Grad School Adventures

Excuse the absence, I'm in grad school dontcha know? For the most part I have been posting updates to my Facebook page. I am not entirely certain why I haven't wanted to blog, except for the fact that I have been utterly and extremely busy.  The past four months have seen tons of changes, successes, failures, stress and excitement.  So, if you want to challenge yourself, move cross country and go to grad school!

College of Visual and Performing Arts, New Bedford Campus, Star Store. I'm up on the fourth floor in a huge studio space.

My space when I first moved into it in September.  I actually had a month in New Bedford without a car and no studio access.  I got a little depressed.  I rode the bus around, got a library pass, walked a lot and had a scare with bedbugs.  

The view out my studio window.

New Bedford is kind of an odd little town.  It's history is the fishing industry and mills and there tends to be a lot of poverty here.  There are pockets of wealth and pretty houses but to get to some really gorgeous scenery one needs to drive about five minutes out of town.  This is the harbor filled with fishing boats.  The area is known for it's historical ties to whaling and Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

Fall is truly setting in and one of my favorite places is this little park about fifteen minutes out of town on this little salt marsh pond.

One of the first things the grad students did after school started was take a trip to New York City to see some incredible exhibits at the museums.

So, I actually have been making work!  This is the result of my first soda firing and also what I set up for my first crits and reviews.  I was pretty pleased with how this came out in spite of the fact that I had a cold and was sick from an abscessed tooth.  I kept trying to figure out why I was so bleary eyed and delirious.  It was the hardest and felt like the longest firing I have every done!

Now I am busily trying to catch up and getting work made for finals.  Oh yeah, and there is that paper and presentation I have been seriously procrastinating.  See ya' later, I've got a kiln to check on!