A Quiet Day

I was minion-less today, so I head out to The Cottage. It was a quiet day. Just me and Tallulah. But for all that, it was full.

I started another clock. I have a better idea how to make the back, so I'm experimenting with that. I played with more textures and made more gnomes, some ornaments and another bear. I'll confess, I will never be a production potter. I really enjoy working on different things.

I worked in the quiet of the studio and thought a lot about John Lewis's passing. He was a great man who stood for what was right. Losing him diminishes the country.  He said, "We must continue to go forward as one people, as brothers and sisters."  That is my hope. That we put away the divisions and remember the things that bind us as a people.  I talk about the fact that we're all more alike than different in so many of my books. I hope we all find a way to remember that.

Tallulah the Coon Hound

I walked up to the cottage for lunch and brought a plastic container back down to the studio. Uh, Tallulah stole it. I remained stern, but on the inside I was laughing. She was so pleased with her prize. LOL I wasn't laughing later, when we were sitting on the studio's back porch and she spotted a mama raccoon with three babies. She was off like a shot and treed the entire family. Yes, my sheepdog things she's a coonhound. On a happy note, it took a few very stern, "Come," and "Leave Off," but she finally did both and we went to back to work.

I'm still working on tiles. All the experiments are going to become the backsplash in my studio. So today I picked some Queen Anne's Lace and other roadside wildflowers and tried them out as tiles. I feel like I'm getting better at transferring and carving them, but I'm still working out how to glaze them. I want enough color to show off the flowers and leaves, but not too much. LOL

Finally, I brought a few more pictures out to the studio and hung them. Someday in the not so distant future, there won't be much wall-space left. LOL One is by PA artist Jonas Bradford...I love it. I'm still watching for a Clementine Hunter. It'll be a print...I can't afford an original. LOL

My views in the studio and outside the studio are lovely and so inspiring!

I beat Himself home. It's so nice that The Cottage is just a bit more than a half hour from home. The drive gives me a bit of time to listen to a podcast. Today I was listening to Chuck Rosenberg's The Oath. He was interviewing Fiona Hill. She's led such an interesting life.

That's my day! Creative, inspiring, funny and quiet.

If you missed my latest Studio Tour, I'm reposting it here! And if you've missed any of my Hometown Hearts books, I hope you'll check them out!  ~Holly

Crib Notes: Hometown Hearts #1

Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iBook

A Special Kind of Different: Hometown Hearts #2

Kindle, iBook, Kobo, Nook

Homecoming: Hometown Hearts #3

Kindle, Kobo, IBooks, Nook

PREORDER  Suddenly a Father: Hometown Hearts #4

Available in September

Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iBooks: 

So there's a chance I'm a geek.

So there's a chance I'm a geek.

Burlon Craig Swirl Teapot

Now, my kids would assure you that there's more than just a chance, but I've long held out hope they were wrong. Until after reading four books for an upcoming 10 minute presentation, reading a bunch of articles and an hour-long  video, I realized I had another book on my shelf and picked it up and gleefully started reading it.

Do you think there's a chance that five book's might be overkill for a ten minute presentation? LOL (If my kids are reading this they're nodding.)

But here's the thing, the subject is fascinating.

My teapots.

I talked about my report in my last post. Burlon Craig. He had a long career and shaped an entire region's worth of potters.  All this reading about Catawba potters led me to experimenting with alkaline glazes in class this term.  And I'm planning to try swirling clay someday soon.

My Barn (well and Himself's)

My presentation is coming up and I swear I'm going to try to keep it at that ten minutes, but it's going to be tough. (To Any Fellow Student...I do promise to try! LOL) And after that, my term is over. I have one more term of ceramics. I'm only the second person in my professor's career to have a third independent study in his class.  And I feel a bit panicked because there's so much more to learn and I'm not going to fit enough in just one more term.

But there's also a sense of excitement. When this term's over, I should have my own studio up and running in the back of the barn.

Speaking of excitement, I unloaded three kilns this weekend for the class. It was fun watching the kids' pieces come out and it was like Christmas whenever I pulled out one of mine!

Yes, I'm afraid my kids are right...I'm a geek. But hey, I'm okay with that! I find such glee in all the little things in life. And maybe I go overboard on a ten minute presentation, but I learned a lot with all this reading.

I'll let you in on a secret...finding things that inspire you to go into overdrive mode might be a ticket to never getting old!

Holly

PS My Hometown Hearts series is starts in January! The first book, Crib Notes, is available for preorder now! I hope you'll pick up your copy! (The first chapter is available as a sample at iBooks.) I'd really appreciate your support with a preorder! Each one gives my book a bit more visibility!

Amazon          Nook          iBooks          Kobo

PPS Today's Trippin' with Holly and Susan video really ties into this blog post. If you've missed it, check it out! And if you follow me at YouTube, you'll get alerts whenever a new episode is uploaded!