Busy, busy, busy ...

Hello!  I do hope everyone survived those nasty Midwest winds we had this week? It sure made me understand the poor people who live in hurricane country and what they go thru x10.  There is nothing worse than sitting by and watching parts of your barn roof get peeled away or your dog house roof go tumbling thru your yard!  But we all survived and have the clean-up to keep us busy, as if we weren't busy enough to begin with.

I thought this Fall was going to be quiet and a good time to get caught up, boy was I ever wrong!  More and more things have sprouted up, the wind storm this week was the least of them.  What is the saying?  "When it rains it pours" ... well then it will soon be pouring. 

Since the Valor project got secured it mandated that I go to England again and contribute to the production stages of his creation.  Who would complain about this?  definitely not me!  I look forward to spending time at Alchemy with my newly adopted foster Mom Donna Chaney and all the goodies being at her studio brings.  (http://www.animalartistry.co.uk/)  My flight leaves just prior to Thanksgiving and returns just a bit after the New Year is rung in.  Missing all the holiday travel was my foremost priority, plus it gives us plenty of time to make sure Valor is all he can be.  There will be a couple weeks of this time span devoted to me going to Espana and Italia as well, taking advantage of being so close and just a couple hour plane flight.   Still earlier of this year I did not foresee this 6 week chunk of time being removed from my planned schedule.  So this was strike number one for my schedule to be thrown out of whack.

Right now the house is going thump, thump, thump with stike number two for my disrupted schedule.  Finally, after 10 years living here with asbestos shingles I am finally getting new siding.  First the old layer of shingles must come off, then insulation blown in (this place currently has zilch insultation - talk about cold winter house syndrome) and then the new siding and soffits will go up.  I got new roof's two years ago so that, along with the drip edge and fascia has already been done.  A couple doors are going to be replaced in the house, as well as new windows in the garage. Still, it will be a couple weeks devoted to all this.  This will only be addressing the main house and garage, still leaving the guest house and "pump house" for Spring time.   With any luck, they will be done by the time my flight takes off November 21st.   So from now until then all my time scheduled for finishing up projects has been throw thru the ringer.  Things just never go as you plan!  I am still hopeful I will be able to spend *some* time in the studio to finish up the most urgent/tardy projects before departing for Alchemy.

Third strike will be getting the electrician out here for some new wiring and most importantly, giving me proper electrical means for the new kiln(s) that will be going in.  Nothing is ever easy, is it?  So I am keeping my fingers crossed that the electrian and my schedules jell so he can get this whole problem sorted out prior to November 21st.   Once he is done and the kilns are up and running it will all be worth it, it is just the hassle of getting everything to that stage. 

So that is where I am at right now.  Listening to hammering on my house walls, trying to stay warm (it is 48 degrees outside and probably 58 in the house) and positive about these time diversions that have been dealt to me.  I am hoping, looking back in January it will all be worth it.

Speaking of kilns, this is a life long dream come to life you know.  For years I have dreamed of being able to play in mud, glaze my own goodies and play kiln games.  Below I am showing you one of my very first underglazed ceramic projects from back in 1996, when I was in Kohler Wisconsin working at Kohler Stables.  Some co-workers and myself were taking ceramic lessons a couple nights a week and having a blast being silly and artistic.  Those memories are so cherished with Nancy Neese, Jodi Ziemer and myself working the nerves of Betty, our instructor.  Betty was the old school, late 60ish, deep voiced "Bea Arthur" kind of lady .. which is also the same make up of what the rest of the class was like, let's just say alot of blue hair going on.  Then you had us three younger "kids" disrupting the class, it was a riot.  



A ceramic project circa 1996 - Kay Finch wanna-be, about 8" x 10"

 I have always been a fan of Kay Finch's whimsical ceramic pieces and when I saw that Betty had a knock off mold of Kay's popular  pomeranian "Mitzy" it was a must do!  Well Betty tried and tried to persuade me to paint her via cold paint method, but I insisted I had a vision and wanted to do her like a Kay Finch piece.  For a ceramasist, Betty really didn't like running her kiln for glazing, she wanted everyone to decorate their ware with paints/stains ala "crafty" style.  So when I broke out the pink underglazes and started my swirling, I think all the older ladies thought me on some drug induced psychadelic high.  Didn't matter to me, it was a dream come true and a vision, to work on something that would be shiny and fired.  The week that her final fire was taking place was a long week, my anticipation of how she turned out was out of control.  But in the end, she turned out pretty much how I wanted her to. 

Unfortunately for us three Muskateers, the ceramic shop closed it's doors and Betty passed away.  There were no more weekly gatherings and sillyness, so this photo'd Finch knockoff is one of the few pieces I got to complete during the formative years.  Nancy and I went and got all Betty's mold (this dog mold was not in the inventory tho, sadly) as we had a dream of starting our own little ceramic shop, but those dreams evaporated unfortunately as they so often do.  Who knows where we would be now had Nancy and I got that shop up and running? 

So, it is easy to understand why I am impatient for the electrician to come out and get the electric suitable for kiln use.  I've been waiting since 1996, so what's a few more months?  Well, when you see the light at the end of the tunnel after so many years, you just get impatient I guess.  But I do have some big plans for these kilns, not just for creating shiney horses but for other fun stuff.  Hopefully you will see different projects come from my studio -- things of whimsy, and craziness.  Heck, maybe I will even invite Nancy and Jodi over from Wisconsin for another "girls night out" workshop where we can reminisce and think about what could have been and what is. 

Despite being busy, busy, busy and frustrated my time schedule has been thrown completly out of whack ... I am happy and excited.  So excited I dug this rather large early ceramic piece out of storage to share with you.  There is so much in store I don't even mind being more busy than originally anticipated! 

PS - If anyone has a 'line' on this mold somewhere do let me know.  I think it would look equally cute decorated in a realistic color!  These molds are still floating around so I will remain hopeful.