My Basement Studio

Here's a photo of my "studio". It's located in my cold basement. You can see my little space heater right by my chair where I throw my pots. My goal this spring to to remodel my space by removing all the old adhesive on the walls and put up fresh paint. I plan on using colors leftover form other painting projects. My daughter's room is purple and my son's is blue and green. I'll use all of those.

Here is a picture showing a bunch fo ringholders, and honey pots waiting to be bisque fired. You can see on the ugly concrete wall behind showing that nasty adhesive. I pulled off numerous styrofoam insulation sheets this past summer that were so dusty and disgusting. I do pretty well using my shopvac in this space, but it was always way too dusty until I pulled those down. But, in their place is a scary sight. I'm going to photo document my progress in my blog. Stay tuned!

I'm getting noticed!!

Oh my gosh!!! ETSY featured my little green pendant in a Storque article about taking pictures of your work using colored backgrounds. Here's the link:

http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/howTos/article/shop-makeover-series-makeover-your-listings-with-color/1082/

And, I was featured in this blog, The Cutting Edge of Ordinary:

http://thecuttingedgeofordinary.blogspot.com/

How cool is this? She bought a bunch of ringholders and they made her very happy. They are one of the best things I've ever come up with. It all started years ago when I was looking at one of my mother's apple bakers, which is essentially a bowl with a rod coming out of the center to spike an apple on and bake it. I was always misplacing my rings, and as a potter, I just don't like wearing them in the studio. So I made my first ringholder. I think I've sold a couple hundred of these over the years. Now that I'm starting the sell again after the "having kids" absence, I predict I'll be making MANY of these this year. They are really fun and easy to throw on the wheel. Here's an example of the ringholders that I sell in my ETSY shop.

Lots of new stuff

I've been neglecting my poor little baby blog. I need to nurse it back to health and do some writing and posts! I've been so busy working on my various applications to craft shows and fellowship (see previous post), and listing stuff on ETSY. Check out this heart pendant necklace. Perfect for Valentine's Day!

I've also been doing lots of throwing lately. Really enjoying the nature of centering, pulling up the clay, and creating something with my hands. Tonight I made some super cute honey pots. Will post pics soon. These clusters of mini bud vases are selling very well on ETSY right now.

Application craziness

Right now I'm in the process of filling out all sorts of applications. Some of them are for craft shows, one for a fellowship (which I REALLY want to get) and my sales taxes (blah!). It's hard for my poor un-organized brain to handle all of this at once. I'm also firing a bisque kiln right now and am worried that I need to replace the elements of my kiln. It's firing too slow. Too much! All I want to do is curl up in front of the T.V. with a blanket and sip hot cocoa. You know, I may just do that anyways. After I list this cute little eye candy necklace in my store.

Check out my ETSY mini to the right. You can click on any image and it will take you to that listing in my shop. Click on the shop link in upper right and it will take you to my shop and all I have for sale. I'm very proud of it. I started listing my pottery and jewelry on December 2nd and got my first sale on the 9th. 25 sales so far!

I have a blog!

Well, I did it. I have my very own blog. A year ago I didn't even know what a blog was, and now here I am. My name is Becky Wheeler and last month I launched my on-line store: http://www.dirtgirlpottery.etsy.com/ My business is Dirt Girl Pottery, where you can find stoneware pottery, hand glazed earthenware jewelry, and clay sculpture. At this point, all things clay. I also enjoy working in colored pencils and hope to sell prints of my drawings in the future.

I live in Portland, Maine with my husband Rob and two kids. I love living in Portland and will write more about living in this awesome city in future posts.