2010-03-31 Wednesday - Bread

I have been having a wonderful time baking bread lately.  I am using the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book and loving it.  Tonight I baked a couple of boules, made chicken parmigiana, pasta, and salad but never got past taking a picture of the bread.  I started eating and forgot all about the camera.  Oh well.

These loaves are crusty, chewy, and have a dense crumb --I have to be careful not to eat the whole loaf.  I put these loaves too close together and they merged, but they still tasted great.  Next:  baguettes.

2010-03-30 Tuesday - Horse Barn

I took the girls to the barn on Tuesday evening and couldn't resist taking some pictures with the setting sun.  You might have noticed that I really like to try to capture different types and pools of light.  I think Vermeer really was on to something when he captured the light in his phenomenal paintings.  Check out his annotated catalog or this BBC piece when you get a chance.

The light is the biggest indication of the change of seasons for me.  The long shadows of a late summer game of hide and seek, the Spring morning sun making dew drops into prisms on the daffodils, the hazy golden afternoon sun through yellow and orange leaves in the Fall, and my all time favorite sunlight:  late afternoon winter sun.  There's just something very comforting about the mid Winter sun at around 4:00 pm.  The way the weak rays slant in through the window with a faint golden glow.  If I have time to relax and enjoy that time of day I feel all is right with my world and I can drift off for a light nap knowing the world will go on without me for a bit.  Just thinking of that light comforts me.

Evening graze.

A pool of light.

Zoomed in to the area.

Different framing.

I'm not sure which of these I like better, this one...

... or this one.

But I like them both.

2010-03-27 Saturday - Spring Home Sale

Saturday was our Spring home sale.  The artists who joined me for the sale were Amy, Becky, Cindy, Elaine, Kim, and Susan.  While sales weren't what we wished them to be, it was a pleasant, sunny day and a nice time to visit with good friends and have some good food.  Thanks to all who participated and all who attended.

I really liked hosting the sale and thought the front lawn was a great place to hold it.  We had two 'rooms', one on each level of the yard and I think the layout worked well.  We have several other sales planned this year so stay tuned for dates and locations and come on out and see us.

We had some surprise guests while setting up in the morning.

It was great to see Amy and the boys!

View from the driveway in one of the 'rooms'.

Elaine's seconds stash.

Kim's display.

Some random shots of my pots.

More random shots.

Becky's birds.

Susan's goblets.

More of my pots.

Look what now lives in our front yard.

2010-03-21 Sunday - Busy day

I planned on going to church on Sunday, but it got too late.  So the first thing in my busy day was to clear out the garden beds and plant some peas and lettuce.  I think it might be too late for both of them, but since I already own the seeds I thought I'd give it a try.  I then proceeded to chop out some ligustrum and holly out front.  Fun stuff, and I've been sore from it today.

Next it was off to Clayworks for the big cleanup day from 1-3pm.  It was a beehive of activity and everyone was working hard.  I had to leave a little bit early, but the place was looking good as I was leaving.

From there, off to the supermarket to get some chicken wings for my next stop:  The ClayMatters meeting which always includes a pot luck.  It was a good meeting and we were treated to demos of several artists' surface design techniques.

2010-03-20 Saturday - Frenzied making

I went to Clayworks on Saturday to try and get some things made before I lost studio access for the break.

I made some more of the earthen red bowls and some more orangstone slap trays.  I also tried to make some straight-sided orangestone bowls, but after the first one came out well, I tossed the next three for one reason or another.  I'm trying to get a straight-sided shape that will take a handle well.  I'll try again next session.

Part of the work I planned on getting done.

I like the spiral on this slap tray.

2010-03-16 Tuesday - Last class

Tuesday was the last class of the winter session and we celebrated it with a pot luck.  The food was great, the company and conversation interesting and the evening went by way too quickly.  Special thanks to Angela for the mango salsa and the beer --it was wonderful!

I am going to miss Adrienne's class, since I love to watch her throw and pick up new things in every class.  I have to go back to Wednesdays since there were some scheduling conflicts for Tuesday nights.  I'm also looking forward to getting back to Greg's class for many of the same reasons, so it's a win/win situation.

2010-03-14 Sunday - Raku day!

A bunch of us converged on Clayworks Sunday to raku some pieces.  There was a whole lot more going on there, such as people working on all aspects of their art, and Maggie even had a make-up session for one of her classes scheduled.  The raku had mixed outcomes (as is often the way of raku), but there were some outstanding results in the mix.  Becky had some really great results with her horsehair birds.  She also found out she really likes using feathers as well as horsehair.  Joe's pieces came out wonderfully and I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of them.  It's ok, Joe, I forgot to take one of my own pot.  Kim had mixed feelings about her saggar firings, but I thought some of them came out nice.  Expectations often rule our perception of the final product.

Greg, Joe, and Melissa take a break.

One of Kim's pots that I like.

The sky was a lot more friendly today.

First, the bird goes on a small sawdust "nest"...

Next, the horsehair is applied...

As more horsehair is applied, the patterns form...

Now multiply by twenty-four!

(or Four and Twenty if you prefer...)

Pete was busy making his really tall shape.

I really like it and the decoration works very nicely.

Chuck was working on his tall series.

I like this for completely different reasons.

Read on...

This is the previous one he threw.

I love the fluidity of this form.

It looks like we caught it in mid-wave in moving water.

Greg raku'd this fine looking couple that are joined into one piece.

It took him hours to layer on his glazes and it makes for rich results

that have a a lot of depth and subtle details.