Busy Friday

Today was a busy day. Started out running this morning with a friend for 5.5 miles, of which our path took us down and up a fairly steep hill. We didn't slow down for the hill either, which really made us work hard to keep the pace! I think my legs will be sore tomorrow... LOL.

After breakfast was a trip to the arts center so I could work on trimming the parts for a ceramic gum ball (candy) machine and assemble them. I've included a photo of the assembled machine. The body holds the candy, and with the turn of the handle, it should drop the candy down an internal chute and empty into the tray below via the hole you see on the side. I also trimmed and decorated a jar with a bulb stopper. So I spent about 7 hours there at the arts center working on those pieces, and didn't even stop for lunch! Yes, I was hungry after that, and my late lunch was a small tuna sandwich and some ice cream for dessert. I'll need to eat something else later, that's for certain!

When I was checking my email, I saw that my friend Jared was online. Jared is in China right now visiting his lady there, so I started chatting with him for a few minutes to see how things were going. Seems things look promising so far, which is good. I also chatted a few minutes with my friend Ning about some possible farmers markets we may try for selling pottery in the future. We also decided on a time for tomorrow morning's farmers market here in the central park, so I'll need to get up early tomorrow and set up our tables there. Sure hope the weather cooperates, as the past few times have been less than optimal from mother nature's side.

Then I worked on trimming and decorating some pottery in my own studio. I've take a couple of photos to share so you can see some of the ideas I'm working on at the moment. The vessels were thrown yesterday, so they have hardened enough to try using the slip on them today. I'm hoping this will help avoid the collapses I've experienced recently. Also they are a more vertical form, so I think that will help a bit too.

The names I'm assigning them are: Spikey Jar, Crater Vase, and Rosebud Vase. If they survive the drying process, I plan to make more (and different) ones, as I really like the effect of the slip for making shadows and texture. The spikey jar texture reminds me of the meringue on a pie. Somehow I don't think the slip will taste anything like it though! LOL. Besides that, the slip is very strong smelling... something like the odor of pig manure... from the bacteria that grows in it... which is what gives it such a smooth texture. And YES, I do wash my hands well after working with it - usually... LOL. I'm just keeping my hopes up that I won't have them collapse.

I wrote back to Li earlier this week. She was concerned in an earlier letter that using EMF's might be a bit expensive for keeping in touch as friends. So I mentioned that she may want to sign up for an online email address. I'm not sure if she was aware that she could get one for free and then use it to write me when she finds access to a computer with internet access. I think this could work well for us to keep in touch when she gets moved back to her home city and starts work at her parents store there sometime this next month.

Backyard

I've mowed the back yard a couple of times now this year, and am avoiding mowing off the mullen (mullein) plants that are growing in the old garden area there. They are a pretty interesting plant that will send up a tall stalk with yellow flowers sometime this summer.

The pottery piece shown was thrown as a cylindrical vessel and then a thick slip has been added to give it the textures I wanted. I am hoping spray some glaze on at an angle to help bring out the highlights even more. I'm experimenting at the moment on where and how I can utilize the slip on vessels. I tried it on the outside of a bowl, however between the weight of the slip and the moisture, the test caused the bowl to collapse. I also tried this on a bud vase I threw, but again it made the vessel collapse. I've several other ideas to test, so I haven't given up on it yet. :D

Extruding can be an interesting form of manipulating the clay to make interesting pieces. I decided to make an extruder from a caulking gun, short pieces of PVC pipe, and some PVC cleanout caps. I used a drill press to drill a hole in one of the caps, and I also had to modify the caulking gun in a couple of places to allow it to work for my needs.

After lining a couple of stainless steel mixing bowls with newspaper so that the clay doesn't stick, I rolled out a slab of clay and cut the two rounds to make the bottom. Then came the interesting part. I loaded the PVC pipe with clay, fitted it with the drilled die (endcap) and extruded a simple coil to be used to make the sides to the bowls. In most cases I scored and used water to wet the places where the coils joined with either the bottom rounds or other coils. I put the clay on the inside of the bowls so that when it shrinks, it will be less likely to separate or break. I've slowed down the drying process using towels, so it may take a while before these become dry enough to handle and bisque fire. Keeping my fingers crossed on the experiment, as I'd like to do a rather large one this way if these two smaller ones work out. This is not a fast process, as it took me about two hours to make them.

The pitcher was made a few days ago, and has been slowly equalizing the moisture content with the handle. I'm now in the process of drying the pitcher so that it will be ready to be bisque fired.

I recently received my order for a canopy to be used for setting up a booth at some art fairs this summer. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I will get some good sales over the next few months. I'm looking forward to trying it out!!!

Only friends...

Finally I heard back from Li, and it seems her parents will not be changing their minds about allowing us to have a relationship. So there it is... Li and I can only ever be friends. Perhaps, if the winds blow the right direction, I will get a chance to meet her someday. I would like that even if our destinations are not the same. I have a heavy heart now, and it seems hard to find things to smile about. This too will pass.

I think this dish expresses how I feel right now... the two colors of clay are the two different cultures forming the relationship... and the crack down the bottom is the parental decision we cannot bridge... and the tear in my heart.

I have some great ideas for a lot of new pottery to make, but it seems lately I'm not feeling enough motivation to bring them to fruition. Maybe after a good rest I will find my energy recharged. It is always darkest before the dawn, right? Now if I can only convince myself of that, I'll have it made.

Waiting...

I thought it would be fun to show off my 'lumpy pot'. A friend of mine said that it reminded her a little of one of the minor Buddhas she has seen in a Chinese temple with lumps on its head. The glazes on this covered vessel are the same glazes I used on the piggy bank in my previous blog entry. This was NOT an easy pot to make, in case you are wondering. Usually after I make one of these extremely difficult pieces, I tell myself that I won't make any more that even resemble it. There are too many other shapes and procedures to experiment with, so these difficult pieces certainly become one-of-a-kinds. The mint green covered jar was a little easier to make, and I thought it turned out well. The matte glaze I used on it is a sample glaze from a different supplier than I normally use. I am happy with the results so will likely be buying a box of this glaze from them soon along with a few others.

So far I've resisted doing production pottery even though that is where one usually needs to go to make money at this. Of course, if I tell you I did a career change and resigned from a well-paying job a couple of years ago to teach and make pottery, I'm sure you can guess that I didn't pick this career path because of the ability to make lots of money. LOL. It certainly explains why one often hears about 'starving artists'.

I still am on the board of directors of the phone company we created in 1999, and as a major stockholder, I am hoping that in the next few years I can quit worrying about the 'starving' part when my investment there pays off. I just keep hoping it comes sooner than later! :D

I am waiting to hear back from Li after asking her in my EMF why her parents said no to our relationship. I'm also waiting to hear her answer if she thinks it is worth trying to convince her parents to change their minds. If she says that they will not change their minds, then there is not much more I can do except to move on and find someone else besides Li. So that's where things stand with us at the moment... in a waiting pattern with an unknown destination.

Piggy Bank

I finished glazing and firing the piggy bank in the last kiln load, and it had cooled enough to unload it today. Most of the wares turned out pretty well, including the piggy bank. The biggest problem was with a casserole I had made using two types of clay, which decided to crack down the middle - one for the scrap heap it seems! I like how the piggy bank turned out, so I will see if there is any interest in it this weekend at the Farmers Market, and if so I will make others similar in function, but maybe a little larger.

I wrote another EMF to Li, so hopefully I will hear back from her within a few days. I would like to be her friend if nothing else is possible, but prefer to at least try to find out why her parents object to our relationship. Maybe there is something I can do to help convince them differently... I need to know the reasons before I can even think about trying. I asked Li several questions in the letter - one being the reasons if she is willing to share them with me. The other very important question is if she is willing to try to help me convince them. Fingers are crossed!

Another run scheduled in the park for tomorrow afternoon with friends. I need to work my way up to running 3 times per week, and then our schedule for the summer is to run 10km on Fridays (that will be the third run of the week). Sounds painful!!!! Sure hope I can do it. LOL.

Heard from Li

I received an EMF from Li yesterday morning. She has been keeping herself very busy working so that she doesn't have time to think about things. I think she is just as sad as I am at the situation. I still don't know the reasons her parents nixed the relationship. I'm wondering if perhaps Li and I are friends for a while that her parents might come around to letting us become more eventually... or am I only kidding myself? Li has not yet said why her parents said no either - it seems like she is avoiding the subject. I have been asking myself "Is it okay to ask her directly about this???".

I'm firing a load of glaze ware in the kiln today, and also want to make a few handmade ceramic piggy banks and I have my pottery class to teach tonight, so will be a busy day today. I have one sample piggy bank in the kiln being fired, but I'd like to make a few to see if they sell at the market. They are the kind of bank that has the little slot on the top to drop in the coins, with no other opening to take them out ... you know... the old style banks that were actually meant to be used to 'save' the money and have to be broken (or shaken A LOT) to get the coins out. I'll post a picture - hopefully that will help explain the look a little better. The body is actually thrown on the wheel, then turned on its side to make the bank. I sure hope the results will look good after the glaze firing.

As for the relationhip with Li, if nothing else, at least it looks like I have a friend... and certainly it is good to have many of those in life. And maybe if we get lucky, fate will smile upon us and it can still work out for more... who knows?

It was SO COLD at the farmers market yesterday morning that I was chilled to the bone. It got cold last night here too - mid to high 30's - and this is May!!! Sure glad I didn't see snow - I guess it could have been worse. LOL. I'm so SO tired of cold. I turned the heat off in my house a month ago, so this low temperature is slowly soaking in. If I get much colder, I'll have to wear some gloves in the house (already wearing long johns and a heavy sweat shirt just to stay warm). I really can't wait until it warms up, as it seems I have more energy and get a lot more done.

I have not received any reply from Li, so I've asked to have our names removed from the list on the forum. I'm still a little depressed about the whole situation, so I think it might be a good time to step away from it for a while and concentrate on my pottery. And until our phone company is sold, my financial situation isn't the best, so perhaps it is a blessing in disguise. (Trying to find positives in the situation).

My best wishes go out to the other guys in the forum that are making the trip to China to see their ladies. Some day I hope to be the one to make that trip too, even if it is just for a vacation. My interest is piqued enough now to want to visit that country and meet some of the people there. And perhaps even have a chance to meet some of the guys from the forum too... that would be cool!

A new schedule is out for our running group. Two more weeks of running twice a week, then moving to three times a week, with a 10km run on the third run day of the week... I can feel the body aches already from that one. Sure glad I'll have weekends to recover, because I'm sure I'll need it!

Still no reply back from Li yet, so I'm in the dark as to her feelings and also to the reason her parents nixed our relationship. I plan to visit my parents this weekend, so if I haven't gotten a reply back by the time I come back from my visit, then I'm assuming Li is not interested in talking about it. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that perhaps the reasons don't really matter either ... if it is not to be, then I need to just let it go and move on with my life. The reasons just give faster closure, but won't change the outcome.

I can't seem to get very motivated today... call it artists block if you will, added to a little bit of depression... hopefully tomorrow's sale at the Farmers Market will help to get me fired up again. Meeting the public and showing (and selling) some of my wares always helps to get me into a better frame of mind. And then a trip to the farm to see my parents and some of my brothers. It's always nice to do the campfire thing with my brothers... roast a steak and some potatoes on the grill and then kick back around the campfire with a beer to relax and tell stories, jokes, and talk. Have a great weekend!!!

Trying to recover

Okay - today is hopefully a little better day than yesterday. I did some work in the studio today, and then went running with a friend. I tried to chat with my sister a bit, but it seems she was busy with some bookkeeping, so I left her alone. The handles I made for some mugs look to be too dry, so I sprayed them down with water and wrapped them in plastic to see if they will soften up a bit to be used. Otherwise it is time to pull some more of them. "Pulling" is the process used to form the handles from a large lump of clay. It looks a lot like milking a cow for anyone that has had that experience before (most farmers would know instantly what I mean). I left the handles out too long to firm up so they became too dry to use. I may just make some more since I need 9 or 10 of them, plus a larger one for a pitcher I made, and two others for a weird shaped vase. I did throw a large plant urn yesterday using around 18-20 pounds of red clay. I'm happy with the shape and size - traditional urn shape and about 14" high - so I'm excited to see what I might do to decorate it.

I'm hoping Li will reply to my email tonight so that tomorrow I can find out what she has to say about the possibility of convincing her family to allow us to have a relationship. If she says no, that it is not possible, then it is time for me to move on and find someone else. I was really hoping we could have a future and a family together... Guess that's the way the cards fall in life, so I need to learn to accept it. Sure makes for some pretty low spirits on my part. I'm guessing Li isn't very happy either right now.

Looks like I'm going to need to experiment with the Blogspot editor a bit before I can post some photos instream of this blog. I wanted to insert a photo of the planter urn here. Yay! It worked that time. Just have to make them small enough, apparently.

Starting the blog but not on a good day

I'm not sure if this is really a good time to start my blog, but it seems I need a place to collect my thoughts and describe the latest happenings. The lady I've been writing to since mid-January went to see her parents this past weekend with the Labour Day Holiday (I think that is how they spell it) and asked them permission for our relationship. Unfortunately they have said no. Yes, that is very depressing, so it seemed rather poetic that when I read the EMF from Li, it started raining (both outdoors and in it seems). I wrote back to her asking a few questions, and letting her know how sad I feel. I'm not sure if her parents are firm on their answer, or if there is anything I can do to sway their decision... hopefully I will find out in the next few letters with Li. I also asked Li how she was feeling, and told her I hoped I did not make trouble for her with her family. Depending upon what she says in her next letter or two, I guess it may be time to move on (again). It seems that with each failure, a small piece of my heart is torn out.

As it seems this relationship is not going to follow the path I had hoped, then the best I can hope for is to heal quickly and learn from it. My heart is heavy because I really thought we had a good chance. At times like these, I sometimes feel like giving up and relegating myself to a life of loneliness. Sure hope I can get out of this funk soon. I hope my next post can be much more upbeat.