Clay Rocks!

So much clay, so little time to blog about it!  Here is a little recap of last weekend's Chico State exhibit at CCACA clay conference in Davis, CA.

Rick Barnett

Kara

Chaz Jay

Chaz Jay Detail

Toni

Amanda Swede Detail

Mallory Russell

I'll update with proper names and titles after I come back from the university tomorrow.

P is for pots and photos!

I've spent most of this past week shuttling pots back and forth between studios and prepping for a firing that I want to do next week, weather permitting.  I might get delayed a bit on that since a storm is rolling in Monday afternoon.  We might have to push the firing back a bit, oh well.  More time to catch up on my throwing.  

Last summer I took a photography class at CSU Summer Arts.  One component of the class was iPhone photography, taught by Dan Burkholder.  There was only one problem.  I don't own an iPhone.  That is until a few days ago.  Yay me!  Now it isn't a new phone, but thanks to a certain, special someone, I was gifted with an iPhone 4 which is just fine with me. So when I haven't been working on pottery, I have been trying to figure out how it works and pouring over my copious notes from Dan's lectures and demos.   And of course, downloading and trying out photo apps.

I have a thing for water towers and Chico has quite a few good ones to photograph.  I decided to spare my poor kitty and hit the streets around my neighborhood.  The weather has been incredibly warm and very much like spring is upon us.  Oh yeah, I had fun!  So if you don't see pottery here just know that I got deeply distracted and lost in photo land.  

Back in the Saddle

Well, it may seem that my life is full of flowers and nature these days and that would be partially true.  I was extremely out of shape when I headed to Penland and felt like I had gotten in a little better shape by the time the eight weeks were done.  I wanted to keep that small edge and get in better shape when I got home so I have made my priority every day to get out for a hike, a walk, or a bike ride.  I can't help it if there are beautiful flowers all around.

On Friday I got back into the studio a little bit.  It was great to see all my Claymate friends and I had a number of pieces that needed to be glazed so that's what I focused on.  Now that I am home I am in the middle of apartment/house hunting so that is taking a little of my attention.  I am trying to figure out what my focus should be with clay for the next year or so before I head to grad school.  I feel like I want to get rid of most of the work that is starting to take over my space.  That would free up my mind to start on a whole new body of work inspired by my time at Penland.

While I am working all these ideas out I will continue taking hikes like this one scrambling down the path to a nice swimming hole.

The heading aroma of this scotch broom filled the canyon near the creek.

The swimming hole but oh was it cold!

And for your viewing pleasure, here are more images of work I made while at Penland.

 I made these in the first week when we were given a cup exchange assignment.  They have paper resist stencils with underglaze.  When Julie Guyot came to visit, she brought some commercial decals which I had never used before so on they went.  I really enjoy the transparency and how they layer over the stencil images and add another layer of depth and information to the mugs. Julie by the way is amazing, super nice, and a wonderful clay artist!

This is the first time I have made cruets and I enjoyed them.  Definitely going to make some more.

And, finally, I love, love, love these salt and pepper shakers.  Another first with more to follow.

That's all for now.  Have a delightful and creative week everyone!

Luscious Lichen

As some of you may know, I love lichen! So here is some eye candy from Monday's hike.  I especially love the chartreuse green contrasted with the orange that's going on here.  I don't make work that calls for the use of lichen glazes but I am tempted to with inspiration like this.  And if I had any idea what to do with felting or textile media I would somehow incorporate this.  Hmmm, maybe I should go back to Penland for a textiles class.  Just sayin'.

All the textures here are just so incredible!

I was feeling quite nostalgic for all the flowers that are planted around the Penland campus, especially outside Lily Loom.  Then I took a morning walk and found all of these beauties right in my own neighborhood.  Too bad pictures can't convey the smell of all the flowers that are in bloom right now!

Ah, but lest you think that the last few days have been all fun and games, I have been knee deep in the shipping and receiving department, otherwise known as the spare room.  Today I got eight of the nine boxes I shipped from Penland.  I'm going to have to research that ninth one.  Now I have about 50 items to ship out that are rewards for my Kickstarter project.  Let the fun commence:)

Penland Day One

When I left home, spring was well underway.  It was in the low seventies and the daffodils were already starting to droop.  I got up to Penland today and was pleased to find that I get a spring do over.  The daffodils are still coming up and there are bulbs of various kinds sprouting through the soil everywhere.

I had to get down on my hands and knees to put my nose in this beauty and it smelled heavenly.

Here is the view from my bedroom window.  I was quite pleased that I was assigned a bedroom all to myself! This is an itty bitty room but has lots of storage.  Of course I plan to spend most of my time in the clay studio.  This room feels very homey.  It reminds me of my grandma's bedroom with rustic wood paneling.  Now I just have to resist jumping up and down on the bed like I did at Mimi's when no one was watching.  

A cozy corner in the Craft House by the pay phone.  I love how the late afternoon sun is streaming in!

The Penland campus is full of all kinds of artsy tidbits like this "Wishing Well" in an old tree stump.  Inspiration is everywhere!

Can you tell how I spent my afternoon?  Yes, one of my other passions it photography!  Tomorrow will be a full work day cleaning and prepping the studio.  I better turn in early tonight:)

Beauty in the small details

It is so amazing the beauty we can find in the seemingly most ordinary things. I saw all these mushrooms while taking a walk in the orchard next door.

My orange tabby, Funny Cat

One of my best cat pals, Funny Cat. There are three short hair orange tabbies, three long hairs, two torties (orange tabby mom, silver tabby dad), plus two totally feral males lurking around that I'd like to trap and relocate. This buddy of mine catches me when I'm out in the garden, coming seemingly out of nowhere, to demand my attention and get some love. Yesterday evening during my daffodil photo shoot I found myself lying on the straw in the garden with Funny Cat on my tummy getting lots of loves and scratches. And I got to have a Funny Cat photo shoot. Then the mosquitoes started biting and when they started itching I decided I'd better get out of there. Poor Funny, He could sit on my lap all day. This is the first time I'll thank mosquitoes, though. If it hadn't been for them I might not have remembered the cakes and they would have been completely charcoal.






Aw, shucks mom, too many photos. Really, I just caught him mid-groom as he was washing his face.