2016-07-03 - Sunday - More sketching

Sunday I spent more time playing with forms and decoration. Trying to keep it light and fun but trying to poke at my boundaries too.

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2016-07-02 - Saturday - New pots

Saturday I was playing with some new forms I've been thinking about lately. Not sure about any of them but enjoying the "sketching" aspect of them.

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2016-06-29 - Wednesday - New pots, new textures

Wednesday night I was at Clayworks and made some new textured pots. I've been thinking about different forms and textures lately so it's time to start exploring them.

Baby steps.

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2016-06-27 - Monday - Squirrel

I was looking out of the upstairs bathroom window and noticed a squirrel stretched out on the seat by the grill. The only thing I can figure is since it was a hot day he was trying to access the cool of the stone as it was in the shade.

Crazy squirrels.

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2016-06-26 - Sunday - Camouflage and crackle

Sunday I noticed this camouflage act happening on the screen door handle. If it wasn't for the color difference I might not have noticed it at all. Clever moth.

I went to Clayworks and threw a crackled pot. I'm happy with this one, but I'd still like to branch out and explore some other forms and surfaces. I'm restless and starting to get a bit frustrated with my lack of imagination lately. There are so many possibilities and I keep falling back on my "regular" forms. I need to push through to another area.

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2016-06-25 - Saturday - Face and Squawks

Saturday I finished a face pot at Clayworks.

That evening we went to see this year's Charlotte Squawks. We look forward to this show every year and we usually leave with our faces hurting from laughing so much.

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2016-06-24 - Friday - My birthday

On Friday we went to Rusty's Deli for a quick burger so we still had time to make it to the movies. We saw Finding Dory and really enjoyed it.

On the way out of Rusty's I noticed the cloud formation. It looked like a mushroom cloud in the distance and was quite dramatic.

Boom.

Stephanie and Meredith got this for me.
I will finally get to see the whole series.

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2016-06-22 - Wednesday - Pots and things

Wednesday night I threw a couple of rings of test tiles and a textured vessel. Next, I messed around with a Nick Joerling-style closed form that I stretched and stretched until it was so thin it was having structural problems. I was getting ready to squish it back in the bag when I Z-folded it and noticed it looked like a horse head so I made eyes and nostrils and pulled up some ears. Not sure about it, but I'm going to see if I continue to like it.

On the way home I was struck by the large moon hanging over Monroe Road and tried to get a photo of it while driving. I couldn't capture it well enough for my liking, but I did get some shots.

Setting up the camera I snapped the dashboard
and like the green glow.

There is the moon, but it's not showing
up as well as I would like it to.

This tree on Sharon Road always makes me think of the
1970's Fry Guys from McDonald's commercials.

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2016-06-19 - Sunday - New pots and a rabbit

Sunday I went to Clayworks. I put handles on some mugs and pushed some faces into some vessels. Everything is a process.

Handley mugs.

The beginnings of faces pushed into some vessels and
the snorkel pot I made yesterday at the festival.

On my way home I stopped at the grocery store. After shopping I saw this rabbit while waiting for a red light. It was on alert, but fairly comfortable to be out this close to traffic while grazing. Nature works around us and fits in where it can.

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2016-06-18 - Saturday - Elder Gallery & Art & Soul of South End

Saturday I was honored to be asked to show some of my work and demo for Clayworks at Elder Gallery for the Art & Soul of South End Festival. Ann Prock, Ju-Ian Shen, Greg Scott, and I were there demoing and enjoying the beautiful day outside. Some Clayworks folks came and hung out with us and several of Larry Elder's customers stopped by. Traffic wasn't overwhelming, but we were a block from the festival so it was about what I expected.

Whenever you have a chance to hang out with your very talented friends and enjoy a day out on a wonderful spring day, it's a good day.

I also had the chance to go across the street for my first visit to the Common Market with Ann for a sandwich. Interesting place, too bad it's going to have to move. I got the Evil Homer sandwich and the Monster Cookie.

A big thanks to Larry Elder and Clayworks for making it happen.

Herb Cohen watches Greg throw and Ann does some handbuilding.

Our professional banner.

My display.

Ann's display.

Greg's display.

Ju-Ian's display.

Near the end of the demo, our friend Vince came by to help us clean up. He was going to check out the festival so I invited myself along to hang out with him. The festival was only two blocks long: one block of art and one block of food trucks, so it didn't take long to cover it.

We ended up at the Wooden Robot Brewery right across from Elder Gallery and had a nice beer.

Going to breweries in Charlotte is a bit strange since people bring there children and their dogs in with them. A woman at our table was wearing her baby on her chest in one of those carriers and her husband/boyfriend had their large dog on a leash under the table. It's fine, just a bit strange at first.

It was so nice to bum around with Vince. I can't remember the last time I took time to just hang out and have some nice conversations over a beer.

"Not Sure" amber.