November 13, 2011 / tt

Speaker at TEDxTU, mastering the plaster [slipcasting molds rule], & Whole Living!

Nov. 3 I was a speaker at TEDxTU! See the talk here! I am honored and thrilled to have been part of such an amazing group of people & a part of this magical entrepreneurial community. I was pretty nervous about my voicebox declaring mutiny but luckily my brain stuck with me too & I remembered all that I had prepared to say in my 5 TEDx minutes. The points that I wanted to chat about were taking risks, listening to your instincts, and letting yourself obsess over the things that are important to you. It’s impossible to obsess over things that you don’t care about & if you give your time to things that really matter then you’ll find yourself working on things that make us all feel more gratified and thus happier. That’s what I find anyway : )

See all of our recent news here!

The past few weeks have been full of progress which feels really great, I have a part-time cohort in Birdmaking, Raegan Robinson, which I wish I had taken this financial risk on hiring someone to help me much, much sooner. I’ve realized in the past few weeks that I can’t do it all, there is a limit to human capacity afterall, unfortunately.. this realization took a while to fully form a foundation in my determined brain. I kept on thinking if I just switched to slipcasting then I would have more time, that I wouldn’t be working so hard to make the birds, but the flag has been raised that I can’t focus on the other important parts of Matter if I am always in ceramics lande. Also, I felt badly about passing over the press mold making to someone else, but feel great about passing along the slipcasting Birdie baton.

It’s pretty funny, I often make the slipcasting molds at the same time that I’m preparing a meal – I’m using my kitchen as my moldmaking room & the countertop is right next to the stove.. The other night I made pasta w/ broccoli rabe while also prepping & pouring the new mold. And I didn’t put the broccoli rabe in the plaster & or the birdies in the pasta : ) Ultimate multitasking. The other funny thing is that I have not enjoyed working w/ plaster in the past – I am having to come to peace with the plaster making & master the plaster and we are indeed becoming better friends. That feels good too, on the road to mastering an old arch rival.

If you are a Whole Living subscriber or fan, check the December issue – the Birdies are featured in their Gift Guide! I can’t wait to see the spread!!

Happy Sunday – it’s 80 degrees in New Orleans today and while walking my doggie this morning I noticed some bananas growing down the street, so cool. After living in Wisconsin for three years where I did four winters [the last one was a record since 1918 with 180" of snow] I relish in this warm weather, it feels like heaven : )