Happy Birthday, Mason

Zipper fear is a thing of the past. Well, not really - they suck - but at least the first one is out of the way. I’m making belts and dopp kits, and they’re coming out awesome if I do say so myself. I’m really happy with the final products and the process is tedious and physically labor intensive which, of course, is motivating me to dive further into leatherworking.

My ceramic skills are back in full force, and I’ve been production-throwing like crazy. I found a sweet new glaze and clay combo that will hit the shop soon. I do, however, need to lock back in on a big vessel sink project I’ve been putting off after some catastrophic failure, but my momentum is strong, and my ambition has never been higher.

I shot a bunch of video with Rag this past weekend, which is good, but I’m still not documenting 80% of my projects—though that’s about to change. My new camera should arrive today, and once it’s here, it’s lights out. Put short film writing, direction, and shooting on my to-do list.

I’m also officially a member of the Williamson County Art Council, which means I can participate as a vendor in an art crawl. I just need to get a cohesive booth together—not “check out this bowl, this belt, this slice of orange, this plaster carving, this skateboard, this mobile, this earring, and this tote bag.”

Rag always asks me what the goal is, and I’ve been thinking hard about it. I want to establish myself as a respected artisan across mediums—people should want my work because they know I’ve grinded to make it the absolute best and because I have the skill, patience, grit, and ambition not to sell anything that isn’t my best work. With that in mind, I’m about to cull the shop, removing everything I don’t love. Maybe I’ll do a small stand outside Fanny’s and sell some pieces cheap, but first I need to thin out the stock and rebuild with choice pieces that I truly care about. Next week, I’ll announce a huge secret that’s going to completely shake up the rhythm I’ve built with my art side projects, but its basically my biggest endeavor yet.

Also - happy birthday to my brother Mason. Hope it’s a great one.

QC