Laurie Spugnardi

Archive for October, 2009

15% to Preble Street

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Just Cause… From the 13th to the 19th of November, I will be donating 15% of all sales from my etsy shop to a worthy Portland Maine outreach program. Preble Street has been doing piles of good work in the community for years and I’m proud to help support their efforts. I hope you’ll join me!

Click on me! I’ll bring you to Laurie’s etsy store!

Tags: holiday gifts, preble street
Posted in goings on in the studio, shows & exhibitions | No Comments »

Fresh Picked from the Kiln: Ornaments!

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

ornaments

I pulled up the lid of the kiln and what to my wondering eyes should appear… new ornament designs for the holidays plus a few favorite designs that keep being requested. For these and other delightfully local and handmade gifts, visit my etsy shop or visit me at Gifted | Zaz and Moe Studio Sale. If you’re local, mark your calendar and hit this show, there will be really good music and snacks!

09pczaznmoe homeshow

Tags: hand painted ceramics, ornaments
Posted in goings on in the studio, shows & exhibitions | No Comments »

Morning Stillness

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Morning Stillness

There are those still and quiet moments in between the business of life that are worth paying attention to. They are often brief and and full of nothingness. Even my sketchbook sits quietly honoring the moment. Sometimes we forget to pay attention to the silence, we fill it up with noise and need. I like to capture them every so often to remind myself how I felt… peaceful and content to be still for that precious moment.

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glazed and confused (and guilt free)

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

No, I’m not really confused, but I am occasionally dazzled by these little jewels. I can get down right giddy when I find the right color-combo. You should see how excited I get with a successful experimental session of layering different glazes. The opposite is also true… I could tell tales of woe from failed firings. Live and learn.

Here’s a sampling of the glazes I use in most of my work. This line of glaze is called low-stone and is produced by Spectrum. They have the delightful quality of looking like high fire glazes but fire at a lower temp. Kilns, as you can imagine, are energy suckers and these lovely glazes give me the effect I love with a low energy impact, and that always makes me happy.

Tags: ceramic glaze, low-stone, spectrum glazes
Posted in Uncategorized, on design, product design, sustainable design | No Comments »

website 3.0

Monday, October 26th, 2009

“Just put up a website.” Famous last words in business advice. True, you need a web presence these days, but any business website worth its salt will tell you it’s not that easy. (A wise mentor used to say these words: Be wary of requests and statements with the word ‘just’ in them.”)

Some words give relief. These came from another wise mind: Iterate, Iterate, Iterate! This, being my third website, I think I’m getting pretty good at this iteration thing. Design (as life) is a process: do, assess and re-do. Repeat.

This website version I am particularly happy with on several levels. The message is clear, the visual hierarchy is dead on, it’s colorful, it’s interactive and fulfills a lot of the behind-the-scenes requirements for easy administration and internet search requirements, which my web guy says is key to attracting well suited visitors. Bring ‘em on!

My web guy: Jason Wilkinson. He’s the mastermind of my site. He kept me on task and focused and is super easy to work with. I highly recommend him. Ironically, he has no site of his own… what’s that saying about the cobbler’s children going barefoot? As soon as he gets his site up and running, I will add it to my linkable column. For now, you can reach him at J@jmwilkinson.com

Tags: custom tile, handpainted tile, web design
Posted in goings on in the studio | 1 Comment »