In the studio again

 

My fellow clay artists were willing to be included in my selfie to prove I'm really back in the studio again.

I had difficulty finding parking. It was Saturday afternoon, and the small parking lots nearby were full. But fortunately I knew the bank up the hill would be closed, and it's parking lot is available on weekends.

Walking down the hill was easy enough. But I did take several stops on the way up (one with the camera pointed at something I'll share later) to catch my breath.

 What am I working on? Well a ruin of a castle tower, small, and a tree. And sometime next week I'll start on a dragon which will be part of this threesome. That's the plan anyway.

I've got a small amount of clay which my friend Cathy gave me, and she returned my two favorite tools which I'd given her when I quit three years ago, and she was still making pottery. Right now she's dealing with shoulder rotator cuff problems. So she's not making any pottery.

Got home and was glad to have a snickerdoodle cookie waiting for me, with some diet rootbeer. I was a tired and happy little potter.

Today's quote:

The little I know, I owe to my ignorance. -Sacha Guitry, actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright (1885-1957)

The face of the earth changes

 A video that's very short. Just Pangea to today...continental drift.

In my own life, Thursday this week was pretty full. First getting my taxes done with AARP which offers a free service for us elders. Then going to the clay studio for the first time and getting my hands in clay again...since before COVID's pandemic hit. I did it. Clay under fingernails. Wore a mask so no dust got in my lungs. And parked in the handicap slot just 2 from the front door.

However, there was apparently an eager young police officer from Black Mountain giving tickets out for minimal infractions. One woman had parked over the brick walkway...which is still part of the parking lot. And I got a ticket too. At first I thought it was because the disabled plaque was lying on the dashboard rather than hanging from the rearview mirror. But no, it was more obscure. My plaque says it expired in Aug 2022. However, I turned 80 before the end of that August, and I remember the letter for the renewal saying, if you turn 80 before your plaque expires, you no longer will need to renew it. Or something like that. I didn't keep the letter.

And that was what my parking ticket says...that it expired Aug 22. The ticket also clearly shows my age as 81. So in May I will go to court and plea that letter was my "get out of jail free" card. Of course tomorrow I'll call the DMV and see if I can find someone to send me that in writing again. It's worth 219 dollars or so!

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And a few notes from Katharine Hayhoe's newsletter last week. She went to another big conference, the  World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She said she was inspired by:

...all the people I met at WEF who were there to advocate on behalf of those living in poverty, war, disease, or scarcity. As Jane Goodall said during one of her talks, “If you don’t have hope, you give up, you become apathetic, and you do nothing.” From obstetrician Jemilah Mahmood who founded the Malaysian Medical Relief Society and leads a center for planetary health, to entrepreneur Alloysius Attah who provides small shareholders in Africa with access to cutting-edge information and training that helps them grow more food, most people I met were far from apathetic. Rather, they are fighting tirelessly for the changes we need to ensure a better future for everyone.

IKEA CEO Jesper Brodin considers sustainability and nature as essential to his business model. “I start with the rationale, ‘How could it be possible to build a future business model on depletion of [natural] resources?’ It’s simply the absolute worst idea,” he said during our WEF panel. “That doesn’t mean that the transition and transformation is easy. But I do believe that all of us need to go through a massive transformation.”

Since 2016, IKEA has grown by 30.9 percent while cutting their absolute carbon emissions, by 24.3 percent; and one of the most encouraging panels I co-hosted with Jesper was the launch of Action Speaks, a platform to share and scale business climate action world-wide. 

 What can you do?

Climate Fresk is dedicated to expanding access to climate education through three-hour workshops they host all over the world. It’s a fun, interactive experience that includes flash cards and other learning opportunities that leave you equipped and ready to have your own conversation on how every decision is a climate decision.  

https://climatefresk.org/world/registration-workshop/

 

A community pottery

I contribute time and energy as a volunteer to Black Mountain Center for the Arts CLAY STUDIO.
(I also work there on my own creations in clay, and share a lot of that part of my life on my other blog, ALCHEMY OF CLAY.)

I also contribute to the BMCA Clay Studio blog, but posts have been a bit sporadic lately.

So I was thrilled to see Sepia Saturday has asked for photos having to do with a pottery studio.  I do have some historic shots from old potteries, but prefer to give you a few shots from the one I'm currently involved with...perhaps the historic ones will be coming soon!  At least these are all my own photos.

Charles Freeland, Studio Manager and teacher

Big tubs of glaze

An extruder (on the wall) makes different shapes as tubes of clay

Come over to Sepia Saturday to see more contributed photos which have to do with this theme. Scroll down and click on folks' names.

More of my BMCA buddies...

Beautiful mural on side wall of BMCA studio

Little sign by door on sidewalk facing parking lot

Original teacher Geoff Bird in kiln room

Kiln load of ceramics

A potter's selfie at BMCA studio

Happy 2013

These are a few of my favorite things...my friends and family.  Most pictures are from 2012.
I have a private journal of some important pictures from the last year.  But this one is for sharing with you.  You might just be in here!

Hope next year is a good as this one.  Like everyone I have shared laughs as well as tears with friends and family in 2012.