Under the Radar

Day; 119. partly cloudy/partly sunny. Warm. Temperature on outside kiln; 65

 Dog sitter and good friend/sax player Jay Crutcher pulled in late last night from Colorado... Doggie walk all together in the Galisteo Basin before we are gone for 3 days and they have to spend all day in the backyard....

Not a bad place to be, in fact I have joined them today. Can't get started on anything in  the studio knowing I will not be here to finish it;  whatever pieces I begin today will be bone dry by the time I get back to them on Sunday, soooo...  An excuse to do paperwork, make phone calls, etc, etc.
Or just join my sweet boy in the backyard...

Adios for 3 days;  under the radar with no phones, no Ipads, no internet, how weird!
I will be here instead...

Have a good weekend!

A Girl Needs the Right Shoes....

Day; 118. Sunny and warmer, breezy. Still had to warm up studio with fire this morning.... temperature on outside kiln; 65.

Distracted by upcoming trip on Thursday... Just trying to find tents, sleeping bags, mess kits, head lamps... all that camping equipment that we haven't used in how many years?!
Did get a few things made..

Love these cute little cups inspired by hand-building lessons with student Kris. I have been throwing so much lately I forgot how much I like slowing down and employing different forms/texture. Can't wait to glaze them and that is saying a lot considering how much I love glazing, NOT!

But I love the present I bought myself today even more... Badass water-proof Keens for the river! All I had were a sorry pair of Teva's ready to fall apart at the least provacation. Now I can hike and hang by the camp fire in style. Very useful for doggie hikes as well. What have I been wearing the last couple of years?! I just dont't know..

Run River Run

Day; 117. part cloud/part sun. A few sprinkles... Temperature on outside kiln; 58 degrees.


Doing this  this week instead of making pots, lucky me!!...
 Chama River here I come.

Perfect river song  by Loggings and Messina;
Run River Run; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErON-ZpqULY

Now I Remember Why I Do This

Day; 116. Sunny and breezy. Temperature on outside kiln 60 degrees.

First e-mail this Sunday morning;

 "Hi Maggie - See attached for a photo of your lovely work that I have collected over the years. My best buddy, Terri, and I visit New Mexico  every May, primarily for the El Dorado Studio Art Tour. Our first stop is always your place.  I told you that I have a cupboard of your work and when I have friends over I ask them to open the Maggie Cupboard and pick the cup they most want to drink from. All my friends really enjoy picking out just the right one. You asked me to send you a photo, and here it is. I truly love the beauty that you create. I cannot tell you how happy it makes me every time I open my special Maggie Cupboard door. Thank you for sharing your great talent! Peace and joy to you, Karen"

This really says it all... Thanks Karen!  On a day when I am not very motivated to go back in there and throw more pieces, this note changes all that....

Goodby to Kristin.... .

Day; 115. At long last some sun and warmth! Temperature on outside kiln; 71

Breakfast with artists friends, then back to the studio to unload the shared kiln from yesterday. I was very curious to see how student Kristin's work turned out. Glazing was challenging and I don't think she  was too excited about the potential results but I think every piece but one was a winner; here are the best of this kiln load,

Good job Kris! I think they are great, not easy to glaze some of these very complex forms, a+!! As one student leaves, I prepare for two more on their way.....

Finally got the dogs out as well after many rainy days. Pretty muddy out at the Galisteo Preserve but beautiful. Had to rake out the winter coat from Leona the Lion and got enough fur/hair out to knit a  small sweater! 

 Such a patient wolf! This took quite some time.....! ("are you done yet Mom ?!")

Back To Wet Work

Day; 114. Overcast, pouring rain. I just  cannot believe this...!  Temperature on outside kiln; 50 degrees.

Ok, so I did get out a bag of clay today... I threw a few mugs, tumblers and a few canisters... Just enough to warm up my wrists and get started again, then I took another nap. This is becoming a habit.... I can see now why the dogs are always doing it, so civilized....
Had to have a fire again this morning to warm up the studio, this is becoming ridiculous as well... It is May 21st and I am still lighting fires.... Makes me wonder what the summer is going to be like?!....

Ended the day here;

 Attended the annual Santa Fe Clay spring potluck held every year right before the summer session madness begins... Back in the day I knew everyone in the room and had taught them all, today I walked in and I didn't know anyone and no one knew me except the other instructors, times have changed...
Had a nice chat with owner Avra Leodas, it was really nice to catch up on my clay community and hear all the studio news... I miss it!

I'd Rather Sing Than Make Pots...

Day; 113. Sunny and beautiful, solidly spring.. Temperature on outside kiln; 70 degrees!

Post-studio tour inertia continues for the 3rd day.... I deserve a break however so that is fine. Besides it's Wednesday and that means Girl's Garage Band Practice! Damn,  I wish I had thought to take a quick pic of all of us set up in the (14-foot ceiling)  living room... we usually are literally in the garage or back sewing room. However we are opening for the Blue Mangoes on Saturday night and so practiced where we will be playing that night. . Also the lux/beautiful/black baby grand piano is in that room...sooo lovely to hear it. I sang ok, not as good as last week, but passable. I just need to get LOUDER!  This is hard for me, I am actually quite shy so being the lead on all the songs and singing so everyone can hear me is a major deal for me... I'm trying girls, really I am!

After singing for 3 hours I had to come home and eat and sleep.... Little Kai, the cutest and smallest of the huskies decided she would join in and snuggled right up beside me. I love her, so precious, except that she snores almost as loud as my husband!

The rest of the afternoon I spent buying airline tickets;
The Duke City  to The OC
The OC to Berzerkley
Berzerkeley to The Duke City

Had to do a series of 3 one-way tickets but I was able to get what I needed.
So, in one weekend in June I will be; 

1. seeing my oldest brother for the first time in 9 years
2. going to my 40th high school reunion
3. body-surfing in Laguna Beach
4. Attending my nephews high school graduation

Yipee!!, fun in the sun, and it better be hot and yellow flag surf conditions or this old beach bunny is going to be pissed off! So stoked to be back in my old stomping grounds! Stayed tuned for those pics!! ( bikini's optional...)

Inertia..

Day; 112. Sunny and beautiful, but very soggy! Temperature on outside kiln; 62 degrees

A beautiful spring day after the most ferocious rain storm last night I think I have ever experienced in New Mexico, no kidding. Hours of howling winds, thunder, lightening, extreme downpours, and all night long. I don't really know how much rain we got but it must have been a large percentage of our annual amount.
The garden looks a bit stunned and beaten down but happily green... guess I won't bother to water for about a week.

Post-studio tour ennui continues... well it is only day two. I slept all day yesterday and today I taught a two hour glazing class and that was it, back to bed with my book! Sure do not feel like making anything out of clay that is for sure! I have a special order for some tumblers which I would normally cringe at, but this week it is a blessing as it propels me back into wet clay. Maybe tomorrow!

This week concludes the 6-week intro to clay class with student Kristin Cassel, I will miss her. It was wonderful to have her in the studio with me and to watch her progress in her hand-building. Today we glazed the last of her cups and tumblers....

We will do one more glaze firing before she heads back to Travers City Michigan at the end of the month. Good luck Kris!  Follow your dreams of botanical studies and never let anyone steer you away from them....

Post-Studio Tour Aches and Pains...

Day; 111. Overcast and windy again today.... Temperature on outside kiln; 60 degrees

Missed you all last night, had to have a party, drink a beer, sing a song.... Fell into bed after sitting out under the Milky Way around the campfire alone for an extra hour... Just a gorgeous night...

Well,  after Saturday's weather fiasco, Sunday was a dream... Sunny, beautiful, and really busy. Lots of folks came out on Sunday instead, wet muddy roads on Saturday not very enticing to a lot of locals..I decided to move the show into just the studio from the dining room Sunday morning as there was not a lot of pots left and it looked kind of thin in there. Much better to have customers just come through the studio  instead of the entire house...
I am always amazed at who shows up; Texans, Denverites, new Eldo neighbors, folks from all over the county. And it is such a love-fest, a couple hundred people gushing over my work for two days, what's not to like about the Studio Tour?!
A lot of interest in clay classes and even snagged a new private student. All in all a success even if sales were down from previous years, but I think I did as well as I could what with snow and a lot less inventory.

And the weekend ended of course in my backyard eating, drinking, singing, hanging out under the stars etc... My lovely bandmates plus singer/songwriter Laurianne Fiorentino did a few tunes for us all...

I tried to join in but couldn't get through a song to save my life so gave up and took some pics.. I really liked this new musical combo!! Maybe more music in the future?

Even the dogsled team behaved themselves. I was worried they would jump on the dinner table and eat all the food, as they are likely to do, but instead they very nicely begged from all the artists and left the dinner table alone. It was the two puppies first studio tour so I didn't know what to expect...
Although I am not sure Kai enjoyed it much....

The Show Must Go On.....

Day; 110. Jesus H. Christ, we had every season today and then some... Rain, sleet, hail, snow, sunshine... Temperature on outside kiln; 46

Good Lord, what a day... Every conceivable kind of weather imaginable. We didn't have a tornado, but that was it, we had everything else; rain, hail, snow..

  The first studio tour where I had to get up and build a fire in the studio. Usually I am in a summer dress and sandals; today it was jeans and fleece.... We must have got our annual rain fall in one day. Crazy!! The Jemez Mountains across the valley towards Los Alamos are covered in a fresh drape of snow...
But that didn't really effect traffic all that much... lot of regular customers anyway....

All in all, a good day! As hoped the bad weather drove folks indoors; straight in to our studios, yeah!
I await to see what tomorrow is like?! It better be beautiful because I plan on partying with my artists buddies in my back garden.... stay tuned...

My Favorite Weekend of the Year..

Day; 109. Overcast, rainy, gloomy. A wet spring, how strange! Temperature on outside kiln; 50 degrees

It's here! The Eldorado Studio Tour weekend has begun! Put the final touches on studio and house today and was open from 12-3 for other artists on the tour... After that from  5-7pm the Studio Tour Preview Gallery Opening with one piece of all 89 artists on display, lots of food, and of course Mr. Handsome Husband playing his fabulous classical guitar....

How lovely for me that I have my own private musician for all my art openings! Preview gallery in the old train station this year, which actually seems appropriate, such a part of this community and a lot of  history there....

Pouring rain all day and night, tomorrow too! Lets hope that removes the competition of the outdoor activities and drives everyone indoors and into our studios..! Stay tuned for tomorrows post...

Getting Closer...

Day; 108. Cloudy and breezy. Looks like it could rain; Temperature on outside kiln; 54 degrees

Out-of-the-studio kind of day... errands in town. Really needed some earwires for all the earrings I made last month and never did anything with. Here are some of the earrings I put together today for the studio tour;

Down to vacuming up dog hair, making brownies and scrubbing toilets.. Not good picture material,
so here is part of the show displayed in the dining room...

I even had two studio customers already and two internet customers today and the tour hasn't even started yet! I love when that happens! Open from 12-3 tomorrow and then the community preview gallery opening from 5-7 tomorrow night, here we go Eldorado...!

Ready, Set, Go!

Day; 107. Sunny, breezy, beautiful. Drenching rain last night, my garden is so very happy. Temperature on outside kiln; 63

I can't believe I am ahead of myself for the studio tour, it is only Wednesday and I am just about done;  some tinkering with display and prices (never really sure how much to charge!) but that is about it.. Oh yeah bake a million brownies for our guests and set up the back yard for the post-tour party and cook-out, but that is the fun part! Can't believe it that  every year  we do a party at the end, but it is a tradition to celebrate another success tour at our house on Sunday night with  eating, drinking, and music making, and it just wouldn't be the same if we all didn't rally for a get together afterwards.
Anyway, here is how the show is shaping up...

... And as today was Wednesday,  I went to band practice and had a lovely time with the girls. Several of us had not played music together for a couple of weeks but it seemed to help rather than hinder, we rocked the garage  today! Even made one of our members cry with our rendition of Lean On Me, I guess it was a good rehearsal. I felt pretty good about it anyway, I think I really miss it when I can't make it. Last week I had such a bad summer cold/sore throat I had to stay home. Here are the girls working on our set for Julie's party in 10 days, we actually are opening up for her new guys band The Blue Mangoes..

 

Our Set List for May 23rd; 

Closer to Fine

Galileo

Soulshine

My Girl

Lost Stars

Southland in the Springtime

California Cast Iron Soul

Lean on Me

What a diverse list of songs! Kinda all over the place, but we like it like that. And because Julie is singing an entire set with the boys after us, I am singing lead on the entire list, slightly terrified but I know I can do it, at least when no one is listening...... !!

A Watched Pot Never Boils

Day; 106. Warm and sunny at last. Spring has returned. Temperature on outside kiln; 62

And a watched kiln never cools. Half of the studio tour work is sittin' in the kiln still. Last image transfer firing off this morning at 5am. 13 hours of cooling so far, 1-2 more to go. 250 degrees right now, cant really lift the lid until 130. So.... I will drink my half beer, make dinner and watch The Voice for an hour. Surely by then I can see what the hell is going on in that little kiln.. Which by the way I am so proud of!  Right through the Clay Fair and Studio Tour with no problems at all, thata'  girl!!
Pushing my luck however, the thermocouple is looking really crusty, time to at least replace that if not all the elements. I just don't want to spend $300 to outfit the whole kiln with new elements if it is still reaching cone 6 within 7 hours... I so badly need slippers, socks, pants, garden lights, etc... all the things the puppies chewed to pieces over the winter, I would rather spend the money  on puppy damaged than I would kiln parts...much more fun~!

I Just Can't Wait Any Longer...

Day; 105. Sunny but not exactly warm, a little chilly wind happening. Temperature on outside kiln; 50 degrees

Pretty much took the day off... Going a little stir crazy, intense cabin fever. Too much time at Magpie Pottery and not enough gallivanting out in the spring sunshine. Decided to cancel students and interns this week and just take my time getting the last kiln firing together. Slept in, pulled weeds (lots!), and ended up going to the New Mexico Plant Company for annuals. I know I should officially wait until May 15th so that the danger of frost is past, BUT I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER! So instead of rolling out slabs on my slab roller it is housing these today...

Every spring I anxiously await May 1st on which day  I fill the back of the truck with flowers. So this year I even waited an extra week to do so... As the puppies have dug up just about everything that could be dug up in the back yard I am a little hesitant to put these beauties in the ground.. Nevertheless, as soon as the kiln is on and warming up  tomorrow, I am going ahead and gettin' dirty, frolicing puppies be damned...

Snow Flurries in May ( dreaming of the Wine Country again...)

Day; 104. Cold, cloudy and windy. Even a snow flurry thrown in for good measure. Temperature on outside kiln; 45
Firings; Unloaded last glaze firing.

Really,  snow on May 9th!  Good thing I didn't go buy flowers as I had planned today.. yes, those are snow flakes....

Working on last image transfer firing for the studio tour. Pepe the intern offered to help but I think I just need time alone to decide how to finish this last batch. Sometimes I just can't quickly explain to another what I want, I just have to muddle through my ideas alone. So, spent most of the day going back and forth between computer and studio printing decals and then figuring out how I wanted to use them...

No dog walk, Dave is still trying to get over his  two surgeries this week and I can't really walk all 4 dogs on my own. So I went to the store and got them all bones from the butcher and they are all happily chewing away in the backyard... Maybe a walk tomorrow, we will see. Dear Fen the doctor made a house call to listen to Dave's lungs; he had aspirated something into his lungs during his surgery and cannot stop coughing. No fever though, so no infection.....

Will the Glazing Never End??!!

Day; 103. Another lovely spring day! Sunny but windy. Temperature on outside kiln; 63
Firings; unloaded one glaze kiln and loading the last load of stragglers that didn't quite fit yesterday.

 Not sure I will quite finish the glazing  tonight...Gotta eat, gotta sleep! Will finish in the morning and then a few days of  transferring the images. I am just hoping the little kiln has a few more firings left in her elements, the replacement element for the big kiln is here but still in it's box,  it is not installed yet. I am so hoping I can get through the studio tour before I have to make that repair.. an hour upside down in the big  kiln and another hour hooking up electrical wires is not what I want to do right now.... Come on baby (kiln), you can make it honey....!! Just a few more firings and then you can die....

Long Day...

Day; 102. Beautiful spring day, really gorgeous. Temperature on outside kiln; 63
Firings; glaze firing to cone 6 (2210 degrees, hold for 10 minutes) Hopefully about 9 hours with a 18 hour cooling period.

Tough day glazing for the studio tour and teaching a 2-hour glaze class while  sipping nighttime cold medicine. It at least dried up my nose so that it wasn't dripping all over the work....Meanwhile husband Dave down in Albuquerque having a second minor surgery in the last 3 days.. Poor guy, stitches down both cheeks and now along his neck..All precancerous cells present and accounted for however, so we hope there is no more problem. A bit distracted today to say the least....
Tomorrow back to glazing and getting ready for the studio tour and definitely a  sleep-in and an afternoon nap as well...

Under the Weather....

Day; 101. Overcast and rainy, Kinda weird.. Temperature on outside kiln; 50 degrees.

Sick with a cold and sore throat. Must have sat next to a sick person on the plane, argggggggg....Back to bed so that I can teach and glaze all day tomorrow...

Back from the Land of Green

Day; 100. Rainy and overcast. Spring showers bring May flowers.... temperature on outside kiln; 55 degrees

Back to real life immediately....Students in the morning and the afternoon, with a nap between. Somehow I came home with a cold/sore throat and am a bit under the weather. Not very focused today as husband Dave had some minor surgery and I was thinking about him...

But what an incredible weekend... Sonoma/Napa wine country in California in the springtime just does not get any lovelier... Every tree, bush, shrub, was in bloom, it was so very colorful and incredibly GREEN! I really felt like I had taken a space ship to another planet, one with a lot more water than we have here in New Mexico. Rows and rows of  Eucalyptus trees interspersed with rows and rows of grape vines. And those big fat palm trees, I love them! Truly a much different eco-system than the one I am living in.

And such a sweet and thoughtful wedding. Very casual/intimate but beautiful at the same time, every detail obviously thought about and lovingly tended.  From the cocktail hour to the after ceremony square dancing, a wonderful event on a 20 acre spread amongst beautiful vineyards. So bittersweet to see my niece and the next generation embark on their lives...And there is a baby boy on the way as well.... !!! Oh to be 33 again!!!