Summer's on the wane and the 4 month old puppy is now almost a dog! We finally have ripe tomatoes!

New and good

It's been nearly a month since I've posted here! In that month we've made a lot of pots, done a lot of art shows and crafts fairs, .....and we got a new puppy.

Say hi to 8 week old Juno!

New Dawn rose

Living a country, rural life - making pottery for our living. Simple pleasures, like appreciating this 15 year old rose that comes back every year, without any special care, and spreads its shell pink loveliness far and wide.

What I'm reading

Picked up a used copy of A.S.Byatt's "The Children's Book" (html not working!).
I can't believe I've never read her before. (the author is exactly, almost,my age!).
A customer in my studio recommended this book, noting that my husband sometimes adds fantastical creatures to my pots, and she was right! I want to live in this book! Socialists with enough money to give magical garden parties! Nature, glorious details. Artists, potters! I'm savoring it.

Unomi

Today I made some teabowls in a "tumbler" shape. The Japanese call it unomi

I'm going to make some to use in the house as well as to add to studio stock.

We covered the cherry tree with bird netting this morning - to outfox the jays!

June!

Another recent benefit for Japan was called " 500 Ricebowls for Otsuchi" - Otsuchi is a sister-city to Fort Bragg, north of us. It was decimated during the earthquake and tsunami. I think of these people in Japan often - even though other disasters, other events have taken over in the media.
Anyway, I joined many other potters who donated rice bowls for the benefit. It is being held at the Oddfellows Hall in Mendocino, through July 3. Sale of the bowls will go to help in the re-building of Otsuchi. I went to the opening of the show on Sunday to find that all 10 of my bowls sold in the first hour of the sale! (pardon me while I preen :)

) Seriously, I'm just happy that people are supporting this worthwhile event.

Rapture

Today's the day, it has been said. Would that be EST or PST? It's much later in New Zealand. These are, I guess, notes to myself and to my 2 followers ! How are you two stalwarts? Glad to see you! Haven't tried to guide people here much and the few places that list my blog have an old first try that's out of date and no longer exists. That's o.k. (I'm not going on any sky trip unless I can take my little dog!).

Another old fur friend has passed away. Flora, my beauty, died in her sleep two days ago - just about 4 months after her brother and littermate, Bobo, also passed. They were both 14 years old, plus. I miss them both.

I'm still making pots. That's the forever thing. Trying to keep it all together.
Chris was asked to be a kind of visiting artist at the local elementary school. Pictures here are of him and the students making paper mache' salmon - that coincided with the salmon unit they were studying. He's enjoying working with the kids. And he's paid.

It's shaping up to be a beautiful spring and summer. The garden's starting to pop!

Japan

The arts of Japan have always had a great appeal for me. I've just discovered
an American textile artist who learned his craft in Japan from exceptional teachers.
His name is John Marshall, and his blog is at JohnMarshall.to/blog
I have a small collection of kimonos and kimono fabric, and I've only recently begun collecting katazome - hand cut stencils used in printing cloth. I work in clay, but have always been inspired by the Japanese aesthetic, which frequently employs images from the natural world - as well as geometrics and abstractions.
What's also of interest to me is that John lives in the same county I live in!

Yesterday in the Studio

Yesterday I waxed the bottoms and rims of lidded pieces - getting them ready for glazing. The wax resists the glaze, and I'm careful to sponge off any glaze in places where lid and pot touch. Otherwise the glaze would seal the lid to the pot. In the beginning, I wasn't as careful. Now I add a small amount of alumina to the wax for ease in removing the fired lids from the pots.
Today we'll glaze, and spend the next two days doing that. Firing on the weekend.

We'll have an Open Studio Spring Sale on April 16 & 17. Lots of cleaning up to do!
Nothing compared to what some potters in Japan are experiencing - and their plight has become my basis for comparison when I feel overworked. I just have to worry about getting my property taxes paid - not starting over completely with building a new studio and living space, etc.

Potters are a special breed, and I love and respect them!

The power of the internet

A quickly-put-together ceramics auction to benefit the people of Japan is so successful. A moneyed person could put together a great collection from the American and Japanese potters who have donated, if they bid within the next 24 hours.

To see the offerings:

http://stores.ebay.com/Handmade-For-Japan/_i.html?rt=nc&_sid=1052358227&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1513&_pgn=1

It's for a very worthy cause!

Handmade For Japan

A hastily-formed group has put together a pottery and handmades auction to raise
money for earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan. There was such an outpouring of
support from artists that they had to stop accepting new donations! A fantastic amount of money has been raised in a very short time, close to $40,000, and they still have two days to go! That's the spirit!
It's all happening on ebay - search for Handmade for Japan.

St.Patrick's Day

Today we went down to the Senior Center for lunch. This is the liveliest bunch of oldsters you ever want to meet! (They even let non-seniors in!) I qualify, but Chris doesn't. Quite.
It was really good food including organic salads. They have a big garden in the back.
It was a pleasant respite from the worrying news from Japan.

YAY !

Chris came back last night from 4-day show at La Quinta. We did Great!
Back to work now.

New Month

Is March the month that comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb? Does anyone else remember that saying? Am I becoming an old fogie? (Is anyone reading this, so does it matter?)

It's been a lot of work getting ready for our next show...The La Quinta Art Festival.
We've been showing our pottery there for about 16 years - and it's always a good show.(next to Palm Springs) After a slim winter, it's time to fatten the coffers- so for us, it's time to work even harder to have the new and wonderful to display.
Anyone who thinks you can get rich making handmade pottery is crazy! But, when all is said and done, we still love working with clay. Today we fire the kiln.

Almost Spring!

Today we had to go to Santa Rosa to get more porcelain clay. The sunny drive through the Valley was stupendous! It's lambing season and the babies and moms were everywhere in the brilliant electric-green fields. Many flowering trees were a-bloom with color. And then, Chris had to pull over.He'd spotted a pair of golden eagles flying high above and he speculated that they were searching for nesting possibilities. There's a lot more rain coming....more winter on the agenda, but today was thrilling.

Florida

Traveling to Florida in about a week to visit my 95 yr. old mother. Can only stay for a few days, but it will be great to see her.
Making lots of pots in advance. We're showing at the La Quinta Arts Festival, next to Palm Springs, in March. It's always a great show for us.

On the brink of a new month

I haven't written here for a while. Our beloved dog, Bobo, died a week ago here in the house, a few feet from where he was born 14 years ago...3 days after his 14th birthday to be exact. Now, a week later, the pain of his loss lessens daily, and we can celebrate the wonderful years we had with him.

We unloaded the kiln this morning and were happy with the results. We take risks with our glazes and sometimes get disappointing results - but today we were a bit giddy in the studio. A photographer came by and took our pictures out in the kiln shed...to use in the Art Guild's Open Studios brochure. That happens in May on Memorial Day weekend.

I'm hoping that the problems in Egypt get resolved peacefully. I think that if I had to live on two dollars a day I'd revolt too!

Chris, showing neighbor, Owen, something, while sculpting in his studio.

Working today

I've got 25 lbs of wedged clay waiting for me in the studio. Gonna make something
big for a Chris Chameleon. He's got the place all warmed up for me, and with KZYX on the radio,it should be a productive morning.

Watched the Social Network last night...thanks to a son in tvland. How the world has changed! Billionaire 26 yr. olds! The Internet (or the Internoodle, as our friend calls it) is the new frontier...land of the gold rush. Good movie.
Loved the King's Speech even more.

Sometimes I listen to myself and shake my head. Old woman, get back in the studio!
(Bobo lives. Friday will be his 14th birthday).

Jan.10, 2011

Looking for something cheerful to write about. I started to do some new work in clay, featuring red-winged blackbirds. Nothing very cheery about all those birds dying in Arkansas - 3,000? five, fifty thousand? Anyway it brought up all those blackbird songs, and that poem by Wallace Stevens about Thirteen ways of Looking at a Blackbird, etc... Then the new year started lobbing the misery balls at us. First a family situation (which may actually make good comedy material in years to come) but then the insanity of the past weekend in Tucson.
Oh, and Bobo continues to take his time leaving the planet - the cancer definitely winning. We made him comfortable on the porch...his favorite spot, and at my daughter's request, played a compassion mantra cd. He's really her dog, but he lives here with us, and he's our dog too. Today is probably the day and he always preferred sleeping under the stars. It's stopped raining for a few days, and we have him covered in blankets. He'll be 14 in a week or so. He's had no pain, thanks to pain medication.
Chris cut more firewood today. It's how we heat our house and studio. His cold is nearly over, thankfully, and I've been trying to get over mine. Donna gave me a bottle of Umcka - a homeopathic medicine that seems to help. From a pretty African flower.

A pleasant conversation about jazz brightened my day. There - something cheerful.

The Buddhist mantra I played today was for all the suffering that has been, is, and will be. Hope it helps.