I decided earlier in the week that this was going the be the 'Week of Ron'. I was going to do whatever I wanted to reward myself for all the work I've done over the past couple months making pots, doing shows, etc.
I saw late last week that George McCauly and Ron Meyers had loaded up the Ratagama down in Athens, Ga for a cone 1 earthenware wood fire. I've been communicating w. George online and I thought now would be as good a time as any to go meet him in person. Plus, the pots would be out of the kiln by the time I made arrangements with he and Ron to have a visit!!
Here's an image I pulled offline of the loading.
George has been working on a film about Ron over the past year. It's going to debut in April, 2013. I'm very excited about this. If U.S. ceramics had National Living Treasures Ron Meyers would certainly be one of them. You can learn more about the film and how to make a contribution by clicking HERE.
I had a very good visit w. Ron and George. There were lots of pots in Ron's studio. Some were the painted work, some salt fired, and the ones from the anagama firing. Here are two that I brought home.
Cat Head sculpture with Bird. Wood fired (not this firing)
Candle Stick Totem w. Fish. (from this firing, you can see it in the loading picture. Far right front).
While in Athens I also got to hang out with my old pal Andrew Lentini. We met years ago at John C. Campbell Folk School. It was nice to go to Andrew's home and get to have dinner with him and his girlfriend and their kids. Plus, there were some delicious homemade Christmas cookies just out of the oven. Andrew let me crash on his couch over night. I was happy that I'd have another half day in Athens b/c I wanted to knock around down town and to visit with Carter Gillies.
Carter and I met up early Saturday and had breakfast at The Grit. It was super yummy. We chatted on and on about pots while enjoying our breakfast.
Here's a pic of Carter and me in his kitchen. He's got loads of great pots all over the house.
Finally after hitting some shops in downtown Athens I drove the 3 hours back home.
I got home just in time to celebrate another event for Ron Week. A beer brewing class!! It was sponsored by Dragonfly Wine Market in Shelby. I had a great time and learned a ton! This could be my new hobby ( I don't really have a hobby at the moment but this seems promising!).
The class consisted of 6 newbies, including myself, and our fearless leader/brewmister Jay. We went through the whole process of making a batch from an extract kit and later bottled and capped some beer that Jay had ready. We also tasted several beers throughout the night.
We each got to bring home a 6 pack of the beer that we bottled. It will be ready to consume on Christmas day.
Okay that's all for now. There is however one more thing happening tonight to finish off the Week of Ron. I'll save that for a post over the weekend. But I'm sure if you follow me on FB you 'll be seeing some pics later on.
Cheers!