Pumpkin Patch 5/3/25

Was at the Pumpkin Patch 5/3. First one of the season. It rained. I was cold. I was still happy to be out there again. Pictures!

First picture is my full set up. Two 4ft stair displays and three 4ft fold up chairs. My canopy is still in good shape. 

Next picture, a close up of one of my stair displays. Overall, a nice display of various sized bonsai. 

Next picture is my other stair display. Mostly new bonsai, but there's still a few from last year.

First 4ft table. Pots and tiny pots. I forgot the airplanes for my tiny pots. I also forgot a bunch of my tiny pots!

Second 4ft table display. This one had my masks, my fish and my sea slugs. One customer got it right and called them nudibrachs. Hey look! A goblin head pot from last year is still hanging around.

And finally I have my last 4ft fold up table. I didn't really have enough stuff to warrant a third table, but I made use of it. I had my Cthulus, Spider, and Beholder pots here. 

Final picture is a panoramic picture of my view. This is what I'm seeing. 

Note the following: 

Booth is at the corner. People see me as they enter and leave. I'm easy to find. 

Booth second to me is a food vendor. I try to place myself by the food vendors. I get more traffic. Plus if I'm hungry, it's a quick jump over to grab some food.

Be prepared! Notice my ice chest, lunch bag and coffee thermos. Ice cold drinks in chest, hot coffee in thermos. Snackies and half/half in lunchbag. If it's hot, I drink cold drinks. If it's cold, I have coffee. Snacks are there in case I don't have money for a hot dog. 

Try to keep everything neat and tidy.

That's all I have for now. 

2/12/25 Update: I'm Still Alive

 I'm here to say I'm alive and kicking. How are you?

I'm still making pottery but at a slower pace. It's been freezing lately and difficult to get motivated to do pots. We even had snow last week. In the last post, I said winter has been mellow. Yeah, that came back to bite me in the ass!

The BYOA art show at Studio Bob was well attended. There was a lot of interest in my work, but nobody bought it. Maybe I have my prices too low. Time to adjust my prices up!   

What else can I say? Indoor trees are indooring. Outdoor trees are for the most part sleeping. 

All for now.

01/28/25 Update: Happy New Year!

I don't have much more to add from the last post. I'm still making pottery. I slowed down the past couple weeks. It's Tuesday and I've only done one pot for this week. Being honest, I'm starting to run out of room for all these pots!

Local place (Studio Bob) is running a bring your own art show. I have a few of my pieces in the art show. I figured it would be fun to display my stuff. And while I'm at it I may make a sale. Doubt it, but whatever. 

Though we've had a mellow winter, everything is asleep outside. No point in posting anything further than that. 

12/20/24 Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad, and Mele Kalikimaka!

Holiday wishes to everyone: I hope you have a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad and a Mele Kalikimaka. I'll be making tamales and possibly pozole for Noche Buena (Xmas Eve). We plan to make a turkey for Xmas dinner; I may have potato latkes and spam rice and eggs for brunch on Xmas. We're extending our holiday celebration to include Epiphany on Jan. 6. It's just a nice, low-key way to enjoy some family time. 

I looked at my last post from November where I say I've been on the slow burn, turning out pottery at the rate of about 6 per week. I continue to go at this pace as my minimum. Being it's the week before Christmas, I turned up the heat. I have 12 pieces from this week (rather than 6) that I have to pick up tomorrow!

I've taken my own good advice and have been making crafty pottery regularly. Fuckery that nobody asked for. Shit that I do just because I feel like making something stupid. I started making stylized stone lanterns and mushroom lanterns. Just for the fuckery of it. 

I'm doing my best to keep busy and motivated. I work out most days and I watch what I eat. I don't drink. I don't smoke. My drug of choice is coffee. Diet, exercise, weight loss = healthy body and mind. 

I'm still in the studio most weeknights, blasting Deadmau5. The craft room is crowded. Bernie has decided to store our holiday decorations in there. I like that everyone in the house is using the craft room.  

11/4/24: I Continue to do Pottery

Quick November update: 

I've been on the slow burn, turning out pottery at the rate of about 6 per week. This is 3 sessions a week, with two pots made each session. I'm starting to catch up on inventory. There is still a long way to go before I'll have enough pots for all my trees but frankly, I'm running out of room!

I need to make more 'crafty' pots: urchins, octopots, Cthulhus, Beholders, etc. 

Other than that, Autumn is here, leaves are falling, temperate trees are falling asleep. Tropicals have been moved indoors. I forgot to give my scheffleras their autumn trim back, but I can do that at my leisure. There's still time for that. 

Thought just crossed my mind: It's November 4! Thanksgiving will be here shortly, and then Xmas. 

Anyways, I'll be in the studio if you need me. I'll be blasting Deadmau5, so you'll have to speak up so I can hear you. If I'm not doing pottery, I'm tending to the tropicals. Or playing video games. 

All for now.

10/8/24 I Continue to do Pottery

I'm low on inventory. I need to make more of everything. I need large pots for my unpotted bonsai trees. I also need variety. I recently made a dragon head, a large sea urchin pot, and some spider pots. I also had a large Cthulhu pot from last winter in Oregon Brown clay body that was recently completed. I have a few fish and some sea slugs. However, my sea urchin and spiders sold. I have to make more! I currently have a sea urchin and a couple spiders in the studio, waiting to be finished. To balance production/crafty work, I've challenged myself to produce two items daily (daily meaning 2-4 times a week): One a production pot, and a crafty work. 

Sudden thought to myself: 

Maybe I should do some older forms:

Rocket

Old man pants

Goofball stuff

I could include these in my crafty count.

Yeah. Let's have fun!

All for now

10/1/24 Update

 Update: I struck down the outdoor tropical growing area last night. All tropicals are now tucked away in their winter quarters. Initially I forgot my Brazilian Raintrees. Ran out in the middle of the night to retrieve them. I'm going to leave the Chinese elms outside. They should acclimate to the weather and will be fine. 

I continue to do pottery. I struck a bargain with Fairview Studio: I clean the studio on Wednesday mornings in exchange for my studio fees. I still have to pay for clay. 

I was planning on taking a few months off over the winter. Sales slow down and I can't afford the studio fees without the sales. I don't have to worry about that now! I do have a bit of pottery I must do. I have a bunch of pre-bonsai trees that need pots. Now I have all winter to work on that. 

I can also explore other shapes that take a while to make. I recently made Cthulhu pots, dragon heads, spider pots and sea urchins. These shapes are time-consuming. If I pace myself, I can do production work and more crafty shapes at once. 

All for now.