Letchworth State Park

I hadn't been to Letchworth State Park since my ex-wife and I visited there back when I was a student at Alfred. We had fired off a wood kiln the day before and were finally feeling rested enough to go for a hike. As Aurora and I were hiking around today, I realized it was exactly the same time of year when her mom and I had been through the park.

Today though was different. The light was awful. Bright blue skies, really harsh midday sun and no shade anywhere. So, the pictures are lame. Sorry.

Daffodills

So why am I posting pictures of the flowers in my garden instead of the pots in my kiln?

Duh! Because the kiln is too hot to open.

Flowers it is then. Pot pictures tomorrow or Monday I hope.

More color

Just another closeup of today's crocuses.

Having Friends Over

Dana and Justin are some of the most awesome friends we know. They are wicked fun, patient, kind, literate, and know how to have a good time. They cook up a storm.

We met Dana and Justin about 2 years ago as they began planning for their wedding and asked if we could put together a wedding registry for them. Turned out to be our most enjoyable registry ever! Tons of great pots and all the people who called to purchase pottery from their wish list were fantastic folks.

So little by little, we have come to know and love Justin and Dana. They're really fun to cook with, talk about books and movies, take pictures... you name it.

Sad thing is: they're moving to California.

NO FAIR.

Before they leave though, they decided they really wanted a chance to try to make pots on the wheel.

Spring?

I keep asking.

Spring?

Humor is running amok today!

Bad touch, Bad touch!!!!

Vampires: Real ones DONT sparkle....the end.

Some days are made for laughing. This afternoon I found roflrazzi.com... and the rest of my lunch hour was GONE! It makes lolcatz seem tame.

Experiment

I am trying something new today. I found this website called Closr.it which promises to help you zoom in and enlarge your images via Java. So far it has proved to be pretty simple but I worry that it takes too long to load. Anyone else played with this yet? How does this load on your machine?

Recalcitrant Spring

Not one of those words I find a need for everyday, but recalcitrant it is. I have never been more anxious to throw off my coats and fleeces and say hello to shorts. Everytime it looks like we might just get a nice sunny warm break, the clouds open up and it pours. Then it gets cold.

The upshot of all of this weird weather is that we have had some of the most amazing sunsets and sunrises. Aurora woke me up to let me know I HAD to catch some of this sunrise. I figured it wouldn't be worth it. Then I walked out the door. She was right on the money.

A Sky To Remember

When it should have been too dark to see, I looked up and saw the color just about to fade to black. Grabbed about eight frames and this was the last. Right from our front yard! Sometimes you just get lucky.

Never after dark

The view from the car as we raced home trying to catch the sunset going down just behind us!

Hard to mess with perfect

I dont use the term perfect lightly. I save it up for times when Awesome or Wicked just wont do.

Such was the case as we were driving home from Rochester last weekend. The light was falling fast as we zoomed through the Amish fields between the Fingerlakes. One look over my shoulder as we made our last big turn homeward told me that we HAD to stop and catch the sunset before it vanished. I think we got it. Just perfect.

New addition to the family

Back in the Fall, Nancy and Aurora were diligently trying to get me to sell my old kayak in hopes of finding me a newer one that would fit me better. I found a boat up at Mountainman Outfitters up in the Adirondacks...Old Forge to be precise. Huge selection and something is always on sale.

Without further adieu, here's the new boat.

Scenes from the studio

It was a busy week. Finally had a chance to make some oval pitchers and oval vases. More coming next week.

More Scenes from the Lakeside

I have been spending quite a bit of time down at the lakeside already this year. It is only the second day of April and I am already considering putting the kayak in the water. This is just way too warm for April.

The light on the other hand is perfect. We keep getting the most magical light on these sunny clear days. Today started out with a healthy dose of fog and blur... but I didnt have my camera with me. So I probably missed the best images of the month. Yeah, I know. It should be stapled to my hand, but that would get in the way of making pots. Either that or I would end up using that pricey Nikkor lens as a rib and everything I threw would be out of focus!

Meet our apprentice - Hannah

Our amazing apprentice, Hannah, has been making plates and serving trays with us for almost 3 months now. Her first month was filled with frustration as her slab trays and plates continued to warp. Each batch she would try something a little different. Each firing would produce slightly better plates. Now we're at the point where almost all the plates she makes are coming out top notch! To celebrate we decided to document her at work... what's the process look like and how do we do what we do?

Now we're getting ready to fire and glaze hundreds of plates that Hannah has made since January. They are in great big stacks just waiting for glaze. Should be fun!

Issac Button Country Potter - parts 2, 3 and 4

Views of the Lake

A quick view from the creek flowing out into Cayuga Lake.

I think this is one of those images that I need to go back to in different weather. I think I also need to shoot it with a different lens.

This panorama of Cayuga Lake was shot during my walk at Taughannock State Park last week.
I shot 13 images consecutively, then merged them in Photoshop. Definitely worth a click to see it slightly larger. Wish I knew how to make a REALLY large version come up in Blogger. Any ideas from anyone would be helpful!

It was one of those days where you think that it's going to be warm because it's sunny outside. Then you get out there with the wind and the chill and you realize that if you don't wise up, you're gonna freeze to death waiting for that sun to warm your bones.

Then a day like today comes along. Warm, mild and oh so needed. Great day to work in the garden. Not so great a day to be in the studio. There's always tomorrow for the boards of planters and pie plates.

What does it mean, when your past involves sheep

Yep, I took care of sheep as part of my workstudy job while at Hampshire College. Anyone who has ever cared to ask me knows that I think sheep are just about the dumbest critters on earth. Now sheepdogs are the best. We had a border collie on the farm who couldn't be beat. Went by the name of Flea. Mind you, she could single handedly round up a small herd and bring them to just about anywhere we might want.... if she was so inclined.

This video exemplifies that AWESOME power of a well trained border collie and their shepherds. Mind blowing really!

Driving Home from the Zoo

There are some evenings where you know the light is going to be magical. What I hate is when we're driving home instead of shooting pictures during that time. On our drive home from the zoo, we tried to capture some of the color as the light was fading from the sky.

Scenes from the zoo