packing up.

Melancholy. I have felt melancholy all day long. Is it the packing of boxes? The wrapping up of things? Reflection and the conflicting feeling of not wanting to leave have propelled me into this state. I go about my daily routines, drive down the road, park the car, get out and go on my four mile run past Meyers farm and back, then head down to the town of Chatham to Our Daily Bread to have my morning granola. The ladies who work there know what I am going to order when I come in and for the first time in my life I am a regular somewhere. I have always been on the other side. I was the one who knew what the regulars were going to have.

I switched my life up a year ago. Quit my restaurant job, packed my Jetta with my ceramic tools and headed east. I wanted to be just an Artist. I wanted to feel away. I wanted to feel summer. I wanted to feel new. I arrived on the east coast and was immersed in the unknown. Everything, everyone, everywhere was new and different to me. It has been a transformative time.

I am going to miss the hoot owl at night, the crickets, the peepers, the flies or I like to think one fly that fallows me everywhere. The cats and the dogs, the smell of rain, the winding roads, the white steeples, the red barns, the birches, maples and oaks, the swaths of color that blanket the field outside the studio door, my friends M.C. and Bill, the quiet, leaving my keys in the ignition, knowing everyone in town, the song of the coyotes, the thunderstorms, picking fruit and making jam with M.C., skinny dipping in ponds, foxes, the roadside vegetable stands that are everywhere, cider donuts, and I really don't like donuts that much, the gentle hills, the forthrightness of the the easterners, fields of chicory and queen anne's lace, the seasons, the tag sales, and the dancing. I am going to miss all of it.

ayumi & me

It is a hectic time for me. I wrapping up my six month stay on the East Coast and heading back home to San Francisco in less than two weeks. I am sad about leaving. I feel as if I just started settling in and now I am off. These last weeks will be spent packing, finishing up some orders, one for here and spending time with friends.

I was finally able to make it over to Ayumi Horie’s studio the other night. She and I had been planning a studio visit since early July. Those of you who are not aware of Ayumi and her work should definitely check out her website, which by the way, is fabulous. She is a very talented potter with a wonderful sensibility. Ayumi marries form and surface instinctively. There is a rough quality to her work at first appearance and then pick up one of her cups, bowls, and oh my, the teapots, I am still dreaming of the teapots, and immediately one gets the sense that they are holding something very special in their hands. She draws on her pots, which I love (surprise, surprise), animals, numbers and letters, playful but not twee. Well I am a huge fan if that is not already obvious. I did manage to leave with a couple of her cups for my collection and a small bowl, a little something to remind me of her when I am back home in San Francisco. Lucky me!!

sawhorse love

Doing my first craft show in New York without any of the props I have at home in San Francisco was a fun challenge. I was forced to rely on the generosity of friends to lend me the various parts of my booth set up. Bill lent me his sawhorses, removing them from under a painting he was working on. Meg from Classic Country lent me an old door for the table surface, plate stands and the coke rack which doubled as a cup rack, John lent me the cool old wooden boxes that I used as pedestals and I foraged another door for the table top from M.C. and Bill’s barn. I was quite pleased with the way the booth turned out though when initially setting up for the fair I was feeling a little intimidated by all the poles, tents and shelves people were putting up. I thought for sure they’d snicker and scowl at me for my crude display. No one snickered or scowled, at least not in front of me, and the show went off without a hitch. I made many new friends and had such a great time. I am always relearning the lesson that one does not need to be fancy or have all the bells and whistles to pull off something fabulous. Heart and soul, creativity, open mind and open eyes to see what is there in front of you and the willingness to give it go. Oh and the kindness and generosity of others, I couldn’t have done it without that. Thank you!

special recognition!

Today was the first day of the Berkshire Crafts Fair, my first craft show on the East Coast. The other craft fair participants voted my work for special recognition. I barely had the opportunity to meet my neighbors at the fair so you can imagine my surprise at receiving this honor. It has made me feel so welcomed. This is a new piece. My most recent personal favorite I had intended to post some pictures of the show but the photos I took today came out blurry. I will try again tomorrow so I can show you my “schmotek” set up. It has been quite an adventure preparing for this event. More to come!

cement trucks & toilets please

Oh my, I am whipped...and it's not over. I made my goal, everything painted and drawn by the weeks end. I bisqued a very large load of work last night and I am waiting for the kiln to cool. Tomorrow I will spend the day glazing (my least favorite part). I have been working from the early in the morning until late at night for the past week. I must admit I am so sick of drawing flowers right now. I kind of feel like drawing something like a toilet or a cement truck anything other than a flower. O.K. it's not nice for me to do be self depricating about my work but please have mercy on me, I have been a flower drawing maniac and I am tired. Besides I like cement trucks and toilets are ceramic.

off you go!

My butt is sore from all the sitting I have been doing while working. Things are slow going but productive. I finished drawing fifteen large pieces for my show and now I am going to tackle the smaller work. I did manage to sneak away today to go for a swim in a nearby pond A nice change of pace from the long hours in the studio.

I sent off this work to the Gardener yesterday. It felt good to send it to it's new and hopefully temporary home. I hope everything sells right away so I can make some more for them. That would be super. I also sent off some work to a new store that is opening in Carmel, California called, Jody Interiors. There isn't a website so unfortunately I can't pass that on to you. I am tired and not able to string sentences together right now. I think I'd better go off to bed. I wanted to leave you with a little somthin', somthin' though.

the race is on

It has been a twelve hour day in the studio today. I making headway and hoping to have all the work I started finished by the weekend. By finished I mean painted and drawn. Then I can fire everything next week. I have some new designs that I am excited about and working with some new color combinations and motifs. I am always surprised at how long it takes me to finish a piece. I have a very unrealistic idea of time when it comes to my own work. I wrote all the steps it takes before I complete a piece, thirteen steps total. Of course now that I am so busy all I want to do is lay around and read a book. Will I ever win?