Handmade Hookup Craftshow this Saturday

Wheel thrown jars.

If you are in Colorado and near the Shops at Stapleton Northfield area (just north of I-70 east of Quebec) this Saturday July 30th, noon to 5 pm, come by and visit Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery at The Handmade Hookup Craftshow. Besides jewelry with handmade clay pieces, there will also be wheel thrown items (mortar and pestles, jars, kitty bowls, candle holders) for sale. For the first time ever, we will be accepting credit card payments---yah progress! Both Toni Penn (the artist) and her husband Morgan Drake Eckstein (the photographer and blogger) will be present.

More items available at Spiritways



Two of the mortar and pestles and a herb jar now available at Spiritways

This morning, my wife took twenty-five items of pottery over to Spiritways. There were both medium and small mortars and pestles, as well as corked herb jars, in this shipment.

So if you live in Denver Colorado and want to personally check out some of my wife's pottery, slip into Spiritways, which is located at 3301 E. Colfax Avenue.

My brief workday today

Bracelet modeled by my dear wife

MDE here: Today, I edited a small batch of the jewelry photos that I took on Monday. Yes, my July 4th holiday was a work holiday. And yes, I still have five hundred photos to go though; a large number of them looked good on the first glance, so I have got a lot of editing still to do.

And more photos to take.

The setting that I am now using for the camera is working out better than the setting that I was using before. Amazing what you learn when you actually crack open the manual. In my defense, I never had to take these types of photos until recently.

So basically, if you are keeping score, I need to redo all the photos that I have already done before I discovered this camera setting.

Sent out fanpage suggestions to those on my Facebook friend list. I am hoping that those who are interested in following the progress of her jewelry and pottery business are willing to like the fanpage because I plan on eventually posting less news about it on my own personal wall and business pages.

Upcoming craft show---The Handmade Hook Up July 30th 2011

Celtic Soul Pottery at a Craftshow

Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery is going to be at The Handmade Hook Up craft show (Northfield Stapleton outdoor mall) on July 30, 2011 (noon to 5 pm). It will be mainly jewelry this time around, though a few regular pottery pieces might make their way into the mix depending upon how much time Toni has after her summer classes are over.

Alchemy of Glazes

Ceramic Jewelry Pieces Before Glazing

Jewelry Pieces In The Process of Getting Glazed

Jewelry Pieces After Bing Glazed and Fired



MDE: One of the things that I find interesting about the process of making ceramics and pottery is the alchemical changes that the glaze undergoes. There are many glazes that I would never be able to guess what color they will turn to upon being exposed to the high temperatures of the kiln if I haven't seen the label and test-fire pieces ahead of time. My wife has a better idea of what a piece will look like after firing, but even she is surprised by some of the pieces that come out of the kiln. It is one of the reasons that I think of pottery as a form of alchemy.

Morgan Drake Eckstein introduces himself

Hello everyone, I am Morgan Drake Eckstein, the photographer (and unofficial manager) for Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery. What does being the photographer entail? At the moment, it involves taking time away from my freelance writing to take hundreds of photos in hopes of getting a few usable photos of the jewelry that my wife is currently making. For instance, I took over three hundred photos (almost one gigabyte worth) today, and I think I got maybe a half-dozen that I can use. I would be upset about that, except that the lighting conditions were not the world's best; there was a cat who wanted attention at the same time; and I managed to get both the Facebook fanpage and this blog page set up today. Yes, I consider myself multi-talented---my wife considers me a loon. She may or may not be right. *wink*