For your button information...
I
call myself a shaper. I make a living off a little piece of colored clay. It is a work out taking into account marketing
for an artist does not always come as a package deal. I am lucky to have the retail background from parents who have
been self employed all their lives. It comes natural I suppose. Over the years I have been asked a lot of questions about
my buttons. How it all started, where do I ship them, can you wash them,will they break easy....and so on. Here's a few answers
that I offer. My front page bio shares the story of starting with making cookie cutter buttons and then expanding the idea
a bit over the next 18 years. I ship them primarily all over Canada to many retail wool,quilt and stitching shops. The farthest
away has been Denmark.
Each button is handled 12-20 times and is a minimum 3 day process before it is finished.
The buttons are fired in an electric kiln. Sometimes it's a real challenge living on a gulf island in the winter. We often
have power outages. The buttons are not affected if this happens. I just start the kiln back up again and move on.
Most
of my buttons are machine washable and dry-able. Just turn the garment inside out so the buttons don't bang against the drum
of the washer or dryer. The epoxy I use is very heat and cold resistant. I actually used some of it to glue some rocks
in my stairway one year. It lasted through many winters. The fault was that they were on the edge or I imagine they would
still be in place. Amazing I must say. It's a two part system and very reliable. I am willing to share my information
to artist enthusiasts. Just send me a message. As for breaking, I often have a chuckle and say,"No,not until you buy
them.Then once I put them in a bag and you own them,stand back as they will instantaneously com-bust!" Just
kidding, however I do a lot of shows and find having a sense of humor is a must.
I do make everything from buttons
to bowls. I've done a lot of custom tile work with many pieces on my island. Clay is such an amazing medium to work with.
It's something that in it's liquid form as slip to from mother earth sold blocks, you can apply color and heat and use it
to eat out of or walk on. I am truly amazed every time I open the kiln. It's like magic. Only one never knows what
trick the kiln Gods might play . I've made something over and over the same way, then one day...it doesn't work. It's usually
timed with needing to deliver it that day.
My motto is ~ "Stay calm and carry on and have a button good day!"
