changes

Hi everyone...
my mac book died upon my return from Demarest
I've been disconnected since, but now have a new IMac...
nothing is as easy as I might expect it to be with the transition
it will take some time and probably a lot of frustration,
but the process is under way...
once I can work this out, retrieving my old disk is next...
all those many photos and documents...
wish me luck... new images soon...

oval lava bowl w/ coral interior

pieces being loaded for the old church show...
www.oldchurchpottery show.org
Sold

happy thanksgiving!

have a great holiday everyone...
if you're traveling, stay safe, remain well
and arrive with a warm heart!

Tray w/ Blue Arches

www.oldchurchpotteryshow.org preview
Wall Tray with Blue Arches
$950

misty glaze

today's foggy and misty morning reminded me of this pot from the shino experiments...
many layers of mist and glaze... lots of density to look through...
and wonderful drips!
www.oldchurchpotteryshow.org coming soon!

Mikhail's Cups

Mikhail's Cups
Dec 5-7...
www.oldchurchpotteryshow.org
come on out and support a great cause
come out and support some great potters from around the country...

old church...

one of the many pieces available at the coming old church pottery show...
www.oldchurchpotteryshow.org

frozen sunrise

frozen sunrise...

condensation sunrise...

condensation sunrise...

firing coals

raked coals during the firing
night paintings in the mind
till morning

the twins

the twins continue to grow, adding fat for the winter...

An Invitation...Old Church Pottery Show

I am extending a personal invitation to any and all who read this...
please... you are invited to the old church on this weekend...
the place will be overflowing with great pots and people,
extending it's annual tradition into 40 years!
imagine that... 40 years of selling wonderful pots to a grateful audience...
how can you not want to be there and participate?
how can you not want to support such wonder????
then, bring some pots home to your own world and enjoy them each day?
give it a try... it might change your life....

Old Church Pottery Show

and now as I continue to ask the nasty cold I picked up in Philly to move on
 and let me be...
it is time to focus on Old Church and their annual pottery show...
please go to www.oldchurchpotteryshow.org
and see the fine potters who will offer their work for sale there Dec.5-7...
great potters from around the country, great pots of all types and sizes
and a room full of years of dedicated pottery loving folks who travel from afar to be there...
consider coming, it is a temple to pots on this weekend...
in the old style, simple, unpretentious and beautiful...
come say hello... come enjoy yourself... come to smile at the wonder of it all!

Philadelphia Craft Show Booth 1

 Some images of the booth from the
Philadelphia Craft Show...
nice to be back, see old friends and
customers and sell some pottery...
thanks to the jurors for the opportunity!

craft show booth 2

 2nd group of craft show booth

ready to leave

the weather has turned quite cold overnight
but the called for snow did not develop here
lucky for me...  the mountains, though, have turned white to say goodbye...
I am, as my friend David Bacharach would say " loaded for bear"...
me and my old '88 chevy heading out tomorrow morning, early, to Delaware
and then Philly Tuesday morning...
I have done the best  I could...
many really fine pots to my eye...
it's been a while since I've been to the craft show... so I'm hopeful..
perhaps I'll see you there...
perhaps I'll sell a lot of pots...
perhaps I'll then get some rest!

Burl Bottle

Burl Bottle

Lava Turner

Lava Turner

Oval Coral Bottle

Bottle 1

From the kiln for PMA Craft Show

some images from the kiln...
taken quickly as there is much to do
perhaps just a distraction from it all
and some thought that I'm close...
tomorrow they'll be packed and loaded...
more to follow

Firebox door

this firebox door is over 15 years old now...
not even a memory of it's well crafted younger self...
it carries the memories, with it's partner on the other side,
of every slab and sliver of wood I have fired wood pots with...

it's been black, repeatedly red with heat and slathered with post firing slip to seal it from air intrusion...

 it is so warped and misshapen it doesn't close anymore with anything resembling evenness...

yet, still, I want it's memories to bless the new pots
with it's thoughts of older ones...

so I accommodate it...
I continue to use it, to benefit from it's memory and it's energy...

there are many types of craftsmanship

it takes many forms...

coals

long day and night and day...
coals with rain drops...

the RAIN...

nothing like the smell of preheating smoke in the morning... in the rain...
it's been raining for days, just raining
through the entire loading process...
everything wet... everything!!!
including the wood so carefully covered with tarps and thought to be safe...
I have been wet through to my underwear for 3 days...
87 steps with each piece from studio door to kiln door and back...
wadding and kilnwash wet for 3 days means a slower preheat...
tired in ways sleep won't help...
but... the deadline comes, the firing must be done and excitement will build...
after a little rest...

the big show!

body work on the truck has delayed the loading
it needs to be inspected...
funny how these things slip by when there's more time...
tomorrow... tomorrow... hearing the song in the distance
the PMA Craft Show will be here soon
come out to see all the amazing craftspeople and their fine work...
and new pots from the coming firing...

red sky...

red sky in morning... sailors take warning
seems rain is coming...
not fun for the loading or preheating
another well laid plan ...........slowly evaporating
late schedule probably delayed as the pressure mounts
the stomach churning, I have worked so hard to remove from life,
has returned with a vengeance...
the sky is beautiful... the fire warm
and tea feels wonderful warming my insides...

craft show firing

PMA Craft Show coming soon...
preparing to begin loading the kiln tomorrow...
lots to do, many doors to move through
each firing always an adventure
this one perhaps more than most
"don't know, we'll see"...

company for the sign...

'tis the season!
thanks Judy...

morning windows...

condensation patterns on my summer bedroom window...
I stay out on the sunporch as long as possible
waiting for the cold to be a bit too much
each morning the windows are decorated with  different patterns
until, of course, I wake to frost covering them...
that's when I think of moving back in...
just think about it...

Preparing

whiskey cups and small bowls
drying after pre glaze washing
glazing began yesterday
another group to replace these tomorrow...
moving along slowly...

Flame Path Tray

PMA Craft Show coming soon!
Flame Path Tray...
13in.H x 25in.W x 2.5in.
Sold

deer and turkey...

Through the looking glass...
this morning 2 groups of visitors
foraging for breakfast
neither minding the other...
me just watching...

PMA Craft Show

the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show is set to begin Nov.5---running through Nov.9
I'm very happy to be back in the show
hope to see all of you there!

Trays

some serving trays for the small shelves just before the chimney...
they fit perfectly there...
a white clay, looking for a lighter surface
something bone or shell like on the back where the action is...
iron residue from my canvases on the surface to influence the shino...
we'll see if the clay can survive the thickness
no fun to work with, but it registers the texture on the back beautifully...

morning sun in the fall

2 views of the effect of the morning sun
the colors are increasingly stronger...
magic here every day!

red red red

some red for you in early evening...
out the dining room window
it's even more intense in person!

the creeper!

virginia creeper over birch, backlit by the late afternoon sun
cutting wood all day today...
had to cut down a birch, here, close to the power lines...
the only one not coated with the creeper and it died...
roped the tree off with a few towing straps
and avoided the power lines right next to it...
sore and tired, it's Friday... time for some red!

monkshood

with the colors coming
I always await the flowering of the monkshood...
sentinels against the cold
they only arrive after all else has faded in the flower beds...
celebrating if you will the last hurrah of summer...
so for now the vases remain empty...
waiting...
will they make it before a killer frost?

heading to Philadelphia

grey day, with studio smoke in the air
the fall is coming with winter not far behind...
soon the pots will be hauled to the kiln
the firing will be done
and Philadelphia will see the new pots...
nice all around...
hope to see you there...

wet, round open jar...

wet in the studio...
"Traditional Open Jar"/ Lava/Burl Style
12in. H

the twins...

through the looking glass...
as the frost continues to come each morning
the twins have lost their spots...
slowly growing into a new life,
fueled by the apples beneath this tree...

Wet Burl Bottle

Wet in the studio...
I spend half my time in the fall in the woods
cutting trees and hauling them for fire wood to the splitter...
booted broken foot and all...
I love the odd growths, the strange forms and the Burls...
organically " exploding" out of the order of the trees growth...
this has probably come from there... exaggerated a little...