Close To The Piano But Not The Hotdogs

Day; 36. Sunny, warm, back to spring again. Temperature on outside kiln; 57

Pepe the studio assistant came to help again today, what a god-send! Although he might weight as much as myself, his diminutive size is not indicative of his zeal to be helpful and get some work done...

We rocked the studio today and got a table-full of slabs rolled out and put onto molds for various plates and bowls...

Which is a very good thing as I finally looked at the calendar and realized the March Albuquerque show is 2.5 weeks in the future! I have one more week to make "wet" work and then it will be just glazing and firing like a Tasmania Devil (been looking at too many Tassie potters on Instagram I guess?!) up until March 12th when I load the truck and drive the 65  miles south. I am suddenly not so sad to be on the waitlist for the Scottsdale show, 500 miles across New Mexico and Arizona is seeming like very long boring drive presently....A one hour drive to a show is a piece of cake, almost close enough to sleep in my own bed, but not quite.. Not after a long day of selling, talking, etc.... I got a cheap but nice hotel up Central Ave. in the Burque, far enough up Central as to be a safe distance from all the sketchy folks further west down the Avenue. Little kitchen included for my 3 night stay so I can bring my own coffee (extremely important!), my own breakfast food, and some end of day libations if I so choose, which I usually do...If only I could bring my pup Oso... how will I sleep without a canine? 

Also got my booth assignment today; always a little exciting to see where one will be and who else will be in the show with you. I am near the piano apparently  but not too close to the the food court, a relief as smelling roasting hotdogs and green chili for 3 days makes for a slightly nauseated art-seller. That just leaves the piano player to worry about... hopefully a decent musician on an in-tune instrument... My buddy Bob Hazeltine the glass blower will also be in the same hall somewhere so I at least can visit and maybe have someone to eat din-din with.
Hey,  I'm actually starting to feel some pre-show excitement!, however it's best not to think about how many kiln firings I have between me and driving south with a full truck...