Tag Archives: pottery

Two more sleeps…

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until Jeff returns! I like “me” time, but I have had plenty. I am also getting really anxious about getting this house/studio move underway. There is only so much that I can do alone.

 I asked Jeff to bring back a t-shirt for my great niece’s birthday. What I didn’t know was that the festival t-shirts are “make your own”. The people working the booth apply a stencil for you to sponge paint the design.

The finished shirt looks like this…

It’s the mascot for the Chasabal festival! My niece will love it, especially since “her Jeff” made it.
As the festival was winding down, one of the Korean potter’s daughter drew a portrait of Ron Philbeck. She is an amazing 8 year old artist! Imagine what she will be drawing by the time she reaches high school.
The tea bowl festival in the city of Mungyeong is now over and Jeff has traveled to the city of Seoul, with Lee Love, Craig Edwards, and Ron Philbeck, for a short stay before flying to Japan. When we chatted this morning, Jeff was doing laundry at the guest house they are staying at. He sent me this photo and asked me if he used the right settings on the washing machine…
???

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I never thought…

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that my adult child would be sleeping on the side of the road…

 and I am quite proud of her for doing it!

This weekend Danielle ran her second 200 mile relay race. The race is run in teams of twelve (I think) with each runner doing a few legs of the course. This year they ran from Hull to Provincetown, MA. The team rents a van, one member runs and one drives the van while the other teammates rest. They do get to stop occasionally for real food and they did all sleep for three hours on the side of the road.

I am so proud of this girl! She has grown up to be very active and outdoorsy. The total opposite of what she was like as a kid. As a child she was afraid of bugs, and didn’t like to get sweaty. When she went off to college she hated the dorms because the floors were linoleum and there was no carpeting. Never mind the shared bathroom thing. Here she is today, sleeping on the side of the rode, and I am sure she was mighty sweaty.

I may be spending Mother’s day alone, but having the joy of being Danielle’s mother is enough for me. I hope all you mothers out there are having a wonderful day, no matter how you spend it.

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CCM Spring Pottery Festival

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I am heading to Charlotte, NC tomorrow for the Carolina Clay Matters, Spring Pottery Festival. Last year Jeff did the show alone because I was in NH for my Mom’s funeral. This year I will go it alone because he is in Mungyeong, S. Korea. I opted to simplify the booth to make set up and break down easier. I am leaving the Abstracta display system at home because it’s such a pain to put together. I am sure someone will give me a hand with the EZ-UP tent that really isn’t so easy!

CCM Spring Pottery Festival
Saturday May 9, 2015
10-4
McAlpine Business Park
8300 Monroe Rd, Charlotte, NC
I will be set up on the “Silo” side of the barn, booth #41
Our Seagrove gallery will be open on Saturday, thanks to my good friend Bonnie!

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EEEEK!

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 I was heading out to the studio yesterday when I noticed something hanging off of the porch roof, swaying in the wind…

I got a little closer and realized it was a snake skin. A really long snake skin! I know it’s just a skin, but it still creeped me out. Mostly because it means there is a rather long (close to three feet) snake around here. I am hoping that it’s just a harmless black snake. The skin is hanging next to the electric kiln. Today I will get brave and knock it down with a broom. I wimped out yesterday, but I can’t handle another day of seeing it hanging there. 
I will leave you with a happy photo, so that you can wipe the creepy snake skin from your brain.
Jeff had a great time playing sax at the festival in Mungyeong. He was invited to join some of the other musicians on stage. He hadn’t played in a long time, but said that it all came back to him.

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Elbow Grease

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I am spending all of my spare time doing work at the house. The wallpaper in the main bath is stripped. Tonight I will start prepping the walls for paint. I should have taken a before photo. The wallpaper was quite ugly. I think I have settled on a very light gray paint color. I really dislike this whole window in a shower thing. What were people thinking back then?! I was shocked at how well the window cleaned up. It was pretty gross.
Along with the bathroom work, I have been taking out screens, hosing them down outside, and washing all the windows and sills. The house had been empty for many years, so you can imagine the amount of spider webs and crud that had taken over.

Eventually we will replace these pain in the ass crank out windows. We have a few broken pains that will need replacing. I am hoping it won’t be too difficult (or expensive) to find someone to do it.
Doesn’t the “indirect” lighting in the master bedroom remind you of a hospital? And how ’bout those bedside wall lamps?!

When Jeff returns from his trip we will tackle the job of stripping the kitchen cabinets. Some years back latex paint was applied over the oil based paint… it’s peeling off like crazy. This job I am not looking forward to!
The lawn was looking like it was ready to be hayed, so I hired someone to mow this week. Everything is looking so green and pretty! We are definitely going to have to buy a riding mower.
While I slave away working on the house, making pots, manning the gallery, Jeff sends me this picture at 7:15 am…

It was 8:15 pm in S. Korea and this is the evening hang out for the festival participants. The 7-11 is next to the hotel and there is outdoor seating. They can go in and buy beer or soju and drink it outside.
The timing of this trip was definitely not ideal. Jeff could have declined the invitation but would it have jeopardized future invites? Thankfully we don’t have to be out of the log cabin by a certain date. I know that everything will fall into place… eventually.

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Name your pig

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 We unloaded the gas kiln in the late afternoon on Sunday. Most of the load was orders and it was a great firing… thank you kiln gods and Jeff, who stayed up all night to get this firing done before his trip.

These are few samples of the “personalized” piggy banks. I was relieved that “Anne” came out perfect. This was a re-do. I totally forgot to add the flowers to the first one, and didn’t realize it until it was bisqued. If you know someone named Anne that needs a piggy bank without flowers, I have one ready and waiting for glaze! At least Anne is a common name. I am sure it will eventually sell.

 I had some fun with the underglaze on this piggy. It will be available in my Etsy shop tonight…

I took Jeff to the airport yesterday and he landed in Tokyo in the early morning (our time). He is staying with a potter friend in Naga and will visit Mashiko tomorrow. On Thursday he will fly to Seoul. It was a stressful week preparing for this trip. There was so much to do and we both came down with head colds at the beginning of last week. We felt like we were moving in slow motion. To save our sanity we took some things off of our “to do” list. We postponed the stripping and painting of the kitchen cabinets job. Better to focus on getting healthy. The cabinets can wait until Jeff returns.
I am certain they will still be there, in all of their peeling paint glory.

My consolation prize for staying behind was a shopping trip to IKEA! Since I was already in Charlotte, it was an easy decision. I didn’t go crazy but did come home with new towels and shower curtain for the main bath, along with place mats and a runner for the dining table. I will actually NOT have a “photo taking set up” on our dining room table anymore! We have a good size office where we can keep it set up and out of the way. Now to see if we will actually eat at the table…

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Good Earth at 505

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 Our new home was connected to town water prior to our closing. That means a long trench to lay the new pipe… and there was a lot of good looking clay dug up during the process. Jeff brought some back to the studio in February and did some testing. It fired to cone 10!

 Last night I was at the house shampooing carpets, before I left I bagged up some clay for Jeff to process.

Sort of looks like pumpkin pie
All wedged up… we have dubbed it “505” clay, since our new address is 505 E Main St.
Jeff made quite a few purty little cups.
This little cup, made with our 505 clay, was fired in the wood kiln during FireFest. I believe that this is also the glaze that Jeff made from another clay, also found on our property. The clay fires in wood to a nice toasty orange. We are going to fire a bisque this weekend so that Jeff can take few of his cups, made with 505, to Mungyeong, S. Korea. While there, they will be fired in one the traditional kilns in the area. I can’t believe how quickly this trip has come up. So much to do and so little time!!

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Deadlines

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 Jeff leaves on Monday for Japan and South Korea. We have vessel sinks and piggy banks that need to be shipped before his trip. In order to get everything in the bisque firing, Jeff did his creative kiln extension trick…

A layer of brick with some fiber and we were good to go!
I thought this piggy bank order came at just the right time…

Yep, there is money in pigs! The piggy banks sure helped us purchase our new home. Jeff and I also joke that they bought us a brick house. As the story goes, the little pig that built the brick house was safe from the huffing and puffing, big bad wolf.

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