Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Singin' the Kiln Repair Blues...

Day; 141. Sunny and hot again. Temperature on outside kiln; 88 degrees.

The only part of this job I truly hate....




Monday, June 29, 2015

Back in the Saddle

Day; 140. Sunny and warm but with monsoon clouds in the afternoon. Temperature on outside kiln; 80 degrees.

I keep getting e-mails from the Crested Butte Art Festival telling me how many more days until the show, they are scaring me! Is this intentional?! I know I only have another month until my only  big summer show and I am working as fast as I can, ok?!
But a girl has to eat, walk her dogs, do her laundry, clean house, sing in the band, etc....  But I did get started today in earnest with the help of Instagram. Sometimes I just don't have enough juice in the morning to get into the studio and really  roll so I cruise other potters pages until I feel inspired/juiced up/envious enough to race in there and start to produce...  it usually works....

The two potters I was obsessed with today were;


Heather Smit 












and Katy Drijber










I love how loose and expressive both of these women's work is. Heather's forms are so interesting and the surfaces are to die for, but that is wood firing for ya...  However no more staying up all night throwing wood into a kiln 24/7 for 3 days for me... I'm too old and lazy now but it was great fun in  grad school...

Katy's work is also made without a wheel, just balls of clay pinched between her fingers; so loose, lively, and really letting the clay speak for itself. I love how she uses the most ancient of all forming methods, no high tech pots here!
Here is what I made after settling down into my own studio (vases for the CB show next month..)


Feels good to get back to a little handbuilding... sometimes the wheel can be seductive and yet not the best tool in the box for that day/idea....

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Recovering From Yesterday's Market (and A Hawaiian Shirt Giveaway Party..)

Day; 130. Sunny and hot but huge monsoon cloud sitting over the house. Looks like all hell could break loose any minute. Temperature on outside kiln; 82 degrees.

Yesterday was a bit epic so today I am just cleaning the  house, tidying up the garden, reading a friend's book, taking a nap....

I set the alarm yesterday for 5am but didn't need to, I was awake at 2am, 3am, 4am, and finally 5am. There is something about having to get up really early that makes it hard for me to sleep at all. I just kept looking at the clock, you know what I mean.... ! Finally got up and headed down to the Railyard Park to set for the Artist's Market by 6am.  Tent, 40#-weights, 3 tables, cash table, bags, wrapping paper, and oh yeah, artwork! Met all kinds of interesting people from all over the country and then loaded it all back up into my Tacoma by 2 in the afternoon. A friend needed to borrow my weights so I dropped them off before heading home. When I got there Dave said he wanted to walk the dogs and needed the truck so I did it all over again, same stuff,  unloaded into my cargo trailer. This was all in 85 degree heat so I was a wilted piece of lettuce by the time I moved that shit for the 3rd time in one day.

Lucky for me I had a party to go to (plenty of food and drink without having to cook) but needed to be there by 4. I hopped into the shower and was just barely dry by the time Christine came to pick me up. I have to say it was one of the loveliest parties I have ever been to... here is why...
About 8 years ago one of my close friends lost her husband to melanoma quite rapidly;  from diagnosis to a life celebration/wake in 9 weeks. As Michael was the love of her life this was unbearably  painful for her. That is why when she fell in love again a few years ago all her friends, myself included, were so very happy. Consequently,  in the last few years Michael's collection of Hawaiiana has slowly been given away, sold, or at least packed up.
The question remained however what to do with his very large collection of vintage Hawaiian shirts...


 These were the real deal, no cheap tourist imitations made in China, but  real Hawaiian shirts with coconut buttons in real vintage fabrics. Said friend decided a party was in order and set about planning a Hawaiian-shirt-giveaway luau of course. Her plan was to hang them all over the garden, invite all of her friends over, and cajole everyone into taking home as many as they could carry.. With one caveat; you had to wear one of the shirts for the duration of  the party..
(Flash back... to the year I spent, 1979?, as a seamstress in Hollywood making Hawaiian shirts for tourists out of vintage tablecloths from the 50's and 60's, but with real coconut shell buttons...)









Thus ensured a bittersweet afternoon with  all kinds of friends from Eldorado and Santa Fe, gaily trying on bright Hawaiian shirts whilst drinking beer and mint juleps and remembering Michael.  A sweeter way to remember and honor her husband I could not think of. I just felt Michael was really having a good laugh somewhere as all his friends tried on his old shirts and picked one out for themselves.. surprisingly harder than it might seem!
Aloha Michael!  you and your spirit are now seen brightly all over town....























Friday, June 26, 2015

World-Wide Markets...

Day; 138. Sunny and hot again today! Temperature on outside kiln; 86 degrees

Pepe came to help me in the studio again today; did some sanding and rolling out of large slabs but mostly listed cups on Etsy for sale (my on-line marketplace).





I tend to completely ignore my on-line shop during the summer when I am doing shows but as this summer I am only doing the Artists' Market with no big regional shows to speak of, I am trying to be a little better about filling this venue. With millions of sellers world-wide I really don't know if this is worth of effort....? How would anyone ever find me?! I am considering just using my own website as my market place and closing my Etsy shop. I need to do the research on the cost of having a shopping cart through my hosting company, Weebly. It might be worth just focusing on one site where I am the only seller. I also will not be competing with mass produced items out of China for a fraction of the cost...
Argggg, marketing, f*ck, I hate it! I just want to make stuff.....

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Thank God for Strong Young Men....

Day; 137. Hot and sunny. A perfect summer day. Temperature on outside kiln; 88 degrees

Pepe the shy-but-hard-working-intern is back!! Thank God reinforcements have returned!..






And he doesn't mind recycling clay; the dirtiest, most boring, and body-crunching job there is....
And now we have bags and bags of fresh clay to play with, oh boy!

After graduating a month ago from the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, Pepe went home for two weeks to catch up on sleep and Mom's home cooking. He is now back in Santa Fe and at Magpie Pottery two days a week to finish his internship during July. I  had a nice time catching up today and answering his questions about post-graduate life; "How long does it take to want to be in the studio again?"  "How long does it take to get a job as an artist?" "How long does it take to figure out what to make and how to sell it?" Should I stay in New Mexico or go to Seattle?" etc....
I'm afraid after 20 years I couldn't quite remember what being a new graduate/artist person was like. And I am still figuring this life out... I wasn't much help.....

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Little Itty Bitty Pieces of Clay Are Easier to Deal With...

Day; 136; Hot and more hot. Temperature on outside kiln; 90 degrees.

A jewelry-making kind of day....


Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Taking Care of the 4-Leggeds....

Day; 135. HOT, HOT, and HOT! Temperature on outside kiln; 88 degrees

A trip to the vet for one of 4 dogs with a huge abcess over her eye. Most of the afternoon and $355. dollars later.... not much work got done. But Kai is ok. Tomorrow is another day...

Monday, June 22, 2015

A Teaching Day with Hayden and Greyson From Texas

Day; 134; Sunny, HOT! Temperature on outside kiln; 93 degrees.

I spent the morning teaching two lovely young girls, Hayden and Greyson and their grandmother, Barbara..



Hayden and Greyson had been to the studio once before and came back today to have another lesson and glaze the pieces they had already made. After swiftly dipping all their bisque pieces in different colors, we were back at the wheel for another go round.....  It was fun for me to experience the potters wheel through
very fresh eyes with such unbounded enthusiasm, sometimes it can seem like work and these girls reminded me it could be seen as play....

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Happy Summer Solstice!

Day; 133. A hot and sunny Summer Solstice! Temperature on outside kiln; 88 degrees.

The longest day of the year! And after sleeping for 10 hours last night due to  yesterday's art market in 95 degree heat, I was up by 7:30 glazing pots in the studio. Well that never happens!!?? But I really want to do a glaze firing tomorrow and I have to teach all morning so had to get a head start on glazing today.

Lest I be a dull Jane/all work and no play kind of girl,  I am going to not one but two Solstice parties later today... I plan on wearing a summer dress, maybe some flowers in my hair, and drinking lots of cold beer. After that I will enjoy the long, long light and binge watch Scandal on Netflix, I am positively addicted!!! Sounds like a plan...

I just can't help but think back to the Summer Solstice of 1986, Santa Barbara, California.. I had just graduated from college at the advanced age of 29 the weekend before and then promptly married my college boyfriend on the 21st. of June. Santa Bararians celebrate the Solstice in style with a parade of misfits, wierdos, and pagans right up  State Street through the center of town. Many of our college friends came directly to the wedding from the parade still in costume, consequently our wedding was a colorful affair.  We had a Hawaiian themed luau in the gardens of the natural history museum complete with my father in a grass skirt. Somewhere I have a photo of that, if I ever find it I will insert here!! In lieu of that here is yours truly on Summer Solstice, 1986.. getting married!

A few days later  we departed for  Europe to meet my new husband JC's English family and to take  a month long bicycle trip through Belgium and France. But that and the next ten years are a whole other story..!!

Happy Summer Solstice!!


Saturday, June 20, 2015

Back in the Studio But Thinking of Home (part 3)

Day; 132. Very hot for the last day of spring! 95 in Santa Fe today! Temperature on outside kiln; 90 degrees

I got up at 5am today to be in the Railyard by 6am for the Artists Market. Beautiful hot summer day but sales were very soft. I was at the very end of the market again today, I will blame it on that. I had a lot of nice new work so I don't really get it. I did get a  new wholesale account on the east coast so I guess that is a good thing?! Very mixed feelings about wholesale, a hard way to make a living... My sister and an old friend showed up to help load everything back into the truck so that was a decided bonus in 95 degree weather. 

Anyway, this is my 3rd and last post reflecting back on last weekend and my amazing trip back through childhood and then on to Northern  California. Early last Saturday morning I caught a flight from Orange County up to Berkeley for my nephew Ari's high school graduation. Ari was born right after a devastating house fire which basically destroyed my brother Marc's home in the Berkeley hills. Ari Phoenix Beyeler rose from the ashes of that event and has been a blessing every since, it is hard to realize he is now a young man and will go on to college in the fall.

I was so  moved to witness how many people showed up for his graduation; not just family but the entire neighborhood, all the other families who live on El Camino and saw him grow up were there  for him.  There were his friends of course but also old babysitters, friends of his parents and of course a beautiful girlfriend. And his aunt from New Mexico.... It was a gigantic celebration and I was so very happy I had decided to make the trip. Marc and Elena have the perfect party house and go all out, they are masters at throwing a party... food, drink, candle-lit gardens, photo booth for pics with the graduate, you name it, they think of it..




His dear mother Elena, my sister-in-law, printed out every school picture of Ari since kindergarden and hung them in the stair well, much to Ari's chagrin...


I have a very clear memory of him at my wedding to Dave mixing margaritas at the age of 9....

He is a smart, handsome, charming, talented young man and I can't wait to see what he does with his life.  He is off to Europe this summer and then UC Santa Cruz in the fall..



Congratulations to the class of....






Friday, June 19, 2015

Back in the Studio, but Thinking of Home (part 2)

Day; 131. Hot, sunny, gorgeous summer day. Temperature on outside kiln; 84 degrees

Getting ready for the Artists' Market in the Railyard tomorrow but just can't get  the stories I heard last weekend out of my heart and mind....

When I was 10 years old my father got a new job which necessitated that my family move 60 miles south. We relocated from the South Bay area of Manhattan Beach to the orange groves of the Irvine Ranch. My father became the General Services Director for Newport Beach. As houses right on the ocean were very expensive even in 1967, we moved to a very new subdivision inland about 5 miles, very close to the newest University of California campus (Irvine), called University Park.

At the time I was none too happy about it; I knew no one, you had to take about 3 different freeways to get there, and it was a gigantic construction zone. In those days Orange County was mostly rural, there were no amenities; no shopping malls, no gas stations,  just a newly opened Alpha Beta supermarket, that was it. Oh yeah, and rows and rows of orange groves with Eucalyptus trees interspersed as wind breaks. A paradise really, all within 10 minutes of the beach, with skiing in the local  mountains 65 miles to the east at Snow Summit as well.

 In 1967 when my parents bought their new home  it cost $27,000 for a 4 bedroom, 3 bath home, cheap!! Or so it seems now. With new schools being built in the early 70's, scores of new families settled in University Park and the surrounding  subdivisions of Turtle Rock, Woodbridge, and Village I,II, and III. Orange County's population  was exploding and all of my friends and myself were transplants from other places making a new home there. I ended up going  to school with a very close group of girls from 5th grade to college. We spent years on the beach together (see yesterday's post), went on ski trips to Colorado, took surf safari's down to Baja California, and toured  Hawaii when we were 16. Countless hours were spent on the volleyball court at the end of my street..What a great childhood I had with Lori, Kathy, Lindy, Diane, Beth and Barbara!

Over the years I have reunited with some more than others, but last weekend I went to my 40th high school (University High in Irvine) reunion to see them all again. How amazing to see them again as 58 year-old women! We spent an alcohol-fueled evening together recalling all of our long-ago escapades, looking at old pictures,  and catching up on 40 years of living; including husbands, children, careers, boyfriends, and travels. An amazing evening that will  probably never happen again, at least with that specific combination of women.
The reunion went on without me for the entire weekend, but I could only attend on Friday night as I was on my way to Berkeley  Saturday morning. I had coffee with Barbara and Beth before meeting my plane and I tell you it was very hard to say goodbye to them, knowing I was missing a day at  "our" beach with them and also not know when I would see them again. I jumped into the airport shuttle after a quick hug but before I started crying on the ride over to catch my plane.

Selfie on Friday night with old girlfriends ( Beth and Lindy) from school.....


If I look tired and tipsy, it is because I am!!

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Back in The Studio, But Still Thinking of Home..

Day; 130. Sunny and warm. Very large thunderheads right over my house! Temperature on outside kiln; 80 degrees.
firings; image transfer firing to Cone 01, a little hotter than in the past.

Where to begin!? Truly a remarkable 4 days; saw my oldest brother and sister-in-law for the first time in 8 years, attended my 40th high school reunion, went to my nephews GIGANTIC  high school graduation party in Berkeley. I need to take each event one at a time, so much happened in 4 days that I thought I had been gone for 2 weeks....
Started with a flight over the San Bernardino Mountains/Lake Arrowhead  in Southern California on my way to Orange County...



First stop Irvine with my oldest brother Matt;
When I was 7 years old and Matt was 17 he went away to college on the Hudson River at West Point. Thus  ensued several years of him coming and going from our home on the Irvine Ranch in Orange County. I always remember him walking through the front door all decked out in his uniform and how proud we were of him. He would take me to the beach and teach me to body surf or up to the local mountains for a ski lesson. I idolized him as a young girl; he was tall, handsome, and life was always more fun when he came home.
After graduation Matt  did two tours of duty in Vietnam; Special Forces/green beret, clandestine ops in Laos and Cambodia, the whole deal. During his tours of duty in 1970, we had a large map of south and  north Vietnam on our dining room wall with little red pins stuck in it. I was in junior high at the time. Some how Matt  survived..


















After his tours were finished he ended up in Germany where he met his Vietnamese/French wife, Lydie Phillipe. This was about 40 years ago now,  right as I was finishing high school. Lydie's parents met during the French occupation of what she calls in french, Indochine ( Indochina). I learned a lot about my sister-in-law's family this trip; how her father was a prisoner of the Japanese, how both grandparents disappeared or were killed in WWI. Stories I have never heard before even though she has been a part of my family since 1975!

After being discharged from the army in the mid-70's, Matt and Lydie chose to live in my home town of Irvine, California and to raise their two daughters there. Bi-lingual from birth (english/french), my two nieces, Lia and Brigette,  both live and work in Paris now.

As it has been 8 years since my mother died of breast cancer (the last time I was in Irvine and visited with Matt et Lydie), I decided to start my trip with a visit to my oldest brother and to the beaches where I spent my childhood. After landing in Orange County,  the 3 of us went straight to the beach  and  spent two whole days  driving up and down the OC coast from Dana Point to 34th street on the Balboa Penninsula. I was absolutely flooded with memories... I spent all of my junior high and high school years body surfing these beaches every spring and summer vacation. How glorious it was to see it again!









We even visited the house I grew up in on Gillman Street in University Park...














At the end of the two day visit we ended up here on Newport Beach Harbor, eating and drinking during  a long happy hour watching the boats go by....



 

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Home to California

Day; 129; Cool and overcast. looks like we could get some rain in the garden. Temperature on outside kiln; 73 degrees.

Packing and get myself together for a 4-day trip to California.  Visiting both older brothers and having a reunion with all the girls I grew up with. So strange to think that we are all almost 60 year old women! I just can't wrap my head around that...
Anyway,  I will be here in Laguna Beach..


And here at my brother's house in Berkeley...






















Not sure if I will blog while away, if I have time/energy/wifi, I will give it a shot, otherwise might be too busy having fun.  (Found my bathing suit but too afraid to try it on.... decided to just throw it in and hope for the best, don't hope for any pictures of this, not gonna happen)...

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Another Teaching Kind of Day...

Day; 128. Partly cloudy/partly sunny. Warm with a few sprinkles. Temperature on outside kiln; 78

A beautiful cool morning with a few clouds. Coffee and english muffins with my good friend Nina Morrow (jeweler extraordinaire) in the back garden...


We have done many shows together including the Crested Butte Art Festival for the last 5 years, and Cherry Creek one epic July weekend. We look so forward to the CB show again this year and Beet Nics ( beet infused vodka ) at the cocktail cabin before and after the show! We just hope the weather holds again this year!

Regular students Suzanne Shakespeare  (no relation) and her wife Kim showed up mid-morning to glaze the first batch of their test tiles. Two hours later we had half the kiln loaded and were anticipating some very good glaze info coming out of the kiln in a few days. We started with mixing our own colors....and moved on to glaze application..


















Who knew that chemistry class in the 10th grade would eventually come in handy?!..

After mixing flint, flux, feldspar and talc together (and a few other things) this is the color palette we came up with;


Can't wait to see what the kitchen will look like with the new tiles!






Monday, June 8, 2015

Teaching Day...

Day; 127. Sunny and warm. Perfect summer day. Temperature on outside kiln; 80 degrees.

Today I meet Hayden (7 years old) and Greyson (12 years old) 2 girls from  Dallas, Texas interested in ceramics. Their dad Brent found me on santafecreativetourism.org and booked a two-hour lesson with me.  I was a little apprehensive before hand and really tried to think ahead and be prepared as I have  little experience teaching kids, most of my many, many, students have been adults.

Not to worry though, they were delightful and I made an effort to just make it fun without a lot of emphasis on making something. We spent the first hour handbuilding with molds and paper patterns and then made some pinch pots. Apparently Hayden is very interested in pinch pots and watches Youtube videos on how it is done! Therefore I had her teach me what she had learned. As she was now the teacher instead of the student, this loosen things up a bit and we were on a roll from there...

The highlight of the morning however I think for everyone was the hour+ we spent playing on the potter's wheels. First I demonstrated the beginning steps and then guided them through the process. I prepared several balls of clay ahead of time but not nearly enough, they just kept  wanting to try again and again! Even after one ball of clay went flying through the air and hit the floor, they were undaunted! "One more, one more..."  When Dad showed up at noon they were still at it and I had to pulled them away from the wheels to get them to begin cleaning up for the day. A nice ending to a kind of shy start.

We are booked for a second lesson in two weeks when I will show them how to glaze...That should be both challenging and fun! Here is what they made in a few short hours..


Good going girls! 2 potters in the making...


Sunday, June 7, 2015

Sundays Off?!

Day; 126. Warm and sunny with some clouds and a few sprinkles. Temperature on outside kiln; 77

Sunday is suppose to be my day off but..... I am leaving for Calif. in 4 days and must get a glaze firing in before I go, soooo here is what is on my work table today;



Cups and bowls as far as the eye can see... I am excited to glaze my little square whiskey cups however, they are so cute ( in foreground). I love the faceted aspect of them, little gems!

However on a day like today I would rather be here;



The garden is so lovely right now after all the spring rain, I just want to hang out in it with Kai...

After glazing all morning I had a meeting in town with two other artists and then raced to home to clean the studio for two young students in the morning. Not exactly a relaxing weekend but the next one coming up will make up for it.... So. Cal beaches here I come...!. ( I wonder where my bathing suit is and if I still fit into it, hmmm)

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Saturday in Marc's Park

Day; 125. Overcast but warm, a few sprinkles. Temperature on kiln; 80 degrees

It's is just getting light at 5am in early June... Off to the Railyard Park by 6, I love the early mornings, so peaceful, so quiet. I love the look and feel of sleepy Santa Fe, it was worth getting up for.
Got the tent, weights, tables, and ceramics up and displayed by 8...






Here I am with only the non-profit Folk Art Market tent beyond me, I am the last of the last tent in the show. I am not sure everyone who came out walked down this far, it was a little slow today. I enjoyed it anyway, warm with a few rain drops falling through the sunshine, really pretty.




I always think of the Railyard Park as Marc's Park, after my older brother. Several years ago as it was being finished he was the Western Regional Director of the Trust for Public Lands. The Railyard was one of TPL's biggest projects and he worked hard to see it to completion, hence it will always be associated with him for me. Those years were highlighted by many business trips for him out to Santa Fe and I relished the opportunity to see so much of him.
In 5 days I will go to Berkeley and visit Marc  and his family once again. We are celebrating the last of the 4 kids finishing high school and going off to college. He has the perfect party house overlooking San Francisco bay and I really look forward to watching the sun set from the 3rd floor while drinking a delicious glass of wine....

Friday, June 5, 2015

Off to First Summer Market..

Day; 124. Overcast, kinda sprinkling, but warm. A summer rain... Temperature on kiln; 78 degrees.

Some days there just isn't anything to say/report/blog! Studio is completely empty; finished work is in the truck for market-day tomorrow and everything else is cooling in the kiln. It looks kinda lonely in there, and wayyyyy too clean!
Gotta get up before dawn in the am,  5 o'clock alarm for a 6 o'clock start.. whose idea was this? Oh yeah, it was mine. But really I am glad, today I did some more gardening, ran errands, stopped at a giant yard sale... None of which I would have done if I had another big show in 3 weeks, I am so digging this new summer schedule! Relax, do a little work, relax, do a little more work, walk the dogs, etc.... I could get used to this. Talk to me tomorrow however after unloading, setting up for 5 hours and then loading back up and yet another unload when I get home.. lots of beer and Ibuprofen on the horizon....

Thursday, June 4, 2015

In And Out of the Kiln...

Day; 123. Sunny and warm again. Temperature on outside kiln; 80 degrees.
Firings; long slow bisque firing to cone 04. 12 hours to temperature, 18 hours of cooling...

Another morning of teaching with students Kim and Suzanne.. lots of test tiles and glaze planning...






While they worked on rolling out slabs and cut tiles, I worked on faceted whiskey cups;


I am really having fun throwing these cute little things and then spending all morning shaping and sanding. I like how the in side is still round but the outside form is a hard square. They are going to be really fun to glaze and choose images for. In fact I made a few taller ones immediately after as these were so satisfying to make. Funny how it takes so very little to get me engaged in my work again. Just a small change in form and I am off and running for days again, so easy to please!
After getting these ready to fire I unloaded the image transfer firing and  prepared that work for market on Saturday; shooting pics, sanding bottoms, pricing, and finally packing away. My two favorites for Saturday;





















Haven't had to load and unload the Tacoma in a month, I hope I don't die of heat and/or exhaustion getting booth up. Anyone out there wanna get up at 5,  be in the Railyard by 6,  and help me schelp heavy boxes of pots?! I didn't think so... Where is Pepe the shy intern when you need him most!!??

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Late Spring Cleaning...

Day; 122. Another absolutely gorgeous day! Temperature on outside kiln; 80 degrees
Firings; Image transfer firing to Cone 01 instead of  02, just 50 degrees hotter to make sure red iron oxide bees don't rub off?!

Beginning another body of work.... so glad I don't have another big show in June! I can take my time a little, I have June and July to make some hopefully very good work for my favorite show up in Crested Butte. In the meantime I am just making small stuff for the Saturday Farmers/Artists Market days, what a breeze in comparison to the big national shows like Cherry Creek, no pressure at all! I like that! After 10 solid years on the show circuit I think I deserve an easier summer....

Today I just weeded the garden, gave the dog a haircut and put images on all the random flotsam and jetsam that was sitting around the studio, second string stuff that I had lost interest in. I am firing a very mixed kiln at the moment, old stuff, new stuff, Pottery Barn plates with bees on them... It felt good to clean out the studio of all the old pieces and either finish them or toss in the trash, late spring-cleaning, good for the soul!

It is so much easier to begin anew without all the old stuff in my way... I am very inspired by all the potters that I follow on Instagam, they are kicking my butt! I will publish some links tomorrow, but right now I have to work on Hubbies website before he divorces me.... !


Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Watching the River Run, Part 2

Day; 121. The Most Beautiful Day in the History of the World. Temperature on outside kiln; 80 degrees!

From snow a mere two weeks ago to  80 degrees today... winter right into summer without any spring.  Oh well, at least it has stopped snowing!  Although I hesitate  to say that in fear that it might start hailing...

In any case I promised a few more river pics yesterday, so here are a few more;






Oh it is so hard to let go of the river and get back to ceramics but I must!...

Today I had two new students show up ready to learn how to make tile for their kitchen and bathroom. How fun for me to get back to tile making after a very long hiatus... I have been making dinnerware for the the last decade with very little tile making in between. In grad school and for a few years after (mid-90's to 2005) I made A LOT  of tile and got a bit burned out on working exclusively with flat pieces of clay, not a lot of interesting form there! But now I am ready to enter into a new project with students Suzanne and Kim.. I always forget how much fun teaching can be and how rewarding it is to light a fire of creativity in someone else, thanks for the reminder girls!