Getting ready for what's next

That is something that we can all give a bit of thought to.

Once things begin to open up again. When kids can again climb around on playgrounds, after being let out from classrooms where they gathered to learn...when the stores are stocked well and friends can hug again.

My granddaughters and the bunnies they raised (and sold) about 6 years ago.

Did you ever think we'd be without such ordinary things?

I want to sit in my favorite coffee shop, eating a decadent pastry and sipping my Americano espresso. I want to hug everyone after church. I want to be in a crowded studio making something in clay, grinning at jokes being told.

When?

My original guess (back when I started wearing a mask at the dentist office in February) was things would be changing and might last till Easter.  Now I'm not sure Mother's Day will suffice. I'm still on the optimistic side however.  Yet still, the flu epidemic of 1918-19 had a second bout come through after the survivors got well. More people got sick.  So we need to be wary.

OK, let's post Christmas as possibly returning to normal. What do you think?

Goals during the time of Covid-19

Do something I've been putting off.
Every day.

I wake up and think, this is what I'll tackle today.

Then I go divert myself on the computer, and the day is over, and maybe I've managed to do the tasks that a daily life requires, but seldom the "targeted and needed thing." However, I've cleaned out the aquarium, so 6 little beings are happier.

So I'm going over to one blog for the next few days...my When I Was 69.

And I'll still be reading all my blog friend's posts, and commenting on them. That's what I like to do while I do my nebulizer treatment twice a day.

I also need diversions and not inspiration; kittens and puppies please. Seriously, I am having to skip those of you who post such beautiful sayings, poems, quotes, which I usually like. I will probably be back.

Bye from here, for now.

Big teapot

I wanted to make a teapot which would hold enough for a couple of mugs-worth, and maybe 4, in case friends wanted to share a pot.  Mugs are generally 10-12 oz.  So my goal was 40-48 oz. Yes, I made it, and it pours without a dribble (another potter's goal!)

 Glazed in shiny green with some areas of white sponged into it, it both has translucence over the white clay, as well as some interesting flows of color blending. Unfortunately, shiny glazes are really hard to photograph!

 A little crack appeared by the handle (look closely at the white area.) It won't keep it from functioning, but alas, it makes it a second.

With all the reflected light, it's hard to see the other crack at the other end of the handle. These were in the finishing clay which were just coils to smooth the handle around the pot.

Sunlight below gives a bit of a chance to see the changing colors of these glazes.

 A bit of a tipsy spout, eh? The spout always does a bit of "unwind" from when it was thrown on the wheel, and I thought I'd corrected for that, by making its opening a bit skewed...but either that was the wrong direction or I didn't do it enough!

Maybe I'll try some indoor shots, but diffuse light may not work.

Charles featured in local newspaper

Charles is the studio manager at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts Clay studio.
Thanks to Shelly Frome for writing this vignette about him. Shelly is a friend who also writes biographies for the UU publication, Tidings, which I edit.

Exercise and the mountains

March 23, 2018. One of my favorite views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. At least I was walking around the lake at that time, I think. That's one of my goals for this week of isolation, to get walking again! With my chronic cough, I'll wear a mask just so people won't think I'm catching...and of course my breathing will be limiting me to walking a flat trail. I salute all those who can actually hike in these beautiful mountains. I just didn't move here until I was already incapacitated.

Happy Oestra, Spring Equinox

Yes, today finally there is as much daylight as nighttime. We have been dreaming of this for weeks...sharing our first blossoms together, sighing that this is so slow this year. But I looked at some of the blooms around me, and found they are within a day of when they bloomed last year.

Perhaps my yearning is what has grown longer, deeper, definitely more intense.

 March 20, 2018

March 23, 2019

March17, 2020

If I were disciplined enough to walk every day, I might have actual days through the years, but these are pretty close.

Pear Blossoms and Forsythia

 Unfortunately in this shot the light colored sky makes these white blossoms look dark!

Behind the Monte Vista Hotel in Black Mountain, the Forsythia was blooming last Thursday.

Ah summertime

Hooker Falls, with a man climbing the rocks on the side, which is't advised! It's pretty walking down the path to the bottom, and good exercise coming back up!

Nature's beauty

Going through some older photos, which remind me that nature does have a lot to offer, even if crowds of people are being avoided at this season of the cororna virus.

I went into the community studio last night, wearing my mask because I always end up coughing anyway. THere were 5 other potters working there, using some distancing from others. I finished glazing my big teapot, and left in 30 minutes.  By the time I got home, the Red House had posted they were closing the studios and gallery for the foreseeble future.

Walking

A summertime stroll is a nice memory. Need to go see the waterfalls in DuPont Forest again soon.

My tree/vase and canceled art opening

There are almost no public events happening this week...and I don't know when they will start again.  Friday was to be the opening at the Red House Gallery of the latest show.

I may have already given you a hint of my vase/tree that is part of that show.

Here are some more photos of it. I stopped by the gallery and took a few shots, thinking that I wasn't going to come to the opening, if it happened. On Thursday it was still a possibility. By Friday morning there were FaceBook and email posts of the cancellation.

I like the dried leaves that were available at the gallery, which of course just give an idea of what is possible if the sculpture is treated as a vase.

Buds coming out

Loving the earliest hints of spring...even if I'm sharing from a few years ago.

Pretty things around me

I admit this is not a new photo...and perhaps it looks a bit Christmasy. But I just have been trolling through some old shots to see what looks nice, and this one said, "Me me me."

Love the Locals

Ah, another gallery show at the Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League (aka the Red House). Opening on Friday March 13, 5-7 pm.

I'll be taking in my one submission for this show today.  But first, let me give you a peak at it.

 Not just another tree...but it forms a great vase for dried flower arrangements!

The Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League is inviting the whole neighborhood over to experience the latest show: LOVE THE LOCALS! Be it enjoying our sensational restaurants, unique local businesses, serene mountain vistas, close-up encounters with furry creatures, or wildflowers peeking from unexpected places, this show will feature subjects that make Western North Carolina home. It will highlight what we love about where we live, and the community that surrounds us. Show us what you love about living in this neck of the woods.
 
The show will also include the 2^nd Annual Student Exhibit by ArtSpace Charter School.  The students will be providing images of North Carolina wildlife and landscapes.

Curators: Tina Kannapel & Ruth Duckworth 

 

Show Dates: March 11th - May 4th
Opening Reception: Friday, March 13th, 5pm - 7pm

Hours: Weekdays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sundays, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

The Red House
310 W State St, Black Mountain, NC 28711
(828) 669-0351

Forgetting to take photos

I must be sick. How could I have gone through beautiful countryside, visited friendly people at the Art Center in Shelby NC, shared dinner with good friends...and NOT take a single photo!

We drove down (from mountains everything is down, but so is driving in a southerly direction) to Shelby, leaving the sleet and rain of Black Mountain.

Not this month, nor my photo, taken by drone above Black Mountain Town Square

We packed up the remaining pottery which hadn't sold, and looked at a list of what had, then drove back to Marion. That's where the three of us met another potter friend for Mexican food dinner.

And I just enjoyed the whole thing. I used Siri a few times to find out where I'd sent us to the wrong place with my faulty memory. I'm glad my phone was a backup, so we didn't continue in the directions that would have made us miss some of the fun we had.

Pshaw! That's where that term is good. I messed up with no photos. So I'm going to find some older photos here to share.

Last year's show in Shelby, inside the Cleveland County Arts Council, aka the Old Post Office building.

My cousin Violet, and yours truly. We found out I'd made a mistake on my genealogy, so we're not really cousins. But I'd sure adopt her if we could. She told us a lot about the Art Center, where she works...I was interested in the Old Post Office building, where they are situated.

Sold this little sculpture. That makes me happy.

Only the green mugs, one plate, and the weird vase on top shelf sold from this end of the display...I thought the tan and celadon bowls would certainly catch someone's eye. I think they are perfect serving dishes. Just goes to show what I know!

I'm glad to have these photos to remember what was gone when I packed up the remaining ones. Only one dragon was left on the top shelf, and a lot of the white with red flowers had sold. But the blue on white, not a thing! So that's all I'll say about my efforts to know my market. Nah.

A teapot waiting to dry

It was thrown in pieces, then assembled. Then another piece was thrown. And now it's drying slowly on one of those baker's racks for clay.

I made it rather large, because I have one like it which I made a few years ago, and love to make tea in it, but it only holds 2 mugs worth.

Of course I could make some smaller cups to drink tea in. But I like a big mug-full. So why should I change my tastes? I can just throw a bigger teapot.

A beaded stole

My sister beaded this stole or woolen scarf for me. I was so thrilled to receive it. And of course a friend saw it and asked if she would make one for her. I was the original go-between, but gave them each other's email addresses and encouraged them to work out the details between them.

I think I saw my friend's stole one time, in deep maroon colors. But she was very disappointed in it, not having half as much hand work on it as mine. A sad story, and the reason I didn't want to be a middle-woman in the conversation. My sister often tried to please, and then let people down. It was just her way. She died back in 2017.

This stole represents the surprisingly generous side of my sister...you never knew when it would happen! OK, aside from her quirkiness, she could create beautiful needlework.

 It has a soft marino wool backing, from which she made fringes.

This shows the back side, revealing she did all the embroidery and beadwork through the wool backing and the lace. I wear it about once a year.