Author: Avesha DeWolfe

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Upcoming Events & a Giveaway, woohoo!!

Nesting Bowls

2020 has started off with a bang here at the pottery, in a good way.

I’m happy to say that my self-care journey is solidifying into a meaningful morning breathing and yoga practice that (when I do it, which is most days, to be honest) seems to be setting me up for a day with my body and health in my frame of reference rather than totally forgotten… so, that’s cool! I’ve also been keeping up with a nightly gratitude practice that has radically shifted my nighttime routine in a positive way… all good things!

The 3rd key to keeping a focus on self-care this year is not overwhelming my calendar with events, so I’ve very carefully curated (along with a day job) a year of a few big events to work toward.

The first is Potfest Scotland at Scone Palace. I went for the first time last year and am so excited to have been chosen to participate this year, please do come say hello if you decide to make a day of it, click the photo below for details. I’d love to see you!

Also, if you’re on Instagram, I am celebrating our growing pottery follower family with a giveaway of this fabulous mug.

Keep an eye out on March 1st when the giveaway starts, it is sure to be a lot of fun!

Until next time, Avesha.

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Welcome to a New Year & Welcome to self-care!

We are well into 2020 now and I wanted to share with you my goal to bring self-care into the forefront of my studio practice… mostly as an accountability thing, but also as a way to highlight the essential need for all of us to incorporate meaningful self-care into our day to day lives.

In the media, self-care is about bubble baths & face masks, and moments of escape. To me, self-care is about creating a life that doesn’t need escaping… that doesn’t suck us dry with overwork and over-doing. A life that isn’t all about the hustle and how busy we are.

Self-care is about incorporating rest and nurturing acts into our day, every day. It’s about incorporating the things that fill us up into our day, every day. It’s about taking each of those 15 minute breaks that the health & safety/employment rights folk tell us we’re “entitled” to and leaving work feeling we have done our best no matter what the rest of the to-do list looks like.

Self-care is a mindset practice that puts our own emotional and physical needs at the forefront of our planning for every day. No matter what. It is a mindset I am cultivating this year, I am ready to take actual steps to do this for myself because I have noticed that I’m darned good at doing it for other people… so why not for me too??

Heck, the core of my mission for Spiral Tide Pottery is to encourage self-care through helping you to slow down and take a moment for yourself. Every moment you sit down to sip a cup of coffee or enjoy a meal from a piece of handmade pottery enriches your day and adds up to a life well-lived. So this year I’m doing this for myself too.

2019 brought a series of health concerns that I need to manage in my day to day life so if ever I needed permission to put self-care first, I have it. What will help you put yourself first???

Have a wee think about that and make changes. Add one thing in this month, and another in next month. See how it changes day to day life for you and let me know how you’re getting on.

Until next time,

Avesha.

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I’m baaaack… and all the things are happening!

Ohmygosh, you guys, the rest of my vacation in Maine was indescribably wonderful- I got to connect with so many friends I haven’t seen in person in AGES and I got to go to some of my most favorite places that I haven’t visited in AGES.

Truly, it was a wonderful 5 week adventure, I wish every vacation could be as long and as rejuvenating.

Anyway, I’m back now and in my usual form, I’ve hit the ground running(ish)… the jetlag kicked my butt this trip, maybe it’s more truthful to say that I’ve hit the ground jogging… or power walking?

Anyway, This coming week brings two REALLY fun things that I wanted to share with you.

First, remember in my last post I told you about a mug joining me on my Maine adventures and that I’d be giving it away when I returned to Scotland??? Well, giveaway time is here!

Mug at Schoodic Point in Bar Harbor, Maine… this seagull hung out with us for 15 minutes!

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is visit one or both of these posts on Instagram or Facebook and join the fun. Good luck!

The second thing happening this week is “A Winter Warmer” opens, woot! This exhibition will include pottery by moi, creative baking by Liz of Litty’s Larder, glass work by Mary Frith and mixed media work by Carol Duff.

All of this artwork will be complimented by warm cups of mulled wine, tea or coffee and comfy woodstove fires to warm the cockles. If you’re local please do pop in and say hello, it would be so wonderful to see you!

Here are the details:

That’s it for now. See you soon!

~Avesha

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Breathing Space

Ever so technically, I have been on vacation since the 2nd of September, but forgot to post this here… ????‍♀️

Anyway, I am visiting family and friends in Maine this month and have had an amazing 3 weeks. I brought a Waveware mug with me on my travels (you can win it when I return home to Scotland in October ????) and it too has been having a wonderful time.

Visiting friends at the Common Ground Fair
Relaxing at Pebble Beach on Monhegan Island.
Enjoying the views from the top of Cliff Trail on Monhegan Island.

It’s been a wonderful trip so far. This mug has many stories to share with you ????

❤

Ps: there has been a wee debate happening on Facebook as to whether or not I have been using the mug… helpful hint, I have not.

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Process: Slip sliding away…

Following on from AGES ago when I started sharing the steps of making my work (see here or here ), let’s talk about Slip.

Slip is basically watered down clay that can be used to decorate a pot before it dries out. It can be colored just about any color you want and can be used in many different thicknesses. Lisa Naples is a ceramic artist who uses VERY thick slip to texture and color her work.

Slip can be painted on a pot or trailed using fine pointed squeezy bottles or a pot can be dipped into slip. Some slips can even be used to make pots! Kate Westfall uses redclay slip to make the bodies of her gorgeous mugs ????. (Side note: if you’re ever stuck for a gift idea for me, a piece of Lisa or Kate’s work will do just fine ????)

Each pot in my studio gets dipped and receives a coat of white slip before it is allowed to dry completely and go through it’s first firing.

This coat of white slip has three jobs to do; it prevents iron from the clay body affecting the glaze, it helps to highlight the textures I make in the slabs AND it provides a perfect, light background for my “Tidal Swell” glaze to show it’s subtle hues of blue & green ????

Slipping is an essential step in the process of my work… and one of the beautiful steps. A freshly slipped pot is so lovely, just look at those rims and handles, they look like white chocolate!

❤

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Shrinkage

Left to Right: Raw clay (“greenware”), Bisqued clay, Glazed clay.

Did you know that clay shrinks as it dries and goes through each firing???

This particular clay (that I adore) has a rather shocking 14% shrinkage rate… which means a lot of math and forward planning to get the right sized mug.

Not the worst thing in the world, but to this math-impaired person it creates some headaches… quite literally.

It’s worth it though ❤

Look at that gorgeous, rich clay coming through the glaze… it’s worth every, math headache, every, single one.

????

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Thank you ❤

The shop update was a wonderful success and I wanted to send a warm thank you to everyone who has purchased a piece of my work.

This month was filled with surprise car bills as well as the yearly car tax payment and your support as made it feel a LOT less stressful than it would have been.

This is what it means when you purchase from a local maker, we get to pay our bills AND eat. WooHoooo!

There are still a couple of Sea Collages waiting to bring the Scottish seaside home to you or a fellow beachcombing friend. If you would like to see them, click here.

Until next time, have a wonderful day ❤

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Shop Update, woot!

There are times when an artist needs to take a moment to review, and sometimes what comes out of that review is a pivot. That’s what’s happened recently here in the studio and it feels so good!

It also feels good to announce a mini-update of the last of their kind pots, the final pots in a line of glazes and forms that are now retired.

Also included in the sale are a few beloved Sea Collages that have been keeping me happy company in the studio for far too long… it’s time to let them fly the nest and find new homes.

Keep an eye out here on Wednesday the 14th at 5pm for some unique pots and collages that will bring the sea home. Included in the shop update are some really lovely pieces that will never be seen again.

Set your alarm!

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Delightful surprises.

I don’t know about you guys, but I am totally flummoxed when things exceed my expectations…

As a potter, having high expectations was drilled out of me in pottery school. We’re taught to be pragmatic; to keep the level of our pottery designs high, but our expectations low and to prepare for multiple attempts (aka multiple opportunities for learning) at a new design until we get to know the limits and abilities of our material.

I’ve noticed throughout my years of adulting that this kind of pragmatic thinking has extended out of the studio, and into most areas of my life…. except my “to-do lists”, those never seem to be affected, but that’s a whole other post…

So, knowing all that, you can imagine what my expectations of how many entries we’d have were like when Erica (of eteaket) and I began planning for our “Tea for Two Giveaway”. In hindsight, they were perhaps a bit too low, but I was trying to spare myself from the “inevitable” disappointment of the only entries being from our mothers… you know what I mean?

Anyway, when I looked this morning and saw that nearly 1,000 hopeful souls have entered to win the “Tea for Two Giveaway” you could have knocked me over with a feather… totally over… flat on my face.

Not in a million years did I expect this giveaway to create that much joy and excitement and my own little heart has grown three sizes today with gratitude to be a part of it.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I knew it would bring smiles and excitement, look at it, there’s so much there that is wonderful! But, almost 1,000 people wishing and hoping and excited to win with 3 days left to go…?

Nope, not in a million years would I have expected that to happen.

It’s really wonderful!

If you’re wanting a shot to win, click here and keep your fingers crossed until 5pm on Saturday (UK time).

Good luck!

UPDATE: The giveaway has now closed and we have a winner. With a total of 1,123 entries Erica and I are totally blown away and just as grateful!