I Wish I Was Famous Too

Day; 35. Sunny, warm again. A bit of spring. All the snow from yesterday has melted. Temperature on outside kiln; 48

After singing for 2.5 hours today with the girls I came home to an entire table of trimming bowls and teacups. Finally finished around 6 and then soaked in the tub, my back was killing me from bending over the potters wheel for a couple of hours.
 I am now waiting for American Idol to start at 7. I so want to just eat dinner and chill with the pups in front of the fire, but if I don't post this now it will not get done and my friend Susan S. will be so disappointed!

So, I will honor the  commitment I made to myself and post something of my studio activity for the day. Which I am not proud to say revolves around envy....

When I was in grad school 20 years ago there was a very spunky and opinionated functional potter across the hall from me. Man, could she make pots! I've never seen shelves fill up so fast and with such interesting,  loose, vibrant pieces. She could really throw! and the surfaces were just as engaging.  I was making tiled walled pieces at the time and sorta wished I was making tableware  too, it looked like so much fun.

Anyway, I have often said in the intervening years between graduation and today, that Julia Galloway taught me everything I know about ceramics and then some. We've managed to stay in touch somewhat  and even get together  a few times in Santa Fe in the past 15 years, but today I saw her work on the cover of Ceramics Monthly magazine and was both delighted and envious. The  cover is simply a close up of a glazed surface, just some very crackly blue clouds dripping down a white background.  I knew instantly however whose work it was, and just as  instantly felt a stab of envy. I want to be on the cover of Ceramics Monthly too....!
 Julia is easily the most well-know ceramic artist of  our class; she teaches at the University of Montana during the academic year and from what I can gather from all the ads in the same issue of CM, spends the rest of the year traveling and giving workshops. And she deserves all of this acclaim. Just pick up this magazine and look at her work! Or better yet, click on the hot link above to her website. The work is exquisite, there is no other work for it. Such a beautiful combination of extremely interesting and masterly  form, with surfaces that are beyond luscious...

I have such fond memories of her making pots across the way from me in the basement at CU Boulder.. and I am equally thrilled to see her gracing the cover of CM today...Bravo Julia!