2014-02-12 - Wednesday - Snowed in

The weather can be pretty frustrating sometimes.

I'm sure I'm the first human to say that in all of history.

Tuesday it snowed consistently from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm and only managed to leave a couple of inches on the grass.  The roads were wet but clear all day.  What a waste.

Wednesday it started snowing at about 10:00 am and snowed pretty heavily until about 4:00 pm when it switched to sleet.  We got about 4-5 inches of snow (even on the roads).  Now it's been sleeting for several hours and there is talk of freezing rain tonight before getting more sleet, snow, and possibly more freezing rain before this all clears out of here by tomorrow afternoon --after it changes to just rain.

I am not from here and have done my share of driving in snow.  Snow does not bother me too much.  It's all this sleet and freezing rain that makes me crazy.  Why can't we ever seem to have just a snowfall without messing it up with ice.  I miss the days of just snow.

We were in PA during the holidays and while we were there it snowed.  The temperature was down to 12 degrees during the snowstorm and dipped to -4 the next night, but the snow stayed snow.  No ice, no sleet --snow.  As a matter of fact the weather was so cold and the snow was so dry that you couldn't make a snowball.  It just wouldn't stick together and that would have been a whole different frustration when I was a kid.  It squeaked when you walked on it, but it was snow.

By Friday this white stuff will be a dimming memory and the yard will be back to it's winter browns.  The daffodils are starting to poke up their heads and Spring is just around the corner.

In the meantime what do I do with all this bread and milk?

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2014-02-09 - Sunday - Charlotte Checkers game

Sunday we joined several other couples at the Time Warner Arena to watch the Charlotte Checkers play hockey.  We had a fun time, but the Checkers lost 4-3 in overtime against the Oklahoma City Barons.

We took the light rail to the arena, so when we left we went to The Tavern on the Tracks for supper.  It's a very Buffalo-centric place, so I had the beef on weck with a side of wings.  Good stuff.

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2014-02-08 - Saturday - Joining the pots

I put the two pieces together, but they were a bit drier than I wanted them to be.  I wet the edges and scored them and wet them again.  I had to be really careful since the walls were pretty thin.  It's stuck together right now and I hope it stays that way.

I had a lot of fun with this piece by pushing it in and pushing parts of it back out again.  I also did some carving on it --because I wanted to.

Pot I spent time pushing around.

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2014-02-05 - Wednesday - Large pot?

Still inspired by the workshop last weekend, I threw two pieces to put together as one large pot.  I am hopeful for this pot, but I wasn't paying enough attention and threw the pieces a bit thinner than I would have liked to at the point they are to be joined.  I'm going to let them firm up a bit before attempting the build.

Either it will work or it won't.  Time will tell.

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2014-02-04 - Tuesday - More bowls

Tuesday I threw some more bowls for Bowling for Dollars and trimmed them and the ones I made on Sunday.  As you can see I have done some different shapes here, inspired by Josh DeWeese.  I'll be playing with this idea for a while.

Beer bottle and pen for scale only.

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2014-02-02 - Sunday - Josh DeWeese workshop

Day two of the Josh DeWeese workshop was another inspiring session.  He finished several pieces that he started on Saturday.  One of them was formed from two pieces, each made from 25 lbs of clay.  It was a wonderful pot and I was amazed by the way he finished it.

Josh is a very talented potter and a really nice guy.  I thank him for a truly inspirational workshop and I can't wait to try some of the ideas he gave me.  My work can only get better by adding some of his ideas to my own aesthetic.

Throwing a mug.

Stretching a large pot.

Now with handles.

A photo of Josh with his friend Larry's mug.
Larry runs a mug lending library.  He lends
them out for a week and asks that people
post a photo on Facebook.

My view from behind the camera and projector.

After the workshop I made some bowls for the
Cleveland County Arts Council's Bowling for Dollars
event for arts education.

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2014-02-01 - Saturday - Josh DeWeese workshop

The workshop was amazing.  Josh showed us how he makes several of his pieces and shared his work philosophy and artistic vision with us.  He also regaled us with stories of his time at the Archie Bray Foundation and about times with many of his famous potter friends.

Getting ready to throw a 25 lb bag of clay.

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