WESTie Wednesday with Nancy Blokland Pottery

Welcome to WESTie Wednesday, where each week we get to know a proud WEST member and their Etsy shop! Learn about Nancy and her Etsy shop Nancy Blokland Pottery!

"I make high fire porcelain and stoneware pottery. I sell online, at shows and markets in Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well as brick and mortar locations." 

"My life has been as a maker: my mother was a master seamstress and my dad was a farmer/gardener, and I have been continuing these traditions my whole life. I started clay making when I was 12, and this wonderful obsession has been part of my story ever since. Etsy allows me to challenge myself to take decent photos of my work, to be part of online commerce and a wonderful community of makers and curators."

( Source )

"I love making and selling, and using leaves and flowers from my garden along with the clay is energizing for me. I like hearing shoppers' comments, and this is how I started making yarn bowls and buttons--some of my best sellers!"

( Source )

"My (shop's) demographic is typically female, but increasingly more men show an interest in handmade work."

( Source )

 We also asked Nancy, "Why Etsy?"

 "To sell to a broader world wide audience and to keep up with current trends."

Want to see more? Be sure to check out Nancy on social media!

Facebook // Instagram // Twitter

WESTie Wednesday ft. BlackKnotFarm!

Welcome to WESTie Wednesday, where each week we get to know a proud WEST member and their Etsy shop! This Wednesday, we learn about Etsy shop BlackKnotFarm!

(source)

"I've been a graphic arts public school teacher for almost 20 years. I am divorced and have two beautiful grown daughters. I have always loved creating and making things. Simplicity and usefulness are important to me. I'm always learning a new skill or trying a new technique. Over the years my family came to prefer my handmade gifts over purchased ones and friends started asking me to make them certain things. I love creating and making things beautiful especially out of clay, wood and or fabric. I will try anything once and some things several times! I was lucky enough a few years back to buy a rural property with mature trees and an old farm house. The yard is a beautiful and inspiring 14 acre park that needed tlc and is flourishing now. I learned a lot of construction techniques renovating my home myself, and now that it is mostly complete, my energies are again being funneled into making beautiful things. My farm is my inspiration and where I get most of my supplies for creating."

(source)

"I sell one of a kind natural handmade pieces. I use clay, wood, paint, leather, both natural and recycled materials.My greatest pleasure comes from making something beautiful out of nothing. I believe my demographic would be women ages 25-100 with a mid to high socio-economic status."

(source)

"I am working towards starting my own business creating and selling my work and producing rentable objects for rustic weddings."

Want to see more? Be sure to check out BlackKnotFarm on social media!

Facebook

Crafting and Its Wonderful Lessons for Life

I have often been overheard to say that when the pack up time for shows arrives I am jealous of the fibre people. I love all kinds of crafting, but sometimes I bemoan my lot as a potter because my goods are fragile and heavy.

The truth is I likely wouldn't trade my art form for anything else. I have been making and playing in the clay for 30 years this year, and while I have tried to retire a few times, I keep coming back. The physical process of making the clay has allowed me to have exercise without ever going to a gym, and the centering process of being in correct position in the clay is always good for my inner being. Centering is a great metaphor, but it does have a physical effect on the potter, as you cannot make a good pot until you and it are centered.

There are endless great metaphors, and I just saw this great one on lisa b. walker's blog, so I am reusing it: 
The handle of a pot, he writes, “marks the journey from one world to the other; it is the suspension bridge from the world of art to the world of use.” Clay is protean, he suggests, endlessly malleable by human hands, and yet ultimately the potter must consign his works to fate and accident, to the ruthless caprices of the kiln." Adam Goodheart reviews "Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay" by Christopher Benfey in his NY Time 2012 article entitled ...The Shape of Things to Come

I will be off on vacation for the next few weeks, with lots of time for reflection--beware.

Thank you Nancy for this inspiration - Enjoy your vacation!
When Nancy isn't soaking up the sun, she can be found in her little pottery studio making beauties for local sales and her Etsy shop.

There is no such thing as a simple cup of tea!

One of the first questions we hand-made-people get from folks at shows is...."how long does it take to make a mug?"...

Well, now my answer is 29 years. This is how long I have been doing pottery. There is no speeding up and no shortcuts in making craft or art. I thought you might be interested to know a little about the steps in making a teapot, which is significantly more complicated than you might think.

You need to make a body, a spout, a lid and a handle. Within that there are many variations on how complicated you want to get. Here are a few photos of some of my most recent teapots in process from start to finish.

 

Each element  of the teapot is made separately, dried and trimmed.

 

 

Spouts are a personal thing: length, angles, how to cut them...

 

 

The handle needs to be in line with the spout to pour properly, be aesthetically pleasing, and strong enough to support the weight of a full teapot.

 

 Lids need to be not too big and not too small, but in good proportion to the body (this one is not).

Then you bisque fire, glaze, and fire again! If it doesn't crack, warp, twist or have a glaze run, you may have a sale-able teapot!

Where WESTies Create: Episode 2, NancyBloklandPottery

I am Nancy Blokland, of NancyBloklandPottery, a functional potter in Winnipeg.  I am in my 29th year of my love affair with clay, and in my 2nd year on Etsy where my shop is NancyBloklandPottery. I am a supporter of handmade and have been doing crafts of one kind or another since I was nine years old, when my mother taught me to knit, I learned to embroider and an auntie taught me broomstick lace which I don't think anyone does anymore.

My space in the basement of my house is very small and congested, as it is a converted bedroom with a closet reducing the space. It is functional but not very inspiring. I am hoping to tackle the issue of walls over the next few months when production demands are typically lower. 

My wedging table and where I do my handbuilding and store the clay, new and reclaimed.

 

Glazes stored in buckets

Trimmings from the pots

 

Lace doilies, handmade, rescued from an MCC Thrift store, that will be rolled into clay and become trays, bowls, soap dishes and more!

 

Pots drying for the bisque, which broke this week and after 300.00 plus is reportedly in working order again.

This is my studio, and it is probably evident why I call my blog, Muddy Mama. Here are some photos of my little space in my basement where I obviously don't spend a lot of time cleaning, but work gets done. Pottery is not tidy, that is for sure!

Oh Canada! Maple Leaf Pendant

I love working with leaves in clay.  Sometimes, I have to grow the leaves, wild Harvest (liberate, steal) the leaves, but am currently working on Maple Leaves for what I hope will be the onslaught of tourist consumers to Winnipeg and Manitoba that need "Canadiana".  Sometimes stamps have to work in a pinch and a combination will be used for these new pendants I am adding to my show stock, good to have those portable items too.

This pendant is listed on Etsy, and I sincerely hope that part of my Canada Day Celebrations will be a functioning postal service..http://www.etsy.com/your/listings/73104187