Finally took some photos...

Spent the last couple of days getting another part of the studio set up - the business side. Yesterday waded through the aisles of Staples and got myself a printer (its wireless but am using the USB - makes me feel safer). Then, today, went to Newtonville Camera and purchased a tripod and lighting setup. Trying to get my act together to submit to a couple of shows. Cup show and another raku show. Figuring out lighting is no easy task...

I'm going to put some of these on the website...

Old Guys Getting Old...

Is it just me or do most guys getting older tend to identify with the aging athletes on their favorite teams? Here we are at Celia's first Celtics game (mom had season tickets back in the glory days and Liam and I have gone once a year for the last couple of years). While the kids were all about Rajon Rondo, I was empathizing with Kevin Garnett, who is a decade younger than me! And I wasn't really identifying with him as much as I was identifying with his knees...

I just wanted Kevin to get through the game without getting hurt after missing the last (10?) games with an injury to those pivotal joints. Winning was secondary to me.

Touching the shamrock for good luck works - Celtics end a three game losing streak and Kevin survives to play another night!
Celia thoroughly enjoyed herself - less for the game than she made it up onto the Jumbotron twice for her crazy dancing! Here we are trying to catch a glimpse...

Speaking of old guys, is anyone else exhausted about trying to figure out whether Brett Favre could make it back for another season? The league is better with him in it, but the beating he took yesterday and the prospect of another whole season of games with no guarantee of making it to the Super Bowl would make me cry into my soup - to contemplate coming back for that at age 41 would make me hesitate until October too...

As to ceramics, I put together a Facebook page for John Dorsey Ceramics - I have no idea what I'm doing. I just know that a former student of mine has 1895 friends...

Raku Preview

Helped to unbox work that was coming in for the Raku show. The work is great!

Here's a list of who is participating:

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Bill Abright

Daniel Achermann

Amber Aguirre

Nathan Anderson

Tim Andrews

Ruth Apter

Wally Asselberghs

Rick Berman

Edge Barnes

Colette Beardall

Doris Boschund-Johner

Steven Branfman

Jim Connell

Daphne Corregan

Patrick Crabb

Andrew M. Denney

John H. Dorsey

Nesrin During

Mark Einhorn

Rick Foris

Bob Green

Domi Gruszecka

Richard Hirsch

Michael Hough

Kate and Will Jacobson

David Jones

Eduardo Lazo

Ronda M. Liskey

Mark Lusardi

Karen Mahoney

John Mathieson

Kevin Nierman

Geoffrey Pagen

Irene Poulton

Linda and Charles Riggs

Jim Romberg

Harvey Sadow

Lou Smedts

Marvin Sweet

Kathi Tighe

Leo Van derheyden

Paul Andrew Wandless

Debbie Winnick

Patty Wouters

Celia and Playdough

The other day, Liam brought home a recipe for homemade playdough. He is working on a project in school for geography: a topographical map of the United States. It was a really easy recipe and we enjoyed making it. Celia, of course, saw the two of us working on it and wanted in on the action so she and I had our own playdough making session, which I was able to document:

Pretty simple ingredients (listed below) that just get mixed together and slowly heated over low heat. It doesn't usually glow nuclear with an other-worldly light...
With patience and constant stirring, it takes about 5-7 minutes for it to turn from goo into playdough.
We subdivided into four so we could add food coloring.
Have to be careful with the food coloring...
Pretty easily wedged - we just formed a little pinch pot and put a couple of drops of the coloring in. Celia was determined t that we make "seafoam" and not "green". I am also a big fan of orange, hence we went with two primaries, two secondaries.

Recipe:

2 cups of flour

1 cup of salt

3 tsp of cream of tartar

2 Tbsp of vegetable oil

2 cups of water

Mix - should be kinda soupy. Low heat and stir until sticky and clingy. Keep in airtight container. Have fun!

New Teapots - Rough Stage

Big day in Massachusetts - election day! Scott Brown v. Martha Coakley...huge! So important for the future of the Senate. Both sides want this one pretty bad.

Tough call, having taught Ayla Brown, even gave her the ceramics award when she graduated 4 years ago. Nice family and all. But what I really want to know is: Will Democrats ever be fiscally responsible or will Republicans ever respect individual's liberties? I don't see either happening anytime soon. Ultimately, I leaned left and went with Martha. I hope she has a voice that can be trusted.

Here are some teapots that make me a little happy:

Raku Pieces

Images from the raku firing on Friday.

Also got to see the Randy Johnston's show at Pucker before it closed. Will write about it tomorrow...

Lights and Fire

Back home

after a whirlwind day. Glazed pots this morning for raku firing tomorrow. Stopped by Nobles to drop off library books, see friends, pick up mail. Went to Foster Gallery to see the latest iteration: Awesome!

Tony Kudner's

installation was so cool. A black box was created inside the gallery. The space changed over the course of many minutes. Grids, columns, walls

were created out of light and mist. I loved it!

Then I went

to Portland Pottery to pick up supplies and decided to hop over to Thayer Academy to see my friend Steven Branfman and the show he had going on at their gallery: John Baymore.

Really beautiful wood-fired pots. Lovely proportions, luscious glazes, pretty true to Japanese traditional work. John studied for some time in Japan and has built his own naborigama in New Hampshire. He will be doing a workshop at Thayer next Thursday, so I'll get a chance to meet him! So cool!