christie cone ceramics

Spring 2013 Arts Goggle in Ft Worth

Christie — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:50:05 +0000

It is time again for another Arts Goggle. This is one of my favorite events that I do twice a year and the only outdoor show I do.

I’ll be near Creative Magma (#39 on the map) with my new vases, herb markers, soap dishes and more.

See you there:

May 18th 4-10 (Near Southside, Ft Worth)

Show your Mom some love!

Christie — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:00:20 +0000

Flowers from my garden in the "Blue Ru" colored vase

You love the new flower vases…now to pick which color you want.

Flower vases just waiting for a coat of glaze and a new home

: Flower vases are approximately 5.5″ tall and 3″ wide…perfect for a window sill and flowers right out of your garden

Here are the amazing options (on sample tiles that use the same awesome floral patterns that are on the vases)

"Double Dip"- a rich golden brown base w/ swirls of ocean blue on top!

"Pistachio Green"- a soft fresh green with brown accents that highlight patterns

"Plum Rose"- a soft purple with hints of brown

"Baby Sky"- a soft blue color with brown accents

"Blue Ru"- blues, greens, browns all mixed into one irresistible color

For $32, you get one custom glazed vase, shipped to any location in the US for free!!

**While supplies last**

This offer is only available on orders placed between May 1-4, 2013. Vases will be shipped on May 8th via USPS Priority mail which takes 2-3 business days. I will email tracking information once the pieces are packaged and ready to ship.

Pick your color and send me a message here:

Be sure you include

1. How many vases you want

2. What color glaze you want (Double Dip, Pistachio Green, Plum Rose, Baby Sky, or Blue Ru)

3. Where you want your vases shipped (full address) (If ordering more than one, please be sure to list all addresses)

4. If you want a custom note written to the recipient, type it here and I will add it to the package!

I’ll respond with a custom Etsy listing just for you. Once paid, I will glaze your pieces!

EX: Blue Ru vase- check out the awesome pattern!

Living with a Ceramic Artist – pt 7

Christie — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:00:23 +0000

My life with a ceramic artist: my in laws perspective.

Bill and I feel SO very fortunate to have a true artist in the family! Christie has been our daughter-in-law since 2005, and since then we have had such a high learning curve on “what is a true artist really like and what do they really do?”

Well, Christie is just like all of us regular persons, EXCEPT she has such a gift at creating such interesting and different kinds of ceramics…and we love them all! We especially love her bowls…the really big ones! They represent the very best of her creative talents; each one is a true work of art.

Rather than just sitting around creating ideas for new and wonderful things—like I used to feature artists doing—Christie drives herself very, very hard producing and ever-improving her ceramics. Very soon, we hope to see her relax more than she works and to be able to concentrate on fewer, mostly art-ful pieces. Indeed, we are waiting for some new, big and wonderful bowl to appear!!!

WE LOVE HER ART!

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Living with a Ceramic Artist- pt 6

Christie — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:00:28 +0000

A father’s perspective:

If you subscribe to the right-brain, left-brain theory, then my daughter Christie, is proof. As a right-brain person, she is wonderfully intuitive, creative and insightful. From a child who sculpted with masking tape (no mean feat!!), to a teenager who would walk in with high marks in Calculus and announce that she had no idea what she was doing except that it made sense and an exceptionally thoughtful human being, Christie is all right-brain.

She is also all left-brain. Logical, orderly, list-maker, Christie organizes, categorizes and manages carefully just about every facet of her family’s life (including two well-behaved dogs). When she is in left-brain mode, it is exhausting.

Interestingly, and against all sense, Christie balances the right-brain/left-brain tendencies most of the time. Needless to say, this is unusual! It is like an ambidextrous person who can write or draw equally well with either hand. In my field (football/soccer), it is like watching a player control the ball with either foot and not know which is dominant. This is a good description of Christie. I can’t tell you whether her creative side or her ordered side is dominant. All I know is that it makes her special.

Most of all, Christie is a JOY which happens to be her middle name.

Image borrowed from Mercedes Benz

Living with a Ceramic Artist – pt 5

Christie — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 15:00:38 +0000

My life with a ceramic artist: a grandmother’s perspective.

Christie is one of my 8 grandchildren. I love her dearly and always knew she would do something special in life.

As the grandchildren would gather at our house for visits sometimes prolonged – much to my pleasure – I would notice that Christie set the tone of the games they played. With a great imagination she has she would be the one to make up the games they would play. Even though she was not the eldest – she would sort of set the stage for their playtime. All loved the games that she “invented” to keep them busy and happily playing for hours and hours.

Then there was the Christmas that she brought a very lovely manger set for her mother and we all were amazed at the unusual way she portrayed Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. We were all so happy to see what she had created and I think that is the start of her unique manger set she has been making and allowing many people to have a beautiful manger scene they display each year at Christmas – and often adding more figures – shepherds, angels and sheep.

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Living with a Ceramic Artist – pt 4

Christie — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:00:43 +0000

My life with a ceramic artist: a mother’s perspective.

1. You always had a creative streak and were always coming up with ways to make things. I guess it first started with your gathering stuff to make art from our trash cans (I’m the twash girl!), then there was the “art” on the wall phase, then you made me little ceramic things in school, then there was the tape sculpture phase, then photography, then there was the collage on the wall phase (while you slept on the floor) and then . . .surprise!! you studied art at university!! So, it has been a constant in your life and mine.

2. Then I got to thinking about funny things like: how I tell you things to make bc for sure they will sell – and they don’t. (moral: mom is not always right!), or how when I work the booth with you, I walk away so that you will make the sale (driving you crazy, but you have to admit it works!) Or, how I try to brag on you to your clients and all I manage to do is get all tongue-tied! Or how I help you “paint” your ceramics. Guess these are more about me than about you as an artist but you, as an artist, are always so patient to put up with my nonsense.

3. Mostly, I just think of it as the grand adventure – what will she do next? What will interest her next? How will Christie put “her” creative mark on something that has already been done before (coffee mugs, ramen noodle pots, business card holders, etc)? It is sometimes a roller coaster, but it is always fun to watch you put your unique point of view and touches on common items. . . I mean, who in the world would have thought of making a Mary, and Joseph not only without faces but also without bodies???? Nobody but you!!

I am so proud of you and always look forward to what direction you are going to head in next. You keep life interesting!

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Living with a Ceramic Artist – pt 3

Christie — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:00:20 +0000

My life with a ceramic artist: another sister’s perspective.

I was never surprised when my big sister decided to start her own ceramic business. As long as Ive known her, 21 years, she has been creating, sculpting, transforming ordinary things into art. Some of my favorite pieces were her masking tape people and her spider man wall. When she was a teenager Christie loved all things involving tape. I remember one birthday we gave her a box full of different types of tape and she was ecstatic. She used to meticulously manipulate masking tape to make these tiny little people and I loved every single one of them. She also went through (is still going through?) a spider man phase. She took old spider man comics and cut them out to make a collage of them on her wall. What was really cool is that she took silly string and sprayed it all over her the collage to make it look like spider mans web. This is only a glimpse of how creative my sister is but you can see how we all knew she would succeed in ceramics. I am so proud of my big sister. She took what she loved to do and made it into a profitable business. Not many artists have both the artistic skill and the financial savy to create a business like Christie Cone Ceramics. But then again, my sister is special .

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Living with a Ceramic Artist – pt 2

Christie — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:00:32 +0000

My life with a ceramic artist: one sister’s perspective.

Even though Christie does 100% of the work, sometimes I forget that her business isn’t called Christie and Toya’s Ceramics. I have such a vested interest not only as a sister but as a best friend. I don’t think we have a conversation with out brainstorming blog posts or new ideas for products or what color glazes to use. When she has a great show, I celebrate with her. When she has a down day, I feel her frustration. I have watched her start with an idea and then carefully plan out how she will reach her goal. Did you know that she has taken multiple business classes to help her have a better business? You’ve seen her posts showing all her lists and how organized she is. And obviously she has overflowing talent. So really it’s quite humorous for me to take any amount of credit for all of her hard work. But one thing I can be for her that she can’t always be is her number one fan. Christie, you amaze me. Keep up the fantastic work!

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Living with a Ceramic Artist- pt 1

Christie — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:00:54 +0000

When you run a small business, the most important people in your life learn more than they could ever want about your job. I asked my family to tell me what it is like to have a ceramic artist in the family and over the next few weeks I will be sharing their answers.

(I have to say, I did not mean for this to be a “Brag on Christie” session but apparently I am loved. What else can I say! )

First up, what is it liked to be married to a ceramic artist?

Response by my hubs: Kelly

As the husband of a ceramic artist, I get more perks than most. Unique, handmade Christmas gifts for my co-workers, custom taco holders, and my pick of the “reject” pieces that Christie thinks aren’t good enough for selling. Plus, I occasionally am allowed to play around in the studio and attempt to throw a pot or make something else – usually to no avail.

I also see the incredible amount of work that goes into each piece – something I think is rarely appreciated by the average customer. I can’t count the number of times at a show that someone has walked into her booth and pronounced that a certain $20 piece is “overpriced”. What they don’t see is the hours of time that went into forming the piece, hand drawing a design on it, loading it into a kiln for 12 hours of firing, hand glazing that same piece, and then re-firing it for another 12 hours. They don’t see the 2 or 3 pieces that don’t make it through each firing. They don’t see the hours it takes to pack fragile ceramics for a show, transport them, set them up, and then do it all again at the end of the day to get them back home. I know this frustrates my wife, but I think it frustrates me even more – I always want to walk up and give those people a lecture about how much work goes into each piece and then ask them if they still think that meager $20 dollars is too much for all the hours of work that went into each piece! Obviously I don’t or I’d get kicked out of the booth, but I sure do want to!

As for wishing anything was different, there’s really only one thing. I wish she would stop under-valuing her work. It really is amazing what she’s actually doing! Keep it up Christie!

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Have you missed me?

Christie — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:27:14 +0000

As 2012 came to an end, I did what most of us do: reflect on the past year and think about the future ones. I did this on both a personal and business level.

I thought about what things I wanted to add to my life and what things I wanted to let go by the wayside….no, I am not abandoning my blog BUT I did realize that I won’t be doing it weekly anymore.

I decided that my monthly email newsletter and my daily updates on facebook, twitter, google+ and instagram were enough. I do not need a weekly blog post. So I have decided that in 2013 I will share things that need more than just a quick tweet or an instagram photo here on the blog. I will then (of course) tweet, and post that I wrote it. The irony!

My hope is to provide more meaningful blog posts but far fewer. I want to go into depth on something new I discovered without feeling a self imposed deadline of every Monday at 10am.

Thank you for reading. I hope you will stay around and keep hanging out with me here.

Here’s to the new year! Happy 2013!