It has been awhile!  I've decided to add some of my cake work to my gallery.  (I am always creating...just not always in clay!)  I will add some photos of some of my new clay work in the near future.  My newest clay pieces are exploring a new direction!  Still leaves, but more of an actual picture.  
 
Today was the Scott County Art Crawl.  It was a fun day!  I was displaying my art in the Eagle Creek Gallery, in Savage MN.  prior to yesterday, I had never been to this gallery--It was a terrific find for me!!  It is part framing, art, glass and a large part Iron Works!  Let me tell you they make some beautiful pieces!  The artist who was also showing at this location was Amanda Sales.  Her use and masterful manipulation of color create stunning pieces.  I feel privileged to have shared space with her.  Now, it's time to winterize my current work and get really busy on new wo 
 
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Edina Art Fair went really well.  Fun show and lots of great people came by.  And now I'm getting ready for the Minnesota River Arts Fair.  It's a new show, located at the Landing (formerly Murphy's Landing) in Shakopee, MN  which is conveniently located next to Valley Fair (which is where the Mortonettes will spend the weekend ;-)  Unloading a kiln tomorrow morning and I'm very excited about the work which is in there!  Stop by, if you can, Say Hi and see my new work!  (The green leaf on the middle right of the poster is one of my pieces!!)


 
The first show of the season is just around the corner!  The Edina Art Fair is June 1, 2, and 3.  My booth will be right in front of Starbucks and Breadsmith.  It's a win-win!  Extra exposure for me, and extra sales for Starbucks and Breadsmith.  (Ok, I'm sure the sales they will make from me won't have an enormous impact on their profits--but it will make me a happier Altaredartist!    (New pictures very soon!)
 
The AltaredArtist is branching out...but that should come as no surprise to just about anyone!  I've been decorating cakes for quite awhile, and am now being paid as a "professional".  My best works are always those where I am free to express my creativity, so while I do get paid regularly by a corporation to produce delightful cakes, I also get paid privately to create amazing cakes!  I will be posting some of those creations here, on my site.  Please enjoy looking at them--and certainly feel free to commission one of these fun (and delicious!) hand crafted pieces of art!
 
Wow. What a rollercoaster ride!  My studio has now been moved for the 3rd (and hopefully final for at least a year) time this year.  We aren't even finished unpacking everything, but I hope to have new pieces in the works within just a couple more days.
 
My kiln officially set a new record.  It took 8ish hours to fire--normal--and 24 hours to cool down enough to open.  A 32 hour total fire.  Wow.  It was indeed hot here.
 
Fired the kiln.  No trouble with the firing, but.....DUH!!!  It's going to take f-o-r-e-v-e-r to cool down!!
 
I went out to start the kiln last night, and when it knocked the breath out of me how hot it was at 9pm, I decided.....maybe tomorrow!  
It's tomorrow, and if you can believe it, it's supposed to be as hot--but with a higher heat index--117--today! I think I'm going to try to find a space helmet so I can breath!  JK.  I am going to start my kiln today.  I am interested to see how the heat affects the firing.  I've never had to give much thought to how the heat affects a firing!  Conversely, I've given A LOT of thought to how the extreme cold affects it.  (It's actually more of an issue for the computer on the kiln than the kiln.)  BTW, the pieces I made two days ago have not even begun to dry.  I think they--like most people--are refusing to do any work, and are simply conserving energy until the heat breaks!  (The break comes on Thursday!! Yea!!)

I think I will begin to pack up my studio today.  That is going to be a huge challenge!  Since I have done quite a bit of teaching, I have a number of kids pieces on my shelves!  Each one of them is precious but space is becoming a premium!!  (If you've ever been in my studio, I know you are probably saying, "Becoming?!!  You've been out of space for years!!")  I have rented a storage space just for Altaredartist, so even though I won't know where anything specific is, at least I'll know where it generally is!
 
If you can fry an egg on the sidewalk, I wonder if you can bisque clay on my patio?  It's hot.  Really hot.  Really, Really, Really hot.  lest you think I'm complaining, let me clarify:  I'm whining and being ungrateful.  I'm whining along with everyone else here.  Let's face it--when the heat index exceeds 110, even the most staunch "Minnesota nice" melts!  I'm being ungrateful (even though I have an air conditioner), because my clay won't dry.  Many people up here don't even have an air conditioner.  In the deep winter, I fuss that my clay won't dry because the cold inhibits the evaporation of moisture from my work.  Right now the work won't dry because of the absurdly high humidity level!  I moved up here to get away from that weather junk!  It found me this week.

I loaded the kiln yesterday for a bisque fire.  I also created several new pieces, so in theory I should be able to turn around and do a second bisque fire immediately.  The theory then says that I should be able to do back to back glaze fires before I have to load up my studio and kiln and move to my new home location.  Yep.  I'm moving.  In a couple of weeks.  To a Yurt, on a farm.  Sound Artsy enough for ya?!  Like I said in the title, Never a dull moment!