just pics...from Sat.

Shino Pot by Kurt Wieser

also by Kurt Weiser

KILN!!!

Pipes in kiln... see how big the people are?

Friday Nite

Political Commentary? Test Tiles at the MAC

Sergei Isupov (His work costs more than a REALY nice new car)

Friday Nite.. for a few more minutes..

After we left the hotel.. Cathy P. drove, Jane and I as passengers, went to pick up Nancy and Ron.. we went to the Heard Museum. For a very nice opening reception for Mothers and Daughters Stories in Clay... What a very cool show of contemporary native american art.. when I think of native american art I don't think of what I saw tonite.. I think of very quiet and beautiful forms and surfaces.. rich in tradition. This is what I saw tonite, but with very assertive and bold content and surfaces... Look up this show at http://www.heardeducation.org/mothers/ I will bring a little book to class about it too..

They had great food... and a cash bar.

On to the MAC (Mesa Art Center). The most amazing pieces by Sergei Isupov (look this guy up)!! There were two other clay shows there... I'm not sure where the next show came from.. kind of a quasi-cartoon-vegas show. Very bright and colorful and probably full of content.. that I just didn't get.. It seemed that it might be familiar to me if I was a kid. Then the instructors and people that have been involved with the center over the years had a show too. Farraday Newsome was there, as was her husband. We got to walk through the clay studio there... what a great place. I have been there before, but everyone else had not.. and they loved it!! Wish we had one like it in Tucson.

They had great DESSERT and a cash bar.

Then back to the hotel for the dance... I never took a real shower or changed my clothes today... I realize that most everyone else did the same.. sheesh this is a clay peoples convention.. ;)

We hung out at the dance for one set.. then Cathy P. drove me and Jane home.. I decided I was too scared to walk home at nite again.. Last nite I was "cruised" on the way home by a nice darkly tinted SUV. You'ld of thought I had wings on those tennies as fast as I walked when I realized what was up. I could see the blue sign with the clover (our hotel) about 2 blocks away.. but it looked miles and miles away..

When I go to Philly next year I will stay on-site.

I have to sleep.. goal tomorrow morning is getting to the Emerging artists around 9... prolly closer to 10... then a member mtg.. then closing ceremonies... then I want to go to the pipe factory after that and before I come home.. we shall see if any of this at all happens.. ;)

I think that Jane is going home in the morning.. and I will probably find Nancy, Ron and Cathy, Karen.. and whoever else is still here...

We had quite the showing of people connected to NWAC.. I dare not start a list tonite.. I will surely forget someone. I am overwhelmed and oh so tired... but this has been such an enlightening NCECA, as all are in some way, shape or form.

Friday 5:30pm

Okay we have a small break.. not sure how long it is.

I went to two awesome lectures this morning, One by Kurt Wieser and the other one on seductive surfaces... spent the afternoon perusing the trade shows. Talking and networking.. I am especially attracted to info and demonstrations I saw on image transfer onto clay. I payed closer attention to details about screening images onto clay. Paul Wandless does some amazing stuff, and is extremely good at explaining. (teaching)..

We also went to the Hyatt and saw some nice shows by the likes of NAU, UofA, Watershed, ASU.

Tonite we are going to some receptions... then back here to shower then to the dance... although.. I do need to tell you the story about my walk home last nite.. but it appears I need to run.. Nancy called and is ready to go. Time for me to blaaaaazzzeeee.....

Friday ALREADy!?!?!?

Morning...

Not making it to the lecture this morning.

There are so many amazing things and peoples I have seen. I would like to go in order.. but..

Last nite at 6 in the Clayart Room there was a little talk. The little talk was given by AMOCA (look that up) the speakers were Tom Coleman and Frank Boyden. They have been collaborating on some pieces... The large round piece I posted a pic of last nite is one of theirs. They are both great on their own and they both work very well collaboratively.

We also had the mug exchange last nite at 10:30pm. oooo.. that was soooo late. It was fun. We put our cup in a paperbag.. got a ticket.. left the room... came back in the room.. turned in the ticket and picked up a bag... I got a white mug with a slab handle(black) on a piece of black slate... very darling by Barabara Brown. I let Ron use the mug I had brought for Glennda and we had Cathy P. pick up Jane's. We all got nice pieces.. Ron got the teabowl by Steve Branfam(wrote on the Raku books I treasure) and I am not sure he is gonna give up the mug to Glennda.. so I think I will give Glennda one of my mugs..

I'm worried I am missing something this morning.. so I am going to get dressed real fast.. and head down to the convention center.

More tonite...

Jada

What Nite is it anyways???

One of the the speakers today said that "at NCECA one day seems like 3".. that was today... tomorrow will be 3 more.. my dogs are barking... today as I trekked home I wished for steel toed boots. I wear them everyday, they never hurt my feet.. two days of two different pairs of tenies... ('scuze my spelling there..).. and I'm thinking of boots.. arrrgg..

Maaaannn.. did I see some cool stuff today.. a very cool extruder part, a new way to make smaller dies... Very cool demos by all kinds of pottersclay artists, and many different views of this will come back to NWAC, the really sad part is that you can't go to everything, and you totally want to..

(very very cool demos..) very lofty talk of pots.. and the things/reasons we create.. so, so much more...

I saw some cool people who do what potters do.. and it takes all shapes, sizes and form.. but all cool, kind hearted souls...

On a slow day look up Ah Leon or Paul Andrew Wandless. (that means look them up)

tomorrow all kinds of stuff to do again...

I will write more in the am.. lecture at 8am... not sure I will make that one though.. I'll get there when I get there...

.

Thurs. AM

Dinner at the English Pub with Jane and Cathy P.

My Irish Black and Tan

Jane getting into her LOOT

Nancy and Jada Jada in Teacher Mode

Demo!

Wakey, wakey.

8:11 am.. Jane is off to Yoga for Potters this morning... I am going to walk over a little later.

The vendors were great yesterday. Some cool new tools out there. I bought some texturizing materials for the classroom. I am thinking of buying myself some of the decals like Shirley has been using .... they go on greenware. I saw most of the great potters I have taken classes from, and saw lots of my great students.

My roadies (Glennda and Jane) were so very helpful yesterday, I couldn't have done it with-out them. Two of the longest trips (walking) to and from the car. The only problem during the demo was the rolling pin.. I will always remember to take my rolling pin from now on... their rolling pin had no ball bearings.. handles were stationary.. ooooo does that hurt your hands. Otherwise the demo was GREAT... people were so nice.... one lady set her purse on my just completed cup, then went to great efforts to fix it... then I picked it up and squished it and said we weren't keeping it anyway.

I hung out with Nancy and Jane at our hotel after the demo.. then went back to the Opening Ceremonies... (yawn)... not such a great speaker.. she was too nervous. I went out to an english pub with Jane and Cathy P. for a late dinner...

Today I will check out the vendors again.. go to some of the expos in the convention center. I have a lecture I want to go to at 12:30... and then several lectures that are at the same time in the afternoon... we have a break from 6-9 then the Randall session. Who knows what I will make it to.

More laters...

Wed. Evening

ooooooo weeeeee... what a DAY!!!
I'm thinking roller coaster in thought.... and physically too.... (note to self-wear REALLY GOOD walking shoes tomorrow)

This was an amazing day...

The demo went great.. I saw some really great potters..

More in the am....

JCA

Wed AM

Jane got here last nite just as I was finishing up my blog. She brought a single wide air mattress and set it up in the corner. She is so forgiving.. it appears the mattress went flat during the nite, so she just blew it up again. The pod coffee maker works great this morning.. but I need creamer.

Jane and I set about reading the programs for the next 4 days... wow, tons of info... and this time the presentations and speakers are already outlined so you know their material. It will be very hard to pick and choose what to go to.

TODAY things will start moving very fast and I know I will forget to tell you some of the things that happen. I even missed some stuff from yesterday.

More tonite!!!!!!

Tuesday NITE

First I will start with the yucky stuff... I went to Circle K... same one I went to last nite... as I walk in and view the crowd(10 people) I realize I have my name tag on... this is the Circle K with a resident policeman. I rip off the name tag. Mind you.. my hair is EXTRA blonde right now having had it done on Monday...and I am not someone who melts into the shadows... a scary guy(transient) approaches me and I immediatley look down. I hear a little scuffle, but proceed to the beer dept. I get in line behind a bunch of 20 year olds... they are all getting carded.. once I get to the counter I figure I am up for the id check.. HAH! no, he skips that.. but as I walk out... there on the sidewalk sits the results of the scuffle.. a man in handcuffs... arrrggg... this is scary... I guess it is good he is in handcuffs if he needs to be. I jump in the short bus, and immediately lock my doors.. I have noticed that I have done this frequently in my travels tonite, there are alot of people around here that look very down on their luck and me driving a new-ish car makes me look up on my luck...

So, now, on to the good stuff... I ran late to the lecture on the Song Dynasty, but arrived just in time to hear the lecturer talk about reduction firing in the 7th to 15th century. He uses a cool analogy about how CO2 pulls oxygen out of the air and even takes it out of the lungs of the human being when it is high and applies this to the process of reduction in the kiln and how the chemical process pulls the oxygen out of the pots. Very cool to me. This man, (Robert Mowry on Connoisseurship of Song Ceramics) is very distinguished and EXTREMELY knowledgable on his subject... amazing to listen to someone who really knows what he is talking about.. such a pleasure to be exposed to someone who actually works his braincells...

Following the lecture and prior to the next lecture I take a look around the PHX Art Museum... what a great place.. check it out next time you are in Phx. There is an installation by Ah Leon.. picture above... the pieces are all school house chairs and desks, life size... look like wood and made out of clay. Ah Leon will have a reception and tea ceremony at the Phx Museum on Friday evening.. I hope to go.

Next lecture was Terese Bartholomew on Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art. I really enjoyed this lecture. I will look at Chinese art very differently now. It seems that there are a multitude of symbols in chinese art to be deciphered. If you are given a gift, this gift will have the symbols in it that are important to the occasion.

After the lecture I used my handy dandy GPS on my phone to find Marjons. They have a great show, AMOCA. OMG the pieces are great... Tomorrow nite they have another reception, if you have a chance ... GO! Tomorrow I will try to load up some of the pics I took with my cell phone... It is too hard and now too late to do it... SEe Ya!

Tues PM around 3pm

Mmmmmm... excitement is coming.

I went for the walk to the convention center. I stopped at Seamus McCaffrey's Irish Pub for a beer and steak and guiness boxty. Boxty is like a stew with some mushy hashed browns on top.(unfortunately I guess I am not irish enough to have ever heard of boxty-sorry MOM... but the soda bread that came with it was terrible, thanks MOM, your soda bread rocks) You have different choices of what the stew is, mine was nice steak, brown gravy, mushrooms and pearl onions.. (I picked the onions out).. Waitress was nice and directed me to the convention center.

My hotel is about 10 blocks from the convention center.. a nice walk and hot out there today. The PHX downtown area is nice and it is actually quiter and less crowded than I expected. It is clean and there are these nice people (ambassadors) out and around and you can ask them questions about where things are. Downtown Tucson would be wise to take a page from the Downtown Phx book.

People are registering and the trade show is setting up. I walked in to find the Laguna booth. I found STEVE from Marjon's. I also met Carol, the nice person who has been in communication with me re: the demo. I checked out the table where I will be demo-ing and found that there will be some shelves for me to display some work. mmm.. ok, now back to the hotel to make sure I have it all under contol.

Now back at the hotel... my pics show the stuff I have drying on the desk.. and my computer up on the bathroom counter.. I probably should get this cleaned up before I go to the lecture.. and, before Jane gets here... There's also an opening reception at Marjons tonite and tomorrow nite (opening for the AMOCA showing at the Phoenix Marjon's. Tuesday & Wednesday 6:00 to 9:00 beer & wine to be served. Laguna reps should be there along with the artists & many more)

I have not gotten a confirmation for the lecture, so I am not sure I am going to go...

I think I am ready for tomorrow.. I have the somewhat (I think) normal nerves about it, but I hope to see some friendly faces in the crowd. I have gotten very nice phone calls from Kathy H. and Karen K. Several friends have texted me on my phone..(you can do it too if you like.. 520-870-0823)

More Laters... looking forward to seeing my buds!!!

Tues AM

Ok, ok, so I am early... NCECA doesn't really start till tomorrow. I am overly excited and nervous. I had a wicked anxiety attack last nite, after I got into bed. Heart racing, muscle twitching, breathlessness... arrrggg.. how silly was that.. lasted about 2 hours... and I finally fell asleep after the adreneline levels went down... my self talk to calm myself did not work at all... finally I got calm enough to do a little focused breathing and visualization of the adreneline going out of my body... and then fell asleep.

Last nite I had my Landmark Seminar class (landmarkeducation.com), I know in my heart I really wasn't there. I did tune in on occasion and realize I have some big stuff to deal with regarding my son and my handling of life in general. I am learning so much about myself, and how I run my life from this class. I sooooo see a new view of things that makes life easier/less stressful to deal with. Everyone should take the Landmark Forum... it works differently for everyone, but it helps you to live an extraordinary and powerful life.

Today, I will find the closest grocery/drug store and get some Lysol for my hotel room. The room really isn't bad, I am just germaphobic.. one bed, but enough room for a blow up bed for Jane. I feel bad that I screwed up when I reserved the room and only got one bed.. not sure how I did that, but Jane is good hearted and is still going to share with me. The people who run the hotel are Indian. (from India).. Everytime you walk into the office there is a delicious smell of curry and indian spices.... Danny the main guy has been very nice to me, although he could not find me a two bed room, he did change me from a smoking room to a non smoking room.

Today I will do a little more prep for my demo.. I am just going to make some leaves to assemble for an agave sculpture so I can show the slip attachment of two dry pieces. I will also try to get everything in order to do my demo.. it seems to be all over the short bus (Element) and I need to get a handle on it. I know I brought too many finished pieces, so I need to select the best and easiest to transport. I will probably pay to park at the convention center tomorrow so that I can have access to everything I brought with me, instead of walking the 7 blocks to and from the convention center.

I forgot to bring my cups for the scholarship fund and Clayart mug exchange. This morning I tried to have a visual conversation with KC while he went through my work in the garage trying to find the mugs that I had planned to bring. Note that I said visual converstion.. arrrgg.. I have no idea what he put in the box, but I am sure I will be able to choose something from the 10 pieces he put in the box. He also packed a coffee pot.. (I REALLY NEED THIS) .. and some hangers and took them over to Jane's for her to bring up tonite. (thanks KC!)

Tonite I am going to try to go to two lectures at 4:30 and 6:00pm. Jane should get here around 8:30pm.. not sure when Glennda will be here. I am so looking forward to seeing everyone at the conference. So many of my students are going out of their ways and their comfort zones to come, I know it will be an amazing experience for them.

I'm off to get the clay out of the short bus and will get to work on that... I bet the hotel won't be so happy if I get it all over the hotel room, but I promise not to slime the door like I do in my class room... more laters...