This is it! The final week of Free Shipping February! This offer ends on Monday February 29th, so get your orders in before next Monday to take advantage. Nearly all the work in the shop qualifies for this offer if you are shipping within the US. Enter code LOVEFREESHIPPING at checkout and the shipping fees are on me!
Author: Jenni Ward
Why I hire students…
If you are a working artist and you are treating your art making as a business, then you wear many hats. You are the artist, marketing director, accountant, website designer, graphic designer, photographer, logistics director, the shipping department, the researcher, probably an educator and not to mention head of maintenance and janitorial duties. You do the job of a dozen people on shoestring budget. And sometimes, you just need some help…
Sometimes it’s worth it to pay the professionals to do what you can’t and in half the time that you could watch a YouTube tutorial on the subject. You have to give into those expenses as the cost of doing business and as an investment in yourself. I have never been disappointed when I’ve spent some hard earned cash on someone who really knows what they are doing, you end up with a fantastic product in the end.
Sometimes you can barter (this is my favorite way of doing business!) with people who have the skills you need and they’d love to take a class from you or own a piece of your work. I’ve had everything from setting up my website to floor tile installation done on barter, if you set it up right, everyone gets what they need out of it, professional-to-professional.
My second favorite way of getting help is to hire students. High school and college students know way more than I do about all kinds of techy things, they can photoshop like champs, are enthusiastic about creative projects and are affordable to hire on an artist’s budget. I love working with my assistants who don’t think twice about hiking off into the woods to photograph my work. That said, they will cancel on you to hang out with their friends, they will take forever to get back to you, and they will forget things (all the time!) but for me it is totally worth it. By hiring students, I give them job training, portfolio building opportunities, teamwork skills and help build their confidence in what they do. Bottom line is that while there are many things that you can’t hire out as an artist, there is a lot that you can, while also giving your time and experience to the next generation just entering the field. If you share your skills and hire students, you might still have time to get your laundry done too!
photo credit: Sequoia Kimmel
Inspiration: Jason deCaires Taylor’s underwater museum
Sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor‘s ethereal underwater sculptures have been floating around on social media and in the news for awhile now, but I just caught his TED talk and wanted to share it with you. As a scuba diver and as an artist who has taken her work under the ocean, I can’t imagine the energy and planning that goes into his installations. I also love that the focus of his work is on the education and preservation of our oceans and reefs, while maintaining a beautiful conceptual and aesthetic body of work. Someday, I hope to dive his underwater museum! Check out his website at: www.underwatersculpture.com
Another Teaser from the Tide Pool Series
Here’s another image from the brandy new Tide Pool Series that will be released in the online shop very soon! These pieces have been mounted on reclaimed wood and can be wall mounted to bring a bit of the tide pools home with you. Portfolio and video of the In The Field installation will be released soon too! Stay tuned…
Tide Pool Series
This series is inspired by my time spent observing the tiny watery worlds on the rocky shoreline that exist temporarily as the rise and fall of the ocean reveals them and hides them again. The creatures and amount of life that thrive in these crevices is fascinating and forever a source of inspiration for me.
Paying Respects
I spent this past weekend on a whirlwind trip to the freezing east coast to say goodbye to my last surviving grandparent. After 98 years and 8 months, the sweet, funny and feisty Gma Rose left us behind, and she will be very missed.
She was a maker; she sewed clothes in her younger years and quilted feverishly in her later years. She hand-painted blown egg shells by the dozens and rolled out miles of dough for Hungarian nut cookies. She collected items from pine cones to cardboard as materials that she might want to use in an upcoming project. If you think creativity is genetic, I’m sure some of mine came from her.
I spent nearly every summer of my childhood with her and my grandfather in North Carolina happily cruising around in their Airstream trailer while she constantly worried about the possibility of explaining to my parents that I’d inevitably been gobbled up by the alligator that lived in the swimming hole near their property.
When she visited me in California a few years ago, my dog stole her hearing aids off the nightstand and ate them. She laughed at the idea that she must of had tasty smelling ears and wondering how she was going to explain it all to the doctor. Two winters ago, she let me tattoo her (with Sharpies) with her namesake after Christmas dinner – she thought it was hysterical and couldn’t wait to show the ladies in her domino group her new tattoo.
Last summer, we ate New England lobsters and drank wine together on my parents porch in New Jersey (one of her favorite meals), proving life is good to the last drop.
Free Shipping Reminder!
Just a reminder that it’s Free Shipping February so be sure to take advantage of it and explore our online shop! Enter LOVEFREESHIPPING at checkout and the shipping fees are on me. Here’s a selection of pieces available to bring intrigue to your creative place…
“My mission is to create abstract interpretations of nature through thoughtfully crafted ceramic sculptures that reconnect you with the natural world.” -jw
Home school?
For all the home school families out there, I’ve recently partnered with Outschool, they are a new resource that helps you find and book in-person learning activities for kids.
I’m offering two 4 week clay classes designed for just for home school kids with small class sizes to allow for personalized learning opportunities. Please share this with any home school families you think might be interested.
Here is the link to view the details: Outschool | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
Another Sneak Peek!
I took advantage of the extremely low tides this past weekend and got out for another In the Field installation. The area of the beach where I placed these pieces is normally completely inaccessible to explore and is only cliff and ocean. I’d been planning this one for so long and finally there was a time that the tide was low enough and everyone could make it out to document the installation. Here’s a sneak peek video of the install, but there will be more to come soon AND these pieces will be reconfigured for installing in your home and will be available in the shop very, very soon!
Photo & Video credit: Sequoia Kimmel
Art Hearts!
These beauties just came out of the kiln! Swing by the studio this week and pick one out for your love!
A portion of all Art Heart sales benefit philanthropic art projects, give to the arts and get a heart!
Also available at the Santa Cruz Art League and The Homeless Garden Project Store
dammit…
Anyone who has ever worked with clay knows that it’s a love/hate relationship.
There are no guarantees of what will happen in the building process, the drying process, the kiln firing process, the glazing process, and not to mention any other random accidental events. While you can build your skill level and knowledge of your material to get an edge on most of these problems, there will always be that time you push the material farther than it wants to go and usually it will win. Despite all this, I still keep coming back to clay.
There is something about this uncertainty and lack of total control that is luring and downright in-your-face challenging. That said…
Today’s score: Clay 1, Jenni 0