This week I am trying to get organized before the kids are home for the summer and we go on vacation. I have sent off an application for a juried show in November, entered all the sales and emails from this past weekend, updated the wholesale catalog with new glaze colors and pendant shapes and worked on ordering more supplies to make more jewerly.

I had a great show this past weekend at the 7 th annual Piedmont Pottery Festival. I do believe that everyone that stopped by my booth was definitely impressed. Most had never seen clay transformed into elegant, classy, modern and sophisticated jewelry designs. I received many compliments and comments on my designs. One of the comments I heard the most was how light the jewelry was. I also believe that I achieved one of my goals and that was to promote ceramic beads and pendants as an art form. I may even pick up a few stores from this show.

The above pictured necklace is one of the new designs that I created for the pottery festival. I made the oval bead to be hollow, greatly reducing the weight of the stoneware clay. I have so many new ideas that I can't wait to get back to making more pottery pieces. I will also be working on new limited edition snowflake designs for the holiday season. I have some already bisque fired and awaiting sanding and glazing. Hopefully, I can get them glazed and fired before vacation.

Ta Ta for now
Tracy

A Rainbow of Animals

It has been a long time since my last post. That day I was firing the kiln with these gorgeous pieces in it. Didn't they come out fantastic? I have been getting ready for the Piedmont Pottery festival which is this Saturday in Eden NC. Everything displayed must be pottery, so I had a lot of finished jewelry to make. This will be my first appearance at this show. It will allow me to introduce porcelain jewelry and promote ceramic beads as an art form.

I have also had my first international sale thru my etsy store. I have been very excited about that. I guess this now makes me an internationally known artist.

Well just a quick post tonight...until we meet again

Tracy

Lions and Tigers and Beads, Oh My!

Remember when Dorothy, the cowardly lion and the scarecrow are walking through the forest in the classic movie Wizard of Oz and they are saying "Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!", well I have been working through a forest of beads and pendants.. glazing all the way. I have 151 beads and pendants in the kiln right now. I am getting ready for a pottery festival.

As you can see, I have several new designs and shapes. I can't wait to see the new animal print donuts that you see in the lower right corner of the picture. I have blogged about this new design already but today the new colors are being fired. They will come in blue, turquoise, red, orange, yellow, green and purple. I also have some new glazes and combinations of glazes that are being tested. I can't wait until tomorrow when I get to open the kiln after it has cooled. It is like opening presents on a special holiday.

It is time to turn up the temperature on my old manual Duncan kiln. I got this kiln at an auction a few years ago along with all the kiln furniture and a glass grinder, tools and old glazes. It was truly a blessing to find this at such a great deal. It was a risk buying this at the auction because I had no idea if it worked or not. It does Yea!!

Fab Fibers Giveaway

Hi

I can't believe that it has been so long since my last blog. I was busy with the biannual International Furniture Market in late April and since then I had an out of town show. I will blog about that another time and post pictures. I have been glazing beads and pendants to get ready for my next show. Again I will post pictures and blog about that later.

Today, I wanted to post a picture of some beads that I found on a blog named Fab Fibers. Check them out. She is giving them away. How great is that! They are called Calypso. I think I have new glazes for my porcelain that would coordinate beautifully with these beads.

Enjoy your Saturday!

Tracy

Angel Company Policies

There has been some talk on other art bead blogs recently about copyrights. In the world of clay, an artist will sometimes use objects to texture the clay like a leaf, a feather, lace, or even rubber stamps. In regards to using rubber stamps on clay, the artist can use them free of any copyrights unless they are intending to sell the pottery piece at which time copyrights from the manufacturer of the stamp will come into play. Each manufacturer will have different copyright policies, so you better know what they are before you stamp that clay.

I found a long time ago that some companies are what is termed Angel companies. This means that they have copyright policies which DO allow the artist to sell their artwork using the image from the stamp in their art, so long as the item is not mass produced, but made by the individual hands of the artist. Most that I have found will list their policy on their website. So the next time you find a great rubber stamp image to use in your clay beads, Be safe and make sure you know that it is manufactured by an Angel company

If you don't want to be bothered by copyright infringement, make your own designs. Jennifer at Jangles this morning in her blog, mentioned that she has found a great non-profit company named Ready Stamps that will turn your drawings and doodles into rubber stamps. I think this is fantastic. I can't wait to have the time to start drawing.

Some Angel companies
Inkadinkado
Stampabilities
Stampendous
All Night Media
Inque Boutique


The EXACT Angel policy may vary from company to company.Some companies may limit the quantity of projects stamped.If you have any questions please contact that particular company for the correct answer.

Best Use of a Weed

Good Morning. I am getting ready to go to work at the International Furniture Market, so this is a short blog, but I wanted to show you my best use of those springtime weeds that are growing by leaps and bounds with all the rain we have had in this part of the woods. I am not sure what kind of plant this is but it makes a gorgeous pattern when pressed into porcelain clay. I really enjoy making these pendants. The one I have chosen to picture is in the marine blue glaze.

Beads 2009 Magazine

I am very excited to announce that TGL Designs' beads will be featured in the editor's picks section of Beads 2009 magazine due to hit the newstands later this month. I sent them my colored porcelain animal print pillow beads and my porcelain roses. I am very anxious to get my hands on a copy of this magazine. This will be the first of many more publications, I hope, that will include my designs between it's covers. I must run for now to my bi-annual job at the International Furniture Market in High Point, NC.

Ta Ta for now