...Well ya know it's been a long, long time...

Ok, ok: Yes, it's been about 2.5 years (!!!) since we've written anything in here - But we do update, I swear - It happens on our Facebook page. Just easier, especially for quick, relatively brief newsbits. But, so much is going on now that we felt it would be best to write a bigger chunk of info here, rather than on FB. [And we do still email a quick blast of info but usually it's just for events - Short and to the point, more like reminders.]

Now that we have The Peanut as our third member, we have seriously trimmed down our art/craft fair schedule. Last year we went on what we think of as literally a tour of the country (no regrets, lots of adventure!) and went from coast to coast, coming back to finish off the year and catch up on a lot of missed studio time (that type of tour is NOT feasible if you make all of your product yourself and you need a lot of it for shows & wholesale & online retail) and home time. We will look forward to future road trips for purely pleasure and not work, for sure :)

So far, we have this as our Spring/Summer event schedule:
- The Art Girls Spring Pop-Up Shop in May
- Wells Street Art Festival in June
- Bucktown Arts Fest in August (still waiting to hear jury results)
- Renegade Craft Fair in September (still waiting to apply)

That's it :) We're sorry about not coming to Wisconsin or Minnesota this year, but when it came down to it, we realized we needed to just focus on a more simple studio-forward game plan (that didn't require a lot of travel). We are keeping ourselves plenty busy with wholesale (thanks to them and the people who still buy our ware and request us) and more new shape design. Last year there was simply no time for it (and you all know more or less how we do it, you know it takes a bit of time)! Sugar & Creamer set? On the list. Butter Dish? On the list. Salt & Pepper set? Whoa there, it's on the list, but for next year. We also have a new press we want to make, new graphics, new glazes. So onward to our wholesale/shop news...

Nordstrom & Fab production work

Nordstrom work continues, huzzah! We're going online with a couple handfuls of ware, soon - and we're working on their first reorder for the Woodfield location. Can I just say how THRILLED we are that our ware is doing its thing and charming people? And that the sales staff likes our ware too and sells it? Soooo, so nice.
Our second Fab sale was a success, and it caught us a little off-guard [who knew black cats on an aqua/blue-green would be crazy popular?!] We probably won't be doing another one (which would make it our third) for a while due to conflicting interests, but that's ok. We'll have our Cyber Monday sale like we did last year and that was actually based on our Fab sale prices (and it went great!)

Our new tumbler, which debuted at our Fab sale in February

 Speaking of sales...It's April which usually means either an open studio/Slightly Unsightly Sale. This year, because of all the work we're doing, we're holding it off until October (which is when we usually do our Fall open studio & the Slightly Unsightly). And we'll continue to have it online as well. I have a few ideas to make it even cleaner & easier that I'll try out prior to launching it!
What else...

We're working on stocking up our local brick & mortar shops The Coffee Studio, Virtu, Sacred Art (mostly our *that which is not* image-kissed commercial white-ware) & Ipsento (they use our ware in their coffee shop, not for retail), and some special projects that are slowly getting worked on, like these two, which are pretty dang rad imo:

Remember this? We'll be working with WMSE again, w00t w00t! This work will also be for a pledge drive, and these will be of course special edition, catering to one specific show though - So they won't look like the one pictured here. I'll post the info once they've shot it; we're sending over a finished piece for their photoshoot soon (the drive is coming up in a couple of weeks!

And remember that Bake&Destroy ware we made for our friend Natalie and her upcoming cookbook? Well, the book's out in August, and we will be making most of the pieces seen in there available for sale. We'll launch them in conjunction with her cookbook, and I heard tell that there will be a giveaway of some kind, and oh, yes! We will be one of the giveaway items :)

photo by Celine Steen

And lastly, we just wanted to acknowledge some really nice mentions we got over the past 2 months:

Refinery29 added us to their Chicago Etsy Makers list TWICE (awesome!) one for Circa Ceramics & one for That Which Is Not.

Our friend and fab photographer Erica Barraca who came to us at the last minute to shoot pictures of us (press release images? Wha?) wrote a sweet follow up of our shoot :)

A great little Instagram pool from Martha Stewart Living called American Made (@americanmademsl) added us to their photo pool of makers (always nice to get a nod!)

So that's our update. It's difficult doing what we do and trying to keep all of our media outlets updated (you know - Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Tumbler) when everything you do has you in dust, water, or some other messiness; the last thing you have with you at your work area is an electronic device (and especially now that we have a toddler. Yeah, uh, NO) - But we'll keep trying! The Instagram has been pretty awesome, and we have that shoot off posts to Tumblr & Facebook & Flickr. Maybe here too? I haven't looked into that...yet. It's on the list.  -Nancy

Baby on Board - or - What happened to the last couple of months?

Yes, we've been awful with our blog. We've been quiet here since April which is right around the time we found out that we were having a baby. We kinda freaked out about this unexpected change in our lives but continued to work as if nothing was going to be different.


Once we started doing shows we noticed all of the artists in various stages of child rearing and we began to realize that with a little determination we could continue on with our business. Having a child was not going to ruin our lives.

It was one of the most challenging summers in our 10 year career, but it was also the deepest bond that we have ever experienced. I've always known Nancy to be a strong Woman but after a few summer shows I began to witness a strength that I have never seen in her - it was truly beautiful.



The last trimester of pregnancy moved very slowly and again those fears of not being able to craft our livelihood started creeping back into my thoughts. Luckily we were soon heading to the hospital to deliver our new baby boy and those thoughts have been put on hold. In preparation for this birth, we had taken one crash course on babies the Saturday before our due date and I can't believe how different reality had turned out from what I had expected. The delivery went very smooth and we were both surprised by how calm and focused everyone was during the 17 hours of labor. Our baby boy came out at 9 pounds and measured just over 20 inches. Nancy was worried about delivering an 8 pound baby.



From not wanting any children we are now joking about pulling a Jason Jones and Samantha Bee - having 3 children in 2 years! Just kidding, we'll see how our lives change with just one child for now :)

open studio 2010!

open studio 2010! copy
Originally uploaded by circaceramics

Greetings people!

So, there it is, our announcement for our open studio. We haven't had one (not connected to the Ravenswood Artwalk) since 2008.

We're breaking this one up into sections here - In cleaning & rearranging the studio this winter we realized we amassed A TON of ware. We're talking work from 2004 to now. Everything from cafe order overruns to patterns that didn't quite make it into production to glaze tests.

So hopefully, you'll see our evolution on these tables and partake of the sale. We'll also have our current lineup of ware on display so you can marvel at how things change (like we do every day!)

Hope to see you here!

-Nancy

studio 10.09

studio 10.09
Originally uploaded by circaceramics

We like to challenge ourselves from time to time - It keeps us on our toes, and there's nothing like healthy self-imposed competition as motivation!

We are finally, FINALLY, going to reorganize our studio for a more efficient use of space. The challenge is to get it done in 16 days. We've been in this space since May of 2002. We have *a lot* of stuff. Andy & I tend to hoard, which is why this will be a challenge :)

It wasn't until earlier this year that we realized that our current layout is awkward for what we do, and all of the different processes we go through all need dedicated space.

So...We're basically going to flip the studio around & shift some things over, all for the sake of a more productive studio environment.

We'll be building some things too, so if we can, we'll take pictures of all the different projects going on, and before and afters.

ok, go!

n.

ceramic & paper

ceramic & paper
Originally uploaded by circaceramics

We're truly in the midst of our holiday season makings over here - Thank you patrons!

I did want to share this with you, though - They're for a wonderful show/event @ Ferrin Gallery out in Massachusetts. They were kind enough to ask us to participate, and also to wait on them.
If you're out in that area, check out the show! 100 plates by 100 artists/artisans, and also a charity dinner. Check it out here.

-n.

tile pron! 11.2.09

tile pron! 11.2.09
Originally uploaded by circaceramics

Don't these look pretty?

We're just popping in to say hey, we're busy getting ready for holiday shows and completing our orders (all of them!). These tiles here are going to Philadelphia's Clay Studio, for their gift shop/holiday show.

We hear our tiles and magnets do well, so we're plying them with our newest larger images and of course, the fresh porcelain magnets we've been making!

Ok, back to work :)

-n.

shiny new domes of goodness, part 1

glazed.
Originally uploaded by circaceramics

I've been trying out new ways of keeping all of our services updated (Facebook, Flickr, Twitter) and have settled on Ping for now - Though it isn't accepting updates for tweets at the moment :/

Anywho - Here's our new magnet! So now we're all porcelain. Hooray!

-n