Kiln Tetris

All potters will understand the need to get "just one more piece" in the kiln. You have a deadline: a show, someone's birthday or Christmas presents that have been ordered. The problem? You have a small kiln, or a full kiln, or too many things you are trying to get done. I played this game with my last bisque firing and that makes a difference too. If it is a bisque kiln you can stack and lean and invade the personal space of every piece in there. If it is a glaze fire, you need to have gaps between every piece, nothing is allowed to touch and definitely NO STACKING!

My deadline is a show and I had a new product I wanted to add in at the last minute to my already full kiln. I unloaded everything I had loaded and stacked more pieces in wherever I could. Here are the pictures of each shelf. (Minus one, I realized I forgot to take a picture as I took out the last piece. I got too excited to unload!)

Top shelves pre-fire.

Top shelves post fire.

I had an extra half shelf with short items on the top.

 Here is where I missed taking a picture. This shelf included all the new items plus some small things stacked and piled in.

Bottom shelf, I added items inside each mug. Minis and baby bowls got stacked
and leaf ornaments and pendants added wherever they fit.

Leaf ornaments and pendants. There were a couple casualties here that
could have happened anytime from making to loading or even in the firing.

Bud vases (new item), dishes, mugs, minis, and baby bowls.

Beads, pendants, kids' items, whistle, soup mug, wine trivet/plates
and a spoon rest, and some stemless wine glasses.

Here is the tally of what I got in this kiln:

• 17 mugs
• 42 baby bowls
• 9 minis
• 12 dishes
• 13 bud vases
• 5 cups
• 1 whistle
• 1 soup mug
• 2 wine trivets/plates
• 1 spoon rest
• 13 pendants
• 98 kids' items
• 17 beads
• 149 leaf ornaments
• 85 leaf pendants

Making the total of pieces fired: 465! This is my new record. I've done just over 200 in this little kiln before, and it does make a big difference when you add in all the little items and do pretty much all small pieces as opposed to having one shelf dominated by a serving bowl or some taller pieces. Now to glaze it all...

Changing with the Seasons

I realized I'm having a hard time writing in a timely manner. It's already been 8 days since my last post. I'm feeling more of the fall briskness, a couple times the hint of winter has peeked through as well. We still haven't had our first frost and so are continuing to get some veggies out of the garden.

I love fall. I think I am more happy in the fall and in the spring. Those in between times when you can have warm or cool; sun, rain or possibly snow; and things are changing. In the summer it is all green and tends to be hot and humid. Here at least. And in the winter it is all snow. I think winter is the least changing and that makes sense since it is when everything is sleeping. I have no particular qualms with any one season, there are things I like about each, but I am a cool weather person. I like wearing jeans and sweatpants and curling up with a book, blanket and mug of hot chocolate. But I also want to be able to go stand in the sun and just absorb the warmth.

I'm changing with the seasons, too. I'm trying to let go of things that clearly make me unhappy or anxious. And when I finally make the choice and I feel that weight go, then I know it was the right decision, at least for the time being. I'm looking forward to finding more of myself, more confidence, more decision making ability, and I hope I can let go of a few more things in time.

But in the meantime, I have more pottery to be made, Kritters to crochet, business ventures to explore, and fall colors to enjoy! You all be sure to get out there and enjoy the last bits of summer and to be thankful for what you have, in whatever way is best for you.

Happy Fall Everyone!

With fall in the air I return to the studio. The end of my summer shows means I have a little break to make a few things in anticipation of my fall season and open studio time for the year. I'm refilling small items, playing with ideas that I might want to work on this winter when production demands drop off, and getting those last few items together for my renaissance faire.

Fall colors came early this year!

I did work on some Kritters to take up for restocking at Artistree. I may try to get a couple more done before I go up on Sunday, but since I have returned to the clay studio, that is where my creative energy is going at the moment.

Making leaf ornaments.

In my last post I told you about Stamp, Paper, Scissors where I now have work and of course the other shops around the area where you can purchase my work. The next three weeks or so I am once again having my open studios at home. So if you want to see all that I have, stop on by when my signs are out, or contact me through my Facebook page to make sure I am going to be around since I will be starting my hours at Artistree again now that my shows have come to completion.

More kids sale items.

I had fun this summer. I don't remember a lot of it, it becomes a blur when each week consists of making work, packing, shows, and unpacking, but I do remember meeting some great new people, seeing friends and acquaintances from previous years, seeing family and going on some small trips. I also know I have been trying to be more positive. Trying to figure out just what it is that I want for myself and who I am. It's more than being successful, more than knowing I am an artist with a soft spot for animals. It's finding contentment even in the painfully slow times, being at peace and problem solving when things get a little tight and being ok with it. Because as long as I can keep doing the things I love, and as long as I have family, friends, fans and customers who cheer me on, I really have no reason to be disappointed in this life I've chosen. I just have to keep reminding myself of that!

I love zinnias! And lucky for me they keep blooming into the fall.

And in the vein of family, friends, fans, and customers who cheer me on, if you've ever wondered about or wanted to be a patron of the arts now is your chance! I have started work on a Patreon page. It is a place where you make a monthly pledge and get exclusive access to patron-only videos, photos, and posts, and possibly receive some cool stuff that I'm making. You can view my preview page here and offer any suggestions for improvement of it before I launch. It is still a work in progress so you can't become my patron just yet, but thank you for looking, considering and if you feel moved to do so, thank you for sharing this far and wide!

A Month of Catching Up

It's coming up on a month since I last wrote anything. That's not completely accurate since I did write an entire post but I deleted it instead of posting it. I decided I didn't want that post on here.

So here's what's been happening. I've had several art shows and all that that entails. The making of work, taking photos of work, pricing my work, packing and then loading it into my car, then unloading and setting up my booth, taking down and repacking my work, then unloading the car once I get home. I've done that seven weeks in a row now and I have one more show this summer on Saturday. After that I have my three day Renaissance faire in September and at least one Christmas show in November, plus any open studios I do. I have won two ribbons this summer so far and I'm very excited about that!

Minocqua Island Art Walk

Three Lakes Art on Main

I haven't needed to make any pottery the last couple of weeks, I will be making some after the show this week, but instead I have been crocheting. I need to get some Kritters made, they seem to be pretty popular and I finally picked up the yarn to work on my temperature afghan again. I made it to July 28th before I ran out of another color and now have to take another trip to buy yarn. Considering I was stuck somewhere back in May, July 28th is pretty caught up, at least for now.

I ran out of orange about 10 inches from the end of the row.

I also took some work to a friend's store, Stamp, Paper, Scissors in Minocqua by WalMart/Trig's. She has a little of my pottery, scarves, Kritters, paintings and cards. So a little of Katlyn Koester Designs and a little of Katlyn's Bohemian Designs. If you need some of my work you can check it out there. (I also have some of my old style pottery at Chocolates and More in the boardwalk shops by Save More, Kritters and sweater monsters in the Three Lakes Center for the Arts, and as always a selection of old and new style pottery and Kritters at Artistree Gallery in Land O' Lakes.)

My display at Stamp, Paper, Scissors

Along with all the shows and art I actually had a little time to be social this month. I spent a couple days hanging out with some family that came to visit, went to a friend's birthday party and made new friends, went blueberry picking with my family and went for a hike with a friend. In essence that amount of socializing is what I usually do in a couple months and I had all of that in about 10 days.

Now the end of summer is near and isn't that odd? Where did it go this year? I feel like just a couple weeks ago I was hiking the Ice Age Trail. You can read about that adventure here: Day 1-2, Day 3-4, Day 5-6. Of course a lot has happened this summer, some good, some not so good. But you can't stop time no matter how much you want to, just have to take notes, pictures, and enjoy it while it happens. And the more you enjoy it, the more it stays with you.

Where in the World is Katlyn Koester's Work?

I am not a world traveler, but my pottery is becoming so! Just this week a friend told me my one of my pieces will be going to Norway and last year I sold some work to a woman who lives in Afghanistan. I believe there was one other piece I know that went overseas and hopefully others that I don't know about.

This is of course in addition to all the places I know my work has gone in the United States. All over Wisconsin, also to Massachusetts, Colorado, Louisiana, Washington, California, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota and possibly and quite probably other states. Some people tell me where my work is going, some I know because of mailing addresses when I send something out, but it is always fun learning where my work is going or has gone. I just wish now that I had kept a list or a map.

Do you have some of my work? Or have you sent my work somewhere? Please share! Maybe I'll finally get a map made of "Where in the world is Katlyn Koester's work?"

Dear Customers, Art Shoppers, and Patrons

When you purchase a piece of my pottery you are not buying clay and glaze.

No.

When you buy a piece of my work, or work from any artist or crafts person, you are buying years of experience and learning. You are buying time and effort; passions, creativity, ideas and inspiration. You are buying trials, mistakes, failures, successes and surprises; tears, sweat and sometimes blood. You are buying late nights, early mornings; fatigue, frustrations and stress. When you buy a piece from me, you are buying a piece OF me; a bit of my mind, heart and soul.

So when you put a piece of my pottery back because it is too expensive, or ask me for a deal or discount, or tell your child (grandchild, sister, brother, friend, etc.) to make one for you, please remember EXACTLY what I have put into that piece. And it isn't just clay and glaze.

Fairies in My Garden

I have random pottery everywhere. I have things from every stage of my pottery career from my first pot ever from when I was 12, up to something that came out of my last firing. (Which was a couple months ago.) Every now and then I repurpose something from early in my pottery development.

Today my mom and I visited three of the greenhouses in our immediate area, I picked up plants that could belong in a fairy world. Small leaves and flowers and fun textures. Then I needed just a few more things so I gathered some moss from our backyard and some small flowers from one of our gardens.

The bowl is actually the base of a fountain that I made at my first pottery job. I apprenticed for a few years around the time I got my driver's license. This was a collaborative piece with my mentor and I got to bring it home when it was done. It had a very short life as a fountain.

I also raided my trinkets and dug out some marbles.

The little pots and figurines are also from that time, or perhaps from before the apprenticeship when I was taking lessons in pottery from my mentor. The glass filled leaf was an experiment for ornaments and I kept several for myself. Stones that we have collected from various trips to Lake Superior became a path and the gravel is actually chicken grit.

The littlest frog lives in this pot with his "water" filled leaf pond.

It's my first fairy garden and I'm rather proud of how it turned out! I'm already thinking about adding a few things. I may need a dragon for deep in the shadows or a little hut for my little guy. Maybe another frog or two...

Dragonflies

Do you believe in signs from guardian angels, spirits, your creative genius, or whoever or what ever you believe is watching out for you? Do you know what to look for? Some people have a personal symbol, something they identify with. I always look for feathers when I'm out walking, but beyond that I haven't noticed any real significant signs.

Until a couple weeks ago.

My dragonfly painting.

When I started my painting for Katlyn's Bohemian Designs, one of my favorite images was a dragonfly, I hoped I'd be able to use it for my new business cards. Then a potter I follow on Facebook posted an image of a small platter she had made with a labyrinth, a symbol of walking or finding your path, surrounded by dragonflies. And she described dragonflies as "bringing positive transformation" and being associated with "courage, strength and happiness." That struck a chord with me as that was/is what I am hoping for with my new work.

A dragonfly pocket stone.

Then there was mention of a dragonfly in the book I was reading, and an over sized dragonfly balloon at the grocery store. One of the other pages I follow on Facebook posted a dragonfly inspired basket. I also found a little dragonfly pocket stone I had made a while back and just tossed in a dish and the dragon whistle I had decided to keep in my personal collection has dragonfly wings.

My "dragonfly" whistle.

Last week I went to a friends house to pick up some art and craft supplies she thought I might like and there sitting on top of them was a little box stamped with a dragonfly. I told her the whole story about seeing dragonflies everywhere and how I was hoping they were trying to tell me I was on the right path with my new art. When I got home I opened my "suggested pins" on Pinterest and two of them were dragonflies. Up to that point, I hadn't looked at anything dragonfly related. Now I keep getting dragonflies there too.

The little box that was "right there" on top of the art supplies.

I always considered the butterfly my personal symbol. But maybe it is time for a change there as well. Whoever or whatever is sending me these dragonflies, I hope they are looking out for me. They are telling me it is time to adapt, change, transform. Which is what I have been doing with my art, I hope, maybe I really am going the right way with my work. Time will tell, but I do believe there will be more dragonflies in my artwork.

I painted this little stone after seeing so many dragonflies.

Katlyn's Bohemian Designs

My new Facebook page has gone "live." I've decided after much mind changing to call this new venture "Katlyn's Bohemian Designs." In any art path I take, I've not been able to keep my focus on one medium. I started in pottery and branched into crochet and now with this new business branching off of Katlyn Koester Designs, I'm expanding on the crochet and adding painting and beading. And maybe some other things, I don't know yet, but everything will have a more bohemian and gypsy vibe.

To me that means pattern, color and texture. Bright bold paintings. Vibrant and/or luxurious crochet. Fun, a little funky, and little additions that make each thing just that much more unique.

I realized after unpacking my pottery this spring to set up for open studios, (which I am now in the midst of doing each day I am home) that the patterns I've been painting on my pottery have started going that way too. So all of my work is becoming bright, bold, fun, and hopefully worthy of the gypsies. I can picture many of my items being right at home in a gypsy wagon. And I can't even count the number of times I have wished to take a caravan and go exploring like a gypsy and just sell my art along the way. Just one of those fantasies that sounds very appealing when the winter snows start to cause cabin fever.

I still hope to get my Etsy shop up and running, but each time I look at it again I get frustrated by the steps I have yet to take to make it look professional and work as a store. For right now, my work can be viewed and bought on my Facebook page as I get it posted. I hope to have greeting cards before June. The printers have some of my paintings right now to turn into cards, so I will have those soon and I'm pretty excited about that. I also discussed with a friend some other options of things I could do with my new work, but that's still down the road a little bit.

Spring Renewal

Spring is in the air!

I mean it has been in the air for the last month or so, but the last couple weeks the daffodils have been blooming and to me it isn't really spring until the poplar trees start putting on their bright spring green leaves. And I noticed yesterday that they are definitely doing that now in my neck of the woods.

Spring is a time for renewal, reinvention, revival, rebirth. And this spring I am holding true to that. I have my new business venture well under way. New products being made, a friend is busy working on my new graphic design needs, and I have had (and turned down) a couple new offers. The offers were teaching opportunities and I still have no desire, interest or passion for teaching. Some people are born with it, some find it along the way, and some, like me, are very unsuited to the role of teacher no matter how much other people think they would thrive in that role.

But, anyways, a little off track there. I will soon have a new Facebook page with my new mediums of work. Or my new medium and new products in another medium, all hopefully falling under the same style. I will hopefully begin listing to an Etsy page to sell the new work, my pottery is still available but will not be on my Etsy page, unless I make something specifically for this new business and then it will be something small and easily shipped.

So things are still coming to fruition, I just haven't shared much because it is small steps, important steps, but not really blog worthy until I have some final products.

Our one and lonely tulip, it got nipped off by a chipmunk shortly after I took a picture.

As always, stay tuned!

Ramblings

I started writing a post this morning and realized I was just trying to fill up space without really saying anything. I'm not quite ready to share my new plans in full so here's what's up.

My first four months of my temperature afghan. I'm marking
family birthdays with special rows, and up toward the top you can
see the orange rows where we've had two days of 70 degree weather.
Immediately followed by 30 degree days.

This week has been quiet. I have spent a lot of time painting and crocheting. I have thought a lot about some options and things I am working on, but it is all still pretty new, so I'm not sharing it with the world just yet.

Some of our daffodils that got 3 inches of snow dropped on them.
And then rain, and wind, and some blazing sun. Briefly.

And it is being a fairly typical northwoods Wisconsin spring. Meaning the weather is trying to fit winter, spring, summer and a little fall into one week, sometimes into one day.

Are You Happy?

I can honestly say that I have not been happy. Sure, I've had moments of joy, excitement, fulfillment, satisfaction, interest, but to be truly happy, to be in "a state of well-being and contentment" (definition, Merriam Webster), I don't think I have. Some people will argue that to have joy or those other emotions is to be happy.

I think "happy" is a deeper, more true emotion. You can be simply happy, or deep-down-in-the-gut happy. It is a glowing contentment (see I'm using the definition to describe happy because there is no other way to do so.) And that's been the problem for me, I haven't been content. Not with my life, my job, my goals or ambitions, my accomplishments (which there haven't been many in my way of thinking. Or is it society's view?)

In fact my subconscious, my soul, my inner voice have been trying to convey that point to me even in sleep. All the dreams I have remembered, written down and then interpreted the meaning of, have included signs and symbols of a discontent life. Hiding emotions, being stuck, running away, fear, embarrassment, avoiding issues, etc. And I haven't woken from any of those dreams feeling good about it.

Until last night. Last night's dream included symbols for peace of mind; renewal and new beginnings; rest, relaxation, clearing of the mind; foundation, stability, and sense of understanding; mobility, independence, and freedom; taking a step in the right direction; wanting to reconnect (old hobby, talent, or interest); being too hard on yourself; freely expressing femininity; love, joy, sweetness, happiness, affection and kindness; getting back to your roots. Plus in the dream I was content, I felt peaceful. I woke up feeling calm.

Something I am currently doing or thinking about has led me and my inner me to feel good. I am focusing on bringing more mystical things into my life. (As many times as I have linked back to this post, I probably could have figured this out sooner had I been paying attention.) Maybe I need the energy from meditation, lighting candles, and crystals. Maybe that is who I am really and I have been trying too hard to fit into society's idea of a person, or business person. I've been trying to fit the mold, as much as an artist can since artists tend to be on the outskirts of the "norm" anyway, but maybe focusing on some new paintings, a new style, new imagery and new ideas (all from a part of my interests in childhood), has finally allowed me to find "happy." I know I am enjoying what I've been working on and the business plans I have been forming in my head are certainly entertaining. Watch for new comings in my art, maybe I've figured out what it takes for me to be ME.

 And then when I went outside this morning, one of the first things I found was a feather. It was grey, black and white side up, but I haven't found a meaning for three colors so... Black and white feathers represent protection or the sense of union. Grey and white feathers symbolize hope. Grey is peace and neutrality, peace within, wisdom, a nudge that you are on the right track, authenticity, and flexibility. I was starting to compose this post in my head when I found it.