We're at the end of another 6-week session of pottery classes and I wanted to share some interesting pieces that Mark unloaded from the kiln today:
Showing posts with label construction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label construction. Show all posts
Friday, June 21, 2013
Student pottery - and a peek out the window
Things are moving along with the expansion and the gallery is close to
being ready for us. We now have a view of the water from
our expanded area! I took the picture below from the new area.
We're at the end of another 6-week session of pottery classes and I wanted to share some interesting pieces that Mark unloaded from the kiln today:
These two vases were hand built, using two slabs of clay. The student added some fun texture, gave them a bit of a bend and then attached them together with slip and more clay.
Cute house that could be a bird house or a candle holder. I love the glaze in that small bowl.
A nice size colander - the two glaze colors work really nicely together.
LOVE the black and white decorations on these pieces - all 3 made by different students.
Nice decorations and glaze colors on these mugs and vases.
We're at the end of another 6-week session of pottery classes and I wanted to share some interesting pieces that Mark unloaded from the kiln today:
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Happy Anniversary!
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." Henry David Thoreau
One year ago today we signed the lease to rent 2212 North 30th Street in Tacoma and took the giant leap of faith to begin our own business, Throwing Mud Gallery.
It's been a whirlwind of a year. As soon as the lease was signed we were busily working to open as soon as possible. We had walls to take down and build up, plumbing changes to make, wall colors to choose and paint, furniture and shelving to research and purchase and lots of cleaning and brightening up the space.
This is what it looked like, standing at the front of the store on December 21, 2010:
..and here's the same view today
A bit different, huh?
Mark standing in front of the window last year:
And the same view today:
In the last year we've had 77 people take 6-week pottery classes and 45 people "Try It" in our 2-hour introductory class. For our first official session of pottery classes we had 14 people enrolled. The last session of the year that just ended had 42 people enrolled.
In the gallery, we started out with pretty much just Mark's pottery, some soap and several pairs of earrings. Now we carry the handcrafted work of over 60 different artists, including some pretty prominent names in the pottery field. One of the potters who stopped by the gallery last week thanked us for opening up the gallery so that he and the others have a local place to showcase their work. In a world dominated by mass produced stereotypical items made in other countries, it's important to support the independent artists and craftspeople who are struggling to make a living in a difficult economy. We are proud of our role in helping them.
Throwing Mud Gallery has pretty much taken over our lives this year, and I'm sure some people thought we were a little crazy to open up a brick and mortar store in this economy...and maybe so. But it was something we had talked about and dreamed of for years and the time just seemed right to go for it. After a year, the good has FAR outweighed the not so good (I can't honestly say there hasn't been many "bad" times). We've met some wonderful people and made many new friends. Throwing Mud Gallery has become a little community of people who enjoy being creative and playing with clay or who want to buy a unique product handmade with care.
We're looking forward to seeing what the next year brings!
One year ago today we signed the lease to rent 2212 North 30th Street in Tacoma and took the giant leap of faith to begin our own business, Throwing Mud Gallery.
It's been a whirlwind of a year. As soon as the lease was signed we were busily working to open as soon as possible. We had walls to take down and build up, plumbing changes to make, wall colors to choose and paint, furniture and shelving to research and purchase and lots of cleaning and brightening up the space.
This is what it looked like, standing at the front of the store on December 21, 2010:
Mark standing in front of the window last year:
And the same view today:
In the last year we've had 77 people take 6-week pottery classes and 45 people "Try It" in our 2-hour introductory class. For our first official session of pottery classes we had 14 people enrolled. The last session of the year that just ended had 42 people enrolled.
In the gallery, we started out with pretty much just Mark's pottery, some soap and several pairs of earrings. Now we carry the handcrafted work of over 60 different artists, including some pretty prominent names in the pottery field. One of the potters who stopped by the gallery last week thanked us for opening up the gallery so that he and the others have a local place to showcase their work. In a world dominated by mass produced stereotypical items made in other countries, it's important to support the independent artists and craftspeople who are struggling to make a living in a difficult economy. We are proud of our role in helping them.
Throwing Mud Gallery has pretty much taken over our lives this year, and I'm sure some people thought we were a little crazy to open up a brick and mortar store in this economy...and maybe so. But it was something we had talked about and dreamed of for years and the time just seemed right to go for it. After a year, the good has FAR outweighed the not so good (I can't honestly say there hasn't been many "bad" times). We've met some wonderful people and made many new friends. Throwing Mud Gallery has become a little community of people who enjoy being creative and playing with clay or who want to buy a unique product handmade with care.
We're looking forward to seeing what the next year brings!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Kilroy was Here
According to Wikipedia, "Kilroy was here is an American popular culture expression, often seen in graffiti. Its origins are debated, but the phrase and the distinctive accompanying doodle—a bald-headed man (possibly with a few hairs) with a prominent nose peeking over a wall with the fingers of each hand clutching the wall—is widely known among U.S. residents who lived during World War II."
Other than the fact that Mark isn't a bald-headed man with a prominent nose, the image is similar
The sign will eventually be installed right above the awning, but for now Mark is going to stand on the roof and hold it :-)
Other than the fact that Mark isn't a bald-headed man with a prominent nose, the image is similar
The sign will eventually be installed right above the awning, but for now Mark is going to stand on the roof and hold it :-)
Thursday, February 10, 2011
We got signs today!
Today was a beautiful day in Tacoma. I took this picture as we were driving to the store this morning.
We feel so fortunate to live in such a beautiful area. Mark says we may not ever have a home with a view, but at least we get this view now near our business.
So, FastSigns came this morning and began installing the signs in the front window, door, and awning. There was an incident with one of the signs, so they had to redo it and are coming back this afternoon.
The woman who owns the FastSigns franchise was one of the people who were doing the install, she complimented us on our logo and said it was "awesome". I told her it was a cooperative effort between our two boys....good job Jordan and Jonathan!
The sun wasn't quite in the right place for getting a nice shot of the front window, so I'll take some more pictures tomorrow.
We feel so fortunate to live in such a beautiful area. Mark says we may not ever have a home with a view, but at least we get this view now near our business.
So, FastSigns came this morning and began installing the signs in the front window, door, and awning. There was an incident with one of the signs, so they had to redo it and are coming back this afternoon.
The woman who owns the FastSigns franchise was one of the people who were doing the install, she complimented us on our logo and said it was "awesome". I told her it was a cooperative effort between our two boys....good job Jordan and Jonathan!
The sun wasn't quite in the right place for getting a nice shot of the front window, so I'll take some more pictures tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Sales area is just about done
Our store is small so we've had to be careful with space planning. Behind the counter is a counter/desk that we can use for paperwork and computer work. We bought some cabinets from IKEA (where else?) for extra storage space. I'm happy with how it turned out.
We're getting close to the point of being able to open. The focus now is on getting stock. I've got a little more painting to do in the back and Mark will be clear finishing the desk and working on some shelving covers for the Expedit shelves in the window.
There's also lots of office work to get done. We still need to order business cards, send out press releases, move the cash register and printer down to the store (and I guess I need to teach myself how to work the cash register!) Mark is eager to start putting his pottery out.
We've also started taking enrollment for the pottery school. We have new sessions of classes starting next week.
Mark will be down at the store this morning and again tonight for anyone who wants to stop by and take a look at our facility. I will post pictures of the pottery school later
We're getting close to the point of being able to open. The focus now is on getting stock. I've got a little more painting to do in the back and Mark will be clear finishing the desk and working on some shelving covers for the Expedit shelves in the window.
There's also lots of office work to get done. We still need to order business cards, send out press releases, move the cash register and printer down to the store (and I guess I need to teach myself how to work the cash register!) Mark is eager to start putting his pottery out.
We've also started taking enrollment for the pottery school. We have new sessions of classes starting next week.
Mark will be down at the store this morning and again tonight for anyone who wants to stop by and take a look at our facility. I will post pictures of the pottery school later
Thursday, February 3, 2011
We have shelves!
We spent the day today assembling shelves at the store. My dad came down and helped us for a few hours (thanks dad!).
We had a few visitors today as well. The man who use to be in our space for 35 years (Old Town Photo) stopped by to say hello. And our neighbor banker came by to welcome us to the Old Town Business District and told us what a friendly district it was. Lots of people walk by and peek in the windows to check on our progress.
After a late lunch at The Spar, we continued our project. By the end of the day we had 10 shelving units completed, although there's still empty space that needs to be filled.
We had a few visitors today as well. The man who use to be in our space for 35 years (Old Town Photo) stopped by to say hello. And our neighbor banker came by to welcome us to the Old Town Business District and told us what a friendly district it was. Lots of people walk by and peek in the windows to check on our progress.
After a late lunch at The Spar, we continued our project. By the end of the day we had 10 shelving units completed, although there's still empty space that needs to be filled.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Shelving....
We did some shopping at IKEA today! Tomorrow we'll be putting lots of shelving pieces together. We don't want the store to look too much like an IKEA store - but the prices are so great! We'll personalize them as much as we can.
We got a couple of these
One of each of these
And a few of these
We still have more shelving to get, but this is a good start.
We got a couple of these
And a few of these
We still have more shelving to get, but this is a good start.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Front window and signs
I've spent the last few days painting the trim around the front window and the door - 3 coats. I think it looks MUCH nicer than the ugly gray that was around the window and the black door.
We've ordered vinyl signs for the awning, the front window and both the outside and interior doors. In the above picture you can see that we were testing different sizes of type. We should get the proof today and if all goes well we'll have signs in a week.
I think tomorrow we'll make another trip to IKEA to get some shelving. Our plan is to have shelving in white, glass and wood. Mark made a little floor plan on graph paper and cut out little shelves that we could move around and play with layouts. Of course it will all look different when we actually have the physical shelves in there.
We've ordered vinyl signs for the awning, the front window and both the outside and interior doors. In the above picture you can see that we were testing different sizes of type. We should get the proof today and if all goes well we'll have signs in a week.
I think tomorrow we'll make another trip to IKEA to get some shelving. Our plan is to have shelving in white, glass and wood. Mark made a little floor plan on graph paper and cut out little shelves that we could move around and play with layouts. Of course it will all look different when we actually have the physical shelves in there.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
awning
Our store has an awning over the front window and door. The name of the previous tenant was still on the awning and we've been talking with the landlord about getting that changed to our name. The landlord called the company that made the awning to get an estimate of how much it would cost to put our name up there. The bid came back at about $400 to remove the awning and take it to their shop and then use a heat treatment that would remove the old name, clean up the awning, put our name on it and re-install the awning back at our location.
There were negotiations back and forth about who should pay for it - is the awning the building property and so the landlord would pay - or was it our cost? Could we split the cost and we pay for our name and the landlord pay for the cleaning? Mark decided to take a closer look at what we were dealing with, so he got up on a ladder and realized he could easily peel the lettering off! You could still see a faint hint of the old name so he took some paint thinner and cleaned off the adhesive that was left behind. It pays to be frugal ;-) Now all we have to do is order a new "Throwing Mud Gallery" adhesive sign.
I realize that Mark always seems to be busily working at the store and I just write about it. Not so! I will have you know that I did most of the painting in the gallery - but I seem to be the resident photographer, so I'm always behind the camera. (disregard the blue tape around the trim that I hadn't taken off yet.)
There were negotiations back and forth about who should pay for it - is the awning the building property and so the landlord would pay - or was it our cost? Could we split the cost and we pay for our name and the landlord pay for the cleaning? Mark decided to take a closer look at what we were dealing with, so he got up on a ladder and realized he could easily peel the lettering off! You could still see a faint hint of the old name so he took some paint thinner and cleaned off the adhesive that was left behind. It pays to be frugal ;-) Now all we have to do is order a new "Throwing Mud Gallery" adhesive sign.
I realize that Mark always seems to be busily working at the store and I just write about it. Not so! I will have you know that I did most of the painting in the gallery - but I seem to be the resident photographer, so I'm always behind the camera. (disregard the blue tape around the trim that I hadn't taken off yet.)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
We have sales counters
We spent a lot of time this weekend putting furniture together. We bought 2 glass display counters and a corner unit from American Retail Supply in Kent. It took us forever to put the first counter together last night. Today we put the 2nd counter and the corner unit together in about 1/2 hour. We also had a shelving unit from IKEA and a bookcase to assemble. In our part-time, we're going to hire ourselves out to assemble furniture.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
It's really starting to look like a store!
The floor is done and I think it looks great (if I do say so myself). Just a little bit more trim to put in, then Mark and I will need to paint molding.
The new electrical box was inspected and approved this morning, so now we can move the kilns in.
On Tuesday morning Mark had a few of his previous students come in and break in the new pottery wheels. These women took a Tuesday morning class from Mark before and have been patiently waiting for the new studio to open so they can continue their work. Here's some of the pottery that they made.
Would you like to learn how to make pottery too? We'll post a schedule of classes to start very soon - both morning and evening classes will be offered, plus open studio time. The cost will be $150 for a 6-week class, including some clay and extra open studio time to work on your pieces. Sign up to be notified here.
The new electrical box was inspected and approved this morning, so now we can move the kilns in.
On Tuesday morning Mark had a few of his previous students come in and break in the new pottery wheels. These women took a Tuesday morning class from Mark before and have been patiently waiting for the new studio to open so they can continue their work. Here's some of the pottery that they made.
Would you like to learn how to make pottery too? We'll post a schedule of classes to start very soon - both morning and evening classes will be offered, plus open studio time. The cost will be $150 for a 6-week class, including some clay and extra open studio time to work on your pieces. Sign up to be notified here.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Floor and a door
Today we started installing the floor in the gallery
Also, we put in the door between the gallery and the pottery studio
Mark set up the pottery wheels in the studio...and we're just about ready to go!
Be sure and sign up at Throwingmudgallery.com to be notified when classes are ready to start. We'll have morning, evening and open studio time. Price will be approximately $150 for a 6-week course, including clay and some open studio time to work on your own.
Also, we put in the door between the gallery and the pottery studio
Mark set up the pottery wheels in the studio...and we're just about ready to go!
Be sure and sign up at Throwingmudgallery.com to be notified when classes are ready to start. We'll have morning, evening and open studio time. Price will be approximately $150 for a 6-week course, including clay and some open studio time to work on your own.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Choosing colors
People who know us, know that Mark and I aren't afraid of color. We are always changing wall colors in our house and go from green to yellow to blue to even purple. But choosing colors for the store has been a challenge.
We spent today today painting, but first a peek at the bathroom that Mark finished painting a day or 2 ago. I'm still shopping for a cabinet that will go between the toilet and the sink
Also, the sink was put in yesterday
Here's what we accomplished today
While I painted at the store, Mark went to Clay Art Center and brought back the pottery wheels and the slab roller!
We spent today today painting, but first a peek at the bathroom that Mark finished painting a day or 2 ago. I'm still shopping for a cabinet that will go between the toilet and the sink
Also, the sink was put in yesterday
Here's what we accomplished today
While I painted at the store, Mark went to Clay Art Center and brought back the pottery wheels and the slab roller!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Busy times....
Picking out paint colors has been a challenge. What color looks like on the paint chip or even from a sample bottle, doesn't necessarily look the same when it's actually on a full wall.
The pottery studio is painted a very light, light yellow - we're happy with it and think it brings in some nice warmth to the space. The back walls of the studio is a nice terra cotta color that brings in some interest. You'll also notice the floors are installed in the studio now.
I had chosen a little bit darker yellow - what I thought was a soft butter yellow - for the bathroom. But the next day when we went back to the store, we hated it. It was much too bright. So, we tried the softer yellow from the studio - still too bright. The room is so small and the ceilings are high and the color just bounced around.
So, now it's repainted a sage green. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow. It is MUCH easier on the eyes and you don't get the feeling you need to wear sunglasses in the bathroom.
The lights in the gallery were installed today
so now we can actually see what the color samples look like on the walls.
Tomorrow the sink will be installed in the studio, and maybe even some flooring in the gallery. Mark is feeling a little frustrated on how long things are taking, but I think we're making pretty progress after only a few weeks.
The pottery studio is painted a very light, light yellow - we're happy with it and think it brings in some nice warmth to the space. The back walls of the studio is a nice terra cotta color that brings in some interest. You'll also notice the floors are installed in the studio now.
I had chosen a little bit darker yellow - what I thought was a soft butter yellow - for the bathroom. But the next day when we went back to the store, we hated it. It was much too bright. So, we tried the softer yellow from the studio - still too bright. The room is so small and the ceilings are high and the color just bounced around.
So, now it's repainted a sage green. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow. It is MUCH easier on the eyes and you don't get the feeling you need to wear sunglasses in the bathroom.
The lights in the gallery were installed today
so now we can actually see what the color samples look like on the walls.
Tomorrow the sink will be installed in the studio, and maybe even some flooring in the gallery. Mark is feeling a little frustrated on how long things are taking, but I think we're making pretty progress after only a few weeks.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Choosing paint colors
The goal for this weekend is to choose paint colors for the walls and start painting.
Not sure how much painting is going to get accomplished. It's Saturday evening and we haven't bought the paint yet ;-) Mark still needs to produce pottery in the midst of getting the store ready, so he has spent the afternoon in his studio making pottery.
The tile laminate flooring is being laid in the pottery school and should be done early this week.
Slowly, but surely it's all coming together.
Not sure how much painting is going to get accomplished. It's Saturday evening and we haven't bought the paint yet ;-) Mark still needs to produce pottery in the midst of getting the store ready, so he has spent the afternoon in his studio making pottery.
The tile laminate flooring is being laid in the pottery school and should be done early this week.
Slowly, but surely it's all coming together.
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