Updates: Tea4T, the shop, and a WIP
Well, my plan had been to send out a newsletter today encouraging folks to support the Tea4T fundraiser we launched this morning (selling ceramic tea pets to raise funds for trans youth), but what I hadn’t taken into account was the possibility that we would completely sell out within about 45 minutes. Shing and I were thinking we’d run this sale for several days, boost it on social media, share the artists involved… Nope. Everyone was too enthusiastic and generous for that. 45 minutes. We raised somewhere over ten thousand dollars for Trans Youth Emergency Project (finally tally to come later after we get fees and shipping sorted out).
I’m floored and amazed and grateful. Today has poured some cool water over the parched remains of my optimism, and it’s a good feeling. And for folks who missed the whirlwind sale, rest assured that Shing and I are considering this just the first Tea4T fundraiser.
Meanwhile, I have actually managed to get a few pieces ready for my own shop between sculpting 40-ish tea pets, and I’m going to make that update live on Thursday at noon Pacific.
I’ll have two fossil mugs, an ichthyosaur and a plesiosaur,
A small pond vase featuring a frog and some of the tiniest fish I’ve ever made,
Another raccoon pot, this one on sale due to a wonky lid that doesn’t fit tightly,
And another creature shrine. This one feels to me like its about sharing abundance and generosity (which feels appropriate considering how generous folks were today with the Tea4T).
Those will all be in the shop on Thursday. See you then!
Work in Progress: I’ve been enjoying working on slightly bigger pieces like the creature shrines, and that inspired me to turn a pot I threw on the wheel into an oversized box turtle. If you follow me on social media, these images won’t be new to you, but here’s how it’s going.
He’s a bit of a big lad, so fingers crossed that the drying and firing process is kind to him. I really got carried away working on all the wonderful little details you find on a box turtle. Carving all the little lines of his shell, I spent the week remembering when I was a child in the Midwest, and my dad would pull over the car on the highway if I shouted that I saw a turtle trying to cross. Often I then got to take the annoyed creature home and feed it lettuce and strawberries until it either dug its way free of our back yard or we returned it to the wild. I can’t remember the last time I saw a box turtle in the wild. Maybe I should take a road trip through Missouri again sometime.
Hope you’re all hanging in there.