My Blog has moved. . .

My blog has moved over to www.tashamck.com.

Interview on flashfilm.com

Check out my interview!
You can read it in Japanese or English.

Crafty Bastards - The Summer Show

My Tent at Crafty Bastards in Silver Spring, originally uploaded by potterybytashamckelvey.

Weekend before last, I went up to Washington, actually a bit past Washington to Silver Spring, Maryland, to be part of the special Summer Edition of the Crafty Bastards Craft Show. Jeremy and I left on Friday evening, stopping in Fredericksburg (where we met, went to school and fell in love) to have dinner downtown at Sammy T's. Then we got to our hotel very late, got up around 7 am on Saturday and headed over to the show. Setting up was very hot, but really not all that bad. The show was was well-attended and the other artists and crafters were awesome. It only rained for about two minutes, which was great because it was *supposed* to rain a lot in the late afternoon. We packed up the whole booth at the end of the show in about 45 minutes, which is very fast for me, and were home in Richmond by 8:30 pm, where we spent a little time with our Beagle, Tela, and then went out to eat sushi, yum. . . I wish all craft shows could be so pleasant, believe me I had some rough ones this Spring.

Summer Clearance Sale

Summer Clearance Sale

I just marked down several jewelry items in my Etsy Shop that have been hanging around for far too long - won't you give them a good home?

Art Star in Philly

I spent last weekend in Philly at the Art Star Craft Bazaar. The show was a success despite the unpleasant weather on Saturday and the slightly stressful load-in and load-out (which always seems to be the case when you make pottery, for me anyway). I got see and talk to all sorts of artists, designers and crafters that I just adorn - not the least of which are my fellow Richmond Craft Mafia members. It was mt first year at the show and the first year in was at the new venue right on the river in City Center. I had a great view of the water from my booth spot, but it was very windy at the top of concrete hill I was on - a booth near mine even blew over!
A special thanks my husband for driving and helping to load and unload the car so many times, the ladies at Art Star for putting on the show, and everyone who came out to the show - especially on Saturday in the rain.

Thanks Dawn for letting me use your camera!

New Ginkgo Necklace!

New Ginkgo Necklace, originally uploaded by potterybytashamckelvey.

I'm working on all sorts of new jewelry designs lately - including this new Ginkgo Leaf Necklace.

Getting back to business . . .

So with school out of the way, I'm busy doing art and craft shows, getting ready for more art and craft shows, throwing pottery, making tiny little clay birds to put on pottery, making, glazing and assembling porcelain jewelry, going to IKEA for new display furniture, putting together said IKEA display furniture and generally trying to catch up on everything that got set aside while I was Student Teaching this Winter & Spring.

Finally done with school!

I finished up with Student Teaching about two weeks ago and I graduated on Saturday - so I will be receiving my Teaching License from the Commonwealth of Virginia in Visual Art (PreK-12) sometime this Summer. Yay!

My Booth

My Booth, originally uploaded by potterybytashamckelvey.

Here's a picture of my Craft Show Booth from the past weekend.

Shows!

Tasha’s Spring Shows

* Spring Bada Bing - April 20th - Richmond, Virginia

* Art on the Square - April 27th - Williamsburg, Virginia

* Arts in the Park - May 3 & 4th - Richmond, Virginia

* Fredericksburg Festival of Art - May 17 & 18th - Fredericksburg, Virginia

* Art Star Art Market - May 30 & June 1st - Philadelphia

* Renegade Craft Fair - June 14 & 15 - Brooklyn

Check Back soon for more Tasha McKelvey Events during the Summer.

What I'm up to . . .

I have been doing my Art Student Teaching since mid-January as part of the program I am in to get my teaching license.

Here's a few pictures from my experience in the classroom so far . . .

I * Heart* Craft

I * Heart* Craft, originally uploaded by potterybytashamckelvey.

I * Heart* Craft on Sunday was just lovely. The event had a great turnout - the members of the Richmond Craft Mafia, the Richmond Etsy Street Team and other local crafters got to meet and greet. We were able to put faces with names and even make some Valentines, too!

I *Heart* Craft

The Richmond Craft Mafia will be hosting
I *heart* Craft
Sunday, February 10th from 4-6pm
at
The Camel

The event is open to any and all crafty peeps. No need to RSVP or anything like that, but a comment here on the blog to give us a heads up would be sweet (we luv comments!). The Camel will be sporting a full menu and bar so you can purchase a bite and nosh with us for a bit. Members of the Richmond Etsy Street Team will be there as well...come out and meet some of the folks you know from online. And bring a friend!

Wanna help promote the event?

Grab the image and the details below!



What: I *heart* Craft - a crafter's social
When: Sunday February 10, 2008 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Where: The Camel, 1621 W. Broad Street

New Year = New Work

Last Minute Shopping - Gift Certificates

So . . . the deadline for Holiday Shipping for my Etsy Shop is nearly here (December 19th at 10 a.m. Eastern Time Zone ), but if you still want to purchase a gift from me for someone special for the Holidays there's still Gift Certificates available from my Etsy Shop via email. You can even order them on December 25th and I'll email the Gift Certificate for you to print from your own computer on Christmas Day! Available in denominations of $25 and $50.

Handmade Holiday

Featured in Richmond Magazine!

One of my platters is featured in the December Issue of Richmond Magazine.


If you are interested in purchasing a platter like the one featured in
Richmond Magazine ($60 plus shipping), please contact me.


The Richmond Craft Mafia's Third Annual Handmade Holiday Trunk Show
was also mentioned in the article.

Fellow Craft Mafia Members were also featured
Erin Taylor , Bee's Knees Studio and Missing Monsters

Holiday Heap in Baltimore

I'll be at . . .

Holiday Heap
hosted by the
Charm City Craft Mafia

December 1st
10 - 5pm
at
St. John's Church
2640 St. Paul Street
Baltimore, Maryland

Kiln Opening in Mathews Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Saturday -November 17th , is the first of the 2007 Kiln Opening at The Poddery in Mathews County, Virginia, where I create most of my work. I have worked along side The Poddery's owners, Robert and Karen Podd, going on 14 years now.

The Kiln Openings are always a good time for us and our visitors. The Showroom is full of pottery and I have my best section of pottery and jewelry for the Holiday Shopping Season on display.

If you miss the Kiln Opening tomorrow - there's another one next Saturday - November 24th, too.

Look what I bought this weekend

bert, originally uploaded by meredithsteele.

I got this awesome Bert (from Sesame Street of course) in Fisher Price Little People version painting by Meredith Steele at the Handmade Market in Raleigh on Saturday.

I love him.

Bird Bowls in the Rain

Bird Bowls in the Rain, originally uploaded by potterybytashamckelvey.

The first of my Bird series came out of the kiln this past Thursday - I am quite taken with these little guys.

Right after we unstacked the kiln, there some a fantastic rain storm

Crafty Bastards

Crafty Bastards, originally uploaded by potterybytashamckelvey.

Last Sunday, Jeremy and I went to DC for the Crafty Bastards Art and Craft Show put on by the City Paper. The weather was beautiful and the show was awesome. The Richmond Craft Mafia was also there right across the aisle from me.

I will be in Alexandria tomorrow for Art on the Avenue and we are expecting another beautiful day - so come on out if you're in the Capital Region tomorrow!

More Birds. . .

So I was really busy at the studio this week finishing up a wholesale order, loading the kiln for my upcoming show - Crafty Bastards - and just getting stuff done so I can go to the beach for part of next week for a mini-vacation, but I couldn't resist making more little bird bowls! They are just so cute and fun to make. I don't really see myself as having much talent in the area of sculpting - so I really surprised myself with how well these birds are coming out. Each little bird is completely unique and has it's own little personality. I even made some humming birds! More pictures on Flickr.

Birds!

Looky at what I made this week in the studio
- aren't they just so cute!

I can't wait until they are finished
and
I think I'll make more pots with birds next week, too.

Indie Entrepreneur

I have a lovely interview published on Indie Entrepreneur :)

Getting ready for Fall . . .

We're busy making and firing new work at the studio as we get ready for Fall and the Holiday Season. I have lots of upcoming shows (with more to be added I'm sure) and the Kiln Openings at The Poddery in November.

New York!

I will also be teaching a few classes while I'm at Etsy Labs . . .

Carved Mold Making for Clay Jewelry and Buttons

All About Art and Craft Shows

Ballston Art + Craft Market

Next Saturday (July 14th) I'll be set up at Ballston Art + Craft Market in Arlington, Virginia from 10 to 4 pm. So if you're in the DC area you should come out and say "Hi!"

Happy Accident

Happy Accident, originally uploaded by donaldmckelvey.

My Dad took this awesome picture the other day while attending a gardening institute put on by Monticello and UVA - it was a happy accident. I told him this picture justified him having his own Flickr account. Then I proceeded to show him that there are already lots of pictures of him on Flickr - taken by strangers (which he thought was totally bizarre). He works as a garden historian for Colonial Williamsburg and visitors photograph him a lot and some of them post them on Flickr - we left comments for some of the pictures of him. If you search "Williamsburg" and "garden" on Flickr you get lots of pictures of the garden Dad works in and some of Dad, too.

Business Week

Business Week did an article on Etsy and I was interviewed to be a featured Etsy Seller for the accompanying slide show.

New York, Baby!

I've been really busy making new jewelry, packing pottery and getting ready for my big trip to New York this weekend! I'll be representing the Richmond Craft Mafia along with my fellow members: Nicole, Beth, Kelly, another Kelly and maybe Deanna at the Brooklyn RenegadeCraft Fair. We be rollin' up to New York this Friday and will hopefully get there in time to help Etsy celebrate it's second birthday.

Everyone in the Richmond Craft Mafia got together over the weekend to eat some burgers and plan out how on Earth we would be able to get 12 people's crafty work into a 10 x 10 space. We also took some time to get get some pictures taken of us by a very talented young photographer.