Mass production

The past few days have been spent producing, producing, producing. The warm weather brings busy times for me with shows and the market so I need to have a massive stock built up. Not that I don't already have a massive stock. I do. You would think I lived through the Great Depression with the way I hoard my jewelry, always worried that I won't have enough when the time is right. But even with my obsessive stockpiling I occasionally do run low on certain forms and then the panic begins all over again.

Here is a little peak into my work world. Last week I posted a photo of some molds I had just made. Someone made a comment that they didn't realize that I made my own molds so I thought I would take a moment to explain my process a little. With the exception of just a few I make all of my own molds from objects I have been collecting for years. I have found that it is really the only way to stay fresh and original and (hopefully) make it a little harder for the copycats to duplicate. You can't stop people from copying your style (unfortunately, it does happen) but you can make it difficult for them to copy your designs (though that happens as well).

After the molds are made I hand press porcelain clay into them, one at a time. After that comes the drying, the refining, the first firing, the glazing, the final firing and then the assembling.

Today I will do more of the same. I made 47 new molds a few days ago and I can't wait to bring those new designs to life!