September 21 - Saturday - WCU Parents Weekend

Last weekend was parents weekend at Stephanie's school, Western Carolina University.  WCU is out in the woods so as you can imagine, hotel rooms are scarce.  We rented a small cottage at Mountain Brook Cottages.  The cottages were built in the 1930s and they were small and cozy.  There were no telephones, no televisions, no cell phone service and the internet wasn't working during our stay.  Very peaceful with a gurgling stream close by.  A wonderful place to relax.

In the afternoon we took a trip to Waynesville to do some sightseeing an shopping.  It was drizzly, but not too bad.  We visited some great little shops and a Mast General Store before heading back to the cottage and the college.

It was a nice visit with Stephanie.  It's nice that we all enjoy spending time together.  We miss her and it's great to see she is doing so well.

Karen

Stephanie

Kitchen

Stove

Cottage

Bear

Waynesville

Mast... well... you know.

Old fashioned chocolate - Karen
Rainbow - Stephanie
Pumpkin spice - me
at Pheasant Hill Cafe and Gallery

I waited while the women went to the shoe store.

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September 15 - Sunday - Clay Matters Guild meeting

Sunday was the monthly Clay Matters Guild meeting.  We had a short business meeting and then enjoyed a demo by Kim Chapman.  Kim has been throwing pots for more than thirty years and has lots of stories about the journey.  His demo was entertaining and informative.

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September 14 - Saturday - Muddy Fun!

Saturday was Muddy Fun Saturday at Clayworks.  If you're new here, we hold two, two-hour Muddy Fun beginner's classes about once a month on a Saturday.  If you (or someone you know) have always wanted to try throwing pots, you can give it a try for $10.  You can find out more here.

Angela teaches the classes and she does a great job.  I always enjoy helping her teach new students.

Fun --Muddy Fun!

The steps.

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September 12 - Thursday - Sears and pots

I ordered a replacement mulching door from Sears for the lawnmower and they did a HORRIBLE job of packing it.  It (barely) arrived via the US Mail in a box that was so mangled it's a wonder it got here at all.  The part is a flat, slightly curved door and it was thrown into a too-large box with a couple of the air-filled pillow-type spacers.  There was no way it filled the volume of the box and it caused it to fail.  Added to that (or because of that), the top of the box was torn across two sides of the carton and the sharpest end of the part itself was poking through the cardboard on one side.

If it wasn't for the durability of the plastic part it never would have made it here.  Great job Sears.

Thursday night I made some more mug bodies and some altered forms.

August 10 - Saturday - Follow-up

I previously mentioned that Karen fell and broke her arm in August on the last day of vacation.  The other day she reminded me that she had the x-rays from the hospital on a CD so I thought I would share it with you.

It's really hard to see, but there is a break in the radial head (inside the circle).

They only sling this type of break since the tendons and ligaments in that area hold it together pretty well.

Unless you fall on it, apparently.

I'm happy to report that she is out of the sling and using her arm more and more these days.


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September 9 - Monday - Cicada time

Monday when I let the dog out I caught this cicada emerging and was able to snap a few photos.  There is about twenty to thirty minutes between the second and third photo.  In the first and second you can see the wings rolled up and then unrolled in the third.  I've witnessed this a few times and am always amazed at it.

September 7 - Saturday - The Potters Market Invitational at the Mint Museum

Saturday I attended the Ninth Annual Potters Market Invitational show at the Mint Museum.  The show is a treasure consisting of North Carolina potters invited from around the state.  It's always an exciting time for a pottery nut like me to hobnob with the stars.  Everyone is so friendly that it takes me a long time to get around the tent.  It's held in a huge tent on the lawn that's large enough to hold 41 potters displays and still have plenty of walking room.

There was also a demonstration tent out front where several of my friends were doing demos.  It was good to catch up with everyone.

Potters working in the demo tent.

Potters talking in the demo tent.

Donna Craven.

Jim Whalen (right) with friends Diane Davis and Bill Chris.

Akira Satake with our own Jan Anderson.

Jan with Ben Owen.

Michel Bayne.

Alex Matisse.

Smantha Henneke.
Bruce Gholson was unavailable to join us.

Greg Scott watching Adrienne Dellinger's booth.

Julie Wiggins.

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September 3 - Tuesday - Pot progress

I came to the realization that I was not going to be able to bisque fire these pots in time for Saturday's firing so I decided to go in a different direction.  I put handles on the crock and did some white, blue, and black slip decoration on the larger one.  I've got some ideas on a different glaze technique on the large one.  We'll see.

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September 2 - Monday - Pots for the wood firing

I've been rushing to make pots for Hal and Corine's wood kiln.  I generally try for more traditional shapes when I'm firing in that kiln.  It just seems to fit since it is a traditional kiln.

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August 30 - Friday - Face pot & caterpillar

I got this latest face pot back from the kiln today.  It got fired in the studio artists kiln since there was space for it.  It's not completely what I expected, but I like it.

I saw this caterpillar in the back yard.  It was the first time I've seen a bright yellow one.  It was a cute little thing.

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August 29 - Thursday - Real spiders and the City Club

We have had three golden orb spiders in the back yard this summer.  Based solely on size, I believe there were two females and one male.  The females had three-foot webs that were almost parallel about a foot apart.  Their abdomens swelled to several times their original size so I think they were going to give birth.  They disappeared about a week apart.  I think their part is done.

The male is still there, about eight feet away.

Fascinating stuff.

Expanded abdomen.
You can see the other female's web to the right.

The second female eating a june beetle.

Larger view of the web.

The male is much smaller
but since I could get closer he may look larger.

He appears to be missing his shorter leg on the right.

Thursday evening we had a dinner at the City Club which is high up in a downtown skyscraper.  Dinner was great and the view was wonderful.

The new baseball stadium
under construction

A front moving in at sunset.

A Panthers game in progress
just past the new Romare Bearden Park.

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August 28 - Wednesday - Comparing faces and the finished spider

I decided to see how my latest face pot compared to my first and was surprised at the differences.  The latest one (on the left) is quite a jolly fellow compared to the first.  I like to think the latter one is bit more refined than his ancestor.  It's fun to track the changes.

I also got to see Laura's finished spider.  It's amazing and she's talking about making an even larger one.  Stay tuned.

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August 26 - Monday - Odometer and new pot

I got a kick out of my trip meter when I was getting out of my car tonight.

I threw another pot for the upcoming wood firing at Hal and Corine's.  It took me three tries since I was in a hurry and kept messing it up.  Third time's the charm, eh?

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August 25 - Sunday - Glaze-a-thon

Sunday I spent several hours in the afternoon glazing and then came back in the evening for several more hours to finish up the process.  It needed to get done since we have a gas kiln firing coming up in September.

First layers done.

Final layers added.

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August 23 - Friday - Community raku

Friday we had another community raku party at Clayworks.  These are fun since we have people at all levels of expertise experiencing raku firing together.  Veterans help beginners and both end up learning a lot.

I can't wait for the next one.

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