Amy Hunt Pottery

Echo

2010-11-16T10:33:00.001-08:00

A quick post and birth announcement, much delayed. Echo Lark Callahan was brought into this world on September 20th with some coaxing, cajoling, and prodding. When that didn't work, we resorted finally to inducement and vacuum suction. At 10 lbs, 6 oz and 22.25", she was no lightweight and is looking about four months old now. Throwing is still not an option, for numerous reasons biological, logistical, and meteorological, but things are slowly being listed once again on etsy. Hooray! And, maybe, painting can start again after the holidays. Once Echo starts having a normal bedtime (other than the newborn standard of eleven o'clock), it should get easier. One would hope! Right now, I'm just looking forward to that time when a little normalcy kicks in, which shouldn't be too long. Echo is a very easy baby, sweet natured and mellow, and has settled right into the family without much fuss or upheaval. Life is happy. And so is Echo.

hiatus turns extended leave

2010-08-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well, this year has gone fast and completely unproductive (as far as pottery goes)! I think I should have expected as much, seeing as I did almost nothing when I was carrying Wren as well. But I did have high hopes. Once I finally got over the first trimester doldrums, I thought I would be back at it and going strong. Little did I know that Mother Nature had a different idea in her mind. Because, precisely when I stopped being ill and flopping about was the time the 90+ temperatures kicked in and have been unrelenting ever since. No kidding, I don't think it's often been below 90 degrees since April, with many of them approaching 100 or above. Add pregnancy to that and it feels like it's about 125 in my studio. No thank you. The only times I've been outside this summer, I have been in a swimming pool. Total weather wimp? Yes, why thank you, I am this year.

The other surprise was how I carried Doughnut, Wren's choice of name for her little sister to be. I went straight out and low very fast, with the rest of me stubbornly staying the same. I had to include one of the lovely pictures my friend Sharon took as a testament to my burgeoning belly. While this may be interesting, visually, it completely destroyed my stomach muscles as soon as I started to show. I've been in the studio twice this summer, only to find it impossible to center with such a weirdly proportioned burden in front. I tried everything, even throwing on my knees, and could not make anything to save my life. Until delivery, I'm afraid my center is pretty skewed.

However, it's been completely worth it and I cannot wait to meet the little creature who has given us such an adventure this year. Which should be soon... I only have two weeks until my due date! And pottery will come back as soon as I get my life balanced again and can fit it into my mommy life with two little beings to care for. I'll try to post as soon as she makes herself known!

hiatus

2010-02-28T11:23:00.001-08:00

Okay, some people may have thought that I have been an awful slacker since Christmas, and they would be right. Except, I have an excellent reason for my lack of interest in pottery production. Well, a couple of reasons. First of which, it has been ungodly cold in these parts lately, with weeks of freezing temperatures and even the occasional appearance of snow! We usually see one slushy event per year if we're lucky, but this year we've had a couple of impressive snowfalls, much to Wren's delight. No point in throwing a bunch of stuff if it's only going to freeze, though, and I haven't felt like schlepping things back and forth from warm house to studio.

Second reason for my winter hiatus was the New Year's day surprise we received:

Yep, we found out that day that we were once again expecting. This time, things seem to be working out a bit better (fingers crossed, elbows kissed, and wood knocked). I'm at twelve weeks right now and the last ultrasound this week showed a healthy looking kicking monkey. I am, needless to say, cautiously thrilled. But, I am also exhausted. It's really been all I can muster just to keep up with daily life, so pottery is taking a bit of a back seat for now. At least until I get some energy back.

Added injury and illness would be the devastating case of bronchitis I came down with this week, which completely floored me, and the horrifying news that one of my family members was life-threateningly ill and in the hospital. This week has been a little much.

Hopefully, I can pull it all back together and get cranking again before I get too huge (and I feel that may be sooner than I'd like to think) or the weather goes straight to hell hot again!

Busy busy busy and stop

2010-01-03T15:23:00.000-08:00

I had a wild couple of weeks before Christmas trying to get everything painted and fired and baked and wrapped and sent and... Christmassesd. So, I'm cutting myself a bit of slack now and falling into a bit of burnout phase again. You know, sinking into the couch in front of the fire and knitting. Instead of braving the 30 degree highs and getting out into the studio. But, hand building may actually be accomplished this week. Maybe. We've got a new challenge for the mud team, a kiln god swap. Let's see if I can pull it together before the 18th...

Sooo, you may wonder, what kinds of things did you make for friends and family this year? That's the fun of Christmas, making new things and patterns up for my loved ones. For my precious child I made the half sized mug:

And the tiny starry tea set:

For my sister, the fetishghost inspired footed pedestal cup:

For my mom, the soup mug:

For my sis in law, the night garden mug:

Hopefully, everything will be enjoyed and used. Wren has already been loving her new Wren mug for the purpose of hot chocolate. I'm just hoping that it warms up enough that we can resume our walks around the neighborhood soon! Nothing like taking a long walk and coming home to fire in the fireplace and a nice mug of cocoa. I'm about as dull as dishwater right now, so will write again when I find my normal wittiness.

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

Something that makes sense will be written soon, but now is the time for gingerbread and wrapping packages, hot chocolate and stories by the fire. It is warm and lovely in my house by the tree, and smells of cookies, and songs are sung about the snow we almost never see here. I still can't remember the words after the five gold rings. But the air is crackling with excitement.

new things all around me

2009-11-13T13:53:00.000-08:00

This has been a busy busy busy couple of months. Full of great changes and adjustments. We're just rolling with it. For the most part. Sometimes, I try to stop rolling with it and then it rolls me over and I flop and flail around for a bit until I can get back with it and start rolling again. Does that make any sense?

Anywhoo. We'll start with Ian's new job. Ian had been with Pier 1 forever. Or, at least for 13 years. So, when the opportunity arose, he finally felt it was time to move on. He started with GE in the middle of September, which involved a lot of out of town training for about 6 weeks. Needless to say, I didn't have a lot of time to get pottery done. I was mostly trying to keep Wren as happy as she could be, considering she thought he had left us. I had shows right in the middle of this period as well, so I was killing myself trying to get things made in time while Wren was sleeping. Well, we all know how those turned out. Ahem. So I had enough made to let me relax for awhile. Be burnt out for a bit. Knit things in my spare time. But, I'm back to it now. Really! I've got something quite exciting in the works, which will be unveiled soon. It involves a new shape. hee hee!

Ian decided to sheet rock my studio this week, which was super exciting. I'll have walls! I'll have a ceiling!!! I'll be able to heat the place effectively! He went and got all of the supplies on Sunday, so Wren and I made sure we had a place to put the sheet rock. I helped unload all thirty sheets of it from the truck and realized I might not be the greatest of helpers. I'm a trooper at working, but if someone's going to drop a corner of the stuff on their hand or get injured, I'm the one. Poor Ian.

We had to move things around quite a bit so that he could get to the walls as well. Wren ordered me to make a horse as we were moving and cleaning. A horse? I'm no handbuilder or sculptor, but I managed to work one out. She gave him many wild rides on the banding wheel until he took one to many spills and his head fell off. Poor horse.

She did make herself useful with the shop vac, though. Well, she did make herself loud with the shop vac, at least. Poor Wren.

Finally, I managed to get my new website up and running. I thought that it was a thing of beauty. As long as you pull it up in internet explorer. Otherwise, it's a messy mess. Or so I've heard. Actually, my friend Pam was kind enough to catalogue and e-mail me examples of the messy mess. Ouch. Oh well, check it out: www.amyhuntpottery.com!

show is me.

2009-09-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

Well, this was my first big show back, at the Matthews Art Fest, and I hope that it was just a cursed show and the economy isn't as crap as we all fear. Do not get me wrong, this is usually a great show to do. But all possible elements got together and conspired to make it absolutely ridiculously bad in many ways. Let' s get the bad out so we can get to the good.

First of all, the weather was unbelievably silly on Saturday. It's been 80 degrees most of the time lately, but Saturday we were suddenly transported to some harsher, colder, and wetter climate. It never got above 65 and kept a steady mist or drizzle going much of the day. Everything was damp, business cards curling inward, price stickers freeing themselves from earthly bonds, and sudden rivulets cascading down back and cleavage from the tops of the tents. We shivered in the dreary moistness and had fantasies of soup. Lucky me, there was a Thai place right where we were, so I got a steaming fiery plate of tofu, veggies, and cashew nuts courtesy of my loving husband. Sharon got the same thing upon seeing mine, minus the fiery. Then we almost came to impolite conversation when we started discussing the herb that was in our food. It was thai basil, Sharon, really it was. We actually had some customers, which made it hopeful. My display looked good, despite the craziness I went through to get it that way. Thursday was ridiculously busy, with running to pick up pots from Lark and Key, then going to lunch with Wren, then going to pick up printing supplies to do cards and bios, then going home and painting display boxes in the kitchen as she slept, then getting a card from my neighbor at 6:30 that she had lost my tablecloth for my third table, then running to the fabric store and trying to find a perfect match, then getting home and realizing that the white material was much too white, then tea staining the white material, then staying up until 1:00 am sewing another damnable tablecloth. [pant pant pant] I need to go back further, don't I? To the part about Ian being out of town all week and me having to pull all of my wax and glaze supplies into the house and setting up an impromptu glaze room in the kitchen to avoid getting killed in my studio at working night by myself since I had to get two firings done in one week. [pant pant pant] Ummm... and I'm done. Yes, the setup looked good. So good, in fact, that it won an award for best booth display! Yes, there was a lovely purple ribbon and a nice cushy check that went along with that honor! Yay for efforts getting rewarded!

Sunday was absolutely beautiful, sunny and warm with a lovely breeze. Though, not too much breeze that I feared the plates would come down. But where were the customers? [insert sound of crickets here] Not in my booth. Not in anyone else's, either. No, they were at the two other festivals that were occurring at the same blooming time. Matthews Art Fest, I love you so. Can you please switch to a different weekend? This one has gotten so full. I had two sales all day. Ouch. I did make three really great trades, though. One was a meditating lady for a fantastic om necklace. The other was a vase for a mug from Valerie Hawkins, who was taking lessons from the studio when I was apprenticing. Her things have grown into something gorgeous. Way to use a leaf impression, Valerie! At the end of the day, she traded me again, two cups for two cups, so I could give something to my best friend, sitting beside me coveting my mug all day. Hey, I am a unrepentant trader, not a ruthless one. My spoils:

And finally, I managed to finish this huge beastie before the show. It only took about three weeks to do. It is heavy as all get out, when compared to the rest of my stuff. But, I love it. And have put a swooningly high price tag on it. Because I can. And will probably not make another like it any time soon. I think...

Of apple pie and new things...

2009-09-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

I, for some reason, have suddenly jumped into a few shows coming up in the next month. Which gives me very little time to get ready. Good thing I was already making things for Christmas, because I'm now deep in a festival of painting. Lots of painting. Tiny painting. Hee hee! So, whoever lives nearby or will be in NC can check me out at the Matthews Art Fest on the 26th and 27th of this month. I will be right beside the gazebo alongside my very dearest friend, photographer extraordinaire Sharon Augustyniak.

All these preparations and custom orders have put me on a fast schedule of firing, the latest of which finished last night. I put myself to the test of getting the latest mud team challenge entry finished and barely made it. I was taking pictures at eleven thirty last night and sweating bullets trying to think of something clever to say about a sake set. Clever doesn't come easily at certain times of day. Clever was woefully absent last night. I really liked how the set came out, though!

I had a few other things come out that were new and turned out well. I had done a treasury for etsy awhile back that featured yunomis, little drinking cups, and got inspired. Also, I have been doing large wide bowls with elaborately tall and sweeping bases. Put the two together, and this is what you get:

I also did a tiny tea set, inspired by Wren always wanting "Wren-sized things". She gets so excited about finding things that fit her perfectly, so I think she'll be getting a tea set this Christmas. Of course, I asked her which pattern she liked best, and she chose the night garden. Figures!

Speaking of the night garden, I managed to finish a ridiculously time consuming plate in that pattern to put in this firing and was so proud when I opened the kiln and saw how it came out.

Until I looked at it from the side and saw the warping. Oops.

Oh well. And finally, this week I made my first apple pie. You may be looking at me askance and thinking, why did it take you thirty-four years to bake an apple pie, but I do not come from an apple pie family. I came from a pecan pie family. Or strawberry in the summer. Wren and I went apple picking at a local farm and had a lot of questionable apples. Questionable because she picked all of them in about five minutes with me running after her with a camera. It was a photographable moment, but we didn't get the nicest apples. And, ever since we had a peach tree in our yard that I decided to sample from, I have a fear of nature in my fruit. Never again will I bite directly into a piece of fruit not from the grocery store. Ugh. Cutting first, please. Which led me to the idea of a pie. However, another reason I have never made an apple pie is, I don't really like them. Well, I do now. I did the whole thing, from the crust to the apples and it was delicious. In case you are mentally accusing me of type-A-ism, I was going to use a store bought crust, but they are full of lard and that freaks me out. And, I found, pie crusts are no harder to make than biscuits are and so much more delicious than the things from the frozen depths of the store. Behold the beautiful results. Yum!

Huffing and puffing and stretching...

2009-09-03T14:40:00.001-07:00

I came to realization not long ago that I actually have shows coming up. And Christmas. And custom orders that I must get done. After the initial hyperventilating, I got to it. I started off trying to get a few more mugs churned out and actually tried throwing without my trusty ruler. I'm trying to get away from my production roots just a bit and decided that one way to do that is to just throw. Oh, now, you know that my anal retentive little soul wouldn't let me just rip off a chunk of clay and start going. No, no, no I still weighed the pieces and wedged them up before I started. Of course, they came out pretty much the same shape and size within a half inch. Hey, I tried.

I did get inspired through a video another potter shared on the etsy mud team forum, though, to actually use the tools I have. Here's the video of fellow potter Cory Lum throwing a gigantuan bowl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QND6UoG5lTA . I have to have everything just right, clay wise, to throw a giant bowl or things get ripply and ridgey and collapsy. I started a relatively sizable bowl today of about 6 pounds and had my doubts on it's success due to a softer reclaimed clay. Yep, the ridging and rippling and collapsing started trying to happen until I used the force and called upon the power of Cory Lum. And picked up a metal flexible potter's rib. And used it. It worked! Nice even curved sides! No collapsing! No ridginess! For those of you who have actually seen me work, you know I keep three things on my table: sponge, pointy stick, and needle tool. I actually use the sponge and the pointy stick. Sometimes a wooden rib comes in for the big 'uns. Adding a new tool to my repertoire is a big girl step for me. Hooray hooray hooray!

Did I say reclaimed clay? Yes, I did. Because I've been working through my bags of recycling slowly but surely. I'm so proud of myself. Especially since all of the spiders have fled to that area and like to poke their heads out menacingly when I come too close. I have a particularly heavy bat that I keep near to throw just in case one of them decides they can take me. Does this go against everything I believe? Hmm... some of those boogers can jump.

And, finally, I got the surprise of my week by winning the latest mud team challenge, which was a bottle challenge. I painted it with the completely ridiculously time consuming new pattern I invented for my big pots, which is a chrysanthemum swirl star pattern with a black background. Here it is hanging out with a fellow pot:

The other entries were so fantastic, I did not think I had a chance of winning, so the whole thing was flooring. Next challenge is a sake set, but I don't know how to top that last pattern! Hmm...

bigger and bigger and bigger and pop!

2009-08-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been fun and excitement all around lately. I had my first real custom orders on etsy this past week, including the most awesome description ever. This woman included a full page thesis of the bowls she wanted, complete with links to examples, measurements, and a scale drawing of a side and aerial view of the bowl using a photo from my shop. Awesome. So much easier to make something when you have plans like that. She had a great idea for noodle bowls, too. They may become a staple of what I make. The other will be my first international order, also really exciting!

I finished my largest piece to date today, which is standing at about 30". It's neck got a little lean-y, but otherwise it's pretty cool. If I say so myself. The coil and throw thing is definitely getting easier, it just takes really precise timing. And lots of patience. And luck. And the planets aligning and a big one legged hoodoo dance while burning sage.

I will not include a picture of me with the pot. Why, you ask? Is it because you are so shiny and unwell looking, Amy? I will tell you. Yes, I am. Because it's as hot as hell in a microwave with 5000% humidity. Remember all of that whinging about the cold studio? Well, same song, different lyrics. Here's what the kiln that I was loading today told me about the indoor temperature situation:

I'm thinking about trading my throwing chair for a block of ice!

The things that go bump.. rustle... growl...

2009-07-07T13:27:00.000-07:00

I am not afraid of spiders. I'm not. I used to be, but got over it. The studio where I apprenticed was an old building, and in the spring all of the little baby spiders would start hatching and spinning down out of the rafters. Well, I was doing production work and making 100 bowls a day, so there was no time to jump up and run around like a loon every time a few of them would ramble down your head, shoulders, or nose. Yes, I would have to stop if a sizable one plopped into my work, but other than that, just a lot of puffing at them to try to make the tickling stop. This studio is another story. We rousted the place last week in anticipation of new students, cleaning and reorganizing from top to bottom. Even got the bathtub out of there (hooray!). I never dreamed of the beasts that lurked. Forget my love of all living things, Ian, spray the heck out of that room!!! And I say this, not because of the wolf spider we uncovered that had a body as large as my thumb. The frigging thing growled at me, I could have sworn. It said, "go away!" We threw it outside, where you could hear it rustling as it ran through the tall grass of the field next door. The field, as Wren told me yesterday, which is full of snakes and poop. !?!?!? No, no, that son of aragog did not warrant a full room spraying. It was this beauty and his many kin that got the sprayer out:

just about life size

Yup. The place was and is a black widow haven. One look at the wiki page on the southern black widow and I was done. Neurotoxins and toddlers don't mix. I now have a fear of putting my hand under my chair and finding one of these attached to my finger. Shudder. I used to be afraid of the brown recluse, simply because I have no idea what they really look like. But, no, these things just look like they are going to take you down. And they can. Sprayer, don't fail me now.

my beautifully cleaned up studio

On a positive note, I am loading up the first finished painted giant pot and am working on the second as fast as I can. I'll give you a hint on the second, because it's a marvel. Reverse vine pattern. And I said it couldn't be done. Let me tell you, it won't be done on anything smaller than this, because it's a mental boggler. It has to be done almost entirely freehand, unlike most of my black background pots which I draw out the entire pattern before I start. I am so excited.

the first of the giant pots to be painted

I have reached a point in my big pot voyage where I can throw taller than I can fire, my kiln only being 26.5 inches deep. In desperation, I decided today to apply to the Arts and Science Council for a new kiln grant. I'll be working on this until the deadline, trying to make my case. I really do want to make huge, elaborately painted pots and have a big exhibition. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can make this happen. Otherwise, you're going to see me riding down the road with a three foot tall pot on my lap, praying that I don't chip it before I can get somewhere that can accommodate it. Urgh.

Spider Holocaust and Other Tales of Glazing Woe

2009-06-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned before that I loathe the glaze? Do not enjoy it. It is, undeniably, the part of my creation process that will mess a pot up faster than you can say, "WHY?!?!?" So, it makes me a bit nervous. And cranky. And anal retentive.

So, today, I had to glaze, seeing as how Pam is driving all the way over here to pick up a gargantuan flower pot. It would be nice if there was one finished, I thought. This involved mixing up more glaze, though. I had a big 50 lb bag of dry glaze that just needed water and a good sieving, so I set to it. Snapped on the respirator, got the buckets ready, and commenced dumping a pile of it into bucket one. Through the dust cloud, I poured an amount of water into the bucket and started mixing. As the dust settled, I had a what the hell moment. I thought that my giant whisk had gotten grass stuck in it or something, but more and more of it started floating up to the top. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was spiders. All sizes. Lots of them, and by lots I mean dozens. I guess I hadn't sealed up the bag tight enough and they had colonized the area. I felt horrible, being a true trap and release person at heart, but there was nothing to do about it. They were gone. Good thing I was wearing gloves, because the sieving process left a significant pile of spider parts that I hadn't scooped out. No picture here, I really didn't want to share. You're welcome.

I will share a picture of my latest proud creation, the mystical pizza stone. Some bugs to work out on this one before I sell them, but it turned out gorgeous. Story behind this one: Ian and I got a pizza stone for him with our wedding gift cards that he loved using. I didn't use it much because it was always getting pepperoni grease in it which made my vegetarian stomach turn. Not that it would have hurt anything, just kind of freaked me out. So, in Ian's mind, I hated the pizza stone. Fast forward to when we were selling our last house. I had to keep the house in showing order at all times because we were constantly getting people coming in and out. It was right after Christmas and I had made my usual batch of cookies, which were stored in a giant tupperware box on the counter. Someone called first thing in the morning for a showing and I started scurrying about trying to tidy up. I was trying to make sure nothing superfluous was on the counter, so I threw the cookie box in the oven. Weeeelllll, later that day Ian fired that thing up to pizza temperature without peeking in and we started to get fumed out. Yep, that box had melted, making a plastic-y oven rack/pizza stone/cookie sculpture you wouldn't believe. Of course, I had sabotaged the pizza stone on purpose. To make it up to him, this anniversary I tried throwing a pizza stone. Had a great time painting it with a man in the moon pattern and fired two of them (just in case). Good thing, too, because the one that I gave to him did this upon first baking. Nothing like picking shards out of dinner.

The second has held up through numerous pizza bakings, so I think it was just a fluke. Actually, I think I did something a little stupid in the firing and stressed it out unduly. I am not telling what. That's between me and the kiln. Anywhoo, here's the finished result. The jury's out on whether there will be another made to sell...

go big

2009-04-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have been fascinated with people who could throw big ever since I tried my first pot. I especially marvelled at women who could throw big, and have held my mom-in-law's good friend Gen Groesbeck as a paragon of throw-ability. She can throw HUGE amounts at one time, then coils and throws until I could hide in the damn thing standing up. And they are thin. See, I've always focused on thin walls and as close to perfect form as I can get. Big never happened. Until now.

My dear friend Pam commissioned me to make a gargantuan flower pot for her orange tree, so I set to it, sitting at my wheel with my little 7 pounds of clay, thinking that I was going to work it out. Well, it worked me out. And it never got even close to being gargantuan, no matter how thin I pulled it. Boy, did I have some fantabulous blow-outs! Until I decided to try the whole coil and throw method. Behold the result:

There's nothing like this method for giving you the feeling of riding a bike successfully for the first time. That whole, "I'm up! I'm up! Oh crap, I'm going to lose it! No, no, I'm good! I'm going to make it! There it goes, crap crap crap, no no I"M OKAY!" My first two pieces were riddled with air bubbles, often threatened to wobble, and sometimes did for a bit. They are nowhere near perfect, but boy, were they satisfying.

Until the vase ate my head.

No, just kidding. That would be my husband's sense of humor and mighty photography skills. Remember while looking at these pictures that I am not a small woman, just in case you think they look perhaps not as gargantuan as I let on. I used to be almost a six footer, before child birth took it's toll (yes, it made me shrink a whole inch!). Anywhoo, finished my last mizuko, and am feeling much better about life in general now that we've all had a turn in the hospital. Yes, the plague of bad luck got Ian as well, but he is feeling much more human now. That should be my motto for now: Feeling Much More Human Lately. Well, now I'm just looking forward to making the perfect gargantuan super sensational rock star vase soon. Yep, just as soon as my local clay supplier gets it together and gets more clay in [ahem]. So... tired... of... recycling.

mizuko and miscellany

2009-03-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

I was about to just write a post that said meh! I don't have time for this. And it would be true. But... I'm sticking with it. Not even going to try to catch up, but I will say that Christmas was great. We sported watery sniffling noses, but had good spirits and great times. Etsy worked well for me until the shipping cut off date, when all the sales mysteriously dwindled to a thumping screeching halt. Insert sound of wind and scuttling tumbleweeds here.

I had a fantastic success with my first Etsy Mud Team challenge by winning the valentine's vase challenge. I was relatively kerflummoxed by it, but really really pleased. It was based on a papercut valentine I did for Ian years ago, when I had a job with a LOT of down time. This year, I made him the only existing super large valentine's mug, with some hot chocolate to go inside.

The rest of 2009 has been, um, how shall I put this? Oh yeah, crap. Going into the personal here, which I normally try not to do, but has to do with pottery so I'm going forward. We found out that we were expecting a new little one in January, much to our excitement. Then, much to our distress, we lost the little one at 6 weeks. We had lost a baby before Wren at 6 weeks as well, so it wasn't out of our realm of experience, but still very hard. I tried to find something to help me wrap my head around the whole thing and ended up finding something online about mizuko, which are little statues that parents in Japan place at shrines to memorialize unborn children. Now, I don't subscribe to the rest of this thinking, and actually find buddhist thought that these children have to do penance in the underworld for the pain that they have caused their parents very disturbing. However, I liked the idea of a little memorial and set to making two of my own, a kind of healing process in it's own right. I took great care with the throwing and painting, and would have felt a great relief when I unloaded them from their final firing had I not had another great kick in the pants from mother nature. Actually, on the day I unloaded them.

I had just finished a class with Michaela and wanted to finish throwing a set of plates for us to use. Yes, I have never made myself dishes because anything I take enough time to handpaint, I need to sell. But I finally found a glaze and clay body combination that rocked me, so I set to it. To those who do not know me well, I am not a mad glaze chemist. Hate trying new colors. Hate mixing them up and hoping they turn out right. Hate the whole guessing game. This is a huge step for me. Anywhoo... I digress. As I was throwing, I started to feel strange. My back hurt, and it felt like the pain was going straight through to the front. I just felt really off, so I threw eight as fast as I could and went inside. Well, things went downhill from there, with the pain getting worse. I called my doctor who thought it was a kidney stone and told me to take some painkillers and see him on Monday morning. I had a really rough night, with the pain not letting up and even going into my chest, then awoke to another positive pregnancy test. I called my girl doctor, really freaking out and she told me that the pain was probably unrelated and to see her on Monday morning. Hmm... I sense a theme. I digested that for about and hour, then took myself to an urgent care, where the doctor told me to come back on Monday morning. Just kidding. He wouldn't touch me. He sent me directly to the hospital. So, I got my mom to come up to take care of Wren and drove to the hospital. After a bunch of tests, they found that I was bleeding internally and rushed me to surgery. I had an ectopic pregnancy which had ruptured and pretty much shredded my left fallopian tube. This week has been healing and trying to get a grip on everything that happened. I feel much better, even went out and loaded the kiln and threw today. Which made me wonder if something about throwing, the way I was using my muscles and such, contributed to the rupture. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. Right now, I'm off to make another mizuko.

Indian Summer and the Crash of Fall

2008-11-20T18:36:00.000-08:00

We've been revelling in fall and all of it's really good things lately. To start, Halloween this year was the first time that Wren could actually participate. We didn't go all out, seeing as she isn't even two yet, but did let her go to a few houses around. She is now mad about candy, as seen here clutching packages of dots like she's won an award.

We were actually surprised by the lack of trick-or-treaters in our new neighborhood. It seems everyone goes downtown on Halloween in this part of Concord. Oh well, more dots for us.

We've had a beautiful Indian Summer, where we frolicked outside to our heart's content, basking in the sunshine and taking walks to the grocery. I was in painting mode, so I didn't get to spend as much time throwing as I would have liked. I did get an amazing amount of stuff finished , even if it did mean staying up until the wee hours waxing and glazing. I actually did a firing on Halloween (which worried my little superstitious heart) and it turned out beautifully, despite an agonizingly long firing time. Yes, I had the thing jammed with plates and packed to the hilt. Then came the cold again. I didn't have to look at the kiln to know that winter is right around the corner. That would be 37 degrees inside the studio.

I'm relatively tough if I have a bucket of hot water and a space heater, I can handle it down to freezing if need be. This past week has tested my limits, though, and taught me a thing or two. If I wasn't such a dingbat, I would have been able to puzzle this out before I wasted a day of throwing. I spent Tuesday making dinnerware sets and was so proud of myself, never thinking that there might be trouble if the highs were only in the 40's. I put myself to bed without a care in my head, went out the next morning to tragedy and massacre. Guess what happens to wet pots if the temps get down to 18 degrees? Give you a hint: ice does horrible things to most everything.

I was actually impressed by the destruction after I had some time to get over it. Hey, every day's a new lesson, right? Anyway, one thing that I had tried on the day of great freezing that was so much fun was Christmas ornaments. I had forgotten how much I liked to throw wacky shapes for kicks when I was apprenticing until I stumbled upon this idea. Of course, most of the ones I tried were broken up or had a weird scaly, almost furry surface, so I ran out today while Wren was napping and tried again. I got about ten of them done before she awoke and felt completely refreshed. Nothing like a completely non-functional goofy challenge to put a new perspective on your working life. Of course, mugs are going to seem such a chore now. sigh...

I ran into the house and scooped her up, took her outside before it got really cold again, and had a blast raking leaves. I made huge piles for her to jump in (leaf piles are meant to be jumped in with wild abandon and anyone who would deny a baby that is just wrong), and found a bounty of nuts underneath. I now have an entire Trader Joe's bag full of pecans, and there are still plenty on the trees. I sent a bag home with my mom today, begging her to shell some and promising many more to come. Finding them is better than a daily Easter egg hunt, but shelling them is a different story. Especially with so much to throw and so much to knit!

cold, inspiration, and the pursuit of the white squirrel

2008-10-23T18:19:00.000-07:00

I'm always amazed at the suddenness of fall in North Carolina. It will be 85 degrees for an eternity, then wham! It's freezing and breezy without warning, usually right before Halloween. Although, there have been a few where I've been handing out treats barefoot. This past week or so, the cold has come upon us with a snap, forcing me to drag out the space heater and fill buckets with hot water to try to stave off the inevitable chapped knuckles. My studio is unheated, uninsulated, and very charming with it's open rafters and visible daylight at the join of the roof and the walls. It's excellent to hear bird songs in. A bit worrisome when I think of trying to fire up the kiln when it's that cold, though.

I'm a girl that gets into her groove and stays there a long time. I find shapes I like, designs I like, and stick with them with very subtle evolutions. Lately though, I've been getting new ideas and inspiration like crazy. The latest few have come zinging in from etsy, since I bucked up and joined their clay group (clap clap clap). I'm also not good at joining things, so this is a big step. They have all of these events and challenges which just make my brain go nuts. I'm not used to being challenged, but I like it. Not going to try a holiday pitcher, seeing as I can pull of neither holiday nor pitcher effectively. The valentine's vase has really set me going, though. I actually tried to alter a form last night. Note to self: practice altering forms. You suck at it. Good try, keep going. I've got to go get to it again now that Wren's asleep. I actually have deadlines to meet right now and must turn out some mugs for galleries asap. My work, cut out for me:

One of the more interesting wildlife in our neighborhood are the tribe of white squirrels. They're the only ones I've ever seen in this area, and looking at them one cannot imagine how they can survive predators being so visible. One has taken up residence in our yard and I cannot for the life of me get a good picture of him. Actually, due to six huge pecan trees in our yard, most of the squirrels in the world are either camping out or living with us. Here's a sad attempt at capturing his likeness:

Must run, either to paint mugs or a set of butterfly wings. Or both...

new respect

2008-10-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

I definitely have a new respect for photographers, web designers, and those who have the kind of brain that understands computer talk this week. Seeing as how my help went to the beach this week, I got the kiln loaded (packed slam full, you may say) and decided to work on some technical things.

The first was to redesign my web page. The first one had a great concept, but was, how shall we say, technically challenged. I did it in Publisher, a great program with which to design brochures and fliers. Websites though? Perhaps not. Ian wanted me to try Dreamweaver, which was great but completely user unfriendly. I use the stumble blindly around mashing buttons form of learning new software. Dreamweaver is not suitable for this kind of thinking. Frontpage, however, was designed specifically for this dunderheaded technique. I managed to recreate my original idea and it turned out fabulous-ish. If I say so myself. There's one picture that's gone awol, but I'll find it and slap it back in. Later.

I also needed new pictures of my pots, both for my website and for etsy. Ian suggested that I make a light box so I would have a controlled environment to shoot. Great idea. I could have it in the studio, so I could shoot things right after they come out of the kiln. I'd use the same lighting and background, so they'd all look the same. Brilliant. I found instructions on how to do this really effectively online at http://www.studiolighting.net/homemade-light-box-for-product-photography/. So I made my version, set up some clamp lights, and took a bazillion pictures. I ran inside, downloaded them, and sat down to a bunch of yellow pictures. Gross. I called photographer friend Jeff McCullough, who pointed out that most digital cameras have an auto correct feature, instead of buying fancy light bulbs. Upon the first attempt of stumbling and mashing buttons (oh yes, this technique spans all technology in my life) I found a tungsten setting. Mashed it and POOF! Instant daylight in the camera. No more yellow. Ha Ha! So I set to work taking many many pictures of many many pots at every different angles. Wow. Photography is hard work. Get up, move pot, sit down, look through, move camera, take picture, repeat ad nauseum. I was sweating by the end of it and my body was tired in about three different major areas. But boy, were my brain and eyes satisfied! And the light box is going to be so useful! Yay!

Progress!

2008-10-05T12:15:00.001-07:00

Okay, a lot has been going on and this poor little blog has been woefully neglected. I will make up for it now, but no pictures until new batteries arrive.

Let's start with Garden Grove. We showed up and it was a very cool garden center in Huntersville, tent already set up and everyone else in place. I think we were a little late, but they were very understanding. It was awesome to see Dean again and admire his new work and his great new workshop. You have to go visit him out there, his work has only gotten more incredible. Good to see his wife, Karin, and their two little ones as well. They were so calm and well behaved. I can't imagine Wren lasting through a long day like that. Which reminds me, that was the first day that I had been away from her for more than a few hours. It was good for both of us. The day was great, very relaxed, nice people to talk to plenty of wine and cheese thanks to Shelton Vineyard and the cheese shop in Huntersville. Couldn't have asked for a better start back! Talking to Dean, I was reminded to contact Drew at Wooden Stone to set up a meeting.

I had met Drew before he opened the gallery, at a Blowing Rock show, and we had never quite gotten together. Actually, my insecurities got the better of me and I thought he wasn't interested. But, I gave him a call, set up a meeting and went out there last week. Wow! What a place. I was almost intimidated to bring my work out. It was very positive, though, and I'm making lots of mugs and platters for him as we speak. It's nice to have that kind of person to deal with, he asked questions that I had never thought about, made observations that caused me to really think about my work and process, and best of all, he made me want to try new things. Better things. Really exciting things. I can't wait to start playing around.

Etsy brought another good surprise with an e-mail from Anne at the Green Goat in Salisbury. I met with her the week after the Garden Grove show, and had a really nice meeting. She was very cool, and had a great space that was part gallery, part yoga studio (the Blue Ewe). She didn't roll her eyes at Wren's antics, was fun to talk to, and had a very good vibe. I'm looking forward to working with her as well.

I'm trying to re-work my website right now with a different program and it's turning out really well! All I need right now is new pottery shots and I'll be about ready to launch it. Which means I need to go get materials to make a light box. Ian pointed out that we need something to put together so that we can just click pictures as soon as I make things and not have a lot of setting up and drama. Good point. I'll let you know how that works out... oh. And navigation. The program I'm using is trying to think a little too much for me as far as navigation goes, so I've got to figure out how to sneak around it's formatting. Hmm...

I can't resist adding some Wren news. It's been fun being able to take her out to the studio once in awhile and let her poke at clay piles. She likes to put tiny little pinches together, piling them on top of each other until there's a big mound. We had family clay time last week, with Ian making grotesques, Wren pinching and piling, and me throwing. I'm trying to convince Ian to collaborate with me on some pieces and add his little gremlins, but he is balking now that I've actually thrown something for him to try. Hmph. Wren surprised us all last night with the discovery of a bean in her nose. We had been planting them last week after watching PBS, and apparently she went back and "planted" one in her nose. Let me tell you, a dried pinto bean becomes a different creature once it's been a nose for three days. I thought she had a head cold! The emergency room handled it with good humor, a nose hook, and plenty of manpower. Poor Wren!

show me... etsy!

2008-09-10T11:49:00.000-07:00

Alright, I have taken my first steps towards actually selling something that I make by creating an etsy shop. You can now find and buy my things at amyhuntpottery.etsy.com. Hopefully, it will be a positive experience and I'll connect with some great new people! And, hopefully, it will be worth the time you have to put into posting a listing. Whoo! Taking and formatting pictures, writing descriptions, trying to calculate postage. It's enough to make a girl cranky.

Now, Wren's asleep so I need to do some serious work to get ready for the Garden Grove show on the 20th. The kiln's going, the creative juices flowing, the time's running out... gotta go!

teaching and making faces

2008-09-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in awhile, but honestly I've been too busy to have a coherent thought. I have, however, had two more successful glaze firings. Definitely getting back into the groove of things, not feeling as scared about the way things will turn out. Now it's back into my throwing cycle. It's really hard, because I learned as a production potter so I want to make each form as uniform as possible, letting the variations come in the painting. However, I never seem to write down the measurements of anything as I'm throwing, so it's a guessing game each time I get into it again. Mugs, for example. The ones that I just finished were actually thrown and bisque fired right when I became pregnant. Two years ago. Now I'm trying to throw and thinking... was that 4 inches high originally... or 4.5... okay it wasn't five... damn. I'll figure it out. And will start a list of sizes. Eventually. Right now, it is very satisfying to have my cupboards full of unmeasured pots.

I am, however, getting extremely organized as I get ready to start my online Etsy store. I've got a code system, am making spreadsheets, labeling all of the pots that are going online, and taking mass quantities of pictures. And formatting mass quantities of pictures. God save my eyes, as I'm going completely blind trying to get them just the right size and brightness and, well, you can see where I'm going. OCD city.

I am letting loose and getting back into making face planters recently. I used to make them when I was apprenticing, made about three and have never wanted to let them go. However, I had forgotten how much fun it can be. So, there will be more. Because my house cannot support any more, they will be for sale. Really. Maybe I'll get my whimsical side out for good and really let go!

Yesterday I had an e-mail in my box from stone carver extraordinaire Dean Reganess, asking that I be a part of his show this month. Thank goodness I've been hustling, because I am ready! It should be cool, it's a day and night of Old World Art. Wine and cheese, tent already set up, Celtic music. Sounds just about perfect. Look for me on the 20th at Garden Grove in Huntersville. Also, there will be a silent auction to benefit Hindsfeet Farm, an organization to help those with traumatic brain injuries. Seeing as Ian has epilepsy from a head trauma, I will be making something really nice.

And finally, today I had my very first student, Michaela. She's 13 and is home-schooled, so morning classes work just fine for her. I've got to say, I was impressed. She was really mature, focused, and strong as all get out. She managed a bowl and pitcher set before her time was up and actually tried pulling a handle. I have to admit, I really enjoyed teaching. I can't wait until I get more students. I'm beat, though. It's a lot easier just throwing than trying to help someone else do it!

at last!

2008-08-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

I have finally completed a whole load of pots! Oh, there was gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands as all of the most horrible kiln opening moments of my life flashed before my eyes. There was panic when I dipped the mugs an glaze and tiny cracks appeared in the wax, making me think that they would have a background of spidery crazed lines. There was the agony of worry when I dipped the last things to go in the kiln, the saucers, and realized that the glaze may have been mixed too thin when it was breaking over the lip. Visions of thinly glazed mugs danced through my head as I tried to decide whether or not to unload the whole shebang and dip again. But, upon peeking at 500 degrees (I couldn't wait!), a whole top row of beautifully shiny saucers and magnets greeted me! Of course, I was sure at that same moment I heard the faint yet unmistakable sound of a bowl splitting in half and resting on the mugs surrounding it. Did I mention I have been traumatized by a bad batch of clay? Yet, when the batch finally cooled enough for me to dig down to the next layer, I found the first big bowl fully intact and had heart. Well, at least enough courage to leave the rest in until we got back from my mom's birthday celebration where we enjoyed the cake that Wren and I made, a dark chocolate raspberry that was almost not right it was so good.

We got home relatively late, as far as babies are concerned, and Wren was floppy asleep. I hurried her into the house, wrestled her into her pajamas, and tucked her into bed where she promptly said, "oh, kitties" and fell back asleep. Then I got back to the kiln as fast as I could. I've always said that kiln unloading can either be Christmas or Halloween. It can be like getting the best presents ever one after another, or it can be aaaack-oh-no-aaack shelf after shelf. This batch was Christmas. I only had two magnets get inexplicably stuck to the kiln shelves in spots (they weren't even glazed!) to mar the delight of things turning out well! The graduating class:

Now, to figure out etsy and give that a whirl. Oh! I have my first student starting the first of September! I was so excited, I got out in the studio and gave it a good cleaning and a good cleaning out, removing the last of the garage items that were still lingering about. Now, if I can only get someone to buy the walk-in jacuzzi bathtub so we can get that out!

I may finish something soon... and I give a fig.

2008-08-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

The past week or so has been a lot of drawing, painting, and getting ready to start glaze firing. Ahh.. glazing... how I never loved you. I promise as a budding young potter and apprentice, I was fascinated by glazing. I read everything I could on formulas. I mixed until I could mix no longer. I mixed Kim's tried and true recipes for his studio use, and tried to strike out on my own with often disastrous results. Finally, I settled upon the whole let's-just-leave-the-clay-bare-and-paint-it method and used a trusty black to make it food safe. And glossy. I think clay by itself is often amazing in it's fired beauty, and the speckly kind I use is particularly satisfying. And trustworthy. Most of the time. I'm onto you, Standard Clay.

Today, I actually mixed up a bucket of (non-frothing) glaze and pitched in on a few pieces. I started off with the big platters to get them safely out of the way and fired. I also started with them because they've always been a little difficult for me and I wanted to start with the hardest first. It was surprisingly not difficult, not the mixing and straining, not the actual glazing, nor the wiping down. Maybe it's being a mom that makes everything not as difficult as I remember. Anyway, I managed to get all of them finished and in the kiln, ready for me to finish with some mugs and big bowls on another day. I tucked a few of my new magnets around one plate and found the whole effect kind of pleasant.

My latest joy has been pillaging the fig trees that are right outside the studio. There are two of them planted side-by-side, and they have grown to a nice respectable size over the years. They are also two totally different varieties. One has dainty leaves and giant whopping figs that the birds take care of before they're even ripe. The other has giant fuzzy leaves and little dark reddish-purple figs that everything pretty much leaves alone. Except me. They've just now come into ripeness, and Wren and I have had a ball trying to find as many as we can hiding in the leaves. The best way is to just jump right in the middle of the tree after you've circled the perimeter. There are tons! One problem... I'm not sure I can get over the texture issue enough to really like figs. Much less, two hundred pounds of them. So today Wren and I started the fig relocation program. We picked a whole big bowl of them, gave a huge bag to my mom, then started bagging the rest for the neighbors. Luckily, most of the neighbors were really glad to have them. I refused to foist any off on anyone who didn't like them (you're welcome Norbert), and managed to dispense of them really quickly. It was a great way to meet more of my new neighbors as well! Hopefully some of them will want to take lessons...

waxing, mystery bubbles, and the joy of new things

2008-07-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

Last week was a hoot in may ways. I've hit the point where I have enough made that I need to start getting things ready to glaze. I moved everything that had been painted out to the studio and started waxing, on a day that I decided to do another bisque firing when it was already 90 degrees. I began to worry that the wax would just run back off, but then talked myself down, realizing that it probably wouldn't get much higher and the wax takes a couple of hundred degrees before it starts dissipating. Not running. It was so exciting to have a place to put them in this stage, thanks to Ian and his spiffy new shelves.

I got out my trusty bucket of black glaze, only to find that it had dried to a nice chunk of plaster like hardness. So, I wheeled it over to the faucet and used the attached hose to fill it halfway with water, thinking that I would leave it to soften up before I started the arduous process of digging it off the bottom of the bucket. Because, for all the good qualities my glaze has, it sticks, as my friend Bob would say, to the bottom like goose poop on a blanket. I then went on my way, waxing and buzzing around the studio for about an hour. Imagine my surprise when, an hour or so later, I stuck my hand in to feel the glaze was perfectly dispersed and mixed. Besides that little oddity, it also felt... well... kind of foamy. I took my hand out and it was covered in bubbles! The glaze was bubbling and foaming, but was not settling back down. I thought for a minute, then turned the hose back on. Sure enough, preceding the water was a foam of white bubbles. Somehow, we had gotten soap in the hose. How, I do not know, but it was there. I called the Clay Connection and they had never heard of this and told me to do a test firing to see if it had affected anything. If not, I may have just solved one of the great trials of my glazing life.

The week ended with an e-mail from a man answering my Craigslist post asking for pottery wheels. I needed at least one more so that I could teach, but hated to buy a new one when I know there are so many lonely wheels out in people's garages, unused and forgotten after the thrill of a new hobby was forgotten. This man had six! He had a business teaching art to children and they had tried to venture into adult pottery classes, only to lose their teacher after three lessons. It was first come, first serve, and I was first. I managed to get two wheels, a stack of bats, eight new tool packs, two stools, and a bucket of tools for about what one new wheel would cost. I was overjoyed, needless to say! I also now have about six buckets of mystery glaze that I need to research. I grabbed them in my frenzy of abundance, only thinking of what color they were, and was juuuust retarded enough not to remember that glazes have different cones. Now, to find out if they'll go to 5 in a way that doesn't involved grinding test pieces off of my kiln shelves.

triumph and utter defeat

2008-07-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

That's the way it is, right? You have to just nod at the successes, and just nod at the dismal failures. I had way more time to throw this week, thank goodness, which allowed me to revisit some of my old friendly shapes. Well, I don't know that I would call the teapots friendly shapes, but they are beloved. They're more like difficult children than good friends.

I managed to make eight of them before I pooped out, seven little guys and one large beastie whose two large friends grew weariy of my pulling and flopped to the bat in disgust. I did, however, attempt a new idea on an old form. Introducing... the sugar bowl:

I think that I've tried this one before with painful results. We'll see how they thrive at the end! I also got to try my hand at the platter again. As I remember with both of these forms, it's all about timing. You have to catch everything at juuuuuust the right time to make sure you get them assembled and trimmed so that they don't turn on you. Even then, the moon must be at it's apex and the barometric pressure at just the right level and a druid priestess must be serenading them as they dry. I kid.

Things have gone pretty well, except for the large footed bowls. The first set of six I threw turned out just awful. Perfectly functional, but that conical shape that I try so hard to avoid like the plague. I find it amazing that everything is coming back pretty well except bowls. I'm still struggling to get them just how I like them, in that hemisphere shape that may be unoriginal, but is satisfying to my psyche and feels so good in the palm of my hand. I won't share the cones of distress, but the bowls are looking pretty good... pre-foot at least.

I'm really excited about a new design that I'm playing with on a few pieces. All of my designs come from doodles that sprang up in school, and this is an offshoot of a design I did on my very first painted vases. I stopped doing it because it was too elaborate and took forever to get anything complete. I found a few bowls that I did in my apprenticeship years that had the design on the inside, and decided to try it again on the outside. I really want to see it on a big bowl before I get the full picture in my mind complete. We'll see how they turn out...

a bad week for throwing

2008-07-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

Last week was pretty much wasted, as far as throwing was concerned. With a toddler in full-on destruct mode, there's no way I'm getting time to throw unless there's help. Of course, there is the nap, which made it possible for me to get in some quality painting time!

Today my mom came up to help out and watch Wren, which gave me a chance to get back in the mud. I had big dreams of finishing lots of 1 lb lidded ginger jars. The clay gods had other ideas, however, perhaps inspired by Wren and I planting basil and lavender seeds in the kitchen last week. The clay gods wanted to see flower pots today. As many as possible, please.

I did get the kiln loaded with my haul of big vases. I have to have the planets aligned just right to get them to work, but I did have a day where they were coming together nicely. It helped that Ian had the day off and I had more than 4 hours to devote to it! It looks like this week will be better for getting help and getting to throw. Now to say a prayer that those little jars will behave at our next session and hopefully I'll stop knocking them off the bat with that naughty pointy stick.

coming back to it

2008-07-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

Wow. It's been a really long time since I was able to throw or even get my hands into the mud. I guess it was lucky for me that our office had a slow down (read: could no longer afford me) and Ian suggested that I was still a potter. Somewhere deep inside. I suppose that I had to cut that part of me off for awhile as I made a steady income and then was pregnant with our first-born, Wren. The combined effect of a full time job and a full time baby pretty much ruled out any time or energy for pottery. I think the last time I had done anything was when I was about 6 or7 months pregnant, trying to hand paint pots with a giant kicking baby and glazing with a giant belly. I remember throwing my shoes at the wall and crying and being very dramatic about the whole thing. That was the last I did, to get ready for a show that Sharon and Duy talked me into at Sangati.

Amazing how you can jump right back into throwing like there was never a time gap! Sure, the muscles are a little weak and the pots a little heavier... but the center is still there and the forms come right back to you. There was a little learning curve to it, or a re-learning curve you might say. You know, where you accidentally trash something at the end and go, "oh yeah, you can't jam the pointy stick in like that or the vase will fly off the bat." Or, "oh, I remember now... gravity won't allow big bowls at that angle." A lot of laughing at myself and marveling at how quickly catastrophe can swoop down on you when throwing.

Anyway, now that I'm giving it a go again, I'm going to try it whole hog. I managed to design a website (not that hard) and get it up and running (agonizingly painful) yesterday. My brain absolutely goes limp and noodley when confronted with technology. Now I'm jumping on the blog bandwagon as a companion to the website... we'll see how this all works out. I'm mostly afraid of trying to teach classes at home, due to insecurity for the most part. I've got a few interested takers, now I just have to get the studio fit for human habitation and get some new supplies. Like an extra wheel. Ouch. We'll see if anyone can hang with my garage and it's plethora of invading nature. Maybe if I get it below 100 degrees in there...