Getting Started In The New Year

Like so many other artists, I like to take a bit of a break through the holidays to enjoy the season and my family.  We had a great Christmas and fun with friends on New Year's Eve.  And just before settling into the studio for the winter, potter friend Becky Brandow of Willow Avenue Pottery in Iowa visited for a couple days.  It was two days of potter shopping (Continental Clay, Ikea, The Container Store and Northern Clay Center), discussion of glazes to test in the woodfiriing we'll be doing in February and just plain lots of fun.  
 

Now it's time to buckle down and put a serious dent in my "need to make" list before spring sales begin.  It's a pretty long list but I think I'll be glad to start the season with a good inventory of the things I sell a lot of.  Of course there's always time for a little distraction by some of the daily beauty of a Minnesota winter.  Here are a couple of this week's distractions.