Amber Dusick

kiln opening (oh yeah, ceramics! how are you?)

It has been over a year since I last posted about ceramics.

Had been a long time since I did a kiln firing, I had even been holding a batch of work by Marisa hostage in my garage from a clay date last year. I very strongly dislike not finishing things, so I was hugely relieved to fire Melvina last week. I did get Marisa's work back to her finally. She forgave me because she is cool like that.

Some of the kiln was filled with my 4-year-old's ceramics.

Of my own work, these were my favorites:

I made a whole lot of little things with some thrown bowls thrown into the mix. 

I made many beads and tiny little jewelry pieces that I'm excited about playing around with. 

And the houses, oh I adore the wee houses:

I have a fun little project planned for these guys that I'm excited about doing. 

But more on that when I get around to it.  I can't promise that it won't take a year. But it probably won't. Probably. 

Feels SO GOOD to tie up loose ends like this.

Resting Place for the River Traveler: Book Fairy

Since I first posted about Christine's book it has stuck with me, messages echoing in my mind when I need to hear them most.  She has been doing this crazy cool 100 Books Project where she drops books (and with the help of her book fairies) all over the world for people to find.  I was honored to be a book fairy and took the book with me on our trip to rural Wisconsin.  Here is my book fairy story...

I was biting my nails when it was raining when we arrived.  Where would I leave the book?  It had to be outside.  But rain!  Rain.  More rain.  Three days in a row of constant rain.

Finally, it cleared up but I knew it was only for a short time.  Rain was on the way again.  Outside wasn't going to work.  I was bummed and those negative voices started up in my head...  "But it has to be outside!  I won't get good photos inside!  I have to have amazing photos for my blog!"  Then I realized I was being ridiculous.  This project isn't about me or photos for my blog.  It is about the chance moment of another random person finding it.  What goes on before that moment is not the main story.  I am a messenger, not the message.

The spot I picked was here at a park, right on the Wisconsin River in Nekoosa, a once bustling logging town of about 2,500 people.  I liked how the sign said it was a "resting place for the river traveler" because I've always used traveling down a river as a metaphor for life. 

There was a little white bathroom house in the distance, which seemed like an appropriate drop spot given my affinity for house shapes.  A good "resting place for the river traveler" and it would be safe from the rain in there. 

 

There was nobody around but I still felt all sneaky walking up.

I gingerly placed it in the windowsill, stepped back and snapped a photo.  Immediately I tried to think up a way to place a hidden camera in there.  Until I realized I was scheming to put a hidden camera in a bathroom.  Oops, creepy, I laughed to myself. 

So I stood there, just staring at it.  I couldn't leave!  Leaving meant my part in this story was over.  The minute I walk away I fade.  What if this isn't the perfect spot?  What if I find a better spot tomorrow?  Once I let go, I have no control anymore.  And worse, I may not ever find out what happens to the book.  So I'm frozen, not doing anything.  Standing in a dirty bathroom in rural Wisconsin, staring at a book in a brown paper bag.      

Then, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and saw what I was doing.  At first I laughed.  Then tears welled up in my eyes as I realized this lesson of "letting go" keeps hitting me over the head.  It is only me that gets in my way.  I am my own biggest obstacle.  It wasn't ever more clear than at that moment.  Let go.  I need to step out of my own way or I'll never go anywhere. 

So I took a deep breath and I walked out the door, leaving the rest of the story to be written by someone else.

I let go.  And I'm floating down the river smoothly now, letting it guide me because it knows where it is going, even when I don't. 

    

   

  

     

Keep Learning

Last weekend I spent the afternoon with a family friend.  An amazing woman, 80 years young and vibrant.  She pulled out two large portfolio folders and showed me her paintings.  I didn't know this until then, but she had only taken up painting after she retired in 1987.  She said she did because she wanted to keep learning.  She stopped painting in 2005 when her eyesight left her, and shortly after took up clay.  

She was a teacher in the Los Angeles Public school system and over her career she has seen the complete and utter decline of public education.  She tells me that when she started teaching, kindergartens had only a big cozy rug and a rocking chair for the teacher.  The teacher would read and the children would gather on the rug.  She remembers when the public school system got rid of the rocking chairs and the rugs and replaced them with desks.  (They gathered up the chairs and put them in storage.  She rescued two.  They are still on her porch.)  She says "it was all downhill" from there.  

She believes strongly in letting children discover and learn for themselves and warns me "Don't try to teach your kids to read, it will ruin it for them.  Just leave them alone and they'll figure it out."  She says that in her classrooms they had only open ended toys and she preferred wood so that children could "feel the integrity of the wood" and use their imagination.

She loved teaching.  Still does.  The fact that there is an educational scholarship named after her for K-12 educators is just a small bit of evidence of what a truly amazing teacher she was.  Or rather, is.  I know I'm learning a lot from her.   

Her lesson plan the day that she shared all her paintings with me?  "Keep learning.  No matter what.  Learning is living."

What are you learning now?   

 

  

For the Love of Originals

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest the first time I saw Rima's work.  I immediately contacted her and asked her about originals to see if any were available.  Of the several that I loved, I was lucky in that she did have a few available still.  I now own the original of The Visitors and I can't even begin to tell you how much more amazing it is in person.  

         

I highly suggest you hop on over and check out Rima's blog, The Hermitage where you'll discover all sorts of wonderful things.  Including the fact that she tells her stories from her house on wheels.    

 

You can see more photos of her lovely nomadic home (including the inside) here, in this post.  

How amazing is the internet and the Etsy community that I can purchase an original painting from a woman halfway across the world from me who lives in a house on wheels?  

If you love storytelling and folklore please do check out her blog, lifestyle and work, it is really inspiring.  I feel so lucky to have a piece of her art.  An original.  One that I can see each mark of her pencil and brush on.  Almost like I am there during the creation of it.

I can't wait to frame it and put it on my wall forever.  I have my own story about this painting as does my husband, that is the beauty of her work, you can make up your own folktale with the images - yet somehow they seem so very old and real.       

Now for the unpopular part of this post...

I don't buy prints and I think they are the joke of the art world.  I will now duck to avoid the tomatoes thrown at me by my print selling friends.  No, seriously, they all know this about me and have come to accept it, mostly.  You see, I buy art to own an actual creation of a person, not a duplicate of one.  I also tend to see art as an investment and prints (unless in rare, always limited edition cases) do not appreciate in value.  

I'm also secretly jealous of my printmaking friends.  How is it fair that they can print something from their home printer on a piece of paper and charge money for it over and over and over?  More money than I could charge for an individually, handmade wooden item that I can only sell once?  So. Not. Fair.  I write all this in jest of course, but there is truth in it too.  So prints.  I don't buy them.     

  

Originals, on the other hand, I actively seek out.  The first thing I do when I discover an artist that I like is to see if they sell originals and see if I can afford one.  The crazy thing I've found over the years is that usually, I can.  For the price of a handful of prints that are worth nothing and will continue to be worth nothing, I can own the original piece of art.  Where I can see the brush strokes, every detail in real life.  It is like owning a piece of the artist and is such a huge honor for me every time I purchase one. 

So save your pennies to purchase an original next time you have a spot empty on your wall.  You won't be disappointed!

  

The Impermanence of Handmade

Jonah Lisa from The Toby Show wrote this post as a farewell to my shop and she summed up the impermanence of handmade crafts so perfectly:

"See, that's the trouble with small businesses and individual crafts people--they're just like you and me.  They're often families or work-at-home-moms and sometimes they just move on to a new chapter in their lives.   Sometimes they up and decide that life is entirely too short or too complicated or the sun is shining too brightly outside to sit around making adorable doodads for your children.  Your chance to take advantage of their skills and creativity are gone.  Poof."

This has happened to me too, way too many times.  I had a wooden puzzle maker bookmarked for ages but I was waiting until my son was a bit older and more into puzzles.  Now that he is puzzle obsessed I've recently discovered that her shop is gone.  Now I have to try to make my own.  (instructions here)  

Thing is, I hate making puzzles.  How to puzzle makers do it?  All those pieces need to be individually painted and sanded, it is all the work of making more than ten toys yet you can't charge $100 for it.  If you happen upon a wooden puzzle maker for an affordable price, please don't let them slip away - and let me know about them too!

Anyway, a long way of saying how precious handmade items are and that is why I continue to strive to buy handmade whenever I can and so happy to have been a part of the handmade community.  

  

CPSIA Blog-in. Don't get pissed, get active! (and have a little faith)

Sigh.  I'm not even sure what to write.  I will say that I'm still hopeful that some things will change.  

Here are some "doomsday" scenario that everyone has running around in their head right now:

• all books in libraries will be removed from shelves and destroyed
• all independent toy makers, clothing makers, etc will go out of businesses 
• we'll be left with nothing but mass-produced products from China 
• millions of pounds of children's products will be sent to landfills  
• prices will skyrocket due to testing costs accrued by companies 
• and so on...  

 

People are getting upset, and I'm not just talking about people like me who would have to stop making toys, stop sewing baby dresses or stop knitting baby hats.  I'm talking about the people who will not be able to purchase used clothes for their kids at Goodwill anymore.  I'm talking about the people who will not be able to purchase an organic cotton blanket from their favorite Etsy seller.  Regular people are starting to realize how this will effect them and people are getting pissed and their voices are being heard.  

In the image above, I tried to find something that wouldn't be affected by this legislation.  There are two products from HABA here, who I assume is a big enough company that will be able to handle the testing.  Everything else?  Won't exist for sale after February 10th, at least not legally.  Nearly ALL of it is handmade by small scale artisans like myself or made by me.  I also couldn't legally sell any of this stuff after my son finishes with it.  Does this playroom look toxic to you?      

What?  You don't have a natural playroom?  Don't have kids?  Don't buy handmade?  You aren't affected?  Are you sure?  Have you ever purchased something for a child?  Planning to have children?  Have grown children who may eventually have children?  Concerned for the environment?  This hurts all of us.  It hurts the US economy during a time where we are already hurting.   

So.  I think it will get better.  I do.  

I have faith that they will fine tune this legislation, but we have to continue to get pissed and get active.  Here is the Etsy CPSIA ACTION KIT in case you want to be heard.  At the very least, tell everyone you know.    

I don't think library books will be pulled from the shelves and destroyed.  I can't imagine the sale of used clothing in thrift stores being illegal.  I also hope that some unaltered natural materials will be exempt and that one of a kind (or some smaller production level) will be exempt or at the very least, that component testing will suffice.  (Meaning I could have my wood, and paints tested just once and everything I make with those materials would be okay...as of right now, each design would need to be tested, even though it is made of the same stuff.  Somehow if you magically put a non-leaded paint next to another non-leaded paint lead can appear?)  

I'm not giving up.  Are you?  

  

UPDATE - MomsRising just posted about the issue today right here. (and those mamas can get stuff done!)  Thanks to them, you can send a letter to the CPSIA via the internet.  Easy as pie.  You've got no excuse now.  

Unveiling a New Etsy Shop - Wood Turning!

No, it isn't my shop.  Sigh, I wish.  I still haven't taken up wood turning.  It is on my never ending "to try someday list" though.  This new shop belongs to my cousin, artist, Ken Chase.  Hmmm, maybe I can convince him to have me over and teach me how to do it.  It seems scary, would be nice to have a pro give me a lesson.  

 

Ken adds woodburnt details and carvings to his turned forms - a style that is completely unique to him.  Come to think of it, I'm sure you could draw a parallel between Ken's unique woodburning on turnings style and my woodburning on toys style.  Subconsciously I probably got the idea from him in the first place.  So if you see other woodburnt toys you know where to trace it all back to...Ken Chase!

He gave me one of his pieces and it sits above my fireplace in the built in nook in the wall and it is the first thing you see when you enter my house.  His work is delicate yet sturdy somehow.

Natural Kids Store from the Natural Kids Team!

I've been meaning to post about the Natural Kids team for almost a year now.  I created the team back in December of last year after seeing all the camaraderie on the forum between like minded sellers who make natural products for kids so I set out to make an official team out of them.  

Being the "start-up" type I got it together, named it "Natural Kids", solicited members, set-up the blog, google group, wrote our team page and hired a graphic designer to do our awesome logo.  Being the "start-up" type and not the maintenance type however, I handed off the keys, knowing that the team would better evolve without me as the leader.  Evolve it has!

I still consider it "my baby" since I started it, although get no recognition for it, sniff.  Just kidding.  You win some, you let some go. 

A group of 40 sellers from the team have banded together at Natural Kids Store to do some collective advertising and here is a small sample of our beautiful gallery to shop from!

 You can also sift through all the offerings from the team right here on Etsy under naturalkids team.

Looking back at my first ever sales over a year ago, many of my first customers were from fellow team members...and a few purchased from me today during my shop update as well.  It feels pretty great to be part of this collective eco-friendly group.  I really appreciate ALL the natural options for children that we have to offer and together we pack a big collective natural punch!    

Savoring the little moments...

I've been busy, busy, busy!  With three websites and an Etsy shop that needs stocking I've needed to make a conscious effort to take a few moments each day of just pure relaxation time.  Enter my tea ritual!  Every day during my son's nap, rather than rush off to work, work, work like usual, I sit down and have a cup of tea and write in a journal or do nothing at all.

  

I recently got this lovely little "Savor" tea bag holder from Etsy seller wabisabipottery and I adore it.  She has a great shop with tiny dishes that would make great affordable gifts.  There is something so simple and sweet about her work.  

  

I also got this adorable wee house dish from the same shop to hold my rings while I beeswax my wooden figures.  My rings used to get all gummed up with beeswax, but now I have a designated spot for them and actually remember to take them off.  This little dish also serves as a reminder to slow down and enjoy the process, something that gets harder to do as the holiday rush approaches us.

Speaking of holidays...next Etsy shop stocking will be Wednesday the 19th, 11:30AM Pacific!  I'm going to try out scheduled stockings for a spell and stick with Wednesdays and see how it goes.  

behind the scenes crafting

I've been busy crafting in the last two weeks because we celebrated my son's 2nd birthday!  He is loving robots right now so a gocco robot shirt was in order.  The orange balloons?  His idea.  He said he wanted balloons...and orange ones.  He also wanted an orange cake which he got thanks to my friend Wendy, and a robot shaped one at that!  More details and "how to" in my next newsletter.  

 

That peek of the apple/pear fabric is a dress that I just finished from a pattern that I drafted.  The super secret "behind the scenes" of that one is that I'm slowly working on my first book.  So exciting!

PS - if you read my featured seller interview, you might be interested in the follow-up over on Indie Finds on Etsy.  Thanks Dotty for asking me, it was fun to write the "what happened next" although I admit it really isn't that exciting as everything has gone back to normal.