Not Knowing

It's very hard not really knowing how far this economic instability is going to travel. This morning I was reading about how larger institutions like hotels and grocery stores and shopping malls are starting to have their properties foreclosed by banks. WOW. That is wild. Makes pottery seem at once insignificant and yet simultaneously enormously relevant.

Objects made by hand are so crucial to the well-being of a great society. I've spoken with a lot of people who assume that somehow technology is going to solve all of our problems. I disagree. If we are to survive and prosper, I really think that it will be due to our ability to empathize and to share in the stories of others. I have been reading A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink, and I am finding so many social relevances that (I hope) may finally be put into play. Give it a read. I hope you are as surprised as I was.

Making LOTS of stuff - including pies and mashed taters

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone.

This has been an insane week. So many firings that I cant remember a day without loading or unloading pots. Kiln shelves dont even get cold to the touch before they are heading back into the toaster. Had my first "seconds" in weeks this morning. Some of our Forest Green pots came out with thin spots around the rim of a few pots. No fun!

A few people have asked me to post more images of how we make our plates and oval trays. So here they are! We're going to do a short weekend workshop on making and using these wooden forms. Hope we can pull it off sometime in either Feb or March.

Wet, Wild and Wintery Monday Night

Coming home from Hockey on Monday night, the slushy roads were just bouncing all this colored light everywhere. Had to grab a few shots. Definitely food for future photoshoots.

Working on holiday cards and thank you cards

We have been trying to figure out ways of thanking our patrons who see us through all the rough spots any studio has. They show up in inclement weather for openings, they find us at shows when we get our booth space moved, ... most of all, they appreciate all the work we do in the studio. They bring our work into their homes and along with it... part of ourselves.

So, we've been working on ideas for holiday greeting cards and potential thank you cards.
Here are a few ideas.

Stairway

How to tell when your stairs have been designed by an engineer.
They STAY level the whole time you're building.

The past few weeks are beginning to resolve into some sort of cohesive image. The trench is done. The furnace repair parts are in hand. The plumbers are coming out Friday to hook it all up. We have finished our last out of town show. And last night, as darkness came over everything, we put the deck railing on our new steps. Still need to do the stair railing but with the forecast saying nothing but rain and snow for the next week, it's hard to work outdoors.

So here are some pics of what we've been up to. Enjoy.

The Fine Craft Show in Rochester

We're finally home after a long weekend at the Fine Craft Show in Rochester.
We met some new faces, made a few new friends, and had a good time. As with all of our shows this year, sales were off. Probably made less than half what we made at this same show two years ago. Somehow it doesn't surprise me at all.

The good: This show IS the tops when it comes to making an artist feel good at a show. They pamper you in the most awesome ways. Friday night before the preview party, artists are invited to a chili dinner. Some chocolate brownies helped us recharge our batteries after an exhausting setup. After closing things up at 9pm we made our way over to our host's house. Judy was the most amazing host anyone could ask for. Morning came and found us breakfasted to the hilt and ready for a new day. Dinner Saturday night was with Teddie and her husband at their home (along with about 8 other artists from the show). Feasting on salmon and pork loin is not what most shows are like for us! Sunday morning we awoke to an artist's breakfast at the museum. During show tear-down we had even MORE help than we had during set-up. Judy came and helped pack us out. The Kings were there to help schlep our boxes out to the van/trailer. Talk about a different way to look at a show. This was just about the best way one could imagine a show coming together.

Tomorrow we have a tour group of docents coming down from the Memorial Art Gallery to attend an exhibition of Edo period prints from Japan at the Johnson Museum at Cornell. After their tour at Cornell, they are stopping by here for a short talk on the influence of Japanese ceramics on our work (past and present). Should be a fun time!

Pride and Awe

This morning I am sitting here with tears in my eyes. When I listened to Obama's acceptance speech, I just cried. Watching these images of huge crowds of people taking to the streets cheering for the outcome of the election. It makes me proud. I am so glad my daughter got a chance to see this. The past eight years have made her a real cynic when it comes to politics. On my end, I have felt that way since Carter left office. Today I have hope. Real hope. It feels like the world shifted just a little bit, maybe a lot. It makes me proud to know that an intelligent, caring, hopeful, African-American man is in the White House. Rather than delve into all the negativity that this election season dragged up, I am so excited to be looking forward with optimism. This is just the coolest thing in the world.

Halloween Antics

Our first ever and FAVORITE bumper sticker. There are times you just have to say
NO to crazy freakin' wanna-be VPs.

Here are a couple pictures of Aurora's costume this year.

Through a Glass Lightly

Before the BIG DIG... just after we tore the concrete steps off.

A month later, the stairs are nearly done, the gas and waterlines have been run and the trench has been filled in.

I've been making so many pots these past few weeks that I needed a break tonight. Ironically, I have also been spending most of my mornings building stairs for the house. A month ago we tore out our concrete stairs into the house. Then we laid gas and water lines to the studio. With the trench backfilled and (somewhat) levelled, it was time to get stairs BACK into the house. With winter on the way, we all knew that the deck stairs and the sliding glass doors would not be a viable option much longer. We've all been slip sliding down the deck stairs on leaves and pine needles covered in frost and ice. Not fun.

This weekend Robert and I dove into the stair project headfirst. By Saturday afternoon we had rented a posthole digger and had made the footer holes and had begun the framing. Today we finished off the stringers for the stairs and the deck framing. All the treads have been cut and the decking is cut and ready for painting. My hope is that the week's weather will hold and we'll have perfect painting weather. If so, we could be done with this whole project before next weekend. Whew! That would be nice!

Meanwhile, I have had a few opportunities for capturing some interesting images. I love the way looking through glass changes so many things.