Flower Trio by Jasmine
Not so much happening here in Denver the last week except for gardening and my plants class. In that vein, I decided to share a painting my daughter created in early June at the Art Student’s League of Denver. We finally started renovating the exterior of our house – photos to come later. Nothing crazy or anything since we’ve decided to move next year after we’ve completed our 2 year residency stay. I would have like to go crazy and implemented a more water thrifty garden design, but alas I’m working with what I have and have a tight budget. 
Meanwhile, I need to finish my take home Plants midterm right now…only three weeks left till I can enjoy a real summer vacation before the fall semester begins. Hope everyone’s summer is splendid!
Ron & I went to Red Rocks last Friday to see Widespread Panic in concert again - Fun Show!
Not much happened in the studio this past week – though I do have an excuse. And no, my dog didn’t eat my car keys preventing me from driving to the CPG or anything…. The real reason? My in-laws were in town and we spent the week catching up, consuming great food & drink and even managed to remodel my daughter’s bedroom complete with new paint job including teenager like accessories. I have to say it looks good if you like gatorade green (you know that sort of effervescent glow in the dark green that looks like it could etch metal?)! What can I say, she picked the colors this time around and she’s infatuated with neon at the moment. To be honest, I rather like the color now that it’s on the wall and think I may use this color in my home somewhere in the future.
I have a huge to-do list that I would like to accomplish before school starts again for me at the end of August. I wish time stood still like it did when I was a kid – endless summer…but alas, time seems to spend faster and faster these days. On my to-do list you ask? (in no particular order)
- Update the Colorado Potters Guild website with new photos from the spring show.
- Putz around with all the new software I learned in the past year including Illustrator, AutoCad, GIS etc so that I’m way more efficient next year.
- Work in the clay studio more.
- Landscape our garden.
- Run more.
- Clean up my website.
- Start a website for my landscape architecture portfolio.
- Read more.
- Start packing so that we can move next summer…. Say what?
Yep, my husband and I moved into our current house (which we had been renting out for the past 10 years) last summer with the goal of selling or staying. We’ve decided to sell because we miss our old hood and all the amenities and I hate taking the #15 bus to school (yes, I take public transportation ‘cuz it’s eco-friendly and a hassle to park downtown, not to mention expensive – more on the adventure filled #15 another day). Will it be a huge pain in the ass? YES! I admit to you here and now – I have been bribed.
Have I told you how much I miss my studio?
New Squared Mugs
Err, um…ahem, I seem to be having some issues – not the personal sort either, though I do have a few of those as well. But, this post is not about THOSE kinds of issues, although if I wax poetic all scholarly like, both could be related.
I find that I’m really rusty and out of practice as I begin the process of becoming reacquainted with clay. This is not a happy state of being for me since I want to exit the shoot hootin’ and a hollerin’ whipping out pottery left and right, filling my shelves to capacity with fluid ease. Instead, I’m ending up with some wonky ware with ugly handles. Sure, I’d love to just write about my success stories and make it look as though I live in pottery nirvana, but it doesn’t always work like that.
Anyone seen the new Karate Kid movie – or remember the original? I’ve decided that I need my own “wax on, wax off” (original) or “jacket off, jacket on the peg, drop jacket, jacket on” (new) kind of moment. Muscle memory is important when it comes to many different physical tasks including crafting pottery efficiently and with as little frustration possible.
I think I need to devote a day (or at least a couple 25 pound bags of clay) to repetitively throwing the same object/shape on the wheel till they begin to look fairly uniform. Then, I want to use the same approach to pulling handles, ‘cuz frankly mine stink! Maybe then I’ll have my aha moment…similar to Daniel san and I can stop fighting the clay. In all honesty, I should recycle the mugs in the photo above – they’re not worth keeping. It’s a good lesson to learn that everything we make is not precious and should be returned to the state from whence it began.
AND – really, square mugs? Not really practical when I think about the mechanics of drinking.
I haven’t done much in the clay studio this past week – but I have been engaged in other activities, some creative, others not so much.
Creative endeavors:
I’m taking a plants class this summer through the University of Colorado at Denver taught by an alumnus of the graduate landscape architecture program. While some might not think taking a class creative, this one is using both my right and left sides of the brain. In addition to the reading & lectures, I am able to fuel my amateur photography habit by visiting various green spaces including the Denver Botanic Gardens. Plants, plants and more plants – what’s not to love? I’m not saying I am any good at photography, but I do enjoy doing it so much so that I have decided to buy myself a new camera this year. I am going to upgrade my old Olympus C7070 Wide Zoom digital to a SLR – make and model to be determined. If you happen to own one over which you wax poetic, please share…. The class participants are also required to keep a visual/written journal which is a beneficial activity for me – I already keep this digital journal and going analog is a good exercise. There is a quality that pen to paper brings such as seeing the hand writing, cross outs and rendered drawings that is missing in the digital realm.
Iris & Grasses - from sketchbook - watercolor crayon, mylar, pen
A side benefit to this class is that the material, discussions and field trip will certainly inform my own humble landscape which I have yet to touch (other than a little weeding) since moving in last summer. I’m pretty sure my neighbors are more than a little skeptical when I tell them that I’m studying landscape architecture. ;D
Not so creative endeavors:
This past week, I have been whittling away at my pile-o-papers filed on the kitchen counter over the course of the past 10 months – a promise to my husband that the pile would be gone (or at least severely diminished) when he comes home today from his weeklong man adventure - Riding the Rockies. On Sunday, I finally filed my 1st Q taxes, albeit extremely late (good thing I didn’t have any sales), renewed my retail sales tax license, along with all the other necessary paperwork & fees to the City of Denver & State of Colorado in order to once again sell my work legally online and the occasional in person event. AND – my dogs are also “legal” again…unfortunately, I also missed some great art events happening around town thanks to my haphazard filing practices.
Feels good to feel like I am catching up to my life again.
