Blog Continued 2005

17-12-2005 Driving down to Berea, driving into an overcast winter sky, the whine of the highway as constant as dawn, I look up to the sun in reverse silhouette buried in a smoky blanket of clouds with shafts of sun rays above a demarcation cloud feathered by the sun's reach with an orange ember foundation resting on the horizon. A tie dye effect is created by the variegated gray of the stretched cotton clouds striated by the sun's rays radiating through the atmosphere's (band), a backdrop to the horse farms stretching into the horizon with fields grayed by frost, dotted with ancient trees, drawing from my mind impressions of the African Serengeti. 

 Demonstrating at the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, a bashful and (momentarily) shy trio of children, the oldest 7 at the most, stop and watch in rapture as I skillfully manipulate the clay with the usual magic of ceramic charlatans. Since the demo is coming to an end, I take a chance and ask the little ones if they want to make a pinch pot. They look up with those wide open eyes at their parents first for approval, then direct that pure gaze at me, tentatively taking the clay and, following instructions amazingly well, they form bowls  of varying thickness carefully, methodically, sensitively, a brief moment of craftsmanship that will linger a lifetime. I hope.

An earlier crowd seemed held captive by the spinning clay. I couldn't resist the opportunity for artistic pronouncements to live by, and mentioned the book on tape that I had been listening to of Seven Practices of DaVinci. I was trying to bring home the concept of observation, of awareness as the primary tool of all art, and of living. It is awareness that allows an artist to observe and use the world around her for all the vocabulary of her artistic language. It is awareness in all the senses exercised at all times by listening to all the levels of sound around us, by looking at the most mundane objects in our life as design elements and lessons in composition. The audience did not turn and leave, so I figure another seed was planted in a dozen fertile mind fields.

The drive home is lightened with the calm of the previous paragraphs, floating into a gray bank of more winter clouds, when over my shoulder a chiaroscuro of herringbone clouds, like the sands at the edge of the ocean tides,  raked by sunlight and outlined with pure blue sky, creates a sundown spectacle that finds me wishing for traffic-less highways (my awareness of striped white lines seems diminished) for unfettered "awareness" of my immediate surroundings and its unexpected, oh-so-fleeting moments of beauty. 

12-12-05 Today was spent at the computer working on a report for a professional consultancy that took place this past Saturday. So then I get a call to do some writing for my church newsletter! Looks like I'm on a roll. I guess it's like they say, be careful what you wish for. . . you may just get it! I do so enjoy writing, I wonder where it will lead me. If nothing else, I know it makes it a lot easier to communicate. I told my boys that those who are able to communicate sound a whole lot smarter than those who don't. It's just a skill, not a sign of intelligence. Oh, no, I just erased your inflated opinion of me! D'oh!

I've been working on a small book of my trip to the Outer Banks. It was an idea I had at the time to create a sort of travelogue with pictures and commentary that I wrote at the time. News at Eleven.

11-12-2005 Yesterday was spent in eastern, Kentucky, as an advisor for Arts Kentucky, one of my forays into the great land of leadership. Truly a rewarding time, and exhausting. The trip home became a bit blurry around 7:00 pm, the mental gymnastics of the day having taken its toll, and a stop at a gas station found me reading the label of an "energy" beverage, a chemical cocktail with totally unrecognizable ingredients that sounded like a mad scientists inventory of questionable compounds. In desperation I bought the can along with fuel for the car, and headed back on the highway. I can now attest to the efficacy of these energy drinks. Wryly, I reflected on the fact that people half my age felt the need for this pick-me-up in order to imbibe their favorite alcohol on their trails through the clubs,  an enhancement to the deadening effects of self-induced dulling of the senses. I didn't feel so bad.

But the strength of the concoction was quite evident almost immediately, and the next hour and a half rolled by without fear of heavy eyelids or road fatigue, and I was able to communicate and engage at that that evening's party with plenty of energy and alertness. As a matter of fact, I had to force myself to bed at 1:30 in the morning, convincing myself that I didn't HAVE to make the most of this high octane buzz. This lesson will not be lost on me in the future, and my favorite order at any bar, (at any time of the day, knowing alcohol's sedating effect on me) will include one of these energy drinks and a healthy shot of my favorite liquor. At least, as long as I don't have any early morning appointments, and I don't mind staying up late. Wide awake. 

9-12-2005 Two hours east on my way to an arts consultancy, I stop in at Carter Caves.

Carter Caves Revisited:  It's a late evening arrival, with a cloud cover for unidirectional light reflected helter skelter on the glittering crunchy crust of re-frozen slush/snow pockmarked with uniform snowdrops from the overhanging branches along the creek bed, making for an icy aggregate for the lone bipedal traveler. The narrow valley's walls of stone are enhanced texturally and visually with moss and snow, contrasts to the solidity of rock, denying gravity's pull to the creek bed yet another year.

As my mind and eyes become acclimated to the uniqueness of the park, the landscape reveals itself in soft light and delicate details. Hundred foot pines stand watch over the quiet valley, their protective boughs reaching thinly out over the slow moving stream, inviting me to an imagined protective cocoon that I step into, the sweeping curve of the branches shamelessly displaying the obvious inspiration for the grace of the pagoda roofs of Asia. The creek is comfortably lethargic, gathering in reflective pools before rippling in whispers over shoals of rounded pillow stones to the next mirror pool. Boulders at creeks edge (I'm not going to tell them to move out of the way!) lend outrageous scale for the creek pebbles to look up to, and giving me pause to contemplate the simple beauty of nature's sculpture.

A short ride up the valley to the park office and another trail head, one that will only be partly explored at twilight's impending arrival, adding to the thrill level of unexplored paths. The trail leads down back into the valley floor, past another towering cave wall, across the creek, and back up the bluff, pausing to watch a flock of humongous turkeys take flight into the trees with ease. The trail clings to the edge of the bluff, providing a bird's eye view of oblivious travelers, lending a voyeuristic quality to the journey. The unobserved observer. Feels like God, looking down, devoid of judgment, merely watching, entertained at the procession of life.

7-12-2005 It looks like the whole week or two has been a wonderful semi-vacation, with no hard schedules, little work done in the studio, and not much more done on the computer. Lots of plans, but I am enjoying this lethargic pace, with little accomplished, not much guilt, and a lot of being.

Working on some new designs of the face line has been enlightening. I realize how much the whimsy in my work is what attracts people and engages them. Sometimes when I'm working on a design, I resort to Wal Mart thinking, and try to make it slick and perfect. "True perfection seems imperfect, yet is perfectly itself." (from the Tao te Ching) So the goal for me is to allow the "imperfections" to remain as the indelible fingerprint of my process, the signature of human creativity in lines and squiggles that were not planned, but their existence in the finished work exhibits the clearest intent. 

2005-11-28  Winterfair was not as busy as I would have liked, but I had a lot of good feedback, and some really good sales. The DVD of me working and in interviews did not seem to attract much attention, but maybe the professionalism was more subconscious in its effect. I got to trade for a lot of great artwork! Most artists feel like they can't afford to trade if they don't sell much during the week, but I've decided that I am getting a lot more out of the fair if I get to go home with artwork even if I don't make a lot of money. It's a new paradigm of prosperity. 

Today was a day off, and I really took the entire (almost) day off! I did NOT set the alarm, did not get out of bed till after 9, spent the day just pampering myself with reading, and Tai Chi, and cooking, and eggs for breakfast, a long meditation, a wonderful walk watching the dark clouds roaring in the trees. It was a spectacular day doing nothing, and everything I want. I really needed that, and I enjoyed it very much. Almost no guilt for not working!

Went to a fabulous restaurant in Covington. It's the Riverside Korean Restaurant at 513 Madison, and I cannot recommend it enough! The food tastes so fresh, and the spices are unique. Almost everything is somewhat spicy to very spicy, so be prepared if you go. Prices are reasonable for food of this quality and service. I usually don't recommend restaurants in the $11 to $20 range, since I rarely splurge to that extent, but this one is well worth it. It is a true culinary experience. 

2005-11-25-4 What an experience to learn from. No one took me up on my offer for turkey dinner tonight, but it was perfect for me an my Mom to sit down to a dinner and just unwind together. And she really enjoyed the food! She said she didn't realize how hungry she was, she was so wrapped in her thoughts of her challenging day. 

But I was very observant of my feelings in offering a free meal to fellow artists, and their kind rejections. I took it as some kind of rejection, but it was also nice to see that people took care of themselves, and more or less planned their evening around being away for the holiday of Thanksgiving. It still felt good to make the offer, and to realize that they were probably feeling a little lighter knowing that someone they had never met was thinking of them. 

So though my intentions were to make the people around me feel good and prosperous, I ended up doing the most good for the one person who probably needed it most. 

Setting up the show did not go as smoothly as I'd liked. It took me a long time to just figure out the layout, with Joyce's help, and then I discovered that I had left my battery pack for the electric drill plugged in for recharging- at home! Using a hand screwdriver doesn't seem to have any redeeming qualities. I still have two hours maybe left on the details. I really wish I had gotten a 10x20 booth, but at the time the extra money seemed daunting. I didn't realize how I had outgrown a 10x15. But maybe I can learn a lot from this. I will be a great day, no matter what. And the video is awesome!

2005-11-23 Spending the day in various pursuits again, working on the rental apartment, an appointment with a nonprofit for discussion of strategic planning and possible funding opportunities. Back to the studio for packing and painting and prep for the Winterfair art show in Covington. But the great treat was getting Thanksgiving dinner ready.

I'm feeding the homeless. I'm going to the art fair to set up tomorrow, and I'm going to invite the out of town artists that have nowhere to spend Thanksgiving to come to my house for a dinner of turkey and other great foods to celebrate our wonderful lives of abundance. I plan on making my area of the fair the most prosperous with great feelings of gratitude.

2005-11-22 Trying to take care of another repair, hurrying to the address to fulfill my tardy responsibility, I am "stuck" behind a Nervous Nelly, a cautious driver that seems to have no concept of the urgency of my situation. Taking the mandatory three seconds at every stop sign, she accelerates at infinitesimal G forces, slowing for half a block for a parked moving van that wasn't even running, and I'm thinking, "for Christ's sake lady! What is wrong with you?!"  Then it occurs to me that this lady (maybe it's a man - maybe some gender profiling?) is oblivious to the hurry-up world I live in, maybe she is not obsessed with pushing the limits of our traffic patterns and road conditions, maybe she doesn't feel a need for speed to feel powerful, maybe she is free of thoughts that interfere with just getting there. In a surprisingly empathic moment, I feel that freedom, just a glimmer of it, and

I envy her.

Her view of life is

absolutely

perfect.

2005-11-19 This day started out with a generous coat of frost rime softening the landscape, the cold gripping my fingers during my last minute preparations and errands, but the warmth began to spread quickly with sunshine. My Open House was a slow start, but the steady stream of visitors made for a very successful day. My wonderful brother Steve came and played his guitar all day, and everyone really enjoyed it. Rachel came out to help in the afternoon. It was great to have so much support!

After unloading the kiln, I found that this batch was the most successful in a long time; I lost one candlestick out of all the pottery! I was able to manage all the running glazes, and the colors turned out great! The green has never been so bright. And the new mauve looked great, ran at just the right places, and was a deeper color than before with pleasant speckles for texture. I was very happy with this kiln load, and on Monday I'll be packing it up for all the last orders for the season.

I was rather disturbed by how upset I became after the sale was over, when I was obsessing about a particular customer who seemed to feel a need to get me to lower the price on an item that was already reduced. I turned to her and said, "Would that make you feel good?" She ignored the question by pointing out the flaws of the piece. I decided to let her have it, because I think I made my point. But now I feel like I didn't get it across, and she will only kill again.

What I rehearse in my head is to take the piece and drop it on the concrete floor and let her watch it shatter. Because that's what it feels like inside of me when someone asks that question. 

I have run into this before, and usually it comes  from men. The sad thing is, I have a feeling it is more about the person's respect for themselves than it is about their respect for me. Maybe that's just trying to rationalize. But the fact is, when a person offers me a lower price, it tells me that they don't value the piece or me. And I can't believe anyone can feel really good looking at a piece of art in their home knowing that they paid less than the price the artist deserves and regularly receives. It feels to me like someone going into their job one day and the boss asking them if they will take less salary this week. Are they suddenly worth less that week? I realize that the depth of this feeling has something to do with how I value myself and how I value others. A wonderful lesson to learn.

My book of Rumi  was open to this poem last night:

THE GUEST HOUSE

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

Some momentary awareness comes

As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,

Who violently sweep your house

Empty of its furniture,

Still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing your house out

For some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice;

Meet them at the door laughing,

And invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

Because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

2005-11-17 6:15 am. The full moon continues its vigil, casting silvery shadows effortlessly. Such a cold clear night reveals all details of its catered surface begs for a telescope for closer scrutiny.

The kiln has been firing for an hour, the 7 hours of "candling" having prepped all those pots, 150 plus, for their alchemic transformation. After an hour of moving pots and stuff around the studio to clear it for the Open House, I head back to the house for breakfast, and a nap.

9:30 am. The nap has done wonders! The transition from a soft mind receptive to the experiences of the pre-dawn hours through a few minutes of the warm cocoon of my in-this-moment wonderful bed brings me exceedingly awake, exhilarated, leaning into the day and all it has to offer.

2005-11-16   Gently placing the top kiln shelf on the precarious stilts, slipping in the last teapots with minimal millimeter gaps between, I perch the cones at the exact spot for viewing through the peephole at the top of the door. It's almost 10 pm, the fruits of a long day of glazing are set to bed with the warmth of the pilot flames rippling in each burner port, and the promise of a dry and pre-heated kiln at 300 plus degrees by dawns early light. 

Turning out the light at the kiln, I reach for the pots that didn't fit this time, and notice a new shadow. Surprised and curious, I turn my head to the skies over my shoulder. The full moon makes for a new spotlight, dodging between clouds with its aura of circle rainbow. Obliterated by the overpowering electric light until now, its constancy is acknowledged as merely a footnote to the day. A footnote that reconnects me to the  circadian rhythms that predate by eons my busy schedule of business, of doing. 

Setting my alarm for a 5:00 am start, I am excited to be on schedule for the Kiln Opening and Holiday Sale on Saturday and Sunday. The ads have been placed, the TV program will air several times this week, and the gallery is stocked and clean. The amount of detail required for these open houses are daunting but rewarding. I do enjoy seeing my customers come out and see the place. 

At this point, I just want to find a vertical position and let my hands thaw out. 

2005-11-11 The sky was the constant for the day, always changing. As I was getting out o f the car I looked up at a moon that had a double ring of rainbows, orange and red haloing to create two sharp hoola hoops, suspended in mid dance around the hips of a beaming satellite. It slowed me down a bit, taking a deep breath of the cooling air, smelling sharp with a hint of dry leaves. 

Late afternoon finds Joey stopping on his bicycle as Rudy and I are finishing our daily walk. I am struck by the changes in this 12 year old , his hesitancy in speaking compared to the innocent outpouring of thought and opinion from a couple years ago. His frame stretching out with insistence, portending the adult that will be pushing right up through those jacket shoulders. The sky was settling down with blues and wispy clouds, the sun shining horizontal across the ridges, promising color and contrast with its dying breath.

Joey, reminiscing about his boyhood home of Georgia, is not looking forward to the cold and snow of our winters. Meanwhile, I am anticipating the same walk I took today cloaked in a pure white coat of snow, silent in a way that implicates man's fear and caution, as well as nature's re-creation with anew decor. 

Dawn brought a glow to the fields where a patina of frost had silvered the hillside, touching every blade and every wildflower with hard/soft wand of ice. As brilliant sunshine beamed from a blue sky, a deer runs through the same field in a frenzy that left me expecting to see Rudy in hot pursuit, but no sign of him, no bark to follow. Peace returns, or maybe never left.

The sunset left this horizon line, my hemisphere, and shot it's warmer spectrum across the clouds in reds and deep oranges, broad strokes  across blue, with a deepening crimson at earth's edge as I pull into the winding road to my mother's house for a hot bowl of homemade veggie soup and some very precious time with my family. As I left, I thanked my stepfather for his service to my country on this Veteran's Day, and it was a simple joy to see his crooked smile, a good moment of awareness in his Alzheimer haze.

Today was spent getting my computers back from the shop after transferring files (the work has just begun!) and getting some info together for the TV interview on Monday, and then getting the kiln loaded for firing tomorrow on Saturday. Things are still on schedule for firing the glaze on Thursday and having the kiln opening on Saturday during the Open House. I had entirely too much work to put in the kiln, and this is a time when I wish I had the electric kiln hooked up. I'll be doing two glaze firings before the Winterfair show.

2005-11-2  All day I was thinking it was tomorrow! And they say tomorrow never gets here. . . 

I had a wonderful weekend enjoying the fall season. It seems that most years I tell myself I will go for a drive or a hike and enjoy the colors of fall and the smell and the crisp air, and it seems every year I just "get too busy". Well, I wasn't any less busy this year, but I got myself out and thoroughly enjoyed the weather and the spectacular colors. I thought the colors might not be good this year, but they were just fashionably late. 

Saturday morning I took off in my car to travel the back roads of my county, and I discovered how beautiful it is right here in northern Kentucky. There were plenty of roads that just captured the beauty of rural life in Kentucky. Lazy meandering creeks dappled with sycamore leaves gliding so slowly,  teaching me by example a new way of living. I stopped the car, (thanking the unwitting farmer/parking-attendant) and walked along the macadam unmarked by yellow paint, soaking up the sun blazing over the mowed hilltop. It was mesmerizing, watching the creek, feeling the towering trees standing watch on this insignificant moment of its century long existence. 

Sunday was no less educational, as I took my hiking boots to California Nature Preserve (for those of you not from round these parts, there is a California in Ohio and in Kentucky - either of which you would miss if you blinked), a small untouched wilderness in the middle of the Cincinnati metropolis. The hills and ravines formed by the edge of the last ice age glacier lend a personal scale to nature's landscape, and the trees were all the more impressive. Once again, I was much more grateful for my self indulgence than for my work schedule waiting for my checkmark on that to-do list. 

So the rest of the week seems like a blur of errands and production, packing orders, taking slides of my work, phone calls (two more orders for the Face Pitchers and cups! And a beautiful teapot! And an urn!), and teaching with my apprentices. Today, I was able to throw a bunch of teapots, which seem to be moving pretty well this year, and some candle sticks. It's 8:30pm, and I'll be heading out to the studio for some more photography session to finish up a roll of film. So it's mid-week, and hopefully I'll be firing a kiln next Friday!

2005-10-28  Firing the kiln today, and hoping the new glaze formula is going to work. It's 9:15 in the evening, and the firing has another hour or so before I can shut it down and call it a night. I threw several teapots, their lids and spouts, and pulled the handles. I'm hoping I can put some of them together tomorrow (Saturday). It's a challenge to stay focused on getting as much work done as possible for the holiday season. Once its here, it's too late to make any more stuff - or money! 

2005-10-25 The artist from Gifu, Japan, and his son came to the studio today to see my work and space. It was an excellent visit, and I was grateful that Fumie was here for the times that Iku could not find the words. Fumie told me that they were quite surprised at my work, it was an actual shock to them! The pottery tradition does not encourage such innovation and creativity in Japan. I wish they had talked to me about that, because I am quite curious about those kinds of differences. 

We went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch, which everyone seemed to enjoy. Iku said he likes things to be very hot, so he enjoyed the salsa. Then we went to NKU to visit the ceramic and sculpture building, which he said was much better than the DAAP building at University of Cincinnati. Everyone was quite nice to us, wanted to give us tours. I got back to the studio around 2:30 and worked on glazing as much as I could but had to stop to get ready for my seminar on investing. 

Well maybe I don't have all that much to invest, but now that I understand it for the first time, I feel inspired to actually save and invest! It was a great seminar given by Mackey McNeil of The Advisory Group at http://www.cultivatingprosperity.com/. Sign up for their e-zine, you'll get a lot of info and inspiration.

2005-10-24  I went to an opening for an artist visiting from Gifu, Japan, yesterday at the Krohn Conservatory. so I thought he might like to visit my studio, and he is coming out tomorrow when Fumie will be here too! I am excited about that, and maybe take him up to Northern Kentucky University to see that facility. Maybe I'll take them to lunch. 

I got in the studio to mix some glazes for tomorrow, but not much. I spent a lot of time on Guild matters on email, and then went to the board meeting today in Lexington. Was gone for 6 hours, went directly to my prosperity class.

I am getting more in tune with my work ethic, after finding out that that was one of the powers of my personality type of the Enneagram. Now I realize that the reason I set myself up for more work or challenges in my work is because that is what my inner guide likes to do. It's not a burden, it's a gift!

2005-10-20 Fired the kiln for a bisque, the first low (1800 degrees Fahrenheit) firing before the glazing and glaze firing. It's ironic how I worry that there will be enough work to fill the kiln, and I always end up with stuff that won't fit in. Lots of good apprentice's work in this load too. Fumie was very involved in the firing, asking lots of good questions. She and Rachel are like proverbial sponges when it comes to the intricacies of ceramic arts. I enjoy teaching and sharing everything I've learned with them. 

The firing went well, and working on the pots was a delight. I wasn't attached to the time clock today, and I got lost in the subtle differences in each pot, in the curve and twist of each handle. When working in art pottery, I am never satisfied to merely replicate, but to explore the form in all its dialogue of shape and volume and line and surface. I strive to be aware, because that is what being an artist is most about, being aware, aware of what I am looking at, what I am not looking at, aware of the relationships of the pots forms and shapes, the relationship of the pottery to the new owner, the person who is going to connect with those intricacies  and discover them a little at a time, consciously and unconsciously.

I've been able to keep working through the week, with coffee mugs, plates, moons, hummingbird feeders, pitchers, face teapots and pitchers and cups, etc. Opened the gallery up today, and set out the signs on the highway and out front. 

Lunch time had an official temperature of 53 degrees according to the radio, so I moved the table and chairs out on the patio in the sun to enjoy lunch. It didn't feel like 53 here at all, and with the sun, I was downright warm at times. What a paradise. I have it so good here, to be able to enjoy the nature that is all around me, to enjoy making art that is about as fabulous as the nature, to have good people working with me and good people who are my perfect customers. Better than a beer commercial. 

  Rudy and I went hiking at Woodland Mounds Park in Ohio. It is a beautiful visit of the Ohio River, and of the Kentucky landscape on the other shore. The view over Rudy's shoulder is of the valley that leads to my house just off Route 8 and up 4 mile rd. Rudy and I had a great time taking in the woods and even trying some of the Parcours. My pinched back had improved considerably in the past 5 weeks, but it didn't give me the liberty to perform some of the exercises. But I'd like to go back and give a good charge.

The LifeKeys course I am involved in right now is giving me a good insight into what motivates me, and where my passions lie. So it becomes clearer as I find that one of my passions is Work, that I am still at it here at 11:00. When I realize it is just part of my nature, then I don't feel like it is such a burden, it is really my power! And knowing that I take time out like last Sunday, and just treat myself right, it is empowering to work my butt off during the week, like last night working till 9:00. My work is a great part of my life, not a burden, even if it makes me tired. Because if I didn't have work, the boredom, inactivity, and lack of productivity would be a prison without a lock. 

2005-10-15

Today I drove to Ashland, KY., to present a workshop for Arts Kentucky on long range planning for arts nonprofit organizations. I enjoyed it so much! I really enjoy teaching in any form, and I am finding my voice in it. I hope I am helpful, it really felt like everyone got a lot out of it. 

This week has been a challenge to get the work in the studio done, as seems to be a refrain for me. But Friday I finished a bunch of wine glasses, a mess of bowls, some face pitchers and cups, and some plates, man in the moons. It was  fun day of work, and I played some music along with the radio, too. That certainly seems to be a great pick-me-up.

I also got a couple of orders this week, and that is an affirmation for me that some of the work I'm doing is creating the results I would like. 

Last night was the Clay Alliance meeting and it was fun to be an observer of the variety of personalities as they stand in the limelight for a few minutes to give their report. It is truly fun to see how each person embodies a part of me and all of us in a more vibrant way than I "expect". I enjoyed talking with an artist who gets to France frequently, and I hope I can be a part of the cultural exchange over there next June. Wish me luck!

My awkwardness in social settings seems to be diminishing as I found out who I am. I am taking a Life Keys course that highlights my abilities and skills, and it also makes me aware of how other people have different abilities and skills, and that it is not a challenge that they do not match mine! Because, after all, it is all about me.  :-)

The visitation for my friend in Lebanon was truly unbelievable. When I got to the church at 7, the line was out the door for over 100 yards. It took three and a half hours to get through the receiving line. His wife was there non-stop from 4 till 11. This was witness to the power of giving and love that one person can gift us with, and the recognition of that by so many people. 

It was actually a great gift to be at the visitation for 3 hours, and it was a gift to not know hardly anyone, because I got to meet people and find out about how they knew Gary. And as I talked and looked at the pictures, I realized how much these people have been a thread in my tapestry of life. As I recalled some of the stories that I had heard or been part of, I realized how bright and strong that thread is. I was amazed at how much they have been a part of my life, even though we didn't get together very often.

He wasn't just a teacher of art, he was a teacher of life by example. He gave me a zest for life that I got to experience on Pawley's Island with his family and friends. And also how to relish the quiet, the calm before the storm, the tired muscles from sailing or surfing. It was a life school that left me with lessons I didn't realize, that were unconscious till now.
That brightness is what makes his absence so painful. But I also look at this loss as a gift for all who knew him, those hundreds who came, that there is more to life than a job or whatever. The gift is in the art of living that we can see so much clearer and purer now since he showed us.
He reminds me that people make a difference; in a word, in a laugh, in a moment.
I keep thinking of a conversation with a woman last week who lost a friend who had had a heart attack at 41. The woman's 7 year old daughter said to her, "I don't want to be sad that he died, I'm happy that we knew him." 

2005-10-11

Last weekend was the Kentucky Guild Fall Fair in Berea, Ky., with a constant overcast and occasional rain. There was a wonderfully steady crowd that came to the fair, people from all over the country and Canada. I think Kentucky's best market may be the long distant traveler! They seem to want a destination. The fair was fun, though not my best in sales. I really enjoyed myself at the fair, and I think it was all about my attitude. Being unattached to particular results makes for ease and equanimity.

Today was a mixed bag; mostly packing orders, making molds, mixing slip, and the ubiquitous paperwork. 

I was watching the news last night, a rare event, when a friend's name seemed to be spoken as the motorcycle driver killed in an accident. It was so incredible, I kept trying to tell myself it wasn't his name. But the news anchor spoke the name slowly, because it was unusual. All the same, I wanted to believe I hadn't heard it. 

It was like a stack of bricks had been placed on my chest. I thought of his wife and two teenage daughters, and then I thought of his brothers, with whom he was very close. They had invited me on their annual vacations at the beach, and they spent two weeks enjoying each other in the paradise that their parents had taken them to every year for decades. I felt privileged to be indoctrinated into "island time" by a bunch of people who knew how to live.

I was surprised at my reaction to the news, having thought that I had come to grips with the reality of death and its unpredictability. This was a star that had shown very brightly, and his absence was felt all the stronger for it. He had befriended and touched hundreds of people as a teacher, and more as a friend. 

What makes my reaction more puzzling is that I would see his name in my address book and every time I would tell myself to give them a call, maybe go and visit with them. It has been years since I talked to him, but here I was impacted by his loss as if I had . . . as if I were his friend. That's how he is. What a gift.

2005-10-5

The argument of whether to have an artist's studio at home or at a satellite location is personal and subjective as ______ . But I found myself quite at peace with this situation (studio at home)  as the most advantageous for me. 

Certainly I find the pressure and presence of the business of art to be constant and in the forefront, I also find the concept and reality of the world of art here and now to be the food, the nectar of the gods. There are times, admittedly, when I wonder if it is advantageous to have my business (as well as my avocation) looming over my head (literally, since the studio hovers over my home). But that is so balanced by the idea that I can follow up and make adjustments on the art creating process at any time in the day or night. 

What I realize is that the process of making art, for me, is a process that is a continuous web, not just a thread, but a woven fabric of continuity of creativity that wends its way through my day to day life. It is inextricable from the process of conducting business, from cooking meals, from walking my dog. 

I find in this moment that this is so much a part of my life in a moment to moment perspective, a very real measure of my life as it effects the people around me.

In talking to a fellow artist tonight, I was told that our previous conversation a month ago had had an effect on her response to an invitation for an exhibit, and a totally positive result in the ensuing interaction. She is now represented.

Without the weft and warp of the web of art, I would have lost the opportunity of passing on that wisdom of art. How awesome that responsibility of contributing to life, to making a difference. How precious that juicy moment of synchronicity.

2005-10-4

Hyde Park went very well, and I spent Monday out of the studio, catching up on paper work, doing errands, prepping the kiln to fire today. By afternoon, I felt the fair hangover, the fatigue that comes after the adrenalin wears off and all the work is done. It really takes a couple days to recover and get full power back, but we don't have time to rest that long. I set my sights on December, and rest then.

It is morning, the mist has been fired from the valleys by the millions of degrees of the sun, and the list of work is daunting. Tomorrow I will be on TV demonstrating and promoting the KY Guild Fair this weekend. The orders are coming in yet, and I have lots of work to do!! I will be delivering the Clopay shipment on Thursday. 
Today I want to get some more paper work done, throw a lot of stuff, and keep things moving. With all the errands this week, I don't know how much I can get done. I know that I want to be able to ship some orders that I am making now on the 25th, which will be a challenge. I am low on lots of stuff, especially teapots. The new teapots sold at Hyde Park, so I am pleased with their reception by my clients. 

Off to work!

2005-9-29

Cracked the kiln this morning to a fabulous batch of beautiful pottery! This was my best firing in ages, with a very low loss of work. I reformulated many glazes to improve color, fit (yes, glazes have to fit the clay!), stability, and they all cooperated beautifully. I was so happy to open the kiln and see that all my efforts, including a new firing process, had paid off. It is going to be a wild and wooly fall season!

So many people are surprised that chemistry plays such a huge role in pottery. The glazes have to fit the clay during the expansion and contraction that happens during the firing ( both on the increase and the cooling!), and how many factors are involved in the formulation of a glaze. Just one of the many facets of running an art business in a material that can be so fickle. As I say, I love a challenge.

Reloaded the kiln for another firing so I can deliver the Clopay commission on time. I found out about a great lunch buffet in Augusta, that I hope to visit when I make that delivery on Wednesday. 

Started on the Covington commission today, and I hope to have that ready to cast next week. I better! if I want to have it for Thanksgiving. Plenty of work to get all the orders I have on hand to fill for the galleries waiting to sell my work. It doesn't get any better than this! Even with beer!

Still recovering physically from pouring the driveway. Helps me realize that I can do more to stay young. 

2005-9-28

One day I decided to make a bunch of small tiles, about 2"x3", to inset into concrete that would be a driveway leading up to my studio. I wanted to create a personal touch in a traditionally sterile material that would make a different impression. So I created about 100 of them, set them in a bucket that moved around the studio from time to time with cleanings, dredging up that desire to make an original. 

Today, 12 years later, I placed those tiles into a concrete driveway that will make my life a little easier, and absolutely make it easier for my customers. It took several days' work to get the driveway finished, not the least of which was today's pour, and it is so satisfying to see that solid expanse of highway to greet me and all my lovely visitors. As I was placing the glazed tiles into the concrete's edging, I quipped that they were "driveway jewelry"! I like that. Kyle said he thought it would become the latest craze for all home improvement projects. I like that idea.

The driveway was poured, screed, floated, broom finished, and edged by noon, and it took such a toll on me that I spent most of the rest of the day resting my body. I did do quite a bit on the computer, some phone calls, and cut the grass in the evening. Yoga as a reward was a wonderful treat, and I am ready to unload the kiln tomorrow. 

Form looking into the peep holes of the kiln today, it looks like it was a most excellent firing!! Boy, this has been a rough year trying to get the glaze back to my original intention. We'll see tomorrow when we unload the kiln, and reload it with more work to be fired either on Friday or Monday. 

Meantime, it's prep time for Hyde Park!! See you there. 

2005-9-26

I am very happy to have the pottery glazed, loaded in the kiln, test tiles made, and ready for a 13 hour firing tomorrow! Unfortunately, the rest of my To-Do list was untouched. Phone calls to return, applications to fill out, contacts to make for publicity, prepping for the Hyde Park show this weekend. Does it ever end? Such is the life of the prosperous! 

I got the balance from Thursday and Friday glazed by lunch, and loaded in the afternoon. Back out to the studio to make test tiles and finished up about 9pm. Yesterday I spent a good part of the day working on my driveway to make it concrete. That will be such a treat for the winter! It's not the snow that's the problem, it is the spring thaws- the clay soil around here just turns into a quagmire. Went golfing in the afternoon, dodging raindrops, and came back and worked on the driveway into the dark, finishing up around 9. I was very happy to get that part of it finished, just a bit more prep work to do tomorrow. 

Saturday I got up to Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park in Hamilton. It is the premiere sculpture park in the central US, and it is such a peaceful place. Parked the car and just walked around enjoying the park for it's natural beauty, the breeze, the sun, the clouds- it was a glorious day. I found myself to be so much in the moment the whole day, I was able to enjoy the "is-ness" of everything I looked at, without judgment. I felt such a openness to the beauty of everything around me, without thinking of how I could capture it as art. And in that openness I felt that I was able to see the "art" of everything around me. I hope to carry that into all my relationships, even with animate entities.

2005-9-21

Today was mixing glazes, making new molds (fresh plaster makes all the difference!), throwing still more glasses (orders for over 100), went to a Kentucky Guild board meeting (via conference phone), and some paper work for the Guild fair. I enjoy throwing on the wheel a little bit each day. Used to be I'd take a break during glazing. Throwing every day keeps me in the flow. 

I went to my high school 30th class reunion last Saturday. It was kind of surreal. I was very interested to see how people would treat me, and to see how I would perceive others. I was curious how much people were different from what I thought they were in high school, and to pay attention to see if maybe they were not what I thought they were all along. Maybe I misread them in school, as I feel they may have misread me.

One thing I noticed is that some people treated me like a human being with a brain and a heart, but some saw me only asked me if I was still doing "that art thing", like I was practicing some alien ritual that they couldn't comprehend as a real business! "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public," as Bill Murray said.

The breeze wafts through the back porch during lunch, a cardinal 10 feet away perches and dives for lunch served up on a bark platter. I am constantly in awe of the beautiful days we are having, whether sunny or rainy, clear and foggy mornings.  The fog filling the valley, obscuring the vista, obscuring the reality that I think is still out there, just as it was yesterday, and the day before, and tomorrow. I have faith that it will be there, and I have the same faith that I will be making art pots for many years to come. To think that I am just starting on the second half of my life! Who could ask for more than this. 

2005-9-20

Firing the kiln today, working a bunch of wine glasses, coordinating publicity for the Kentucky Guild, designing the Covington Renaissance ornament, and so much more! 

2005-9-19

Pure logistics to report today: Worked until almost 10pm getting the kiln loaded to fire a bisque load tomorrow. As seems to happen so often, I look at the shelves and think I don't have enough to fill the kiln, and at the end I am left with work that doesn't fit in! I've been very busy, and there are orders for more work, as well. It can be stressful to think of all the work to be done, but it is very prosperous to be in demand! I like it here. I look it as being in the flow of just what I've been dreaming of. 

I packed some orders for galleries and craft shops around the country today, some of them overdue. That challenge I had with the green glaze firing right in the kiln put me behind a bit, and it is good to get caught up. 

Threw on the wheel  for an hour or so today, keeping with my commitment to throw at least an hour or two on the wheel every day. 

Yesterday I stopped by the Carnegie for photos for the Landmark Ornament for Covington Renaissance. This commissioned project is a bit behind as well, so I plan on getting the design sketched out this week. 

I got to talk to my boys today! Tyler is 13 as of Thursday, and just as beautiful as I remember him. Ryan is 15  and enjoying life, wishing he could go to France with the French class next year. I hope I've given him ideas on how that can happen. . . 

Time to call it a night, since it's past midnight, lightening and thunder engaging me in the storm's progress as accurately as any weather forecast on TV. The fabulous smell and symphony of rain drops allows me to thoroughly soak up the experience of this fall weather. This moment is just a part of the continuum that leads to the next season, which is not separated from me or this day. It flows, like one teapot to the next. 

2005-9-14

Oh my gosh! It's been a week since I was on here! Every day I thought about getting on and letting you know what has been happening, but before you know it, it's time to get some sleep. Well I'm staying up late tonight and see what is.

The Penrod Art Fair in Indianapolis (or "Indy" as the locals like to call their city) last Saturday was very good to me - financially and with connections. But the logistics of that show is a pure nightmare! I got home about midnight, and it took me two days to recover physically. I felt like a bozo in a coma on Sunday, lying on the couch for the afternoon, pleasantly floating in the mindless ether of TV sports, and then on Monday I was immersed in paperwork long overdue, with extended trips to lala land on the couch. 

So hard to just be in the fatigue of the day and let it pass, but I am feeling the fruit of that disciplined lethargy today! I felt like a dynamo all day, and got a lot of work done. Teapots thrown, dinner plates, sun plates, man in the moons, flower vases, finishing ikebana holders. I felt an efficient time on the phone and computer working on the radio advertisement of the Kentucky Guild of Artist's and Craftsmen's Fall Fair coming up on October 8-9. Our office is understaffed, and I was asked to take up all the radio promotions for the entire region, along with TV, radio, and newspaper in this area for the fair. That part went extremely well today, and I think I have everything lined up for a great fair.  I also had a great time solving the problems of the world, and the art world, with Rachel. I was in a great frame of mind today.

Tuesday was a good start to the work week, more or less, and I found myself still a bit tired, falling asleep at times in an evening class. My apologies to the teachers! It's all about me!

This weekend is my Open House for September, and I found another perk for the patrons that come out for my sale; there is a local winery,  nearby that has tastings and wine sales that can be an added incentive for people to come out to this neck of the woods. 

The Penrod fair was such affirmation of some of the directions I've been taking in my work, because my customers were picking up on the subtleties of my new twists and turns. And I think my booth design was a success, enhancing the work without being obtrusive. I was encouraged!!

2005-9-8

This week has flown by, and it seems like I ended up at 10 pm and beat, no time or energy to get on here to do some fun writing. And since it is only 9:45, I thought I'd try to bring you up to date. As if you were waiting breathlessly!

Rachel, my apprentice from last spring has returned after her hiatus for the summer, and Fumie has started her apprenticeship. It is so interesting how varied the energies are from different people, the diversity of approaches and interests and skill levels, etc. I am slowly learning how to embrace it without taking it on, or even evaluating it! I get the benefit of feeling and seeing someone else's views and approaches to clay and art, opening my eyes to the possibilities within my own psyche of which I may have been totally unaware!

Spent this week trying to prepare and build a new display system for fairs in preparation of the Indianapolis Museum of  Art's Penrod Art Fair this Saturday. So I leave tomorrow and set up with the new system and see how it works. I tried to fire the kiln Monday, hoping that I had enough gas left, but alas, I didn't, and had to shut the kiln down after 11 hours and only 3 cones to go. Refired it yesterday, and from the peepholes, it looks like I got some really unusual colors in the green. Splotchy (in a good way) and very light on dark. I really like it, but I have a feeling it is an anomaly, due to the firings. 

The new teapots are in this kiln and I can't wait to see them, and to see what they think of them at Penrod!

2005-9-2

Sitting on my stone bench my stone patio with the campfire blazing in the stone fire pit, I set my glass on the uneven flagstone, tentatively, testingly, until I find a suitable, stable perch. It reminds me of the tentative perch on a pitch black night in the wilds of Minnesota, where the steps sensitive to the terrain are the difference between a warm bed and lost.

In the summer of '84 I decided to experience the Outward Bound experience, a "survival" school in the Minnesota Boundary Lakes near the Canadian border. The week long trek began with a hour and a half bus ride to the base camp, with the bus depositing us next to the ropes course to walk to the camp through a swamp that sucked the shoes right off of our feet. 

We spent the week in the wilds of the lakes, drinking from lake water blackened with the ink of tree roots, cooking pizza in frying pans, navigating by topographical maps and compass, and spending the last day "on solo", dropped off in the woods with nothing but a sheet of plastic for a tent. No food, no water, no protection, our only companion a notebook to write down my thoughts and fears.

At the end of the week, we went back to base camp to experience a glorious turkey dinner and the company of a hundred other survivors, groups of 10 to 16, as victorious in their adventurous as we. We had bonded in ways that were only possible by finding the appreciation in diversity of talents, and of character, under the microscope of adversity. We could rely on each other. 

Leaving the banquet hall, we were in high spirits, the "esprit de corpse" captured on film, the euphoria of human spirit strong and clear as a mountain stream. Street lamps lit the way until the last trail to our primitive cabin was obliterated by darkness made complete by the cloud cover remaining from the previous cloudburst. There was a minute of trepidation, a moment of assessment of the situation, options considered: find someone with a flashlight, guide us back, then how does the person with the light get back to the cabin after returning the light?

I grabbed their attention: "I remember the trail is worn into the soil and I can feel the trough  with my feet," I said, " Let's all hold hands in a chain, and I can lead us to the cabin by the feel of the trail." Wordlessly, the 15 of us grasped hands and I began the cautious and tentative trek for several hundred yards by memory and by feel to the cabin that was our refuge.

You see, we had developed a trust in each other, but more importantly to me, in me, and they let me lead them into the woods, blind as deaf bats, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. But they trusted me. And I realize at this moment, I trusted me. 

Where is that path??! Hold a hand, trust, and keep moving. 

That's what it's like to be an artist. 

Well, this is the culmination of another glorious day, ending with the above rumination, with a delightful evening with good cards (killer euchre hands!), good company, and good food; Frisbee golf with good people and great-spectacular-to-die-for weather (don't ask the score!); a day of glazing, errands, good phone conversations, and a morning with  revealed beauty;

The rising sun strafes the field across the road, Ironweed's purple splotches replicating Monet's brush stabs dotting the landscape on a spread of variegated yellow green; receding hills of tress contrasting to a deep blue hiding  in the shadow side of rising peaks. Knowing the temporary moment, the approaching inevitable downward stroke of sun on the noonday landscape, I soak in the polychromatic chiaroscuro created by the synchronicity of sunrise and summer flora.

2005-8-31

What a beautiful day!! I could feel the flow of it so many times, the rightness of the moment, the way things went together, moved from one process to the other without division, all part of the same stream of well-being. A rare day, but one that I hope to repeat much more often.

Started with studio work (after some time with this wonderful computer) finishing some pitchers and teapots. I had left them out without cover in the studio last night because they didn't seem to be drying in the damp air of Katrina, and when I arrived in the morning they were still quite wet!. A bit of fan on them and the handles I pulled brought them into sufficient strength to allow assembly and finishing, all by noon! Received an order from a gallery today, the Kentucky Artisan Center, and they are ready to place some Face teapots in their space. 

The afternoon was spent out of the studio with errands: revising my signs for studio sales, collecting recycled packing materials, equipment from Home Depot for the duplex, an appointment with Randy and Jane at Netcrafters for discussion of web site redesign, to the duplex for repairs and installations, and a phone call when I get home to discuss a possible Northern Kentucky/ Cincinnati chapter of the Kentucky Guild. That took me to 9:30, time to unwind. Some music to play along with, playing with Rudy, my dog, and the blog. My reach to you, my attempt to make real with digital x's and o's in binary code that vaguely renders the electronic code of the synapses that translate this thought. So far removed, and exceedingly open to translation by the next set of synapses to peruse these pages. 

In the studio, I work on pieces that are the essence of my purpose, that sometimes seems so elusive with all the machinations of running this business. These are the moments that are like magic, that sends time into the vortex of an event horizon, in the singularity of creative energy that sucks me in and allows me to swim in the cosmos of the fractal of a pitcher's lip arch, graceful beyond words, formatted by the demands of gravity, yet liberated by the creativity of these adept fingers. Once again, a new level of beauty has been found by the intuition of the exploring mind, grounded in the concepts of beauty and energy.

Exploring the Elegant Universe by Brian Greene I am so intrigued by the concepts of physics' string theory, along with quantum physics (which is the mechanism that allows you to create the world as it unfold around you), which includes the untested idea that there may be numerous universes in our cosmos formulated by the births of Big Bangs that have manifested other dimensions that we cannot even conceive of. 

2005 8-30

Today was an exercise in flexibility; when the electric went out, in the middle of firing the kiln for a load of bisque, I ran up to shut the kiln down, dug out an old analog phone that didn't require electric, and sat down for two hours+ of phone business. I knew it wouldn't do me much good to waste those hours when there is so much to do!! I worked on some sponsorship for the Guild, which didn't come through, I arranged for a marketing designer from Somerset to visit my studio to establish a plan for marketing my web site, my corporate commissions, and a new logo. Tomorrow I go to talk with a web designer about my needs. 

I was able to throw some pots after lunch, and it was such a pleasure to have my hands in the clay!!! I made bowls and pitchers and mini-teapots, and it was so nice to be throwing forms, fine tuning them to a "t". I had a whole table of finished pieces that I had pulled from the kiln yesterday, but they didn't have the magic for me as the pots that I am throwing at the time. I tell people that my best pot is the next one. 

2005 8-26 7:15am

Lying in the pre-dawn deep gray, the rain wakes me gently. A sense of relief is felt, the summer drought thirst being quenched by a shower, or maybe just teased. By the time I rise in cloud-softened twilight to start the kiln, it has stopped, or just spitting, with distant thunder holding the promise for more, quickening my steps through the softening grass that is already losing its brittle drought crunch. After the time the kiln's burners are lit, a light rain announced by the doorbell of thunder as I left the house has crept into this valley, increasing even in the short walk back to the dark house. I look up and out across the hills, the mist of rain softening the greens to gray as they recede, lending dramatic perspective to my little holler. Passing under the pitter splatter of the tin porch roof, into the safe, dry house, I sit and prepare for a welcome time of yoga, and I can feel, almost hear, a sigh, a chorus of "Aaaaah"s from the thirsty, summer-dried plants, trees, bushes, flowers, grass, and even the resilient weeds, with upturned faces, reveling in every droplet running down their leaves and stems, into the baked, dry earth to their roots. The thunder begins to shout and pound the earth, unaware, or unable, to lower its voice when it BanGs right HERE, just outside my door, beating the ground with a seismic song of pure bass, the vibrations caressing my skin, and continues its march out of my valley, continuing its child-exuberant shouting with impudence. I can feel connection to this process and this planet. The very earth lets out a grateful song, it rings in my bones, and I pray for it to last and last all day, to replenish the living world, as it has, as it will, as it does.

Breakfast on the "veranda", more realistically the back porch, was intentional for a sensory bath, listening to the rain continue with it's ebb and flow, ebb and flow, with a crescendo of tin roof cymbals, subsiding after a few short bars to the softness of a soaking rain, a pattern that repeats itself throughout the day, perfectly allowing the parched ground to suck it up before the next drink. 

________________________________

Yesterday, studio work was truncated by a morning helping my friends Kyle & Marsha pour their shop foundation, and I was able to work in the studio in the afternoon a bit, making over 2 dozen coffee mugs, and adding feet to the face bowls for the Clay Alliance. Today will be lots of finishing and handles for the mugs, and maybe make some bowls, along with glaze firing the kiln.

2005-8-24 9:27pm

A long and fruitful day. Vases, Face teapots. Lots of trimming; bowls for Clopay commission, 2 dozen wine glasses, plates and man in the moons. Plus some really fun smiling bowls for the Clay Alliance exhibit at the Carnegie in November! They are so fun! They could easily become an addition to my face line. That's the way it happens sometimes when there is a special show or someone makes a request for something I've never tried before; it can lead to a whole new door of opportunity. Gets me out of a rut.

I finished the lids for my new Face teapots, and they even give me ideas for more things. It never ends, and that's why I got into this business - no boredom! Boy, I wish there were some way that I could spend all my time in the studio. That would be sweet. But even though it keeps me out of the studio sometimes, I do enjoy the running the business part, too. But wouldn't it be great if someone came and did all my paperwork?!

Tomorrow I take the morning, and maybe some of the afternoon, to help my friends Kyle and Marsha pour the foundation for a new blacksmithing workshop. Sixteen yards and whadyu get? Another day older and deeper in debt.

The Spiritual in Art cited that many of the artists at the turn of the century and up through the 50s (and popular again with celebrities) read the Kabala, the Jewish mystical texts written 2000 years ago. I am trying to find some time to look it up and find out more about it. It has become so fascinating to find out the true meaning behind abstract art and the passion of the artists themselves. It kind of renews my artistic exploration, and inspires me to find the answer to the question a colleague asked a friend of mine; "What was Larry thinking when he made that???"

2005-8-22 Monday evening 9:21

Last week I spent 3 wonderful days camping at a lake in Ohio called Rocky Fork State Park. Busy getting ready, busy since I got back. Worked yesterday (Sunday) a few hours, it was kind of the bargain I made with myself to go camping. It was a beautiful day, both prosaically and internally. This class on the Spiritual in Art has geared up my brain about what actually motivates me in my work, and all the underlying ideas that are their source. 

Today I worked half a day in the studio/office making bowls for the Clopay commission, some wine goblets, and a set of plates. After lunch I went to the duplex that I own and rent out and finished two linoleum floors and sundry other items for a new tenant. The rental business can be helpful financially, but it sure can be a pain when it is time to renovate for a new tenant. I am torn between the studio and all my orders, and the duplex for the immediate need for a tenant. But today I stayed until I finished installing the floors! Just got home at the above time, and my back feels like a bulldozer wore out it's cat-tracks on my spine. I hope I recover tomorrow, too much work to be lying around. Maybe a few passes from the bulldozer would actually be good. 

2005-8-13 Saturday evening; 

Returning from the Weekend Workshop with the Kentucky Craft Marketing Program tonight, it was a struggle not to take every idea and program that I would like to implement right now and create a plan and all the details and all the phone calls and all the printed materials and all the media contacts and all the new products and all the new packaging and all the new niche markets, and sit there in the car on the two hour drive home and chew and chew and chew on them and find all the problems and challenges and obstacles and analyze and solve and fix each and every one of them till my head is spinning. 

But I didn't. 

I drove home listening to music and other stuff on the radio, enjoying the gathering summer storm's dark clouds that danced around my route, sometimes bursting onto the expressway and my sweet little car with blinding ferocity (from my perspective), but with the innocent equanimity of  nature's impersonal force. Unwittingly withdrawing the speeding force of my accelerator foot as the downpour intensified, the needle waned from the law-breaking 75 to a pedestrian 30, the wet blobs splattering on my windshield obfuscating the pavement, the white lines, and the threatening red embers of car butts. Tires hydroplaned, wiggling the steering wheel, sending electric tremors of caution, fear, and extreme alertness through my body, inciting a heightened sensitivity in the seat of my pants to every vibration and shift. 

The clouds relinquish their environmental grip, I drive out of the downpour and into a drizzle, that impatient foot forces horsepower to wheels with seemingly unlimited traction, now, and caution seems as pertinent as ice-scrapers in August. Cruising again, at speeds that won't "embarrass" me, my mind is free to wander to serious subjects of marketing and profitability - but fortunately, my heart is full enough to spill into my brain, and I do not fall onto that treadmill. I am still just being, all the way home to paradise.

2005-8-8 Monday   

Today I spent a total of 2 & 1/2 hours in the studio, and it was wonderful to be throwing. It's daunting to stay on all the other things in my life when my heart wants to make make! The Kentucky Guild is something I want to serve with my time, and it is certainly obliging!! I spent at least two hours working on publicity for the Fall Fair (I am the regional publicity coordinator), and spent probably two more hours on my own publicity. Not to mention many calls to create more business for commissions.

 What a long time since I talked to you! Amazing how the time flies by, and I've had so many intentions to come visit here. Especially after a delightful visit to Carter Caves a couple weeks ago. I can imagine some of you are wondering why I would mention my little vacation weekend away, but being an artist seems to never end. Actually, getting away from my work actually seems to free me to see art everywhere! But that is also a function of my continued development of awareness, as is evident in the previous entry.

And getting away is so valuable for rejuvenating me to get back to work. Last year I realized, after a three day trip to Red River Gorge, that it is the only way I can stop thinking about the business of art!! I recall a day at my favorite watering hole in a much earlier time, a friend came into the bar and someone asked a newlywed, "How's married life, Jerry?" His exasperated reply; "It's constant!" That occurs to me as I didn't realize how constant my business is, and how I rarely stop thinking and planning, and coming up with ideas, and little time to explore them. 

So, I'm whining, but I can just imagine how I would feel if I were you right now, envying, wishing you could just spend one week in my shoes. 

Don't worry, I count my blessings; Sometimes I have to build a bigger vault to hold them.

Click on these for larger photos->      

A quick trip down the AA highway, Carter Caves held a multitude of surprises and unexpected vistas of nature's handiwork. We artists are just trying to encapsulate in a microcosm the amazing craftsmanship of nature. With a twist, of course. (Does that make it twisted?) Of course, there were caves. And I can tell you there were more caves than I would have imagined! The Bat Cave Spelunking Tour was a real experience of an adventurous style, with plenty of crawling, belly flopping, squirming through VERY tight places (even for this long frame) and dropping blindly through holes down to new levels. We even  visited the rare Indiana Brown Bat! They were not happy with that mid-day call, being the party animals, and flew around us in protest. Logic had a wrestling match with instinct, but I was able to stand passively during the fly-bys.

Leaving the subterranean experience that was more ephemeral with its monochromatic textural and patterning plethora, we spent several hours on the trails (noticeably vacant of the otherwise populous tourist contingent) exploring the many natural bridges of Carter Caves. And I was totally blown away by the size of Smoky Rock Bridge, which had to be at least 70 feet high and 100 feet deep, a bridge that truly dwarfed me, leaving me in awe. That bridge rivaled and surpassed Natural Bridge State Park in its majesty by a considerably measure if you ask me. 

So how does this affect an artist? The caves were an experiential impression that was disorienting and vertigous, yet the plethora of new and under-worldly textural exhibits, from stalagmites and stalactites to "ringholes" to the mirror plane of underground rivers, left me in sensory overload. The remainder of the day was spent in a virtual coma as I allowed synapses a respite from the abundance of neurotransmitter input. 

The next day was spent on the Three Bridges Trail in the hills and valleys, the creeks and cliffs, brooks and bridges of Carter Caves. The textures from eons of water erosion on sandstone brushed finger-paintings embossed in the rock, enhanced with a polychromatic scale of oranges and grays of variegated stone, as well as fungi, lichen, and moss. In a single square foot of cliff face there were at least six types of fungus and lichen layering themselves on the shady nook of a thousand ton stone resting beneath its striation of  geological motherhood from which it was riven silently, timelessly. The massive geology (relative to my human form) of solidity combined with the delicate and infinitely small biology of fungi and ferns to create a scale of existence that reminded me of our cosmos of stars and planets, with equal implications of the symbiotic relationships so fragile and endless.

2005-7-21 Thursday

Tuesday evening found me steering the car away from the home route and into Eden Park's Mirror Lake. The walk around the lake found me evaluating a tree based on its broad trunk and taper that would be the criteria for good bonsai. I was able to realize the lesson from the discussion group that night (Spirituality in Art) when we talked about how to look at art in order to be receptive to the possibility for a spiritual or emotional content. So I took another look at the tree; released (erased) my pre-conceived ideas of what a tree should be and how much this one fit or didn't fit that perception; and took in the tree with all its own visual delights and surprises. In that moment, this tree became whole and independent, unaware of my previously judgmental mind.

That was the beginning of a glorious walk around the park where everything took on a shimmer and individuality by being whatever it was, and not connected to what was in my head. It was very much a walking meditation where my mind was able to suspend it's gyrations and gymnastics, and ride along the current of this visual cataract. It felt like I stopped my mind long enough to let the visual diversity flow over it like a soft breeze, and my senses were like the leaves being tickled by the wind, warmed by the sun, all so passively without expectation or demand.

The Kiln was fired today, always an exciting and somewhat nerve-racking event. A month or more of work is loaded in, ever so carefully, and subjected to the tortuous (to me) effects of fire at astronomical temperatures. This is pure alchemy, changing dirt into permanent and shimmering beauty. Forms that would simply melt from water are transformed by fire into artwork that will survive a thousand years at the bottom of the sea. I guess that's my legacy.

The Open House is two days away, and I'd love to be ready by the end of tomorrow, and just spend the day talking to all the wonderful people who come out to see my work. I think I can make that happen! 

2005-7-19 Tuesday midnight

What a great evening of discussion! The group is diverse, but common in it's interest in art as a spiritual expression. So many subjects came up about what it means to be an artist expressing  a spiritual concept to how does a viewer accept the artist's concept or emotion. There is so much to art that I am continuously discovering!

As I try to point out, the idea that art is static is so archaic and passé. Art is constantly changing, if only in the viewer's mind! We are trained by our predecessors to see things by their evaluative criteria, and if we bring that criteria to the art we view we will never be able to see the art they intended, which is purely  love and an expression of the infinity of our souls. Possibilities that are not apparent in the advertisement world.

Looking at the advertising world I often wonder how rewarding that world can be. To think  of spending my time trying to find the most manipulative terms to push my product leaves me feeling a little empty. 

Peace, Larry

2005-7-18 Monday 11:30pm

Last weekend was three days of road trip to Atlanta's Gift Market. My return home, and for the next day or two, left me feeling like road kill. I have so much sympathy for the buyers who go to a show when they are trying to purchase their merchandise for the year. 

On Friday, the opening day of the temporary exhibits, which included the Handcrafted section, we spent the day walking the floors of the show and the showrooms. I was feeling rather proud of my stamina as the morning wore on, and into the afternoon. But I hit the wall around 2:30. Actually, all four of us hit the wall. I've seen that glazed look on the buyers face when I did the Philly show, the eyes glossing over, visual overload creating an incapacity to take in one more visual, one more idea. And with that shutdown of synapses comes the inability to make decisions. 

Fortune threw a high fastball fat in the middle of the plate and we almost whiffed it. A poster declared Free Ice Cream, and it took on the glitter and sway of an oasis in the dessert (desert). Fortunately, one of our four was opportunist enough to grasp the lifesaver, dragging the rest of us with her, and an angel (dressed as the floor manager) affirmed the gratuitous offer unfettered by qualifiers. We didn't need to state that we were buyers, or promise 30% of our next year's open-to-buy to their showroom. Not only did they curl three different ice cream scoops onto a FREE Dansk bowl, but they embellished it with whipped cream, nuts, and chocolate syrup. 

We miraculously found an open table to sit at (as welcome as water in that dessert oasis), and laughed and aahed our way through the ice cream, willingly swabbed the bowls out with napkins, and stashed our plunder/treasure. Every soul in the party was renewed and reborn to live another hour and make our way to the meeting with the "managers" (i.e. sales people) who assured us they would be willing to take our $3000 for next season's booth if we could pass muster. Unfortunately, the track record of the current exhibitors left little doubt that blatant self promotion would guarantee a spot of our choice. The nation of production, much less the availability of the artist in the process, was, in my mind, highly suspect in some cases. But who am I to judge?

Obviously I am narcissistic, self-righteous, and elitist to judge. That's the hazards that comes with the pursuit of excellence. And along with that, if I am aware at all, is the humility of the talents and ability that seems to roll off my fingers with applied focus. That talent has little to do with this fragile and pompous ego, and is never subservient to it. It rears its full mane when I step aside and let it roam unfettered, free, and timeless. Back into the camouflaged forest it slinks every time I try to tame it. No King of the Forest here, just a Cheetah happy to ride the back of the wild beast. 

2005-7-10 Sunday

A quick stop at Eden Park's Mirror Lake on the way home, and a glorious ten minutes to bask in beauty as well as the creative spirit of mankind.

Sitting on the rocks next to the waterfalls, the sound of the rushing water dominates, sooths, provides an audible constant to match the sun and the blue sky, and the shimmering water. Seeing the water as it is, it has no hint of blue. It is a reflection, and the images fragmented by the mini-waves are of trees and grass and more green. And it is accurately portrayed in the canvases of a painting class working pleine aire. 

The class of painters, diverse in age and gender, is joined by two busloads of family reunion celebrants, bringing a cultural diversity to the event devoid of self-consciousness. The African Americans clamor to have their picture taken with the retired woman in apron beside her easel and masterpiece in progress. 

The creative energy is not lost on me, it is almost palpable, though unhurried. The artists are reveling in the creative process, doing their best, and totally comfortable with less-than-perfection. As we find out about the process of making art, the perfection is in the doing, in the moment, in the flow. The painting is merely an inadequate record of that process, that magic. Thank God it is inadequate, or we would stop trying.

Looking around at the gardens, I begin to see with the painter's eye, to see the streaks of sunshine reflecting on the long bent ornamental grasses, the purple and magenta in the smoke tree, and the sprays of blue of the choral bells. Each flower has a different pattern, from a splatter effect, to the puffballs of white, each illustrating the limitless fractals of nature. Unfettered beauty, temporary, in process.

2005-7-8

I finished my new "face" teapots! They are as good as I had imagined them! Now the patience part; to let them dry slowly, fire them, and then craft a mold for the production of these sculptures. This will give my mold crafting skills a real workout and challenge, since there are so many components to account for. I think the lid will be the greatest challenge, but strangely enough, I am looking forward to it! I realize that I love a challenge, so that must be why I am creating this!

It will be two months before I can have a finished teapot, but that will be just in time for my next show; Penrod in Indianapolis. This will be the first time for me, and I feel really good about getting into this show because it is highly competitive for the jurying. Now to make it worth my while.

I have decided to revamp my fair display, and eliminate the large heavy flats that I had used in the past. And it's time to add a little pizzazz to the display with color and shapes. One of the things that every artist has to be is a retail designer! so many people who come to shows don't realize the amount of work that artists put into their displays and their design. It's like setting up a retail store every show! Wears me out just thinking about it. 

2005-7-7 Thursday

Today was rather hectic for me, with two appointments and lots of work to finish. One thing I learned in the printing industry was how to create a schedule for a deadline working backwards. And so with the Open House on the 23rd in mind, and the fact that I will be out of the studio half of next week, tomorrow is my last day for working in clay for this firing cycle. My firing cycles are one month, so planning for the next show is always my pressure, it's always pushing me to get into the studio.

I recorded an interview today for radio, and it was quite a challenge. I was talking about the discussion group I'll be facilitating on The Spiritual in Art, and I found it quite challenging to verbalize the concepts that we will be discussing! But I also realize that people listening on the radio don't know what I've left out, because it's all about me!

It's pretty nerve racking to be on radio, or TV for that matter, and maybe that's good. I would think I would be less interesting if I were blasé about it, cavalier and uninterested. But that anxiety makes for some nerve racking days leading up to it. I imagine a large part of it is the insecurity most artists have about themselves and their work. We have a hard time talking about ourselves, it seems like we're bragging if we are positive and enthusiastic about our own work. It takes some effort to find ways to be assertive without being pompous.

2005 7-3 Sunday

Fourth of July celebrations reverberating none stop, from a neighbor's pyromaniacal display along with every neighborhood within miles of here. The flashes  from distant ridges light up this holler like a strobe of daylight, a quick blink, reversed, when the eye opens and the light floods in. 

The echoes and reverberations are palpable in the dewy summer's evening, the moisture creating a perfect conduit for sound waves that bounce off the hills and houses with an almost electronic distortion. The same dewy air settles on my skin, along with an occasional mosquito, unseen at my ankles, my reflexes swinging my foot up to swat.

In the lull while pyromaniacs reload for the next barrage of light, color, and gunpowder, I look around at the trees engulfed in a natural pyrotechnic display of these unique "strobe" lightning bugs. Oblivious to the fireworks and the visual and audio onslaught, the lightning bugs continue blinking (in reverse, again, eyes not shutting, but illuminating) in silent chorus of syncopated rhythms, displaying an urgent passion, a compulsion, an obsession with lighting the way. Huge trees are lit for Christmas in July, twinkling silently, endlessly, effortlessly with  thousands and thousands of lightning bugs. I realize I am only seeing a small percentage of them because most are hidden in the foliage.

The lesson today was on awareness and living in the moment. That is so key to being an artist, to be aware of what I see. But the lesson today was about more than just what I see, but everything that I am immersed in. If we take the time to feel-hear-taste-see-smell at all times, we are inevitably and inextricably in the Now moment, and I have found, through experience of not being in the Now,  that  I can only be creative in the Now. 

As the hour grows late, the detonations recede in frequency, in power. Humans are not nocturnal, their fireworks funds limited. But the lightning bugs' resources are unlimited, they are nocturnal, and will continue their blissful display till the wee hours of the morning, ignorant of the egocentric desire for audiences or applause.

2005-6-29 Wednesday

I was able to spend most of the day in the studio working on many things - plates, 30 inch jar, pitchers and cups - but mostly teapots of various sizes and styles. My apprentice said they were "perfect". I probably would have said something like that as an early student, but when I look at my work I still feel the same way I did years ago: "The next one could be better." I look at the handle and know it is great, but what else can make it even better, more "wow"?!

But in a way they are perfect, because they each have their own character, a slightly different gesture, the way it sets, the whimsy of that particular shape and handle. I am grateful that I have not settled for perfection. Always looking forward to the next one.

That's what having apprentices/students does for me; shows me how far I've come, and the roots that I came from. I went through all the struggles of every student, and it is very rewarding to be here to help someone else through those challenges, to give a helping hand, a step up into the world of art pottery, taking it beyond a thing that does something, to an aesthetic milestone.

Today was a much better day than the past few weeks. I had been unfocused and lacking motivation, except for the motivation of fear. A sense of lack is a poor place to start from, to be an artist whose "play" tank is running low. Today I felt the play, the awareness of shape, form, line. I had to drag myself out of the studio at 6:00 to get some dinner. And forcing myself to stay away at 9:00 so I can go to bed and get in there in the morning, That's the way I like it. Hungry.

2005-6-21 Tuesday

Returning from a three day show, ODC's Hathaway Brown Fair in Shaker Heights, Cleveland, leaves me drained, as usual. Ironically, I was interviewed last week for a newspaper article about the process and work that each artist goes through to do an art fair. From the concept that the artist pays for that little 10'x10' piece of retail real estate, to the jury process that the artist must submit his/her slides for acceptance or rejection, few of our customers realize the lengths we will go to in making a living at this "fun" career. 

It took a constant reminder yesterday to allow myself the time to recoup from the physical and mental exhaustion of doing the fair. The weather was wonderful, the spot I had was great, but the crowds did not come (gossip was flying about the advertising budget) and the sales were low. I might have "made" expenses, but I gave away the pottery. This is the crap shoot that we engage in each and every time we go out there to sell our work. Will I make a profit? Will I get paid for my time? For my work? For my expenses? For the slides and application fee, the postcards and postage, the time sending out press releases?

This is the whining stage, the reflection on the seeming futility of this career path, and the constant nagging fear that it may end some day.  Because it is a charmed life when I am in the studio, hands immersed in clay and my imagination, engaged in the alchemy of glazing, and the magic of a kiln opening. I return to the creative and artistic process, like a moth to a flame, like the swallows to Capistrano, like bees to honey. 

Yesterday I played around, ignoring any to-do lists, weeding the garden, working on my new stone bench next to the fire pit, intentionally "wasting" the day with frivolous things that I normally find busy-ness to distract me from. But the frivolous is the fuel for the imagination, it is the quiet space in a painting, the 3 beat pause in a sonata, the space where intuition has time to gestate and sprout. Gifting myself with these precious times seems antithetical to the self-discipline that is so difficult yet so necessary to the success of my business. I need those times of not-thinking to recharge my batteries, and to have the energy to create. 

2005-6-12 Sunday

Speaking of spontaneity, (did you miss that part?) I heard (at church)  today that Google gives all their employees 10% of their time to just fantasize about the possibilities of their job. That's like 45 minutes a day! I realize that as an artist, that should be the minimum that I am creating new stuff! I can't wait to get to the point that I can create new stuff for an hour every day! It made me realize how much of a "producer" I have become. Don't get me wrong; I truly enjoy making every pot that comes out of my studio, but sometimes the repetition becomes a sort of safety blanket, and I feel like I stagnate a bit.

So, my resolution is to spend a few minutes of every day to just play in the clay. That is what got me where I am, and that is what will keep me going, keep me fresh, keep me excited! I realized the other day that the music that I play in the studio is something that energizes me, that keeps me into the fun of the day, even if the day is mostly grunt work or paper work. When I get into an instrument, I am free-flowing with my creative juices. I can do the same thing when I play with the clay and find new ideas, designs, serendipity of intent and technique. If it works for Google, it can work for me!

2005-6-11

This glaze firing is taking it's good old time! Fortunately, I don't have any plans for the evening, so this is working out. It's Saturday, and I started the kiln at 7:30 this morning, went to a 9:00 meeting, and was back by Noon. It's now 8:00 pm, and It looks like it will finish about 10:00, at the rate it is going. As much as I'd like to be done with it, it is nice to have it finished up so I can pack on Monday to leave for the show in Cleveland on Thursday.

I seem to get anxious about art fairs as they approach (or, more accurately, as I approach them), and especially so when it is a show I've never done before. I have been told good things about the ODC Hathaway Brown show in the Shaker Heights district of Cleveland, but I always wonder what I will find when I get there. The fact is, it doesn't matter at that point. The only thing that matters is my attitude! I realize that I have to be as open and real as I can if I want the public to be engaged in the work beyond the visual. They have to be in touch with the visceral, the feeling of the work, and that isn't likely to happen without my personality completely engaged in the discussion of the work. If they were just buying a commodity, they wouldn't care about the who. When people by art, they are buying the way of the artist. 

I realize more and more how wonderful it is to spend some of my time being creative. I say "some" because so much of my time is spent on running my business. It certainly seems to take people aback when I tell them I have my own business, and when asked what I do, my response of being an artist is an ah-ha moment for them to realize that it is work to make a living with art. The art is the easy part! What I wouldn't give to just spend my time in the studio making art. But hey, this isn't half bad!

2005-6-9

A full day of glazing, all the time wondering how the new glaze was going to look. I won't know for four days, since I won't be firing until Saturday. This is when I envy other media that are immediate and the results are known in advance. Not the case with clay. The proof is in the firing, and no amount of speculation will be accurate. So patience, once again, is the watchword. 

I was happy to get everything glazed that I need for the Cleveland show at Hathaway Brown, and the rest I can fire when I get back and then ship the orders that are waiting. I also got out the two retail orders to customers direct. 

The challenges of non profit involvement can seem so daunting. My goal is to find the opportunities in every situation, even if to say that it will be better tomorrow. But the real challenge, I think, is to see myself in all situations, to see my foibles, and my personal demons that are just waiting to be healed and forgiven. These are the purposes in my life that I can look for, just as surely as looking for the accidents in my pottery that can lead me to new ideas and concepts. I am a work in process, just as everyone I meet is. Film at eleven.

2005-6-7

Today I wasn't able to spend any time in the studio. These are the disorienting days, the days where I wonder what I'm here for, because the studio is where I feel best, where I feel most alive and purposeful. That is good as inspiration to keep working, but in a personal sense it can be dangerous to wrap my entire identity up into this. I imagine you're thinking that that is who I am. But I am much more than the art I make. I am the creator behind the art, and that creativity does not begin or end at art. I have a feeling that if it did, I would not have as much inspiration, as much fire, as much passion for the process. 

But I go through the strange, disjointed day with patience for the return to "normalcy", to the studio experience. Tomorrow is the first day for a new apprentice, which isn't all that normal. It is a new artist to interact with, to teach, and to learn from. Teaching is the greatest learning opportunity. Any one who thinks the energy is lost is not teaching with awareness. In order to point out the elements in someone else's work, I invariably see the same possibilities (and flaws!) in mine. Sort of like looking at other people who make me mad, and realizing that the reason I am mad is because they remind me of something in myself. 

Awareness is what makes me an artist. Awareness is what allows the artist to find the unique and vital parts that creep into the piece, and then accentuate those elements within the work, and give it the life that you seek. I certainly look forward to all the surprises, the accidents, but it is my  awareness of each one's potential that creates excitement. Without awareness, those jewels I shine for you would just be gravel, crushed limestone.

Larry Watson

2005-06-6

Today I fired a bisque kiln, which went extremely well. It was even at the end, it fired consistently without a lot of adjustment. Practically fired itself! It was almost too easy; when it is that easy, I have a tendency to coast. One of the dangers of working alone. Premature self-congratulations.

I got the glaze mixed, using a new formula. Hopefully this one will work on the slipware this time. I don’t know how much breakage I can afford on the face cups, I have orders that are waiting on them! I am so grateful for the patience of my clients. They are the jewels in this business. It’s a good thing they have such a passion for the arts & crafts, or they wouldn’t accept such unpredictable deliveries. But then again, good things are worth waiting for.
I also mixed some new test glazes, I would love to replace this one with a strontium glaze for better results. And I would love to find a more consistent result. I would also like to find some new possibilities, maybe to inspire a new line of work. Of course the faces can morph into other body parts, some of which I could actually sell at a family event. So many possibilities when you are an artist, the problem is focusing on just the ones that I have time for.

I used to sketch every morning. The problem with that was that I came up with so many ideas that I spent all my time making the new ideas, and no production got done! Wasn’t that the best!? Oh, how I loved that. The bank account wasn’t quite as excited about it.

I delivered an order out at the airport today, which was thanks to my note to myself after I had promised them I would get it to them today. It was very good to get it to them, since I had said I would deliver it two weeks ago, and then hid it behind some other boxes. I was mortified when I found the box! It was time to make amends.

I really enjoyed the book group that I started 5 weeks ago, and we have one more meeting. We are already talking about the next one! I am glad they enjoyed it, even though it was such a challenging book. Next month I will be conducting a "Salon" on art with a book called Spirituality and Art, a collection of essays on the artists and movements of the 1910’s. This is when all the great changes into abstract and cubism were reaching their peak, and most of it was an exploration into the spiritual that was partly propelled by Einstein’s theory of relativity. Some of the concepts are still quite visible, though few people, then or now, would want to use the work spiritualism to describe them. I am looking forward to it. I will be on the radio to talk about it on July 10, and then the discussion group will meet for the first time on July 19, Tuesday at 7 to 9 pm. Call me if you want more info.

Tomorrow I have an important meeting with the Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen to see if we can get things on a better track for the progress of the organization. Working in an artists nonprofit has such opportunities for seeing my own foibles. Especially the ones I don’t like. So much forgiveness to do, so little time.

Well, I didn’t realize how much I had to say, I am glad I started this. I hope I can keep it up. I think it is a very good and prosperous thing for me.