Step Into My Studio Space...

Congratulations Lorelei on winning the 2pm giveaway!!!

Here are some pictures of my physical studio space...

It is purely functional at this time as the place where I go to make stuff...

Not the place where I go to find inspiration...

I mentally block out the "basement" surroundings when I'm working by listening to music, drinking hot tea (or coffee when not pregnant) and just zoning out and getting to work...

I am in the process of moving all of my business, studio and bead stuff all into one space...

Seems like that will never end!

And as my good friend Kelly of Beadfuddled often says with a laugh, of those of us with studio spaces in the basement: "We're all a bunch of cellar dwellers..."

This is the area where I sit and create pieces or glaze...

When you first walk into my studio area this is what you currently see on your left. And what you may notice if you were physically here: under that counter space sits 2 Kitty Litter Boxes. They've got to be somewhere in the house...

Down at the end, some of my storage shelving that holds tools, older test glazes, my texture plates, clay and plaster storage on the bottom shelves, and a place for a number of oddities...

Contents of one of the shelves with a lot of my pottery and carving tools...

Here are where I keep my hand carved texture plates that I use to make my textured porcelain pendants. Have a lot more than this too, these are just the ones I commonly use...

As you turn a little to your right, you run into the space where I can usually be found working. Complete with Peeves the cat chewing on some of my carving tools. Bad Kitty... time to move those tools back onto their shelf...

Here is a closer look of my working space. I use the end of my slab roller to work. It's the perfect height and area - and my favorite and most used piece of equipment in the studio...

This is where I've started to sort all of the pieces for my new line of decal pendants...

Sticking with my new studio "creative place" mantra:

All in one place, neat and organized so I can spend more time creating and less time searching...

Below is a quick shot of my clay wedging table and clay storage underneath...

And as you keep turning to your right, here is the kiln room we built so we could have proper ventilation and a safe place to run them without kitties, kids and myself running into hot kilns.

And Peeves knows she isn't allowed into that kiln room, so she usually sits outside waiting for me to finish loading a kiln to get some attention...

See her mouth open? She talks like I do... A lot...

And with your last turn right again, you are facing some additional shelving that holds bisque pendant stock and you are at the door you came through in the first place...

CURRENTLY HAPPENING IN MY STUDIO:

Inspired by Almost-Ready-To-Open Morning Glory Flowers...

Picked from the garden...

Balls of clay, rolled in between the wooden texture plates

(in the opposite direction than the shards)

Clay Twirls with the tight flower petals...

In Chocolate Clay and Porcelain Clay...

Here is a bit of a close up before going into the bisque kiln...

Bisque fired, glazed, into the glaze firing, out of the kiln, and to be sorted for sale through my Etsy shop and bead shows...

OPEN STUDIO UP NEXT:

3 pm EST: Blog Commenters Giveaway #2

3:15 pm EST: Winner Announced

3:30 pm pm EST: Fall Tradition I'd Like To Share