Sunday - Refrigerator Time

Interesting assignment.

The two people are Jack London and Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

You decide which is which.

Meredith already has.


.

Saturday - Autumn on Main in Mount Holly

Saturday Elaine and I shared a booth at the Autumn on Main Festival in Mount Holly.  It started out with a quick drizzle and then the sun came out for the rest of the day.  This is a nice festival and I would recommend a trip to Mount Holly next year to check it out.

There were several musical acts during the day, but the last one is one of my favorites.  The Overmountain Men came on at 3:00 pm and played a wide range of work.  It was a good set and I'm glad I got to hear them live.

I took several photos of the band playing and switched to black and white and then some sepia.  I enjoy monochromatic portraits since it takes the color out of the equation and makes me concentrate on the features and contours.

Elaine.

My shelves.

Me.

Please visit the Catawba River Artisans gallery.
You WON'T be disappointed.

My lizard pot.

Walking sticks.

The Overmountain Men.

Local front man, David Childers.

.

Monday - Meeting at Midwood Smokehouse

Tonight the Clayworks Communications and Marketing Committee had a brainstorming meeting.  It was a great meeting with lots of energy and creative ideas passed around.  Keep an eye on Clayworks because we are all working on taking it to the next several levels.

We met at the Midwood Smokehouse and sat outside.  The food was very good and there was live entertainment.  I got there early and took some pictures, but once we started I got carried away and didn't find out the singer's name.  He was very good and covered a nice range of material.  I'll be going back.

Oh, and today was International Talk Like A Pirate Day.  Arr, I hope everyone did their part.

The view from our table.

The entertainer.

He sang very well.

Becky and Jaime.

I found a new to do from Meredith when I got home.

.

Saturday - Muddy Fun and new work

This is the message from Meredith that greeted us this morning.  At least it's more positive than the last one.

Today was another Muddy Fun day at Clayworks.  Angela does a great job teaching this class and we always have a great group of volunteers to help our beginners.

Muddy Fun part 1

Muddy Fun part 2

Since we had a bunch of volunteers and my foot was hurting I sat down to throw some new pots.  I made a really tall (for me) crackle pot using phoenix and a craggy crunch pot.  I made a decision recently to try adding some eyeballs to my pots so I put one on the craggy crunch pot.  Who knows where this will lead --maybe whole faces.  We'll see.

I also paddled the "milk bottle" I made on Wednesday to make it square and collected some bisque pots from the shelf.

Tall with blue crackled slip.

Creepy?

You betcha.

I'm seeing this in a nice shino.

Ready for glazing.

This evening's message.
We're back to negative again.

.

Wednesday - Noisy progress

Wednesday there was a fleet of dump trucks, two front end loaders, and this beast in front of our house.  Personally I don't think our street really needed repaving, but they're doing it anyway.  They took it right down to the dirt and gravel.  Now I wonder when they'll make it back to pave it.

.

Monday - Violent to do list

Meredith caught a cold this week.

.

Saturday - Big pottery day

Saturday was a big annual pottery day.

First, the Mint Museum's 7th Annual Potters Market Invitational.  I try to get there every year to see the latest work by some of my favorite artists, meet new artists, and occasionally purchase some small items.  (This year I snapped up two cups and will post them later.)


It was steamy inside the huge tent on the Mint's lawn, but it was well worth the perspiration.  I caught up with Matt Jones (whom I hadn't seen since the last Thrown Together sale).  He had a great selection of new work fresh from the kiln.  Michel Bayne was there with his great faces and other decorations, like lobsters.  I stopped to see Kim Ellington and his great wood-fired work.  The last time I saw Kim, he was giving a lecture inside the Mint. I also had the pleasure of meeting Judith Duff and Donna Craven.  I have been a big fan of their work for a while now.


I stopped to talk with several other artists, including Bruce Gholson and Samantha Heineke of Bulldog Pottery, David Stuempfle, I could only wave to Ronan Peterson of Nine Toes Pottery since he was swamped with customers.  I stopped in to see Amy Sanders, but quickly got out of the way when some people wanted to become customers.  For the third year in a row I tried to meet Ben Owen, but when I saw him in the booth he was surrounded and when I looked again (and again) he was gone.  One of these days I will catch up with him.

Matt Jones

Michel Bayne

Kim Ellington

Judith Duff

Donna Craven

After I left the Mint, I picked up my friend (and teacher) Greg Scott and his children to take them with me up to Hal Dedmond and Corine Guseman's house where a wood firing was in progress.  It was great to see everyone there and enjoy the firing and the quiet of the country.

It was a lovely day and the firing went well.  A wood firing is a very dramatic thing to watch.  The almost constant stoking, the flames, the smoke, and the (hopefully) steady climb of temperature in the kiln are fascinating.  One day I soon I hope to share in one.

It was a great day with wonderful friends and lots of pottery.

The firebox at one end of the kiln.

The firebox.

The other end.

Finished firing.

Hot pots.

Hot crew.

Miller time.

The moon rose on the way home.

.

Thursday - School sentiments

This was the note from Meredith on 9/8/11.  It made me smile, as usual.

I guess we all have our own 186 days to get through.  Good luck with yours.


.

Monday - Refrigerator break

Stephanie commandeered Meredith's to do list to leave us a message before going back to school on Monday.

.

Saturday - Bechtler and Chima

Labor Day weekend Stephanie came home for the weekend and we all went to the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and later to Chima for some dinner.  We took the train downtown and waded through the Festival of India that was happening in the street to get to the museum.  I wish we had time to partake in the festival food and events, but we had other plans.

The Bechtler was great, besides the Niki de Saint Phalle exhibit, there are some Picassos, some Miros, a Warhol, and a Degas among many, many others.  Please make the trip if you can.  It's pretty amazing.

One small part of the Festival of India
right in front of the Bechtler.

The Niki de Saint Phalle firebird in front of the Bechtler.

The Niki de Saint Phalle skull in the park across the street.

Meredith enjoying her salmon at Chima.

Stephanie enjoying her bacon-wrapped chicken.

Karen and Stephanie on the train ride home.

Meredith left the seat next to me after I annoyed her.
All part of my evil plan to get a better photo.

And then she realized my plan...

.

Thursday - Refrigerator

I received an online order recently and got a free bonus item in the box: a magnetic 'To Do" list with a dry erase marker.  Meredith has adopted it as her own billboard since it got here, changing it almost daily.  I started taking pictures of her messages.

 Since I was taking a picture of that, I thought I would document some of the other mementos hanging on our appliance.  We have quite a variety.

.