a gathering of the clan

I have two sisters: Catherine, who lives in Maine, and Pam, who lives here in San Antonio. Catherine's visit last weekend--the first in 2 years--prompted several small family gatherings--making sure everyone got a visit with her--and one large gathering on Sunday evening which is pictured above. Not all of the San Antonio family was present--one of my boys was absent as was Pam's son and her daughter Margaret and her husband Rob who live in Arizona--but we picked up a couple extra guys to fill the gaps--they are the beaux of Pam's daughters. I love getting us all together--we have such a wonderful family and I love celebrating it at every opportunity!

Now that the celebrations are over and Catherine has returned to Maine I must get back into the studio! But it is cold out there! I may have to get another electric heater to make it workable--because I have a lot of work I want to do there.

I loved pulling out some of my functional work to serve our 'tapas' from Sunday evening. The table looked so wonderful laden with all those hand-made earthy plates and bowls filled with wonderful cheeses, pates, olives, nuts, and more. I have little wooden spoons and knives with decoratively carved handles from Mexico that fit the mood perfectly. I took one of Daphne Hatcher's gorgeous platters off the wall to serve the breads in. [Everyone that comes into the house comments on those wonderful platters--people who don't know my work but know that I am a potter ask, "Did you make those?" In my wildest dreams I did!]

This afternoon is the opening of our guild's annual juried exhibition. This is always a very special event. It is so stimulating to see the incredible work some of our members produce! This year the focus is on functional work--not that every piece has to be functional but that it is related someway to functional work. That is much more appealing to me so I am excited about seeing the choicest pieces on display--about 25 pieces will have been chosen to be in the show.