Like a Groundhog hibernation ending!

Living in a house with a member of the digital texting generation, little Mr. G,  I was pleased and surprised to hear him say he was going to his grandparents house for child care and wasn't taking his I Pad.  He said, "no I am going to interact like a human being".  I guess that was a word to the wise for me too. I like the solitutue and silence of my studio more every year. Did I mention it is in the basement.

Sometimes it is very easy to stay in my studio and "hide out" in the quiet with my wheel or in my garage loading the kiln, and not be a social "human being".  The  retreating can become quite addictive.  It is time to interact with the world and my craft community, and plunge back in with both feet, and behave like a human being.


My Friday night with the WEST Etsy team was a making, eating celebration as we got swag ready for the Spring Sale.


I am a member of the Manitoba Craft Council and just participated in their members show, For the Love of Craft. I have finally created my members page, http://manitobacraft.ca/gallery/?id=51I


so happy that the guild and the MCC are going to be housed together in the Exchange, and they are doing a fundraiser, a Manitoba social on April 9th.  I
am going to donate some mugs to their social fundraiser, and maybe even attend.  Here is the link for that event if you feel like a fun night with arty types.  This is the link to the main page, http://manitobacraft.ca/. 

2 steps forward and 2 steps back

Feeling pretty happy about the two new stores I am in, one in the heart of Winnipeg at 296 McDermot with Tannis Ross of A Pinch of Creativity and then one in Minnedosa at Inspire Studios.
Both run by creative talented ladies who have the courage to take on bricks and mortar and support Manitoba artists. Love it!

We made a road trip yesterday, and took a few pictures

 These are from Inspire in Minnedosa. She has made a beautiful gallery setting and mixes different artists work together in groupings, very beautiful. cute little bakery next door too, we stopped in for lunch and picked up brownies and bread to bring home.

So that is the good news, the bad news is what is happening with my base glaze on the Day at the beach pottery. In this last firing, it seemed to crawl and fall off of the pots, leaving a very messy look and almost bare clay. Only thing I can think of is that the last addition of chemicals had something wrong, so I guess that will have to be disposed of, and to find homes at half price for the pots, which are many which are not of an acceptable quality.

So if any of you potters have hints, I am up for suggestions and help

.

Looking Ahead at the plans for 2016.

New Years eve resolutions have never really been my thing, but I am approaching 2016 as an open slate and do have many goals for this year. We started off the year with a recharge week in Mexico, and it was wonderful.  A little hard to repress my entrepreneurial spirit as we saw wonderful farmers markets in both the communities of Bucerias and Sayulitas in the state of Nayarit.


Lots of news in new shops that I am participating in.

hunting for seaglass in Sayulitas

Lots of news in new shops that I am participating in. Opening this week in the Exchange District at 296 McDermot Ave is A Pinch of Creativity.  Workshops, yoga, and a great group of creative types many from the WEST team are participating in this venture.

Also, a new gallery for rural Manitoba, in Minnedosa is Inspire Studio. I will be one of three potters included there and their grand opening is January 23 from 12-6 at 71 Main St. in Minnedosa. I hope to get there soon. It is next to a bakery so added bonus.


Also, I am participating in the members show of the Manitoba Craft Council, called for the Love of Craft opening January 22nd with the show going for 2 weeks, and then prepping for a show with In Plain View also at Cre8ery.


Busy times, and I need to get making.

This Saturday is devoted to getting some new work thrown, with a focus on mugs since December saw my stock depleted to nothing!

Creativity on the Loose

I feel so proud to be part of the beginning steps of a brave friends great new venture in Winnipegs exchange district. Tannis and a Pinch of Creativity is her business and she is going to be opening a bricks and mortar on McDermot in the exchange. Stay tuned...The link to see who is part of this great adventure so far....http://www.apinchofcreativity.com/our-artisans/.


Still a few more sales about 2 weeks of trying to keep healthy and producing before I can rest and put my Etsy shop on vacation. So hard to say no to things when we know that January will be a whole different ball of wax. This is  a shot from the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library Festive Artisans Sale at the Hydro Building. Such a beautiful building in a great location. Sure loved loading in with no stairs and dollies available to us.  Met a young artist, Sarah Neville who had some beautiful hand drawn gift tags and cards, my kind of garden humour.  Her mom Marg was great too.  I was mighty grateful I had taken buttons with me as they paid for my costs. Without being overly critical, it seemed the show may have benefitted from a higher social media presence. Looked like I may have a lead on another retail outlet soon, but need to be patient.

Polar Bears for the great white North

Lots of ornaments having gone off to the Forks Trading Company, and they seem to be doing well, so that is a great help as I think more about palm trees, and push snow shovelling into the realm of denial.

Stars of all sizes

Manitoba's symbol the buffalo or bison

Exchange Uporium Adventure part of the fun and funky Exchange

So glad I jumped into this venture with both feet, and tomorrow is opening Day of the Exchange Uporium at 264 McDermot in the Exchange District of Winnipeg.  Last night was the soft opening and I was really impressed with how great everything looks. I am hoping to get there for the ribbon cutting tomorrow and Grand Opening.  Here is the press release.....

Winnipeg’s newest Pop-Up Shop is opening soon in the historic Exchange District. In

conjunction with Centre Venture’s PUSH program, this diverse retail experience will wow

Winnipeggers with the amount of amazing and beautiful talent found in Manitoba.

The name of the new Pop-Up Shop? The Exchange Uporium! Founded by entrepreneurs

Patti Henderson and Eve Wowchuk, this is the first retail location for Patti and Eve with

plans for other pop-up locations to be announced in the future.

Exchange Uporium is Volume 1 of the PUSH program. Push is a year-long pilot-project

modeled after similar pop-up retail concepts seen in other major cities. The project pairs

start-up retailers with vacant downtown storefronts on a short-term, low-risk basis.

Winnipeg Minister Kevin Chief has this to say about the project:

“Patti and Eve’s vision for Exchange Uporium is a triple-win situation, revitalizing underused

retail store fronts in downtown Winnipeg while supporting more Manitoba artisans by

getting their goods into a store front and offering the 100,000 Winnipeggers who come

downtown every day more reasons to stay and shop,” said City of Winnipeg Minister Kevin

Chief. “This is where we should all be coming the next time we are getting a gift for

someone special.”

 

Minister Chief will be cutting the ribbon for the store opening at 11:00 AM on Thursday, May

15th.

You need to go and see the setup. I will try to get there tomorrow, it was full of people last night, but everybody's display is original and unique. Super fun and a great representation of the creativity of Winnipeg. Friday is the 2nd Anniversary party for TaraDavisStudio Boutique, the Exchange is really alive with shopping and socializing fun.

Break Time!

I am off on a Muddy Mama holiday.  time for a break, winter was long and hard for everyone, but I know that I need a recharge, and that means sand and water for me. Oh yes, some Pino Grigio.

I like to be busy, and I love being a Mama, but I also know that a good Mama is a happy Mama, and vice versa.  This means I need to have times where I disconnect from North American life, social media, and multi tasking with my various jobs and community work.  It is way too much my modus operandi to say yes to things being asked of me, but I also need to practice self care, since I preach that to my clients.  So, I need to walk the walk rather than just talk the talk.

I am really happy that my CSA Casi Cielo has a full house with 10 families that I am going to be growing fruits and vegetables for all summer is a blossoming success.  I am part of a new Pop Up Shop in the exchange district starting in May.  Stay tuned! Its all good, but I recognize it needs a lot of energy so this little energizer bunny is saying Peace out for a week!