Weight of the World

Sometimes I just feel like the weight of the world is bearing down on my shoulders.  I'm surprised that a little over a week has past since my last post because it feels more like a month.  I have felt like I should blog but have just not wanted to.  I have had too many other things on my mind.  My time here at Penland should be bucolic, however, the outside world, personal priorities, and family responsibilities don't just disappear like I somehow miraculously thought they would for two months.

Last Monday I had to head back to Asheville for a whirlwind trip home to California to take care of some business.  I tried everything to get out of it, including trying to Skype in to a meeting but no go.  My face was required in person for a one hour meeting.  Sheesh!  It was necessary, productive, and I benefitted from it but it took me all day Tuesday to travel home, I was there on Wednesday and then had to turn right back around and travel back to Asheville and Penland all day Thursday.

By today I finally felt like I was really back into the swing of things in the clay.  Actually better than before.  My back has been killing me for the last three weeks and I just realized tonight that it has hardly bothered me all day.  Last night and today I mixed up glazes and tested about thirty color variations.  We had an experimental cone 6, oxidation, soda firing going today, thanks to my fellow studio assistant and incredible hard worker, James.

I am continuing my exploration in pots that have some kind of movement.  I made these trays before I flew home and finally got around to putting the legs and handles on.  I really like the form and the red clay by themselves.  My idea was to keep them bare, fired clay and then have porcelain cups sitting inside.

Put then I decided to try wrapping my silkscreened design around the wall of the piece.  I'm not sure yet, if I embrace the end result but it is great to try new things.

Ok, as much as I want to update all y'all on everything I simply cannot keep my eyes open which makes seeing what I've written virtually unintelligible.  Does that make sense? Of course not, I'm already asleep.

Have a great week and get lots of sleep!  I'll be needing to catch up, for sure.

A Chapter Closes

I am really not one to ruminate on the stressful things of life even when my current circumstances take up a large percentage of my waking thoughts.  The last three years I have been to hell and back and would be remiss if I did not express how grateful I am that I not only came out of it alive and with my sanity intact but with a greater sense of peace and a deeper understanding of myself and my capabilities.  Making it through has taken a lot of faith, prayer, meditation, and introspection.  I couldn't have made it through without the support of my family, friends, professors, counselors, and my faith.  Oh, and a LOT of dark chocolate!

Three years ago my son was hit by a car while crossing the street to the university on his way to a ballroom dance class.   What followed was a fractured tibia and fibula and four surgeries later to get his leg back to some semblance of normal but with chronic pain.  That was the easy part.  The harder part was the smack to his head that resulted in a moderately traumatic brain injury.  I have resisted mentioning any of this on my blog for numerous reasons including legal and privacy.  But with legal resolutions comes a deep sigh of relief.  One journey is over.  Now another one of continued physical and mental healing for everyone can commence.  The journey is far from over but now we can all focus on more positive aspects of our lives.

As if that event had not been enough, ensuing difficulties in my marriage led to a separation four months after my son's accident and an eventual divorce.  While this was extremely difficult it was necessary for my continued growth as a person and an artist.

So when I look in the mirror every morning and it seems like new patches of grey hair are sprouting exponentially, I can say, " I have earned every one of these grey hairs."

Throughout all of this my crazy, bottle fed as a baby, now twelve year old, cat has been a source of humor and comfort.

I iz writing down your life story.

You put this down here for me, right?

On a much, much lighter note, it was 74 degrees in my yard yesterday!  If that is not crazy I don't know what is.  I took advantage to enjoy the weather and did some clay reclaiming and raked some leftover fall leaves off the lawn.  That's it for now.  Peace out, I am off to go play with some clay and prep my mind for some new adventures!