Trouble with sharing posts on Facebook

Ok, this is just an example of the hoops I feel like I have to go through to get something out there. First I couldn't get the blog post to take my wording until I added an image. Didn't really intend to have to do that, but there you go. Now I can type what I want in here.

When I go to share a link on Facebook, I have run into the problem that Facebook is using a photo on my page layout instead of the photo in the blog post link I want to share. It is not consistent, because sometimes it gives me a choice of photos and sometimes it just does whatever it wants. To handle this hoop, I realized I could change out the image on my layout page. Of course, that is quite more trouble just to share a link.

If you have any suggestions about this, please let me know. It may be my settings or how I choose to open the blog, which is through Google.

But, all of it makes me a bit crazy. If I alot 10 minutes to type in a quick post, it will take 3 times that length to get it to do what I want. Ughhh! Glad clay doesn't react like that most of the time. Off to get my hands dirty!

A little spice in life

A variety of the salt and pepper sets that I make also went to Menage Gallery. I love the architectural shapes of the spice holders and deciding on the texture to apply. Then it's fun to decide on a similar or complimentary texture for the tray that holds them. They have opening in the bottom and I send an instruction sheet on how to fill and use. The fact that there are no holes always perplexs people. Love that little mystery!

Work in New England

Large Textured Leaf Bowl

Green Textured Leaf Bowl

These were some shots of work recently sent to Menage Gallery in Gloucester, MA. They have been carrying my work for over a year now. I have sent a lot of fish work to them but for the holiday season they wanted some of my leaf work. I love texturing these big pieces and adding the details of the brown slip and the splattered spots.

In my effort to be more organized this year, I began entering invoices into Quickbooks and creating new folders for images on my comptuter. Of course there is a learning curve for everything, which I was reminded of last night as I attempted to juggle my old way of entering payments with the new one. And moving things over from the camera to the computer in an organized manner takes a lot longer than the drag and dump everything. No more Scarlet O'Hara, "I'll think about that tomorrow" mindset.

Look to the sky for great joy

The sky after the rain last evening

What a joy to see this while stuck in a car line.
It lifted my heart.

I felt like I was in an impressionist painting.
Merry Christmas to all. May the sky open for you and be filled with the gift of joy.

The life of a studio dog

My name is Cherokee. I am an 80lb rescue Greyhound. I came from the racetrack in St. Pete, FL. My job is official greeter at Bluegill Pottery. I will jauntily lope up to the front to see you when you come in and gracefully ask for you to pet me. I love attention. My fur is very soft and many people comment on it. I do not lick but I enjoy getting close and smelling what you may have had for lunch. I ride to work in the car with Vicki every day. She has to lift me in because I have a hitch in my back and I can't jump up high anymore easily. We work pretty hard but I tend to sleep when no one is visiting. This photo is with my zebra toy, which is dirty from being thrown around the studio and dragged across the floor. Vicki is threatening to wash all my toys but I find they just don't smell as good when that happens.

Happy Holidogs and Merry Catmas from the studio!

Bluegill Cheers

An evening view of the shop, decorated for the holidays. If you are shopping locally and want something that is finely crafted, made with spirit and love and can be enjoyed and used in the home, office or even during your morning commute, drop by and see the selection of great pieces.

Why Bluegill?

Why Bluegill? I get asked this question a lot. It is second only to "Are those real leaves still in there?", a question I get when people see my maple and ginkgo trays.

Well......I worked at an advertising agency and got indoctrinated with the idea of a catchy phrase. When I was trying to think of a name for my pottery, I had ideas that I didn't want to limit the future with just my name. I was thinking of a partner or maybe even one of my artistic children that might desire to follow in the dusty footprints of their mother. 18 years later, neither the partner or the 2nd generation potter has materialized. The kids followed other art pursuits and I work with a dog. Literally--a 4 legged retired greyhound who only touches clay when he is frustrated with me. Then he tends to destroy it.

So back to the name story. I liked fish and my last name was Gill and Bluegill Pottery seemed the perfect match. Lately I have begun signing the backs of flat pieces with blue underglaze, to provide a real tongue-in-cheek rendition of the name. Blue       Gill. This is what happens when you work by yourself a long time. You get all your own jokes and irony and think they are really witty. And that's the rest of the story

Holiday Pottery

I'll be in the studio throughout most of the holidays, and you are welcome to drop in during regular hours ( about 11am to 5pm ). I have old favorites, new work and hope to get some Braided Baskets done (another series I haven't worked on in a while, but have loads of new ideas for).

Being a one person show--can't seem to get the dog to do anything more than greet people, whine for treats and signal bathroom break times and "Quitten' time!"--I may have to run out to ship a direly needed pottery gift for someone's special gift. So, always good to call to see if I plan to do that when you are contemplating a trip to the studio.

Ask for a quick view of the back area. That's where all the "creatin'" goes on. Hope your holidays are really fun and creative!