Blooming

One of our cacti is blooming...a beautiful flower, in fact 5 on one plant...but they have short lives.Tomorrow they'll be gone. I say, bloom where you're planted!

'atta boy...

Bill Clinton is a wise man ( o.k., o.k.....not always! but usually ). Yesterday, in an interview on CNN,
he was asked how he lost 24 lbs. His answer was that he has changed his diet. After his
heart attack and by-pass, stents were installed in his arteries. Then it was found that cholesterol was even plugging up the stents! After some research, he decided to go to a plant-based diet - no meat, no dairy, no animal products. No more cholesterol, and he lost 24 lbs. He looks good too!

Knowing the Clay

I've taken some time to look at other potters' websites this past week. It's always surprising to see the many different ways that clay can be used as an expressive medium. I've always loved John Glick's work, and I saw a piece of his that has gone to the top of my list of drool-overs - A basket with beautiful green glazing and impressed designs, shown at the right.

Sometimes I regret not having had an art school education. I got a Master's degree in English Lit, which has given me immeasurable pleasure in reading, but isn't terribly helpful with mixing glazes!
On the other hand, making pottery is often a learning -through- doing enterprise. Someone once said that the best pottery education was to work your way through a ton of clay! I've done that many times over! Knowing the clay, seeing how far you can take it before it protests, is what's needed.

To see more of John Glick's work: http://www.johnglick.com/
Another good website is Emily Murphy's. She has a list of favorite potters' blogs and websites, as well as examples of her own fine work: http://potteryblog.com/category/blogging/tour-of-ceramics-blogs/

My mother

The phone just rang. It was my mother.
“ Hello, Jan – I need your help, sweetie .”
“Oh no” I thought. Something’s happened, and we live on opposite sides of the country. But I should have known better than to worry. Her voice was cheerful as always, and I relaxed. “Do you remember the lyrics to “Early Autumn?” she asked. ” I’m having trouble remembering how the bridge section goes, and I’ve had a request for it.”

My mother is a piano player, and she plays professionally, meaning that she is usually paid, unless she’s volunteering at the Senior Center or playing at the Wednesday lunch for the Rotary Club. She knows hundreds of songs, both words and music, and she can play by ear or from sheet music. Her usual style has echoes of old-time stride piano, but she can summon up some classical vibes, or, living in the south, a gospel sound. The joy she feels in playing music is evident in her smile and body language. There’s a steady demand for her talents at celebrations of all kinds, and at assisted living facilities in her town of Tallahassee..She has regular “gigs” 4 or 5 times a week, and drives to them herself. On her next birthday, she’ll be 95.

Vera is tall, slender, and wears clothes beautifully. I’ve never known her to look any way other than neat and elegant. She’s also gifted with a warm, welcoming personality. How did she get this way? It isn’t because she’s had an easy life. She hasn’t. My father died when I was 15 and my brother was 10, leaving her with very little money. She went to work right away using a diploma she’d earned years earlier, working as a physical therapist to support us.

After seven years went by, she re-married. My stepfather preferred that she not work outside the home, so she didn’t. He was a heavy smoker, and after many years of married life with him, he died of emphysema. Music, she will tell you, was her salvation. In her eighties, she began to play professionally, now that she had all the time in the world to practice, without worrying that she was drowning out anyone’s tv show. Word got out that she knew a wide range of songs. She volunteered her talents at various events, and ,when she was hired at rest homes, residents looked forward to their hour of music with her. She’s been grateful for the extra money she earns, particularly in the current economy, but best of all is the knowledge that she makes people happy.
“ Hello Harry! ” she’ll beam at an elderly man of Irish descent being wheeled into the music room. ” Here’s a song for you.” and she’ll launch into “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” or “Danny Boy”. It’s heartwarming to see residents’ feet begin to tap in time with the rhythms and start to sing along, remembering songs from the past. Most of the residents aren’t even aware that she is older than they are.

She rarely has to take a prescription drug and Vera credits her longevity to a healthy diet of fresh fruits and vegetables and moderate amounts of protein for her good health. She likes to make fresh juices in her juicer, and she gets rhapsodic over figs and dates. Her parents she says, gave her a good start. Born to an English seaman with captain’s papers and a Swedish woman who cooked and cleaned and was a nurse-midwife, both of whom loved this country and became American citizens, she grew up in a happy, but modest home. What she got was a lot of love from both her parents, but especially from her father. My mother was the only girl in a rough and tumble household with four brothers – tall muscular fellows who loved sports. She did her best to keep up with them. Athletics was her way of getting out of the house, and out from under the ever-watchful eyes of her mother, if only for a little while. She wasn’t allowed to date.
Growing up in Braintree , and later Quincy, Massachusetts, she made her mark playing basketball, ( her nickname was Flash!) and she won medals at shotput competitions and freestyle swimming events. Massachusetts public schools also gave her an excellent education. Her high school diploma had value, even if she never went to a 4-year college.

Her father brought back a piano for her on one of his sea voyages, when she was a youngster, and she’s blessed him for it ever since. I hardly knew my grandfather, but I, too, thank him for the happy times sitting next to my mother on the piano bench, both of us energetically singing while she played. Tragically, he was killed in WWII when, the merchant marine vessel , the Sumner I. Kimball, which was carrying supplies to the Allies,and on which he served, was torpedoed by a German U-boat in northern waters. He was then only in his 50’s. Years later, when my mother saw an article about the incident, she discovered the name of the German U-boat captain, then found his address in Germany, and began writing to him. They corresponded often over many years and he graciously apologized for his part in the loss of her beloved father.
“It was war”, he said,” and it was my first assignment as a U-boat captain.” He’d been 23 years old. My mother forgave him.

I live in California. She lives in Florida. We talk often on the phone, and I have assured her that whenever she’d like to come out here, with her cat, we’d welcome her to live with us with open arms, but for now, she has her own house, her many friends, her music, and a busy life. I hopefully keep our piano tuned and I try to fly out to see her at least once a year on her May 4th birthday, so close to Mother’s Day. I feel very fortunate to have this strong, talented woman for my mother. She pooh-poohs my suggestion that she’ll easily make it to 100, but I know she will!
Now I must go online and look up the rest of the lyrics to “Early Autumn”!

Capitola

Chris is off to another art fair, for the third weekend in a row, this time a show in Capitola. It's a beach community near Santa Cruz. Its will be the last of the outdoor juried shows as winter approaches. Oct.1,2,3 he'll be at the Sacramento Convention Center, and in November, the Mendocino Art Center will be having its
Thanksgiving show. I'll be at the Celebration of Craftswomen, an all women's juried art fair, at Fort Mason, the first weekend in December. This has gotten my creative juices going, since the booth will be all my work - no Chris animals to tempt buyers. But I have some ideas about new glazes. We'll see how that goes.
We have our pottery at a two-month exhibit at Handley Cellars and also at Scharffenberger Winery Tasting room. And Rookie-To Gallery in Boonville.

I have 5 dogs to care for this weekend, since Donna has left Yogi and Penelope with me. She's off on a backpacking trip. Chico is very happy to have his little buddies here for a week. Lots of tail-wagging and butt-sniffing. Jon came back from France with a cold - he and Soraya had a fabulous time. I'll call the other kids today - we have to start thinking about the annual family meet-up here at Thanksgiving. Since several in the family are now vegetarians or vegans, I just don't see how a turkey will work out. A big dead bird in the middle of the table? Also, Paul and Luciana have a new house in San Jose. Maybe they'll want to have Thanksgiving there. Whoever hosts it, and it's been Chris and me
for years, has the problem of how to lodge everyone. And there's the travel involved. 9 hours from L.A. for Jon - and , who knows, maybe Soraya wants to spend a Thanksgiving with her family near L.A. I'd like to just stay home -and we've got that Art Center show for the two days following T'giving. Chris's parents always want us to come to Livermore during the holidays. My 94 yrs. old Mom is in Florida. I've just written an article about this amazing woman. More about her here in the future.
Things slow way down in the pottery biz in January and February. I'm looking forward to some quiet time. I do want to see everyone during the holidays, however. Particularly 6 yr. old Troy! As Scarlett always said, I'll think about it tomorrow!
In the meantime, it's time to get my hands in clay!

Sunday, Sept. 5

Donna took me to lunch in Mendocino, after visiting her foster sheep on Mike's farm. It was a happy ending to the sheep saga.They'll live out their natural lives there, and not be killed. I've asked her to stay away from farm animal auctions! She's too soft-hearted!

Chris called - he's having a good show at Kings Mountain, with one more day to go- as usual, he's laboring on labor day. What a good guy!

Philosophy

I'm not a religious person. That is, I don't subscribe to any religion in particular. There is always some
belief or rule that makes me shake my head, with organized religion. Also, religion seems to separate people, rather than bring them together, in the larger sense. But, there are philosophies, thoughts, that sometimes resonate with me.

For instance, I've been asked " How do you know right from wrong if you don't have a creed?"
I've always felt that we know through our own senses. I know that being lied to, stolen from, attacked,etc. is wrong - because I can feel it, and it hurts. I'm like others, so, in most cases, they too must experience what I feel. To cause that hurt is wrong.

This morning I was moved when I read the following quotation from the Dalai Lama, online:

"To the extent that our experience of suffering reminds us of what everyone else also endures, it serves as a powerful inspiration to practice compassion and avoid causing others pain. And to the extent that suffering awakens our empathy and causes us to connect with others, it serves as the basis of compassion and love."

Right on, my friend.