Monday, April 16, 2012

PAPER, PLASTIC OR JUTE

This past weekend, I was set a task to find something which has been packed away since a good number of moves ago. We have moved a number of times since 1998, principally for my wife's job, after all, what potter would move over and over again by choice. In the search, an item at the top of one of the totes, brought me back, quite a few years. Folded, neatly on the top was a jute, environmentally friendly,  shopping bag I had designed back in 2001/2002. I was approached by the Show Of Hands shops of the ODC (Ohio Designer Craftsman) to design a bag using one of my It's Still Life designs for the assignment.

At this point, I had been represented by the ODC/SOH stores in North Olmstead, Columbus and Cincinnati for nearly a decade and my It's Still Life and the Black & White slip trailed work were my best selling pottery at the time. The restrictions were simple, a basically square design and the limited to the use of six colors. Illustrated is the bag that they produced from my original design, It's Still Life, the actual design is call; " I Am Still Waiting". It was a good deal of fun to see the project from sketch to product and I must admit, even more satisfying was seeing people carrying the bag at the mall and at the craft shows that the ODC sponsored around Ohio.