people in it (two adults, five children), it was great and everyone left enthused to come back and do more open studio projects before Christmas--and maybe to take some classes too. The priorly-scheduled kiln loads got in, the J was acquired from school... and we made it home late again. At least tonight I fed her before heading to the studio.

Tomorrow Dee comes down to settle up from the shows and get her stuff back (she did a show with Brian yesterday--he took her work). We'll also start the planning for Siyeh Sleigh Ride the Sequel on December 12th and 13th. Bill was right: If there were no pictures, it didn't really happen. Since it didn't happen, it needs to! And before anyone roundly chastises me for overdoing it again, know that this was not my idea; it was Mike's. As it was Mike's, it can be counted upon to be a good, sound, sane idea--not me taking on too much (again).

I sip my Syrah, and life is good.

Monday Cometh

2009-11-16T21:44:00.003-05:00

Just enough time to dash off a quick post before falling into bed. It's a late night and I am a bad mother. It's Dave's week in Austin so I picked J up from school at 3:00 today--and then continued to work in the studio straight on through until 8:30 (she wrote drew, and read to while away the time--after playing a bit with her bunny). Then I whisked her off to the pet store to get dog food, to the Wendy's drive-through for dinner (she was so patient while I worked that I gave her the choice of dinner and she picked Wendy's hoping to get a new audiobook), and finally a stop at Kroger to get the snack for her brownie troop tomorrow (turns out it is my turn and I just found out today). She's showering nowwhile I take care of her pet duties for her (and post), and then we're both hitting the hay to fall asleep to one of the Magic Treehouse books on her iPod.

That's the life side of the coin. The studio/resource center side of the coin is just as harried, varied, and rich. I'll have time to post about it tomorrow--though I won't have any photos of the Siyeh Sleigh Ride (artist open house) we did over the weekend as I still haven't found my camera and thus took no pictures!!

Good Morning From Joe's!

2009-11-12T09:00:00.002-05:00

Coffee in a big white mug, something by Mono on the sound system *lots* of chatter from the locals for background music. The sun shines in Atlanta again. After 2-3 days of straight rain from tropical storm Ida, we can see blue sky today. Whew. I was getting moldy. Today we start to prep for this weekend's artist open studio sale--the Siyeh Sleigh Ride. But before that I need to get some computer work done. V the bookkeeper has finally convinced me to put all my work as items in Quickbooks. I am desperate to avoid QB, but as I seem to have no other viable options, I succumb. The task is especially prominent with the newly opened Resource Center and all the additional things to sell and track.

What a short post today! I thought I had a lot to say, but then I ran out of steam. Till tomorrow...

Did Somebody Say Something About a Saddle?

2009-11-11T09:26:00.008-05:00

What
• GET LOOTED! shop 6 local glass and metal artists' work

• GET BURNED! studio tours + demos of beadmaking and glass blowing

• GET NOGGED UP! wine & horses' doovers Friday night, munchies throughout

• GET YOUR OWN ORNAMENT! Make your own kilnformed glass ornament

When
Friday November 13th: 6 pm to ?? Artist Reception and much nogging
Saturday November 14th: 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday November 15th: noon to 4 pm

Who
• Brenda Griffith: kilnformed glass vessels , tabletop and wall art
• Dee Janssen: dicroic glass and fine silver jewelry
• Lee Ritchie: blown glass tumblers, bowls, and decorative pieces
• Brian Renoud: torchworked pendants and ornaments
• Todd Briske: whimsical wire sculpture and jewelry
• Rebecca Sizemore: torchworked bead jewelry

More info

___________________________

Coffee in the New York Skyline mug, Ernie snoring gently beside me for music. I'm back in the saddle after a dentist appointment in the morning and an afternoon off yesterday. Finally got off my duff (with much prodding and help from Dee) and got out the announcement for the artist open house (i.e., Siyeh Sleigh Ride) this weekend at the studio. Dee uses Vertical Response for her bulk mailing program and I have to say I was impressed with it. It's easy to use, gives good statistics, is reasonably priced, and most importantly sends out email in a pretty format with uniform text and pictures. Next time I might size my final draft a bit bigger, but this was a great effort for under the gun.

Today I wrap up from the Waldorf Holiday Festival last weekend and figure out everyone's cut of the proceeds. Tonight is the first night of our first 5-week glass beadmaking class (yea!). Tomorrow we start cleaning up the studio and preparing for the Sleigh Ride this weekend. Slow down much? Today is also payday for my official new permanent, part-time employee Judy who is AMAZING. Hope V gets her all set-up.

Now off to ikebana with a bunch of Siyeh Sleigh Ride flyers clutched in my eager little fists.

Monday is Actually a Relief

2009-11-09T08:37:00.006-05:00

Dee is on her way down with a grande pumpkin spice latte (and maybe a pumpkin scone) from Starbucks for me, "Missing" by Everything But the Girl on iTunes. My fingers fumble at the keys as I try to find my rhythm again. Last week was beyond tough for personal reasons and busy, busy, busy too. This week life is settling back to normal and it's busy, busy, busier for the studio. This weekend is the Siyeh Sleigh Ride and Dee is coming down to plan and to help me (finally) get the invitations designed and out. Late much?

The Waldorf Holiday Festival was this past Saturday and, as always, it was a lot of fun. This year the Siyeh Studio booth had work by Lee (blown glass paperweights and glass flowers), Brian (torchworked heart and goddess pendants and icicles), Dee (fused glass jewelry), and Todd (plant stakes, ornaments, people and jewelry--much of it with my glass incorporated). I had a last minute 8 year-old, after-school birthday party/sleepover Friday to whip up for the J--both before and after the 2-hour long adult preview for the holiday festival--and then a memorial service to attend the first half of Saturday so I didn't have any of my own work at the festival.

Yesterday I was was originally scheduled to have a Make a Holiday Dish class at the studio through Oakhurst Community Gardens but when the week went to hell in a handbasket and there was only one person signed up for it, I asked the director of the gardens if she would mind rescheduling. I'm not sure what happened, but it was a very lucky set of circumstances for Skippy when he and his mother showed up at the studio yesterday at 1:00 for the class (it's amazing they got there at all--Memorial Drive was closed Friday night through this morning just on the block in front of the studio for street repair) and I happened to be there. They had gone through so much trouble that I didn't have the heart to tell them the class had been rescheduled so I did an impromptu holiday dish class for Skippy and then he and his mother got to watch a little glass blowing in the hotshop. It was a good save--and renewed me more than I would have thought possible.

Now I need to get back to updating both websites, seeing if I can fill the last couple of spots in the 5-week glass bead making class that starts Wednesday night, and running a glass resource center. Hurry up Dee, I need that coffee!