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Grant

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I found out yesterday I that have received a grant from the Arts and Science Council. I had applied in late summer. I'll use the money to take a workshop in 2009. I am pretty excited. There were 120 applicants and 20 were selected.
I totally forgot to post yesterday. Much cleaning was accomplished but I still have to finish the workshop. I have pots to glaze today too.

My Holiday Sale starts on Friday. See times at right.

I had a request for directions from Charlotte, NC so here they are:

Take I-85 south
Take Exit 10 B (hwy 74)
Go to the third light and make a right on hwy 74 business.
Go to the third light and make a right on to hwy 180 north/ North Post Rd.
Keep on 180 until you reach Hwy 18. Turn right on Hwy 18 North. (this will be 4 lanes)
After 18 goes to a two lane go almost 1 mile and turn left on Wallace Grove Road.
Pottery is on right. Look for sign.

Address is 757 Wallace Grove Road. Shelby NC 28150 if you need to use MapQuest.

Rock It

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Sarah and I have been laying these stone between the house and the studio this weekend. We made pretty good headway but I doubt we'll be completely finished in time for the sale this weekend. Maybe though. Tomorrow I'm going to get gravel screenings to sweep in the spaces of this first area so it can take some traffic.
The studio door is there on the left so that area is in good shape. This is probably the most stressful week of my year. Thanksgiving cooking to do, my pottery sale, and it seems we always have some kind of project in the works too. I am firing a glaze kiln tonight. Mostly plates. I'm gonna have about 30 plates at the sale and I'm hoping to sell them all. I'm having a hard time keeping any in stock.

Well I hope you all had a great weekend. I'll be posting this week as I try to get everything around here tidied up and ready for the Sale.

Trouble

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These are the lyrics to the song Dan mentioned. I had not heard it when I made the drawing, but I'm glad to know it now. Thanks Dan.


Old Hogan's Goat

Old Hogan's goat was feeling fine,
Ate six red shirts from off the line;
Old Hogan grabbed him by the back
And tied him to the railroad track.
Now when the train came into sight,
That goat grew pale and green with fright;
He heaved a sigh, as if in pain,
Coughed up those shirts and flagged the train!

Plates

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I was pleased for the most part with my firing. Well I was actually really happy with it all. Only one loss. I am trying new things with my surface to liven it up a bit. I am finding that I like working on the surface more than I thought I would. Coming from such a long non-deco period this is surprising to me.

Of course I'm also learning as I go so I am trying to embrace that part and take the good with the bad. I feel like I'm also giving myself permission to make these pots more of my own as I grow. It's nice to see that happening and a good feeling.
I had a few preconceptions about what I wanted this work to look like when I started back in February. I am noticing I am letting some of those go as I discover new things. For instance I really wanted to have a deep watery glaze coat. Like a lead glaze. But since I've been playing around and experimenting with glazes I've found that I like a thinner coat of glaze, a sheen sort of. It reminds me a bit of the thin salt glaze from my stoneware work. (Of course you can't really tell that much in these photos.)
It's fun for me right now to just allow myself to be in this process and to make work and play some. I think I'm at a point in life where I am trying to take myself less seriously. Or maybe it's just a phase. Either way I may as well enjoy it.

Winner

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Alex won the contest yesterday. I hope you'll hop over to her blog and see what she's up too. Alex seems to have her hands in many things, clay, paper, wool and more. Very inspiring.

New pots out of the kiln sometime today.

I've finished making dinner plates and mugs for my upcoming shows. Now for a few jars and small bowls. I think that will be it then. Oh, and I have an order for 80 soap dishes....whew gotta get slabbing.

Contest

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Inspired yet again by Keri Smith I have decided to have a Contest.

Yea! We love contests right?

Okay so the first person to respond in the comments will win a small pottery something, or a pen and ink sketch or watercolor or something along those lines ie original something handmade by me.



Here's the contest...

First off you must be a person wearing purple socks.(You can go put some on if you want).
Then you have to stand up and say "I get great satisfaction from my purple socks" . Out loud. (yes even if you're in your cubicle at the office. Pump you fist in the air for good measure.

That's it. Go.

Monday Part 3.

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The pots are in the kiln and hopefully I'll have some new work to show you on Friday.

In the workshop Sunday, Cheri pointed out how many people are "Dissatisfaction Specialists". Pretty catchy huh? I noted that I'm certainly one of them. I feel as though I never really allow my self to be satisfied. Even for a moment. That's not very good. I thought as an example all the work I've done this year on the slipware and how much I've accomplished. With each kiln load I think I've allowed myself to be briefly content but what really goes through my mind is 'okay what's next?'....' get on with it.'

Of course many will say that we should never be satisfied, how else would we keep getting better, or moving forward?

Is that the point of life?

Not for me to say.

What I would like to do is allow myself to enjoy moments (or even longer periods) of satisfaction. This would be a much better way for me to live as opposed to being dis-satisfied much the time.

The workshop was centered around this statement, "The focus of my attention determines the life I have." We discussed awareness and attention and did exercises that helped us focus our attention or direct our attention to certain areas. Namely, the body, emotion, mind, and mind content.

I feel like I could go on about all this but that's probably enough for tonight. I'm out of tea and it's time for some reading and then bed. So that's all my thoughts and such for this Monday. It's been a good day in many ways.

Monday Part 1.

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The shelves are filling up with pots in various stages of completion. Yesterday was pretty hectic. (So much for coming home and being centered!)

Anyhow, today was a fresh start and new wet pots are being produced after a morning of decorating and unloading a bisque.

Weekend

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Sarah and I had a great weekend in Asheville, NC. We went primarily to attend a workshop by Cheri Huber but of course we made time for many good meals and some shopping. The weather was cold and windy and it even snowed a bit on Sunday morning. It was so nice to get away from home with one another and I think we both came back feeling centered, directed and refreshed. We need to get away more often.

It's going to be a busy week ahead in the workshop. I'm looking forward to it.

Friday's Post

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You've probably given up on getting a post from me today, but guess what?.....Here it is!! (I'm sooooo sure you have much more to look forward to on a Friday night than my meager blog posts) (If not then , well....thanks for peeping in.) (I'm home alone tonight and am looking forward to cooking myself a nice Chinese dinner and watching a movie).

On with the post...
This is number 12 dinner plate, all footed and surrounded by the trimmings of his 11 brothers (or sisters, or whatever).


Didn't get far on the slipping today. I'm hoping to get 12 mugs decorated before we leave tomorrow to go on our weekend holiday.

Kari Smith!!! Yea!!!! Kari's new book came in the post today. I've already dug in and am having fun. Kari's books help me with my ideas, and open me up to new things. Hopefully I'll share some here soon.

Okay.
Have a good weekend.
Really. You must!

Drill Ron Drill

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I remember years ago my friend Tom Gray told me he used his drill to put the holes in his colanders.

I've been putting holes in the footrings of my decorated plates just in case anyone wants to hang them.

Today I gave the drill a go, worked great and quick.