Bonhomie Jewelry: Artist Confessions - Chrissy of Chrissy Ann Ceramics

We're talking to our first ceramics artist on Bonhomie. Such beautiful work, such a pleasure and a fellow New Englander! Welcome, Chrissy!

1. Your Name: Chrissy

2. Shop Name: Chrissy Ann Ceramics http://www.chrissyannceramics.etsy.com/

3. Anyplace else your products can be seen (online and IRL)? Etsy is my only online shop venue at the moment. I'm still sort of figuring out its ropes, but its such a fantastic site! The people listing on Etsy are super supportive of one another, and really helpful! I just discovered their forums and I've met some great people who love to help one another out. It really is a strong artist community... just online! I also have work listed at New Bedford Open Studios. Its a website for the artists in the city I work out of, New Bedford, Massachusetts. We have a huge annual event, the New Bedford Open Studios, and we keep folks up to date with plannings on that page, check it out! I also have a Chrissy Ann Ceramics myspace page (although I haven't been to good keeping it up to date as of late) you can check it out at www.myspace.com/chrissyannceramics. In real life, I sell locally at different shops, mainly consignment. I'll be stocking them up again in the spring time!

4. Tell us one thing - as it relates to your craft - that would be surprising. Ceramics is a completely temperamental and unpredictable medium. You really have to cross your fingers and hope for the best every time! There are so many things that can go wrong, pieces warp, crack, colors vary, etc, you really can't make the same exact piece without variation, and you lose many pieces during the process. I make these scallop dishes that I sell to local restaurants. They're about 12" with a scallop design, square, I've made hundreds of them in the same two colors. My last batch had a full kiln of glazed dishes that went wrong. The glaze was a completely different color than it was suppose to be, it kind of bubbled up, and I had to turn them all into mosaic pieces, and start again from square one. I was in a rush, miscalculated, and ruined 12 dishes that took me hours to make, clean up, and fire. Its the most frustrating thing, but you have to be open to it, and just move on. You make because you love it, and its what you do.

5. What's your favorite item? What's your least favorite item? Why?
My favorite listing in my Etsy shop would have to be my Petal Plates. I've been making these dishes for about five years now, and they've always been really popular. Lots of people order them for wedding gifts, and many realtors have bought them from me as a house warming gift for their clients. I like that they're light and delicate and feminine with a flowing scooping edge that is just so fine. They're fun to make because each set's shape varies a bit from the next, they just evolve in their own way. So after I've made them and each set is complete I sit them all side by side on a drying table, and they each seem to have their own little personalities or style like people do. I love them, I just think their gorgeous!!! I don't know if I have a "least favorite" , that's a tough one I really love everything that I make. Well, at least everything that I've photographed and posted on Etsy! I will admit, I do have a pile of work in the "soon to be mosaic tiles" bin at my studio.

6. Tell us about the mistakes you've made that have turned out well. Hmm.. that's a tough one. I guess as an artist, you become very critical of your work, even a bit over critical. I've learned that if something hasn't come out to your liking, color or design wise, it doesn't mean that someone else won't adore it, everyone has such different taste. I mistakenly set up a "free stuff" table at my studio during one of our open houses, I put all the work that was "awful" on the table.. let me tell you, there were people who LOVED them, and took them home for free. I should have priced them too!

7. Who's work - in your genre - do you envy? I absolutely adore the work of Alice Ballard Munn. She makes these incredible organic sculptures that are just so beautiful you want to touch them. She sculpts things like a clove of garlic, but she'll turn into the most beautiful thing your eyes have ever feasted on. She's totally incredible! I was suppose to take a workshop with her a few years back but my fiancee had a bad car accident so I had to cancel last minute so I could stay home with him. It was completely heartbreaking. But rumor is she'll be at Penland next year!!! Sign me up!