Two weeks gone…

Well, I got back home yesterday after spending the better part of the last two weeks on the road.  I went out to the west coast to attend a nephew’s wedding, and then my family extended the trip with a stay on Monterey Bay to really have some face time and to continue the celebration of my parent’s 60th  wedding anniversary.  It was a great time, as we are all of an age where it is tough to find time to get everyone together, and distance can be a problem too.  So, we got to spend five days beach walking, card playing, trying our best to imitate the beach volleyball playing in the Olympics (ha!), and enjoying one nice meal together after another.  It was a fantastic time together, and much needed, as it had been a couple of years since I’d gotten away from the studio for any real vacation time.

I had an interesting 24 hour series of flights back to NY from out west (flying isn’t what it used to be!), scrambling to book new flights after cancellations, after missed connections, and dealing with two lengthy delays on the runways (one for 4 1/2 hours when the airport was shut down for tornado warnings just as we were getting ready to take off, and then had 36 hours in Rochester before leaving to teach a five day workshop at the Wesleyan Potters Guild in Connecticut.

That was a wonderful experience!  I had terrific students, talented and giving (and great cooks!), and we were able to make a lot of large pots in a short period of time, using a technique of centered bisque molds.  We had a terrific firing in the kiln to top off the week.  Workshops like this are a true treat: I find that I really enjoy the teaching, and the constant interactions with the class.  Seeing them progress and get exciting about their work leaves me with such a nice feeling.  And, invariably, they are all people I enjoy getting to know.  I always feel as though I come away with more than I gave.

Now, however, it is time to pay the piper.  I was burning the candle at both ends, and feel a bit as though I was hit by a truck.  I’ve got to get down to the studio, get organized, and glaze and fire a couple of glaze kilns in the next 10 days.  So, there is no time to waste.  Orders for galleries need to be filled, I’ve got two shows in September, and it will be petal to the metal all the way there.

I need to pay attention to my garden, do some serious cooking, and stretch stretch stretch every day to get all the kinks out.

So, if anyone is actually reading this, I’ll be at the studio today, working away.

This entry was posted on 24. August 2008 at 09:18 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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