birthing a pot

On Clayart I read a quote of Hamada (from Susan Peterson's book "Hamada") that really spoke to me. "Great pots are not made, they are born." Wow. I'm going out to the studio now to recycle the pots made by me and see if I can assist in the birth of a great pot! That does sound like I'm setting myself up for a sure-fire disappointment! But that's what I'm gonna do!

Travel/family pictures

On the right, under special links, I've added a link to my mobile me gallery where I have posted pictures from my trip to Spain and now from my neice's wedding in Oaxaca.

finally in the studio, then what

Seems that when I've been out of the studio for a while it is hard to get back in the groove. Usually I can't even come up with a project/plan. So just start throwing to warm up. I prepared 4 balls of clay and threw 4 small bowls--good warm up. But then what? Three of them were the same size/shape, really! The fourth a tiny bit larger. So, having just seen a video of this, I pinched the three together and added a handle--another version of condiment server.

The fourth just got a handle to match.

They are small, that is a 7 inch ruler.

I am reminded of something I read in the comments section of Michael Kline's blog today:

Norm Schulman changed my life in one sentence, "So much pottery, so little poetry."

Sometimes I make a piece that speaks to me like poetry--but that is few and far between! Thinking about poetry in pottery, I feel that way about my pagoda and Tracey's barns. Yet what I make is functional table ware. Can't think of a piece of my functional work that said poetry to me--well maybe a piece or two. : )

the Mexican connection

We've just returned from a most fantastic experience in Mexico. My niece, who grew up in Maine, just married a young man from Mexico. Currently they are living in Madrid--she was our divine hostess in Madrid last March. Joel was born and grew up in Mexico City but his parents and extended family are from a village outside of Oaxaca, Mexico. Emily and Joel chose to have a traditional Oaxacan wedding in the family's home village of San Antonino, about an hours drive outside of Oaxaca. It was such a treat to be part of their very traditional peasant-style wedding. The wedding was in the courtyard of the home of Joel's aunt. We left the hotel in Oaxaca at 6:30 am and most of the group did not return to the hotel until around 11:00 pm (a few of us fell by the wayside mid-afternoon.) Every minute of the day was orchestrated to follow the traditional wedding-ceremony format.

Emily wore the traditional Oaxacan wedding dress that many of us have bought over the years to bring home because of the beauty of the embroidered dresses--though ours were embroidered in bright colors whereas Emily's was all white. My son, Justin, took wonderful pictures but I don't have them yet--this I took with my iPhone! Two of my four sons went to the wedding also. Besides being part of such a unique (to us) experience it was so much fun being there with my sister and her family who live in Maine and my sister who lives here. An unusual get together of us all.

I may write more about this lovely event when I get Justin's pictures--or not. Probably depending on how soon I get back into the studio and have some pots to write about!