"FAMILY" Meet Linda Guynn in CERAKANVAS V1 I5

We recently met a wonderfully creative new ceramic artist/craftsman, Linda Guynn. She will be featured with her family portrait ornaments in the upcoming issue of CERAKANVAS - Holiday Edition on December 1st. Linda also does a series of sculptures/figurines that are based on Bible stories/passages. Her work reminds me of the world famous artist Susan Lordi and her Willow Tree sculptures. We are sure you will love her work.

The portrait ornaments are such a wonderful way to create a family memory, one that can be placed on your tree at Christmas, and then kept out all year long.

A sense of family is so important. A new show by the makers of Extreme Makeover previewed last night on ABC. Imagine the possibilities for your studio in adding personalized image reliefs.

Check out Linda's work and many other talented artists/craftsmen in the Holiday Edition of CERAKANVAS.

Goodbye Noah, you will be missed.

Somehow I feel the need to share something very sad with all of you. Last week I asked through facebook and other avenues to help grant a special Christmas wish for a very sick little boy, his name is Noah. He loved to recieve Christmas cards. Many of you responded, and along with other people who also were led to help in a small way to make his Christmas better, Noah recieved over 1 million cards and gifts from these requests. This morning at 8:02am Noah went to be with God. Noah had stage IV Neruorblastoma cancer. Now he is in the hands of angels. I never met Noah, I do not know his family, but I do know God and I do know how he will care for Noah in the finest fashion until that time that his family is all together again.

His family has asked that you not send cards or flowers, just prayers (you may send donations to the address at the end). The prayers we need now is for his family to be able to deal with the loss. No matter how much we believe that heaven is for eternity, the flesh cries out in pain over the loss of a loved one.

If some of you do not understand how Noah and ceramics have anything to do with each other. I am sorry I wasted your time. But you see, God created his first creation, Adam out of the clay of the earth. We are all in a way ceramic (clay) by God's ultimate design.

If you would like you may send donations to:
Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan
230 Huron View Blvd
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Place in the memo section - Noah Biorkman

As an idea . . . what if your family sat down together, and prayed for a clamness and healing of heart for Noah's family. Perhaps you could actually make a special ornament and hang it on your tree as a way to remember to continue to pray for this family and other families who are suffering this Holiday season. Somehow I feel confident that as Noah looks down upon us and the whole world this Christmas he will smile at the thought we are trying to care for his family.

(The picture is really Noah with Santa this Christmas)

CERAKANVAS - Green from the beginning . . .

What you are looking at are 2 different ways that information is sent to readers. The one on the left is the new Apple iReader (new) and the one on the right is the Amazon Kindle (In it's 2nd Gen). Essentially these are devices that you can get books and magazines on. Very shortly CERAKANVAS will be available on one of these 2 formats, and eventually both of them. Our e-publishing house is in the process of adding this as a new option.

While as CERAKANVAS will always remain FREE at www.cerakanvas.com those who want to access the magazine through this format may have to pay a usage fee directly to the publisher. It is a small fee, but we wanted to make sure you understood we are generating it, and the primary way to view will still be at the CERAKANVAS site.

One very exciting aspect to all of this is that this process as well as our e-zine site is very "GREEN" . No paper is used to generate the magazine.

1. Submissions are electronically transmitted as documents over the web.

2. Pieces are photographed by the artists and jpegs are sent via Internet, this also saves in gas consumption and the size of our carbon footprint as we do not have to transport pieces back and forth for photographing.

3. Our magazine does not end up in landfills (of course we doubt that it would anyway)

4. Our staff all work out of their homes thus eliminating millions of miles of automobile travel which creates a huge impact on the environment.

We hope you get the picture. CERAKANVAS is very green.

We have no control over the format first picked by our e-publisher, but if you have a preference please post it in a comment.

Keeping and Making Tradition.

Do you create new traditions? As a family grows and changes, it is equally important to hold onto treasured family traditions from years gone by as it is to create new ones that will hopefully last for years . . .even generations to come.

So what are some of your traditions at Christmas? I personally love the ones that focus on the creation of a craft project. With ceramics being tops on that list. Some of the traditions we do or have close friends who do are as follows:

1. Create a themed ornament (each person) that will hang on the tree or a wreath.

2. Create a new village house (or several) to add to the family village.

3. Add a new person or animal to the family Creche (Nativity)

These are just a few ideas, that can remain rock solid and go on endlessly. If you have a special ceramic Holiday tradition let us know in the comments section. have a great HOLIDAY!

Martha does ceramics . . .

So first of all, let's get past whether or not we love Martha. The truth of the matter, friend or foe, if Martha endorses something it sells! In the last week on both her show and the Rachel Ray show Martha talked about making a Creche (Nativity). Not only did she talk about it, she showed it. Original air date of Nativity was 12-25-2007. Her story of digging through a room of hundreds of molds (for most shops it would be thousands of molds) and finding here there and everywhere all of the pieces to this great Duncan (she did not identify the mold company) large nativity. She did exaggerate the piece sizes, but it is still a large set. Martha poured her own set, cleaned her own greenware, glazed them and fired them. She didn't have it done for her, she did it herself. Many media outlets tried to to elude she sculpted them, but Martha did not make that statement.

So here's the crust of the matter. Martha Stewart got tickled by scrapbooking - now she has one of the most extensive scrapbooking lines in stores. Several gondolas in Micheal's are filled with all sorts of Martha scrapbooking tools and supplies. Imagine Martha Stewart bisque, Martha Stewart molds, Martha Stewart tools, Martha Stewart paints. . . I think you get the idea.
The fact is getting ceramics to be more visible in major market arenas.

"Artist Discovery Tour" - reaching out for hidden talent!

So let's think outside the box for a moment. I understand what I am proposing here is a little to extreme for many, in fact most of you, but the results could be insanely positive.

Pack up a table, a couple folding chairs, an odd assortment of paints (you should only take non-firing product for this experiment, as immediate results is an integral part of it) an assortment of brushes, and an assortment of enhancers like Sharpie markers, colored pencils, chalks, and stuff to be creative with. Then take an assortment of bisque. Perhaps that's a bunch of tiles, discs or plates. It could be a grouping of plain ornaments or small containers. You want the items to have plain surfaces, as opposed to heavily detailed surfaces.

Make sure to take a digital camera with extra batteries with you when you go.

Then simply set up "shop" somewhere there are a lot of people. Make sure to ask for permission so as not to draw the "wrong" kind of attention. Good places might be a busy downtown sidewalk, a transit mall, a youth sporting event, outside a Gospel Mission. DO NOT SELL ANYTHING. Invite people to come and create a piece of art. Ask before they start if it's OK for you to take some pictures as they work and then of their finished product. Give limited instruction, as to allow them to freely explore their creativity. Then when you begin to see amazing works of art come from things you would have never thought of, invite them to your studio. If you happen to draw positive attention from the media they may do a story about your "Artist Discovery Tour". You can't buy that kind of advertising.

If you can see yourself doing this, and it will have amazing effect, share your stories and pictures with us, we may publish them in an upcoming issue of CERAKANVAS.

GO CREATE SOMETHING!

Family Fun

Ceramics grew from a old ladies hobby (The Mud Hen's Days) to an activity that the whole family could enjoy together. With the successful introduction of easy to use non-fired acrylics in the late 70's, more and more families began to take part in family ceramic nights. Much like the Family Game Nights, where older siblings or relatives took the younger ones in under their wings and helped tutor them in understanding what they were doing.

In today's culture it is even more difficult to find times to connect as a family. Ceramics can add a new dimension to this, and help bring families "back to the table" so to speak. In fact games can be a ceramic focal point. Why not create a family chess game, or special variant like 3 player chess, Stratego or some other games all made by the hands of the family. What fun . . .what connection. An almost limitless variety of bisque exists between local retailers and on line merchants.

Webinars - 1, 2, 3 blast off!

Today people from 5 to 75 (and others too) love to learn and interact with their computers. On an ever increasing basis people around the globe are turning to their computers and the Internet as their primary resource for information. News, sports, entertainment, finance, it's all right there with the most recent updates available.

But not only information and news have become common commodities on the Internet, so has a format for learning. Did you know that one of the fastest growing schools for grades K-12 is not a private school, it's not homeschooling, it's not a theater based alternative school. No it's a public school without walls and desks. It's called "Connections Academy" and is available in most states. There is no tuition, it sis a public school, you get a free computer and textbooks. So now lets bring this blog post around to ceramics.

Webinars are a fantastic way to teach a technique, promote a product, and to make ceramics accessible in places where there are no teaching studios available. At the CAG we see webinars coming in evolutions. The specifics on some of these evolutions is vague still. It is certain we will be revisiting this topic over and over again. Watch our web site for a "guide" sort of like a TV GUIDE concept of when and what is out there in webinars.

A visit from Santa . . . more than tradition

When I was a kid growing up I remember going to the giant department store or the humongous toy store (everything seemed bigger as a kid) and having my annual visit with Santa. Today it is getting harder and harder to even find the places where Santa will be frequenting. Why not have Santa a Saturday or two at your shop? Ceramic people are very creative. . . you can make a Winter Wonderland for very little cost, Styrofoam, sprayed branches, lots of ceramic ornaments. Have an area for people to make ornaments or Santa plates while they wait. IF WE DON"T INVITE PEOPLE IN, they wont come. By the way the bisque you see in this picture is by Dept 56 and is porcelain. It works beautifully with fashenhues oil based paints.

Intimidated?

I found this picture somewhere on the web of this giant phone. I realized as I looked at it, it reminded me of a major issue of our success in the ceramic industry. Making the contact, asking for the connect, and creating a new student base for your studio.

Ceramics is really not about a bunch of "one hit wonders". It's about getting absorbed into the art and craft of the industry. But we have to reach out and let people know what we have to offer. But be prepared to fascinate your intended audience. No matter what, ceramics can be made sound exciting, because it is. But do you believe it enough to buy into it. Call a retirement center and ask if you can come and do a "show and tell." Take EXCITING pieces with you, the invite them to get involved, all over again, and make some of these beautiful exciting things for yourself, or as gifts for family and friends. Call the private schools, ask to offer an art education class based from slipcast ceramics. Make sure they invest in brushes and paints when they come. You can be "nice" and let them use yours, or you can be "smart" and create a reason for them to want to do project after project. We lay out a lot of ideas for you to use, but if you don't give them a try, you will never know if they work for you or not. So pick up the phone and begin inviting people to re-discover the magic of ceramics. You really can't lose.

Trade Shows - Then . . . and . . . now . . . and beyond

No the picture at the left is NOT a ceramic trade show . . . but it actually could be. this afternoon I had the delightful opportunity to meet one of our newer Ambassadors on the phone. One of the myriad of topics we rambled about was the old trade shows, like the one held in the spring and the fall each year at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Bohler shows were so big, there were times you needed 2 days to see and take in everything. Sure there were people even then who were in and out in a matter of hours. But there are people who go to Disneyland in 1 day also. Do you really see what names are painted in the upper windows on Main street in 1 day? Of course not. Some people would say well there's not enough manufacturers left to fill a a 100 sq' hall let alone a 100,000 sq' hall. Point well taken. But if you live in the corner of the box, the box is all you know. It is great to have regional shows, many people can not afford to travel long distances. But 1, spectacular, show annually for the industry at all levels, in and out of the box, could be awesome. The CAG is NOT a show promoter, but we have a vast amount of creative, professional resources that we could lend to someone willing to take this venture on. I would love to walk through an exhibit hall, with exciting reps standing in stunning booths sharing their wares and concepts. This kind of show would also draw literally thousands of pieces of competition, if done right. Do you know that for every piece of competition you can be assured their will 2 people visiting the show. Is this a dream, or is it a vision for the future?