Update!

Cups ready to be bisqued...

Right now, I'm about to head out for a weekend with my husband to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. We've been together for 10 years but due to some delays in proceedings, we had to put off the wedding until 2005. So, in the mean time, here are some shots of the things I have worked on in the studio. I am working in whatever reclaim is around the studio, mostly porcelain so far, some donated clay from my old school, a brown, cone 10 stoneware in reduction and some purchased Standard 182 with grog stoneware clay with which to experiment. I am working on the horse cups again, plus some buddha cups and playing around with other functional ware. I do have one sculpture that I am making but it's been on hold so far. I am due for days of bisquing in the next week. Temps outside will be in the upper 80's to upper 90's. This will be spectacular. I am so looking forward to this, the weather and the electric bill.

Buddha head.

More horses

The weather has played a huge part in my schedule of late. We seem to have gone from cold and rainy to hot and dry in the space of a week. So much of rural life is dependent on the weather and the windows it provides, you have to take advantage of things while you can. So, now that it's hot and dry, much attention has been paid to plants, garden, fertilizing and H-A-Y. Hay, which must be dealt with, as an unwritten rule of nature, on the hottest, muggiest days summer can muster. And in handling hay, one must don gloves, long sleeves and long pants because otherwise, you'll cut yourself up, big time. So it makes for an incredibly uncomfortable experience that, at the same time, is a necessity. I believe there is a life lesson in all of it. Besides "Jesus, this sucks."

Curvy curves like billowing, crayon clouds.

Footed Mugs

Teapot

When I work, I like to have large blocks of uninterrupted days so that I can let my ideas and motivation flow from one to the next. I absolutely detest appointments and errands that get in the way of that. I know it's just a part of life and it's necessary, but I always find it scatters my thoughts. You would think I'd get the hang of adulthood by now. You would be wrong. I think I like to recreate the happy times as a kid when I would get so absorbed in my artwork and exploration, everything else around me would melt away.

I see you!

Had lunch recently with my stepson. He is an awesome dude. Here is his eye. It a fabulous eye. All you get is an eye as he's a technically still a minor, plus I think he'd freak if I published a picture of him on the internet in public without telling him. Mind you, he's already on Facebook, tagged in photos, with a thousand or so "friends" but that's not the point. So for now, I give you his eye. He and his life story so far, have been an inspiration to me in my artwork. I doubt he knows that but if he reads this, he'll get the picture. Anyway, as a woman who has avoided having children, herself, having this stepson has been an amazing experience. I've learned a lot about myself, him, his father, his mother and also, I've uncovered many things about my relationship to my parents and ultimately, my relationship to me and how I developed, how I became me, as opposed to an extension of my parents. He's taught me about self -awareness as I watch him grapple with it and all the complexities that are, really, rather simple. In many ways, not being a mother has allowed me to observe more fully, without the emotional strings, without the uncut emotional umbilical cord that seems to be prevalent in mother-child relationships. Anyway, kudos to him and his continued journey through life. He's ALL RIGHT!

Succulents bloom!

Pretty!

And a hearty thanks to my friends for house-sitting while me and the husband are enjoying our time together!