Author: Avesha DeWolfe

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Win Free Goodies!

You know what’s neat?

When two business women have an idea and then it happens, I just love that!

My friend Erica is the owner & founder of the amazing Eteaket – the very finest place in Edinburgh (online too!) for high quality loose leaf tea with integrity. She and I had a conversation one day about wanting to give some fun things away to celebrate summer and after about 5 minutes of conversation we came up with the “Tea for Two Giveaway”.

Included in the giveaway are 2 of my favorite “Waveware Mugs”, 4 delicious loose leaf summer teas (shown in the photo, you can drink them hot or cold) and enough bleach-free teabags to last the entire summer.

If you want a chance to win, click here to enter the giveaway. One entry per person, but if you’re on Facebook or Instagram you can get an extra entry by sharing our giveaway posts in your stories.

The giveaway ends at 5pm (BST) on Saturday, July 27th and is open to pottery & tea lovers all over the world. Erica and I will share the cost of sending the booty to you when you win.

Good luck!!

~Avesha

 

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Plastic free, can you dig it? 😉

July 1st starts the 6th year of the #plasticfree challenge which has been spearheaded by the wonderful Marine Conservation Society here in Scotland 🌊 🦀 Want to join me???

The purpose of the challenge is to bring awareness to our plastic use and help us make some kind of effort to reduce our use of plastics or even #goplasticfree if we are feeling especially courageous.


In our house, being entirely plastic free isn’t realistic quite yet, but we have made some “microsteps” by recycling and reusing as much as possible. We use metal straws & cloth shopping bags and we have a keep-cup each for our beloved take out coffees. There is SO much more we could be doing though, this is where the Plastic Free challenge will help.

What is one small step you could take to make (and keep making) a difference to the plastic waste crisis?


Please share your ideas with me in the comments to help us all find a way to help the Oceans 🌊❤

To sign up to the #plasticfree challenge go to www.mcsuk.org/news/join_plastic_challenge

Also, remember back in May when we were talking about how helping others works really well as a  microstep you can take to help your own mental & emotional health?

Well, being a part of the #plasticfree challenge and taking a microstep toward helping marine life by reducing the plastic waste threatening them can REALLY help us feel like we are making a positive difference… which makes us feel good 🌞 Win, win!

❤

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It’s ‘Just a Card Day’, woo hoo!!! (okay, but what is that?)

Have you been to any sweet local shops, or galleries, or grocers run by independent business people in your community?

What did you think?

Did it feel special and a little like you were connected into something bigger than yourself? Did you feel like a part of your community?

Those feelings are a large part of what is at the core of the Justacard campaign which began 2 years ago when Sarah Hamilton,  a printmaker in South London decided to do something to help keep independent shops open and thriving in her community.

(That’s her there  👇 Click on her photo to see Sarah’s beautiful prints)

Justacard has since become a global movement of independent shops and makers and artists of all kinds who believe in it’s purpose and mission. When you purchase something, anything, even ‘just a card’ from a local gallery or shop you make a difference to an independent business owner.

“If everyone who’d complimented our beautiful gallery had bought ‘just a card’ we would still be open”

When I first heard about this campaign a year ago the first thing I did was get this bumper sticker for my car (that’s a Courtney Murphy Ceramics mug, isn’t it pretty?) and am so thankful I did!

People asking about the sticker has started many small but important conversations about how essential it is to shop small, local, independent and in your community, if you can.

So, today, June 17th is ‘Justacard Day’ and makers all over the globe are shouting from the rooftops about this beautiful, meaningful campaign that is already making a difference to how the general purchasing public spends their money.

Big things are in store for the Justacard campaign too, have a look at their website to see all of the fancy actors and famous people taking part in getting this message out to the world.

Now, when you see the Justacard logo in a photo or in a shop or car window you’ll know what it means and you’ll feel like a superhero when you buy that card, or mug, or book, or jewellry, or sticker, or journal, or painting, or toilet paper, or shoes, or whatever it is you’re looking for… because you know, whatever you need can be found in an independent shop.

Really, it can ❤

 

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It’s always about the ocean, amiright?

Did you know today is World Environment Day? 🌎 It’s a day dedicated by the United Nations for us to slow down, educate ourselves and do something to help the environment.

For me, these days are about the oceans….it’s always about the oceans here, amiright? 😉 Who could blame me? They provide so much for us but are becoming crippled by trash and plastic waste. We need to do something to reverse this damage and days like today are inspirations to do so.

Days like this are also wonderful opportunities to implement Mental Health Awareness Month Top Tip #3, remember that one?  It’s about how doing something for someone else can help our own emotional and mental health and that “someone” includes the Earth and all the animals living on it with us.

So, some super simple things you can do to help today and every day are:

1) Always bring an extra bag to the beach for your trash and take away the rubbish you see left by others.

2) Donate to a reputable, charity supporting the Oceans and educating people about how to help. Five bucks a month makes a big difference if you can swing it. The Marine Conservation Society is AMAZING ❤🦀

3) Make your buying power say something by not purchasing plastics or by purchasing items that support reputable charities.

In case you didn’t know already, 100% of the profit from my “In love with the Sea” ornaments goes to the incredible work of the Marine Conservation Society 🌞 You get something pretty and are helping the environment at the same time. Win, win! 

❤Until later 

 

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Happy May!

Here in the UK, May is Mental Health Awareness Month.  

It’s a month to help release the stigma surrounding mental and emotional health and shepherd in the awareness that creating space for the daily nurturing of our mental and emotional health is an essential requirement for happiness, empathy and compassionate living. 

And, you know what’s neat?

Nature is reminding us of this all the time, if we pay attention.  The sun always rises slowly, it always takes time to set beautifully… the birds always take time to sing in and out each new day as though it’s their first one. 

For me, being outside in nature is an essential part of my mental and emotional health toolkit and it keeps me centered in the studio as well.  Being outside reminds me to get out of my head and into my body,  just like our dog Remi does when we’re out walking… she is such a good role model for being in the moment!

I encourage you to take time each day this month to give your mental and emotional health the space it needs to flourish… even if it’s just taking a moment to breathe deeply and listen to the birds sing, those moments add up! Perhaps you’ll love it so much you’ll continue throughout the year, wouldn’t that be great? 

Check back in here throughout the month, I’ll be sharing some simple top tips from my work in the mental health arena for putting your mental and emotional health on the top of your to-do list.

For now, get outside as much as you can and please do share some of your own top tips for mental and emotional health in the comments below.

Until later,

Avesha

 

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Making a difference

Studio Manager and I have some exciting news we wanted share with you.

You have probably already guessed how much the sea means to me…

For months now, I’ve been researching and  looking for a charity we could support that makes a real difference to the safe-keeping of our beautiful oceans and (drum roll please…) have finally found one!

The Marine Conservation Society will be the charity we support!  Yay!!!

The Marine Conservation Society has a Scottish branch and their incredible work to clean up the seas, save marine mammals and ocean wildlife AND educate children about the importance of keeping trash out of our oceans is incredible.

So, 100% of the proceeds from every sale of our ‘In love with the sea’ ornaments will be donated to the Marine Conservation Society and I am thrilled!

 

If you’re ever looking for a special something for yourself or that person who has everything, click here and look no further!

Until later,

Avesha

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Process: Part II

 

When we left, we were talking about templates & composite parts of pots… here is a look at the templates I am using in the studio just now. 

They’re made of mounting board which is sturdy and allows for many pots to be cut to size before the edges and corners start to deteriorate. Someday soon I will transfer these mounting board templates to tar paper which lasts indefinitely, but for now, this is an excellent template material.

So, once we have our shapes cut out they are then manipulated in various ways with my hands or forming over a bisque mold made of clay.

Here is a speedy video of a mug being formed after resting for a few hours in partial plastic covering… partial because I need the feet to set up so they can support the mug without collapsing as the wet walls are being pushed out.

Have a look…

So there you have it, a whirlwind tour of the process of working with soft slabs. If you have any questions, let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Until later, alligator.

~Avesha

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Meet the Maker

#marchmeetthemaker   Have you heard of it?

It is a campaign on Instagram that was created by a wonderful maker called Joanne Hawker to bring more awareness to handmade business and to makers… I’ve just discovered it myself and am loving being a part of it. There’s a prompt for every day in March that we all speak to, yesterday was all about “How we got started”. 

Here is my contribution:

This movement on Instagram is a really big deal for a lot of reasons, not only because it has given me a focus for the month for insta posts (hoorah!) but also because it has gotten a lot of people to thinking about things that don’t usually enter our head… such as how much handmade business brings to the economy, and how many makers are out there, and how many ways there are to be creative (I really had no idea how creative we all are!).

Because I’m a potter and ADORE wearing handmade jewelry, I tend to lean toward thinking only about clay or sketching or metalsmithing when I think about creativity. Holy smokes, is that narrow minded!

In your free time this month (and if you’re on Instagram) I urge you to check out the #marchmeetthemaker movement happening over there and follow our posts too, click here to find Studio Manager and I in InstaLand.

Until later, alligator.

~Avesha.

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Process: Part I

Process… it’s such a bland word for a really amazing set of steps used across a bazillion art forms. If you think of a better word for this, let me know, okay?

Anyway, many of you ask me often about the steps used to make the pots here in Spiral Tide Pottery so I thought I’d let you in on the process of making each pot that leaves the studio doors.

First, we start with a 1/8th inch thick slab.

Studio Manager overseeing the process.

I used to roll them out by hand, it was meditative and calming to send that rolling pin over and over and over and over the clay… however, it took AGES and I quickly found that the wear on my wrists & shoulders was adding up.

After much deliberation, Studio Manager and I decided to invest in a slab roller and what an amazing difference it has made. Since the arrival of ‘Lola, the SlabRolla’ production has been able to speed up while wear on my body has lessened.

Best. Investment. Ever!

Studio Manager approved 

After the clay slab is rolled out, it gets textured with various tools, handmade stamps and found objects to create the surfaces that work best for the glaze I mix (my glaze needs break points and pooling areas to work it’s best magic so texture is crucial).

After texture is added to the slab it is trimmed to size for the pots I’m making using a template I’ve created out of paper first to test it out then it’s cut from very hard card stock to last a bit longer. Sometimes only one template is needed for a pot, sometimes it’s multiple… this teapot form for example has 4 parts to it.

The slab parts are then left to set up a bit after being cut out.  If I try to rush this part the slab turns to a floppy mess covered in fingerprints so this is when a tea break happens or I move over to previous slabs that have been setting up while making these new pots.

When it’s timed right, there’s always something needing done and not a moment of ‘down time’… 8 hours can go by in a flash and only the grumbling of my stomach or the urgent need to pee can make time stop again. It’s both beautiful and a bit dangerous to lose track of time that completely so I’m working on having a break becoming part of the fabric of my studio days rather than an afterthought.

I’ll let you know in the next post how I’m doing with that ;o)

Until next time, be well.

 

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Weeee’re Baaaaack!

It’s unbelievably cold outside this morning as I write this, even the sand at the beach had a light coat of frost on it… I wish I had thought to get a photo of it to show you.  Ah, well, next time!

Some of you who have been a part of the pottery family for a while may have been wondering where Spiral Tide Pottery has been over the last few years… I closed the pottery back in 2016 when my previous studio was sold back to the council. Everything was packed away in the shed in our back garden for years, calling to me, but I was doing my best to ignore it because I couldn’t see a way to make it work. I couldn’t find an obvious solution so I ignored that part of myself screaming for expression… until my eye began to twitch and I became a not very nice person. I was trying so hard to be my best but I was so unhappy. 

My wonderful, sainted, ever-so-patient Wife came up with a brilliant solution last spring and after a month of  construction on the shed that was holding onto all the pottery equipment…Voila! I have a working studio that I adore.  As of May 31st 2018 we’re back in business and I’m a nice person again, holla-lujiah!

One of the things the last few years without clay has taught me is to always – ALWAYS – do my very best to honor my creative spirit. It’s a constant companion and something that won’t be silenced. At the risk of sounding totally dramatic… I’ve learned that clay is something almost as important for my well-being as oxygen.

Because I tend to want to learn from my mistakes (and because I worry), I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what happens the next time I need a plan B for the studio and how to keep my hands in clay no matter what.

Even if I can’t see a way to fire the work I know now that I still need to be getting my hands dirty and making pots. The kicker of that lesson though, is that I already knew it… waaaay back in 1995 when I was getting ready to graduate from high school and didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do with my life, my Mom asked me “can you live a happy life without art, without making pots?”. My immediate answer was no and that led me to apply to art school, but 19 years later I had forgotten all of that. I had forgotten that I deserved to have my soul alight and I’d forgotten that the best way to be my best self is to get lost in my creativity as much as possible.

So, I urge you to have a think about the things that make your heart sing, the talents and special gifts that you can’t live happily without and then make damned sure you find a way to keep them alive for you in your daily life no matter what.

You’re so worth it.

Don’t forget that you deserve to have your soul lit up on a daily basis, k?