Just keep showin up!

I met a couple sculptors doin shows. They're a father son duo. They make these awsome bronze/stone sculptors. Most are life size and take your breathe away and leave you wondering how the hell they created this work. They both stand about 6'7, nice as can be and travel around the country loadin in and loadin out their work. Sellin to those who are sophisticated enough to understand the work as well as have the money to purchase it. Jon the father walked into my booth awhile back at a show and said "you walk through these shows, booth after booth and go 'thats nice, thats nice, thats nice,' and then you get to a booth and say, 'thats real fuckin work,'" and he said you have to use the word "fuckin." My quotations suck but those words in the eyes of an artist really shot through me. Just keep showin up. That seems to have been my motto for most anything but has really come into focus not only with my life but especially my work. Its funny cause I write this with sometimes a no look up mentality and then I come back and go" did I say that". Sometimes its hard to tell it like it is. It's not usually comfortable to people. I've told myself as well as others that If you can figure out a way to somehow intergrate my daily life into my work then I would no longer have a product that I'm trying to sell but a way of life for others to take with them. I dont know...I havent figured it out yet. I sometimes cant figure out a way to make work that is safe and sellable for a little artistic and financial security. I can say that I have never felt stronger about where my family, my work, myself are going. This has probably been my worst start to a fall show season, yet I'm super stoked bout whats happenin. For those of you who have kept up with my progression with my work, you've seen me build my foundation as a studio potter. Celebrating a decade of putting my work out in shows has let me alot about craft, fine craft, art and a huge fraction of the difference between them. I've changed opinions through the years as my work progressed. I took my work more serious the more my skills built to the point where i could confidently feel that I could do anything with the clay. I wanted to be the humble woodfired potter that I think I still want to be someday to wanting more from the clay than being put behind a cupboard door. I've seen artists/craftsman who are burnt out from making the same thing over and over and not seeing a return to young aspiring artists that come on the show scene with motivation and new breathe. People making a living making and selling their art is confusing and inspiring. I've learned through sticking my own kneck out with my work, for criticism, that the people I admire the most in this life are the ones who put it on the line. The ones who are willing to take a risk and keep showin up, even when the direction is scary. I have a great little family who supports me and lets me lead with love and most of the time i seem them leading me. When I talk about my life my work goes hand in hand. Its funny to even call it work when its so damn fun. I head to the Southern Highland Guild Show in Ashville NC next week. This will be my second show as a new member. I go to greater gulf coast show in Pensacola FL after that. I gave up doin a well deserved, well put on, awsome potters fest in dillsboro NC to do the Pensacola show so i hope its good. I did land my week long workshop at Arrowmont School of arts and crafts for next year. I have been sending workshop packets out like crazy hoping to teach at these facilities and share a lil bit with others. I love teaching. This experience at UTC has been great for me. To have the view of academia at my side while making a livin as an artist has opened my eyes to the two worlds. Anyway, as far as shows go i am shootin for Chicago, Colorado, New York, and Philly for the spring. Galleries have been on my radar and i'm slowly intergrating the right ones in. I know there's more for my mouth to babble off but Shadow is getting horizontal. Till the next ramblin.

Make more work, Make more Pots, Make more Art

The show season has started and off to a good start. I head to nashville next weekend with alot of new work and hopefully some eager buyers and collectors. The new work is more challenging my physical capabilities rather than my mental. I am still almost over my stubborness to hire an assitant. I really have a hard time liftin the work that I'm creating. I have to be a little cautious though because I really need another strong person in the studio to help me. That can tend to rule out most clay artists that would be a huge attribute to the studio but the workload and lifting can be an issue. We have been applying to new and more prestigous shows rather than the ones that we have been doin. Hopefully the work will be accepted. Teachin has been goin really well and my students are full of ideas and creativeness for the arts. Actually havin to pull the reigns on them inorder to teach the basics has been a little tough. Trying to teach walk before run with art majors is a lesson for myself to learn as well. Makework grant sessions have been goin really well. Just having a few hours to bounce ideas off other artists strugllin/sucessin and all the in between has been more beneficial for me than the logistics that we're learning about, promotion, marketing, etc. I have on a side note really been into homemade raviolli and experimenting with the fillin and sauces. It's like little Italy round my house right now. Studio is full of work and shows are lined up. So much of this artist life is risk. How calculated those risks are is really up to each individual artist. I think I'm on the right track for where I wanna go with my work. The hard part is trustin those intuitions and runnin with them.

Hot summer work

Another month gone and more new work comin out. Lots of stuff happenin right now. I will be gettin started with my second makework grant sesssion this wed. Lookin forward to seeing how everyone has progressed and sharin ideas about future projects. I get so wrapped up in makin work and shows and everything that goes into being a self sustaining/professional artist that finding time to get out and interact with local piers can be tough. I'm probably out of town most of the time settin up for a show, givin a workshop or who knows these days. One day runs into the next. I like the spontaneous schedule vs a regimented 40-50 hr work week. I've been battiling with my yard equipment on top of other things that keep me busy throughout the yard and house. i've been trying to integrate a 3-4 hr work interval with my studio work rather than a full 8-10 hr work day. My theory is that it will help me focus on specific tasks throughout the day rather than having one big project or task starin me in the face. I can be more efficient and creative giving ample time to each project or piece with little breaks here and there to break up the monotiny. As the work gets bigger and more dramatic I'm finding that focusing on 3-4 pieces rather than 10-12 pieces gives a better result in the level of artistry and craftmanship that I'm lookin for and want to present. The work really has to move me inorder for it to survive. I cant settle for the "That'll work" kinda work. I think you end up slowly finding yourself lookin like the next guy with the same kinda work. My summer process has been just to continue to make work and let it dry for firing. This takes awhile to see completion but seems to be the best way for me to work. The heat has been crazy hot and has been testin my commitment levels....just kiddin. It has been hot though. I try to roll out of bed around 5am which is like gettin a kick in the balls sometimes. I have this philosphy that if its super hard to do or really challenges your motivation than it will probably be the best thing for your work or life. I literally sit up on the bed, early morn, still dark and say to myself" if you really want this shadow, than this is what its gonna take. now get your ass up and go create." Same goes for late in the evening when its time to chill and drink a couple beers. You figure out what works for you. If you really want it most of the time burnin the midnite oil is what it takes. Theres 24hrs in the day and you figure out how to get it done. If it was easy than everyone would be doin it. I dont have ac out in the studio so early morns beat the heat and get the day goin early with more time to do more stuff. Go, go ,go. My good friends and neighbors just had there second beutiful lil baby girl. Her name is Poppy. New and young folks with kids are startin to move into the redbank neighborhood. pretty exciting to see community grow. Shows kick off in about a month with Atlanta Arts Festival in piedmont park Sept. 17th-18th. I had three altercations in choosin shows this year. One was deciding not to do artclectic this year in Nashville. I will be doin the oct. Southern Highland Guild Show instead. Second, I will not attend "the Festival Of the Masters" show in orlando this year. Third with alot of persistance I will be attending the Greater Gulf Coast arts Festival in Pensacola FL in Nov. instead of doin the Western NC potters festival. The evolution of the work is dictating alot of the show decisions. Gettin ready to start up at UTC helpin Maggie out. Lookin forward to that. Just keep showin up, whatever it is is my work and life attitude. Keep pluggin away at what you love and wait for things to come full circle.

Busy Summer

july has been full with anticipation for my first Southern Highlands Guild Show in Asheville, NC. Believe it or not I've been rejected from the jury process 4 times in the last five years before I was accepted. My work has changed so drasticallyy that I'm not real sure what to expect from this show. I am lookin forwward to seeing ol friends that i havent seen in close to ten years. My studio has been a war zone. Constantly makin more new work and never lettin stay the way it was has pushed my mental and physical capacity. I really think I pulled a pec muscle lifting and glazin one of my pieces. An assistant is needed not to far in the future. I think I've decide that my attitude towards the shows has been that of a sculptor rather than a potter. I went from being able to fit and fire 30-40 pieces in my kiln to 3-4. I cant turn back now. the addiction of making dramatic, large pieces has taken over.I had a really good reception for my Sculpture show at the Front Gallery in Chattanooga. Spent all last week at my friends wood shop building new pedestals for my booth. I have been doin alot of gallery shows and giving away all my old pedestals to that. I really like the new look now. As my work changes the whole process changes, Booth, trailer, bins that I put the work in for traveling. The summer is a good time to make changes or use to be because I never had anything going on till fall. Definetely more fast paced this summer. I've had my first makework grant session and I will recieve 2 of my six grant checks today. I ve spent a little of the first one on clay and glazes to get the work process movin. Each piece takes at least a month to completely dry before it can go through the kiln. I will be purchasing another kiln soon but the timting of work production has been first. My fall show schedule is packed and I'm workin on gettin my new workshop/instructor proposal out. I start my adjunct position at UTC in august and I'm really excited about that. My family is doin great. We celebrated Rockets 2nd birthday. Two years has gone by too damn fast and it aint stoppin. My work/family balance has improved. More walks with my son and wife have been good and we always cook and eat together. Lovin life.

Off the road for awhile! The fall show season definetly went better than I expected. We started off with Atlanta arts festival winning " Best in Clay" award and hangin with my good friends Erik and Luba from Mudfire. TACA in Nashville, to all those who do their fall show..... this was our best year ever there....CRAZY!!! Third show was Pink Palace in Memphis. This has been my best show. Its a 4 day show and 6 and1/2 hours away. Long time to be away from my family. My Best friend Toney came up to see me for a bit and Must have brought the good luck. Thurs, Amy Bethea, an avid Shadow May collector and friend came and grabbed a good amount of the cream of the crop pots and it dominoed from there. 3 of the 4 days still ahead for sellin. Thats exactly what happened. I Left the show on Sun with 3/4 of all my high end show pieces not going back with me. It's nerve racking enough just attempting to be an artist than trying to sell your work to an audience. We got rained out of two spring shows and the last 4 were not responding yet to my evolved work. Bills got paid and alot of stress but we got through still making new work. I really had to reason and go with my gut that this is important, my work is important, but my family is more important. With going into a showless summer to make work for the fall season, the restaurant came into the picture and helps us supplement the small stuff that adds up. This fall after our epic Pink Palace show I had three weeks to give a workshop @Applachian center for arts in Norris TN. and fire the kiln a couple times for the WNC potters Festival in Dillsboro NC and my last two shows of the year "Festival of the Masters" in downtown Disney World and Mudfire's annual holiday christmas show in Decatur, GA. Stayed with very good friends, Kelly and Joe Frank from Treehouse pottery in Dillsboro,NC for the potters fest. The Clay olympics were fri and I Participated but came in last this year floppin every pot that I put on the wheel. Not surprising because I'm much better at takin clay away then actually doin it right on the wheel. It was a good time. Sat was the show and we all woke up to snow and cold weather. For me, I hadn't seen snow in awhile and was pretty happy to be back in the mountains of north carolina selling more pots and seeing ol friends. Alot of thinking when your on the road. We had knocked out 4 shows so far, and I was headin back home for a few days before goin down to Florida. I had just got both our vehicles brakes, oil changes, new winshield and an axle on the car. Was able to fix some things on the house and get more supplies for the buisness(clay,glazes,tools.) Most importantly good shows allow me to spend more time at home with my son and wife for longer periods of time. I was still nervous gettin ready to head down to Orlando, Fl for the show. 9 hours away, four nites in a hotel and enough 7 eleven chicken tenders to gag you. I was conserving on money? This show was unique, being that all the artists have had to won a best of show or first place in another high ranking juried fine art show to even apply. The caliber of work was pretty incredible. It was the first show I had been to where no clay artist or potter had or put out mugs, cups or utilitarian items. Anyway I got selected two pieces on Fri for the judging on sun at the awards ceremony. I t really mattered to me for a min about the awards. Everyone likes gettin awards. Until I brought the work to where the judging was to be held. The other clay artists blew me away. I felt that I didnt even have a chance because the work was so good. Fri and Sat were a little slow. Sold a few pieces and had to pull out some mugs on sat just to make a few more sales. I had to remind myself that people actually lived here. With all the entertainment who comes and buys art at disney world? Sun morn..7:30, in the house of blues the award ceremony starts.They had a killer breakfast buffet for the artists an a professional presentation. There are twelve catergories for awards. I was in the "clay" catergory. There were about 40 clay artists in the show functional, semi-functional and non functional all lumped into one clay catergory. Clay was first for announcing and I'm not gonna lie...I was maybe hoping for a merit award. No merit award. By the time they had gotten to third place I knew there was no way, This is my first time at the show and There where clay sculptors that had more dramatic work so i started to head out so i could open up the tent and get ready for the last day of sales. Last sip of my coffee and one foot out the door i kid you not they announced "Shadow May" First place for his Lg Flanged Bowl of all pieces. I about pooped my pants. I really couldnt believe it. There was a man standing at a pedestal on stage describing my piece and the description I had wrote, Two of the directors and Mickey Mouse and a big ribbon with a big check. Back stage they gave me directions," Your gonna go out greet Mickey,get your ribbon, smile and take two pictures and then come back" The funny thing was that the speaker must have not seen me coming down the aisle cause he kept calling me a she until I came from back stage to recieve my award. He quickly said," excuse me...He" It was pretty surreal. A deer in headlights. There is a 2,3,and 1st place in every catergory and only 1 Best in Show award. I automatically get to come back next year without the jurying process. I have 10 diney passes from the show so It's gonna be a nice family trip next year. Rocket will have a blast. On my way home believe it or not I had some nice work to drop off for the holiday christmas show @mudfire in Decatur ,georgia. The show starts Nov.26 and goes till Dec.23 with an artist reception and holiday party Dec.4, 5-9 pm. So there it is I had made a 6 month plan to put it all out there, make stick your kneck out there work and supplement funds by working at the restaurant. I think I exceeded my expectations and got enough mental fuel and encouragment to keep pushin my work despite a bad spring. My recent acceptance into the southern highlands craft guild was huge also. I hope to be in the July show in Asheville and possibly doin a little wholesale with arrowmont gallery in Gatlinburg soon. If you want to make exceptional work, the kinda stuff that not everyone is gonna like theres gonna be a lot of rejection but what you do get back is extrordinary. By the way, This year I sold about 25-30 mugs and cups between 5 big shows....the rest were all show pieces, thats crazy to me and exciting. Maybe in a year i will have weeded out anything functional...maybe not but i am starting to see something big happening. Thanks everyone who came to the shows and supported me and everyone who took my workshops this year, hope to see you again. You really helped me and my little family more than you can imagine.With what we saved and a couple days at the restaurant a week I'll be making new work and applying to more shows for the spring. I now have a " for sale" page on my website www.shadowpottery.com I'll be putting pics up on it this week so check it out.

Just got back from Mighty mud studios in Knoxville. This was the third workshop this year and it was a good one. My students were stoked on clay and very responsive to new ideas and my philosophy of lettin it all ride when it comes to creating and selling your work. I demonstrated some of my stacackable items as well as pullin handles. Of course I had to throw a little philosophy in there with the clay and talk about the lifestyle that we potters and clay artists choose to live. "Break the rules" I said. Clay can have so many possibilities if you lend yourself to abstract and out of the box thinking and then apply that to clay. We talked about school vs self taught and the advantages of both as well as doin juried shows and what all that entails. How to deal with those who say" that looks like alot of work" or just how to ignore them all together. I've really grown to love giving workshops and talking with students. I learn so much from their ideas and walks of life. I leave fri morning to give another one at The Arkanasas craft school and I can't wait. Then the following weekend I will be at Colombus art festival in Ohio. Alot of traveling but I love it aside from being away from the family. Theres those who do what they gotta do to make the bills paid and then theres those who make it happen and live doin what they love to do. I'm about right there in the middle. My fall is almost lined up with more wrkshops and shows and I will update on my website soon http://www.shadowpottery.com/ The garden is growing like crazy. My potatoes are almost ready and we're eating greens and spinach practically every nite. What is it with potters and gardening? It's like they're linked together.