2016-06-15 - Wednesday - New face pots

Wednesday I started some new vessels for faces. I'm hoping to make some more vessels for water carafes like Frank. We'll see.

New vessels.

Frank.

Closer Frank.

.

2016-06-11 - Saturday - Muddy Fun and anniversary

Saturday was Muddy Fun day. We had a small class, but they were a lot of fun. Vince and Dorothy helped me out with it and we all had some laughs.

Three of the five students were there on their Mother's Day celebration. Wow, what good daughters!

Since Saturday marked the five year anniversary of the day Clayworks moved to this building I brought cookies to help celebrate. I think Harris Teeter cookies are the traditional five year anniversary gift.

.

2016-06-09 - Thursday - Sunset

I can't resist a sunset. This one was nice even though it was somewhat spread out. It was a fitting statement for the end of the day. Another one in the books.

.

2016-06-08 - Wednesday - Flowers and fires and clay

Wednesday I stopped to check on our Rose of Sharon hibiscus. It's very happy and blooming quietly in the corner of the fence. Not bad for a volunteer. I really like this plant. The blooms only last a day but there are hundreds of them. It's a very happy plant.

In the evening I was at Clayworks. I know, go figure.

Greg was firing the raku kiln and I caught him standing behind the flame. He looks like some sorcerer casting a spell. If you've seen any of his raku pieces you know that's a pretty accurate description.

I went inside and threw a lump of Pure Catawba clay from STARworks. My friend John Freeman gave me a piece to try and I really liked throwing it. The way it held the texture and got crackly without having to use sodium silicate was surprising. I may have to purchase some of this to explore it further.

The little guy was made from the trimmings of the large one. Waste not the dirt.

.

2016-06-07 - Tuesday - High Museum

Tuesday, I had a nice breakfast with Karen in the hotel, did some work in the room, and then walked the four blocks to the High Museum of Art. I checked out the permanent collection and then spent a long time in the Vik Muniz exhibit.

Mark Rothko

Peter Voulkos

Peter Voulkos

Deborah Butterfield

...and then it was time to get lost in the Vik Muniz exhibit for a while. The breadth of his creativity is amazing. He does portraits in black beans, caviar, peanut butter and jelly, junk, powdered pigments, magazine photos, dirt, sugar, and on, and on.

He's done huge arrangements of junk and photographed it from two or three stories up. He worked with an MIT pioneer to use a laser to engrave sand castles on single grains of sand and then photographed them with a microscope. From there he used bulldozers on a plain to make huge sketches and took aerial photographs of them.

What scale. What an inventive mind without boundaries.

Using plastic army men.

Full piece.

Detail 1

Detail 2

Placard

Frank's caviar

Placard

Dracula's caviar

Placard

Monas

Placard

Out in the courtyard...

House III by Roy Lichtenstein
This sculpture changes perspective as you walk past it.

On my walk back to the hotel I couldn't resist grabbing some snapshots of midtown. It's very photogenic.

.

2016-06-06 - Monday - Atlanta

Karen had a conference in Atlanta on Tuesday so we drove down on Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, due to some last minute work phone calls we ended up in Midtown Atlanta at 5:02 pm. It was complete gridlock and it took us way longer than it should have to get to the hotel, but we made it.

Monday evening we went to Lure for some seafood. I love scallops and I wasn't disappointed with my choice. Seared scallops placed around rice porridge, slivered asparagus, and lemon emulsion, topped with arugula. It would be an understatement to say I enjoyed it.

I topped it off with a Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy Imperial Brown Ale. It was recommended by our waitress and it turned out to be a wonderful choice.

We stayed on the 21st floor.

 

Yum.

.

2016-06-05 - Sunday - Mugs, Lilies, and Salmon

Sunday I finally put handles on my mugs. I've never made handles like this, but I've also never made mugs in this shape before. I think they go well together. Perhaps a bit clunky, but in a good way --I hope.

I planted this day lily in 2000 and the pot used to rest on our deck in a sunny spot. Since then we've had the deck removed and the screened porch built. The pot got moved out into the yard under a maple tree and didn't bloom last year. I was afraid it might not bloom again this year, but it's had eight flowers this season so it's found it's happy place.

In the evening I cooked a salmon filet in aluminum foil. It was pretty good and I'm sure we'll do it again in the future. You can find the recipe here.

.

2016-06-03 - Friday - That flag

I was up by Newton on Friday getting gas and noticed a flagpole at the house next door. Despite the history of the confederate flag it continues to be flown frequently around here. I don't understand the reason people need to fly it but I don't have a southern heritage either.

At least it was flown beneath the American flag.

.

2016-06-02 - Thursday - Crown and elderberry and fungus

On Sunday night I bit down on a gumdrop and broke one of the large fillings I have in my back teeth. They have served me well for many years but they are starting to deteriorate and need crowns. Sunday night one of them gave up. Of course it was very late at night on a holiday weekend because that's when these things happen.

I immediately started chewing on the left side of my mouth and called my dentist on Tuesday. Luckily he could fit me in on Thursday.

It was while I was lying there looking up at the light that I realized I've spent a lot of my life in a dentist's chair. I've had a lot of fillings and before that, space maintainers when I lost some of my first teeth too soon. Sometimes I wish I could tally up all the time I've spent there, but I'm probably glad I can't.

When I mentioned that I'd taken a photo while he was out of the room and asked if I could use it on my blog he asked for the camera and took some photos from his perspective.

He said, "Open wide". Wow, now I feel sorry for him having to look at that scary face while he's working.

It's nice to have a dentist with a sense of humor. I highly recommend it.



Later on when I was in the yard with Binkley I noticed that one of the of the elderberry stumps was loose so I pulled it out and found a bunch of fungus on the bottom. There was also a piece of honeysuckle stuck in it and I thought the combination of colors and textures made an interesting composition.

.

2016-05-31 - Tuesday - Breakfast and beer

Tuesday I made a big breakfast (at about 1:30 pm) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I do like breakfast no matter what time of day or night.

Tuesday afternoon I was shopping for beer and found this. I will have to try it at some point, but I was making better use of my money that day. I bought a 12-pack for the same amount.

.

2016-05-29 - Sunday - Mugs

Sunday I went to Clayworks and threw some mug bodies. I worked on making some gestures with the rib and like the way they came out so far. As always, we'll see.

.

2016-05-25 - Wednesday - Hydrangea

I have gone almost the whole spring season without posting photos of our blue hydrangea which has to be a new record. It's turning out to be a good bloom year for the plant. It's blooming like crazy.

.