It is so very busy here there is always something happening. ...ooo the line is moving.. It is very, very long.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Sunday Sunset in Seattle
Sunday, Sunset, Seattle, my most favorite time of day on my most favoriteday of the week... I am looking down upon a very long line for the Ani Defranco, show. I hear a fairly loud band playing somewhere down the street. It is freakin' cold right now, I don't see how they do it. Some of the gals in that line have short sleeves and short skirts. Doors open at 7:00. We shall see how it goes..
It is so very busy here there is always something happening. ...ooo the line is moving.. It is very, very long.
It is so very busy here there is always something happening. ...ooo the line is moving.. It is very, very long.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
SUPERGIRL'S! Sullen Saturday
I woke up to rain, rain, rain. Booooo.... Made some frantic texts home trying to figure if I could go home today, or get a hotel till I leave on Tues. NOTHING would work with out downpayment on a house. I resigned myself to staying here. I am tired of being cold and wet.
Leila came down to the mkt in the morning and bought me some fresh made donuts! She is the best... she had to parent me and Catherine a few times on this trip. I got my act together and went back up to the convention center, did I mention that it is 5 blocks uphill in the cold rain? waaaaaaa.... The emerging artists were very interesting. They all have stuff written up about them in the conference materials. What they do is way beyond what I can dream of. They are using alot of computer stuff for their designing and imagery. They really are in the digital age, I don't even think that NCECA was in the digital age when I started going in 2000. Things move so fast. They also had closing speakers, Robert Brady and his wife Sandy/?. They both spoke separately about their lives and their work. She is an unbelievable potter, making utilitarian pottery with grace and peace. He is a sculptor who works in a variety of meetings. They are very different, but must make it all work. I enjoyed what they said and how they said it. It was a very nice wrap up to the conference.
I was very discouraged about having to stay here any longer so I tried to make the best of it, I walked to Poineer Square, not a long walk if you know where you are going. I feel like I am in a labrynth/maze here and it has these tall walls I cannot see over or around and when I think I have a handle on it, it takes me down another path. It was getting to be about 2pm and I realized I REALLY needed some food. I found this shop that had the kalamata olive bread as a grilled cheese. YUM. When I came out of the restaurant I tried to use my guide and my gps to find the galleries that everyone so raved about. It was darkish and still raining and I was frustrated and sad. I remember Gayle telling me to go to a japanese mkt called Kobo. I got my bearings and walked UPHILL again and found it. It was worth the climb. There were beautiful asian styled pottery all over the place that was part of a show for the conference. There were also interesting other interesting things there.
After I left there I headed down the hill (still raining) and decided I was too tired to walk all the way back. I found some transportation tunnel that I thought was the train(that I rode in from the airport) but it was busses and I had NO idea where I was going. I looked for someone to ask, I thought I had found him, but just as I was about to speak he got on a bus. I went back up the stairs and headed back on foot. I stumbled upon a gallery that was the Archie Bray Show.. it was magnificent!! As I left there I asked where I might find the Underground Tour that everyone recommends. I found it but there was such a massive amt of people there I turned around and walked out.(that has happened several times this weekend, I think that my people anxiety sometimes kicks my butt so that I miss out on good things because of it) The sun was shining now and I walked back to Pikes Mkt and went to my hostel for a few. I couldn't stand that I was so tired but missing the sun.
I got myself out of my bunk and headed out to the mkt and walked around a bit more. It was cold and beautiful outside(those who know me, know those are not two words I would ever use in the same sentence). I parked myself near the market and watched the sunset! Yipee, SUN! I went back through the market and got myself some togo lentil soup and took it back up to the hostel We aren't allowed to eat in our rooms so I ate in the VERY busy community room. I sat with some potters who cringed when I sat down because of the SUPERGIRL! shirt, but I noticed one of them was one of my bunk mates and I introduced myself to the others. I think they were relieved I wasn't a comic book hero. We had an awesome conversation about teaching pottery. The gal "Violet" was cool and we talked about here getting ready to teach in the summer, she is a grad student now. I hope to help her out if she likes.
I decided to do laundry, I was on my last pair of underwear. Not so good for 3 more days here. I read for a bit and then finally slept. I haven't had to take any sleeping pills, but I am sure that my sleep pattern is really screwed up from the slamming door. I cannot wait to get home, I am soooo homesick, but the sun coming out had it's redeeming qualities.
Love, Love, Love,
Jada
Leila came down to the mkt in the morning and bought me some fresh made donuts! She is the best... she had to parent me and Catherine a few times on this trip. I got my act together and went back up to the convention center, did I mention that it is 5 blocks uphill in the cold rain? waaaaaaa.... The emerging artists were very interesting. They all have stuff written up about them in the conference materials. What they do is way beyond what I can dream of. They are using alot of computer stuff for their designing and imagery. They really are in the digital age, I don't even think that NCECA was in the digital age when I started going in 2000. Things move so fast. They also had closing speakers, Robert Brady and his wife Sandy/?. They both spoke separately about their lives and their work. She is an unbelievable potter, making utilitarian pottery with grace and peace. He is a sculptor who works in a variety of meetings. They are very different, but must make it all work. I enjoyed what they said and how they said it. It was a very nice wrap up to the conference.
I was very discouraged about having to stay here any longer so I tried to make the best of it, I walked to Poineer Square, not a long walk if you know where you are going. I feel like I am in a labrynth/maze here and it has these tall walls I cannot see over or around and when I think I have a handle on it, it takes me down another path. It was getting to be about 2pm and I realized I REALLY needed some food. I found this shop that had the kalamata olive bread as a grilled cheese. YUM. When I came out of the restaurant I tried to use my guide and my gps to find the galleries that everyone so raved about. It was darkish and still raining and I was frustrated and sad. I remember Gayle telling me to go to a japanese mkt called Kobo. I got my bearings and walked UPHILL again and found it. It was worth the climb. There were beautiful asian styled pottery all over the place that was part of a show for the conference. There were also interesting other interesting things there.
After I left there I headed down the hill (still raining) and decided I was too tired to walk all the way back. I found some transportation tunnel that I thought was the train(that I rode in from the airport) but it was busses and I had NO idea where I was going. I looked for someone to ask, I thought I had found him, but just as I was about to speak he got on a bus. I went back up the stairs and headed back on foot. I stumbled upon a gallery that was the Archie Bray Show.. it was magnificent!! As I left there I asked where I might find the Underground Tour that everyone recommends. I found it but there was such a massive amt of people there I turned around and walked out.(that has happened several times this weekend, I think that my people anxiety sometimes kicks my butt so that I miss out on good things because of it) The sun was shining now and I walked back to Pikes Mkt and went to my hostel for a few. I couldn't stand that I was so tired but missing the sun.
I got myself out of my bunk and headed out to the mkt and walked around a bit more. It was cold and beautiful outside(those who know me, know those are not two words I would ever use in the same sentence). I parked myself near the market and watched the sunset! Yipee, SUN! I went back through the market and got myself some togo lentil soup and took it back up to the hostel We aren't allowed to eat in our rooms so I ate in the VERY busy community room. I sat with some potters who cringed when I sat down because of the SUPERGIRL! shirt, but I noticed one of them was one of my bunk mates and I introduced myself to the others. I think they were relieved I wasn't a comic book hero. We had an awesome conversation about teaching pottery. The gal "Violet" was cool and we talked about here getting ready to teach in the summer, she is a grad student now. I hope to help her out if she likes.
I decided to do laundry, I was on my last pair of underwear. Not so good for 3 more days here. I read for a bit and then finally slept. I haven't had to take any sleeping pills, but I am sure that my sleep pattern is really screwed up from the slamming door. I cannot wait to get home, I am soooo homesick, but the sun coming out had it's redeeming qualities.
Love, Love, Love,
Jada
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Freaky Friday
Freaky Friday started with one of those scary showers. I do think that the bathrooms here are quite gross most of the time. There are just too many people sharing and too many people who don't clean up after themselves. Bkfst was a toasted peanut butter and jelly and coffee. We are right across the street from the first Starbucks and the coffee here is sad cuz of the powdered creamer. Right next to the hostel is a homegrown coffee shop and the coffee is wonderful and cheap. For the same thing I get for close to 5 bucks at Starbucks I can get there for $2.65. It was raining again.
I started in the morning with a lecture by a cute young college student about her quest for pink glazes using rare earth materials. The gal was blonde and soft spoken and what came out of her research was complicated and maybe not quite what she was after, but she used her brains and was able to communicate the finite points of her research with slides (Power POINT damnit).
I went to several other lectures... Tip Tolan and Patty Warishina spoke about their work. Richard Notkin was supposed to be there but had hurt his back. Tip Tolan was one of the demonstrators also for NCECA. She made a HUGE head out of clay. I do look forward to seeing her work again. I didn't take too much time in the demos. I usually want more head stuff like the lectures have. I also know that they video tape all of it, and you can buy it the next year. I should also not feel so compelled to go to the lectures over the demos because all of that is published too. I think there is more to say about the lectures I went to but I am brain dead and overloaded now.
I stayed close to the convention center most of the day except for one short run out for a delicious roasted red pepper soup.
Right before I left my boyfriend said something about a comic book convention that was going on at the same time in as NCECA. I didn't pay attention to him until I started seeing people dressed as super heroes riding the escalators. The first one I saw was a 250lb Alice in Wonderland. Ya know that blue dress ain't so cute anymore when it is made of 10 yards of sky blue fabric and your cankles hang over your bobby sock anklets. I also saw Clark Kent.. man how did that guy get his hair to look like gelled back black JB Weld? The cool thing about all the comic book fanatics/nerds is they make the clay people look totally normal. I must say though, never under any circumstances wear the electric blue SUPERGIRL fleece that Brenda B. gave you, to a town that is having a comic book convention. The drunk beggar at the bottom of the stairs in the hostel here yells SUPERGIRL! everytime I walk by and perfect strangers have discussed SUPERGIRLS virtures with me. I feel like an Comic-con fraud, I don't even know what she looks like.
Back to NCECA...
At 4pm there was a cup exchange with Clayarters. I stood in line next to a nice lady from Vancouver who had a beautiful carved porcelain/thrown cup, GIO(glazed inside only). We all dropped our cups off and picked up a ticket and left the room. The cups were put into brown paper bags, and we all returned and picked a bag. We weren't aloud to touch the bags we just had to pick one bag and take it. IN my bag was a beautiful wood fired shino cup by Liz Willoghby. She had been right behind me in line. Mind you there were probably 60+ cups. As I was thanking Liz, she was opening her cup, and it was Leila's! I don't remember the lady that got mine but she seemed happy.
After the cup exchange I went up to Catherine and Leila's place and hung out for a bit. I left my load of stuff there and went to a party over at the Sheraton. That was a party that may be better to say "what happens in Seattle stays in Seattle" and I took the photos?!?! (at least I was behind the camera).. and maybe you will see what I took in a poster at the next NCECA.
I got lost on my way home, again. I am thankful for my SMARTPHONE "Sweetness Two", who is much smarter than me when it comes to figuring out where I am. I am remembering my stay in PHX in the hotel what was 8 blocks from the convention center, where I didn't get lost, but found I was not in such a great area. I think that there are some interesting characters down here(5 blocks downhill from the convention), but I haven't felt unsafe.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE,
Jada
I started in the morning with a lecture by a cute young college student about her quest for pink glazes using rare earth materials. The gal was blonde and soft spoken and what came out of her research was complicated and maybe not quite what she was after, but she used her brains and was able to communicate the finite points of her research with slides (Power POINT damnit).
I went to several other lectures... Tip Tolan and Patty Warishina spoke about their work. Richard Notkin was supposed to be there but had hurt his back. Tip Tolan was one of the demonstrators also for NCECA. She made a HUGE head out of clay. I do look forward to seeing her work again. I didn't take too much time in the demos. I usually want more head stuff like the lectures have. I also know that they video tape all of it, and you can buy it the next year. I should also not feel so compelled to go to the lectures over the demos because all of that is published too. I think there is more to say about the lectures I went to but I am brain dead and overloaded now.
I stayed close to the convention center most of the day except for one short run out for a delicious roasted red pepper soup.
Right before I left my boyfriend said something about a comic book convention that was going on at the same time in as NCECA. I didn't pay attention to him until I started seeing people dressed as super heroes riding the escalators. The first one I saw was a 250lb Alice in Wonderland. Ya know that blue dress ain't so cute anymore when it is made of 10 yards of sky blue fabric and your cankles hang over your bobby sock anklets. I also saw Clark Kent.. man how did that guy get his hair to look like gelled back black JB Weld? The cool thing about all the comic book fanatics/nerds is they make the clay people look totally normal. I must say though, never under any circumstances wear the electric blue SUPERGIRL fleece that Brenda B. gave you, to a town that is having a comic book convention. The drunk beggar at the bottom of the stairs in the hostel here yells SUPERGIRL! everytime I walk by and perfect strangers have discussed SUPERGIRLS virtures with me. I feel like an Comic-con fraud, I don't even know what she looks like.
Back to NCECA...
At 4pm there was a cup exchange with Clayarters. I stood in line next to a nice lady from Vancouver who had a beautiful carved porcelain/thrown cup, GIO(glazed inside only). We all dropped our cups off and picked up a ticket and left the room. The cups were put into brown paper bags, and we all returned and picked a bag. We weren't aloud to touch the bags we just had to pick one bag and take it. IN my bag was a beautiful wood fired shino cup by Liz Willoghby. She had been right behind me in line. Mind you there were probably 60+ cups. As I was thanking Liz, she was opening her cup, and it was Leila's! I don't remember the lady that got mine but she seemed happy.
After the cup exchange I went up to Catherine and Leila's place and hung out for a bit. I left my load of stuff there and went to a party over at the Sheraton. That was a party that may be better to say "what happens in Seattle stays in Seattle" and I took the photos?!?! (at least I was behind the camera).. and maybe you will see what I took in a poster at the next NCECA.
I got lost on my way home, again. I am thankful for my SMARTPHONE "Sweetness Two", who is much smarter than me when it comes to figuring out where I am. I am remembering my stay in PHX in the hotel what was 8 blocks from the convention center, where I didn't get lost, but found I was not in such a great area. I think that there are some interesting characters down here(5 blocks downhill from the convention), but I haven't felt unsafe.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE,
Jada
Friday, March 30, 2012
Decisions
Do I buy a teabowl and or go to a show? Or, save my money and get a hotel room for my last night??
NCECA Thursday
Left the hostel with my umbrella for the first time this trip, and the last time this trip, mind you I have NO umbrella experience... It only took 1/2 a block for the wind to whip up turn it inside out and poke all the spines all right out of the umbrella. The next 1/2 block had a trash can where I dispensed with the silly thing.
I missed my first lecture and walked around the trade show for a few minutes. My first lecture ended up being "Activism Through Ceramics". Roberto Lugo talked about how to make an impact in our communities by reaching out and sharing our clay experience in various ways. Empty Bowls was one, community art projects was another. Interesting and motivating for me in that I do want to make a difference in our community.
The second lecture was a panel that was called "A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place" Talked about the qualities? of artificial place in our digital age and how that is influencing how we make ceramics. A bit scary to me because it seems that the way we are headed because of our access to computers and our young peoples mastering of that media, we are designing on computers and taking the "hands on" away from some of the ways we deal with clay. On another view of "place" Casey Whittier was an excellent presenter on this panel. She talked more about the way that "place" influences who we are.. a sense of place has to be built it is not automatic. Her work was these beautiful porcelian daisies, that were slip covered and fired.
I popped into a few more lectures, ran into Donna and Demitri and Shirley! Very nice to see Tucson pottery buddies here.
At 11:30 I went to the lecture by my bunkmate from the first nite. Her name is Lauren Miller and her lecture was entitled "Finding Your Niche on the Edge of Ceramics".She also discussed how the digital age is affecting what some people consider a hands on media.
I wandered through some of the exhibits before the next lecture. There is some cutting edge work here. I will post some photos.
The glaze chemistry lecture was long, I fake yawned when Demitri told me he was going and here I was sitting and listening. I caught on to some of the things I remembered about glaze chemistry. I also found it interesting about how they microscopically viewed glazes to see how much they attach to the body of clay. They evaluated how some ancient glazes attached and how the glaze chemistry changed during firing because what ever was in the clay influenced the glaze after firing and how that glaze was nothing like it was prior to firing. Part of that I already see as soon as I open the kiln, the same glaze on two different clay bodies is visually very different. The cool thing that this research shows it that the longer (meaning days) a glaze is fired the more penetration there is into the clay body. My eyes did glaze over a few times during this lecture. I did start to think about how stale and moldy my mind is becoming and maybe going back to school would be a good thing.
My lunch break was fun!! I ran into Joni Pevarnik and her crew on the way down the escalator. They were going to the Cheesecake Factory. I was good and had a small salad, but used my free coupon for cheesecake to eat later.(eating that cheese cake was sooooo good, but made me miserable for the rest of the day) The conversation at lunch was awesome. Very political and opinionated. All six of us.. Lucy Yogerst from Minnisota and Paula Rice, Ellen Thibbits, Jan Suarez, and Joni all from various parts of AZ. We all had great opinions, and were very passionate about what we had to say. I headed back to yet another lecture.
Heidi McKenzie did a great job talking about how to promote yourself. She writes for several art magazines and makes clay art too. Very together lady. I need to work on promoting my work or myself as a teacher or both.
I wandered through a few more lectures and demonstrations and then went back down to the vendors hall.
I caught up with Catherine while she was stirring up trouble. Then ran back up to participate in "Topical Discussions" on "Switching to Cone 6". Way too many people showed up to make this a roundtable discussion, and there were a few way too grumpy people there so I split. One thing that happens here is that we all get overstimulated and in our effort not to miss a thing we change in to the tired, hungry , grumpy green monsters
The early evening was with Joni, Jan and Ellen as we tried to brave the rain and find art openings. Ellen faded after the first one we tried to find at Nordstroms, which ended up being at a totally different location. We picked another one from the list. It was a little gallery in a mall-ish place. There was some clay work on the walls but we were sent upstairs to an office lobby that had these humongous mariachis. (See photos in next post) We hooked up with some relatives of Jan's who live in Seattle and we went to a nice dinner near my hostel. I couldn't eat much cuz of that damn cheesecake. (Please help me remember that stomach ache next time I think of having a triple sized slice from the cheesecake factory)
A light rain was falling after dinner and I headed back to my room.
It was a wonderful day.. So much I don't have time to write about. I do wish I had my computer to write on, but it is nice to have some access to computers at the hostel. Most of my posts have been from finger texting on my phone.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, from a very homesick JADA
I missed my first lecture and walked around the trade show for a few minutes. My first lecture ended up being "Activism Through Ceramics". Roberto Lugo talked about how to make an impact in our communities by reaching out and sharing our clay experience in various ways. Empty Bowls was one, community art projects was another. Interesting and motivating for me in that I do want to make a difference in our community.
The second lecture was a panel that was called "A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place" Talked about the qualities? of artificial place in our digital age and how that is influencing how we make ceramics. A bit scary to me because it seems that the way we are headed because of our access to computers and our young peoples mastering of that media, we are designing on computers and taking the "hands on" away from some of the ways we deal with clay. On another view of "place" Casey Whittier was an excellent presenter on this panel. She talked more about the way that "place" influences who we are.. a sense of place has to be built it is not automatic. Her work was these beautiful porcelian daisies, that were slip covered and fired.
I popped into a few more lectures, ran into Donna and Demitri and Shirley! Very nice to see Tucson pottery buddies here.
At 11:30 I went to the lecture by my bunkmate from the first nite. Her name is Lauren Miller and her lecture was entitled "Finding Your Niche on the Edge of Ceramics".She also discussed how the digital age is affecting what some people consider a hands on media.
I wandered through some of the exhibits before the next lecture. There is some cutting edge work here. I will post some photos.
The glaze chemistry lecture was long, I fake yawned when Demitri told me he was going and here I was sitting and listening. I caught on to some of the things I remembered about glaze chemistry. I also found it interesting about how they microscopically viewed glazes to see how much they attach to the body of clay. They evaluated how some ancient glazes attached and how the glaze chemistry changed during firing because what ever was in the clay influenced the glaze after firing and how that glaze was nothing like it was prior to firing. Part of that I already see as soon as I open the kiln, the same glaze on two different clay bodies is visually very different. The cool thing that this research shows it that the longer (meaning days) a glaze is fired the more penetration there is into the clay body. My eyes did glaze over a few times during this lecture. I did start to think about how stale and moldy my mind is becoming and maybe going back to school would be a good thing.
My lunch break was fun!! I ran into Joni Pevarnik and her crew on the way down the escalator. They were going to the Cheesecake Factory. I was good and had a small salad, but used my free coupon for cheesecake to eat later.(eating that cheese cake was sooooo good, but made me miserable for the rest of the day) The conversation at lunch was awesome. Very political and opinionated. All six of us.. Lucy Yogerst from Minnisota and Paula Rice, Ellen Thibbits, Jan Suarez, and Joni all from various parts of AZ. We all had great opinions, and were very passionate about what we had to say. I headed back to yet another lecture.
Heidi McKenzie did a great job talking about how to promote yourself. She writes for several art magazines and makes clay art too. Very together lady. I need to work on promoting my work or myself as a teacher or both.
I wandered through a few more lectures and demonstrations and then went back down to the vendors hall.
I caught up with Catherine while she was stirring up trouble. Then ran back up to participate in "Topical Discussions" on "Switching to Cone 6". Way too many people showed up to make this a roundtable discussion, and there were a few way too grumpy people there so I split. One thing that happens here is that we all get overstimulated and in our effort not to miss a thing we change in to the tired, hungry , grumpy green monsters
The early evening was with Joni, Jan and Ellen as we tried to brave the rain and find art openings. Ellen faded after the first one we tried to find at Nordstroms, which ended up being at a totally different location. We picked another one from the list. It was a little gallery in a mall-ish place. There was some clay work on the walls but we were sent upstairs to an office lobby that had these humongous mariachis. (See photos in next post) We hooked up with some relatives of Jan's who live in Seattle and we went to a nice dinner near my hostel. I couldn't eat much cuz of that damn cheesecake. (Please help me remember that stomach ache next time I think of having a triple sized slice from the cheesecake factory)
A light rain was falling after dinner and I headed back to my room.
It was a wonderful day.. So much I don't have time to write about. I do wish I had my computer to write on, but it is nice to have some access to computers at the hostel. Most of my posts have been from finger texting on my phone.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, from a very homesick JADA
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Thursday Night-Seattle Never Sleeps
All is well in Seattle-land. Today was another STIMULATING day which is getting me into bed at 10pm tonite. I must be old and lame to be going to bed with all kinds of things going on. I am pretty sure this town never sleeps. I don't think that I have ever had this kind of experience, where I have slept in such a densly populated area with the window open. I have never been made so acutely aware of how many eating, sleeping, breathing and pooping people there are on this earth. It is breathtaking when I seriously think about it. It is also very scary!
Ok, first the hostel/not so hostel hostel... This has been an adventure. I have learned alot about myself and my one step up from camping with 60 some-odd other people. I like it quiet and I like for my head not to rattle everytime someone exits my bunkroom, plus right at the top of my head the door out to the main hall and staircase opens and closes from my fellow campers in the 6-8 dormrooms down my hall. Yes, my hostel is also densly populated. When living/camping in a hostel your personal living quarters are very very small. I actually think they are close in sq. ft to the size of the kiln at work.
Both morninings here have been good. I am thankful for my flipflops. I haven't been able to sleep very late. My romates are up at 6 to get their crack at the bathrooms. Both mornings someone has been packing. And of course, I worry they are leaving cuz of my snoring?!? I am also thankful for my earplugs! I sure hope they brought theirs!
Today I had eggs, cooked in a fry pan that was fit for my campbox. It was a trick to keep the egg from sliding right out onto the floor while you were tryIng to crack it into the pan. Did ya know in a pinch a wooden wok stir fry spatula can flip those couple of eggs just fine.
There is alot of germ sharing in a hostel. One of the biggest things I noticed was that most people do not read the signs. I put my rinsed cup in the rack to be washed and no sooner had I let go of it, did someone pick it up and fill it up with coffee. Maybe that is why I don't like to bother with signs in the studio. My time is better spent...
Better spent at NCECA...
Ok, first the hostel/not so hostel hostel... This has been an adventure. I have learned alot about myself and my one step up from camping with 60 some-odd other people. I like it quiet and I like for my head not to rattle everytime someone exits my bunkroom, plus right at the top of my head the door out to the main hall and staircase opens and closes from my fellow campers in the 6-8 dormrooms down my hall. Yes, my hostel is also densly populated. When living/camping in a hostel your personal living quarters are very very small. I actually think they are close in sq. ft to the size of the kiln at work.
Both morninings here have been good. I am thankful for my flipflops. I haven't been able to sleep very late. My romates are up at 6 to get their crack at the bathrooms. Both mornings someone has been packing. And of course, I worry they are leaving cuz of my snoring?!? I am also thankful for my earplugs! I sure hope they brought theirs!
Today I had eggs, cooked in a fry pan that was fit for my campbox. It was a trick to keep the egg from sliding right out onto the floor while you were tryIng to crack it into the pan. Did ya know in a pinch a wooden wok stir fry spatula can flip those couple of eggs just fine.
There is alot of germ sharing in a hostel. One of the biggest things I noticed was that most people do not read the signs. I put my rinsed cup in the rack to be washed and no sooner had I let go of it, did someone pick it up and fill it up with coffee. Maybe that is why I don't like to bother with signs in the studio. My time is better spent...
Better spent at NCECA...
Wednesday at NCECA
Whew, what a day. The time flew by! This morning started at 6am. I took a scary-ish shower. I am so glad I brought my flip flops! There are way too many strangers taking showers before me. Bkfst was peanut butter on toast with coffee and powdered creamer. It was fine, tomorrow I will cook some eggies so I have something good in my belly before my Thursday adventure.
I walked the 5 blocks uphill to the convention center. Got my registration packet and dropped off my cups for the Scholarship sale. They decided that my yunomi cups had to be separated, which I am not so sure was good for them(they were partners to me). I went to the Clayart room later in the morning to drop off my cup for the exchange on Friday. There are soooo many beautiful cups, part of me wishes I had brought a thrown cup instead of my two-fisted-handleless slab 'o clay.
Early on I started running into cool Tucson people. Elaine Dow, Catherine Orrantia, Gayle Bair, Betty(?), Hiro Tashima. I also had sightings of many people I admire from afar. I do wish I was better with names.
I spent most of the day trying to get through the trade show. WOWIE, there are some cool tools out there. I got some new batgrabbers/levelers, metal texturizing tools with big metal handles, some two sided leaf makers, 2 new kinds of snot suckers that have different tips, an telescoping sponge on a stick and ??? I had a great time there, but I had ALOT of stuff. Luckily Sherrie from Sierra Nevada College (Tahoe) let me stow some stuff behind her booth. My neck is killing me, I think lugging and the weather are just taking their tole. Mid-afternoon I decided it was time to go mail my stuff.. I went to the post office, bought a very expensive roll of tape and packed it all in one of those one price boxes. I thought I would need three boxes with all that stuff, but I stuffed it all into one!!! It was probably 10+ lbs.
After the post office I ended up being very close to the hostel. I decided to rest and plan my Thursday. My room is right above a coffee shop, the smell of hot chocolate wafted into my room every 5 minutes.
After my little break I headed back up the 5 blocks to the convention center to meet up with Leila and Catherine to go to a party at Sherrie's Room.. Let's just say that that many people should not ALL be in a hotel room. It was nice to chat for a bit, but toooooo many people for me. I thought I might head home after that, but I was a bit hungry. So I walked UP about 5 more blocks just exploring, so many places were just jam packed. I finally found a place called Sun Distillery and had a "Hemmingway" cocktail. rum, grapefruit juice, marishino cherry liquor all served straight up (no rocks) in a champagne glass. I thought that was all I would have.. but it was raining so I decided to have dinner there.. The only things on the menu were a burger, veggie burger or blt. I went with the burger. THere is something about dining by yourself that makes you want to order anything you want and I ordered a real burger and it was delish!!! The alaskan beer with it didn't hurt either.
I headed back down the hill and caught up with Catherine and a bunch of gals and one guy.. Conrad Snider?? who owns the company that sells the Soldner Clay Mixers. What a nice guy. After and interesting 6 people $6 taxi van drive to a too full bar. Catherine, Conrad and I headed back down the hill to Sullivan's where they had dinner with really bad service and I had a drink. Their dinner was free in the end. It was cool to talk to Conrad about Paul Soldner and his influences on me, he told us a few stories that brought tears to my eyes. I felt a bit sad for Catherine in that she didn't realize how much of an influence Paul was to studio potters and that she doesn't realize the magnitude of his influence is to her and her career.
It was funny as we shared where we were staying, Catherine at the Marriott, Conrad at the Sheraton and me.. well, me at the hostel. I was embarrassed to say it to Conrad and Catherine rolled her eyes as I looked at her before I said it.. it was cute... but Conrad handled it well.. and I wasn't so embarrassed after all.
I look forward to seeing them tomorrow.
LOVE, Love, Love,
Jada
I walked the 5 blocks uphill to the convention center. Got my registration packet and dropped off my cups for the Scholarship sale. They decided that my yunomi cups had to be separated, which I am not so sure was good for them(they were partners to me). I went to the Clayart room later in the morning to drop off my cup for the exchange on Friday. There are soooo many beautiful cups, part of me wishes I had brought a thrown cup instead of my two-fisted-handleless slab 'o clay.
Early on I started running into cool Tucson people. Elaine Dow, Catherine Orrantia, Gayle Bair, Betty(?), Hiro Tashima. I also had sightings of many people I admire from afar. I do wish I was better with names.
I spent most of the day trying to get through the trade show. WOWIE, there are some cool tools out there. I got some new batgrabbers/levelers, metal texturizing tools with big metal handles, some two sided leaf makers, 2 new kinds of snot suckers that have different tips, an telescoping sponge on a stick and ??? I had a great time there, but I had ALOT of stuff. Luckily Sherrie from Sierra Nevada College (Tahoe) let me stow some stuff behind her booth. My neck is killing me, I think lugging and the weather are just taking their tole. Mid-afternoon I decided it was time to go mail my stuff.. I went to the post office, bought a very expensive roll of tape and packed it all in one of those one price boxes. I thought I would need three boxes with all that stuff, but I stuffed it all into one!!! It was probably 10+ lbs.
After the post office I ended up being very close to the hostel. I decided to rest and plan my Thursday. My room is right above a coffee shop, the smell of hot chocolate wafted into my room every 5 minutes.
After my little break I headed back up the 5 blocks to the convention center to meet up with Leila and Catherine to go to a party at Sherrie's Room.. Let's just say that that many people should not ALL be in a hotel room. It was nice to chat for a bit, but toooooo many people for me. I thought I might head home after that, but I was a bit hungry. So I walked UP about 5 more blocks just exploring, so many places were just jam packed. I finally found a place called Sun Distillery and had a "Hemmingway" cocktail. rum, grapefruit juice, marishino cherry liquor all served straight up (no rocks) in a champagne glass. I thought that was all I would have.. but it was raining so I decided to have dinner there.. The only things on the menu were a burger, veggie burger or blt. I went with the burger. THere is something about dining by yourself that makes you want to order anything you want and I ordered a real burger and it was delish!!! The alaskan beer with it didn't hurt either.
I headed back down the hill and caught up with Catherine and a bunch of gals and one guy.. Conrad Snider?? who owns the company that sells the Soldner Clay Mixers. What a nice guy. After and interesting 6 people $6 taxi van drive to a too full bar. Catherine, Conrad and I headed back down the hill to Sullivan's where they had dinner with really bad service and I had a drink. Their dinner was free in the end. It was cool to talk to Conrad about Paul Soldner and his influences on me, he told us a few stories that brought tears to my eyes. I felt a bit sad for Catherine in that she didn't realize how much of an influence Paul was to studio potters and that she doesn't realize the magnitude of his influence is to her and her career.
It was funny as we shared where we were staying, Catherine at the Marriott, Conrad at the Sheraton and me.. well, me at the hostel. I was embarrassed to say it to Conrad and Catherine rolled her eyes as I looked at her before I said it.. it was cute... but Conrad handled it well.. and I wasn't so embarrassed after all.
I look forward to seeing them tomorrow.
LOVE, Love, Love,
Jada
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Morning in Seattle
I actually slept last nite.. earplugs are great.
I went exploring yesterday and last nite. The market is very cool. Lots of pretty flowers everywhere. I walked all over the place. I also went to two irish bars and got my irish on.. with beer only. Some people were drinking Irish Car Bombs.. I like them,but didn't think I could drink it fast enough before it curdled. This city is huge. I have never seen a port with so many shipping crates and cranes. It is probably time for me to get moving, gonna make the hike up the hill to the convention center. I will get my conference catalog and them make my plan for the next few days.
Not homesick yet..
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE,
Jada
I went exploring yesterday and last nite. The market is very cool. Lots of pretty flowers everywhere. I walked all over the place. I also went to two irish bars and got my irish on.. with beer only. Some people were drinking Irish Car Bombs.. I like them,but didn't think I could drink it fast enough before it curdled. This city is huge. I have never seen a port with so many shipping crates and cranes. It is probably time for me to get moving, gonna make the hike up the hill to the convention center. I will get my conference catalog and them make my plan for the next few days.
Not homesick yet..
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE,
Jada
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Hostel
Hostel is fine so far. Nice gal(Lauren) in one of the bunks, also here for NCECA, and doing a presentation. The gal with dreadlocks at the front desk also said there are several people here for NCECA. My bed(the head of it) is right next to the door to our room which is also next to the main door into the sleeping areas and bathrooms of the hostel. Yea! for earplugs and lunesta. The bathrooms are small but private, the one I just used smelled like men's pee.. and yes men's pee does smell different than women's. A yoga class (everyday at 2:30) is just starting in the common area. Seems like there are lots of women staying here. I am going to check out the kitchen and then downstairs to Pike's Place Mkt. to explore. LOVE, love, Love, Jada
Just Landed in Seattle
As I approach Seattle I wonder what the next week has in store for me. I so enjoy NCECA everytime I go. I get overloaded and overstimlated on all things clay. I look forward to the brainstretching lofty lectures that I see most people either nap through or exit in the first 5 min. because there are not enough visuals for their totally sight driven souls. I also look forward to the visually driven demos of three specially selected artists up on stage and on the big screens in the very dark auditorium (this where I usually take my naps). I also look forward to seeing some of my pottery pals from Tucson. I feel sad for the loss of a couple of my NCECA icons that have passed since my last NCECA in Phx. (Maurice Grossman, Paul Soldner and Malcolm Davis, et. al.). Will I see some of the other Artists I have been enamored of? The galleries will be full of clay work with way too many pieces to look at in such a short period of time. The Clayart cup exchange and the Regina Brown scholarship mug sale will also be a source of inspiration, both of which I will be participating in. This time I also look forward to seeing the city itself, which doesn't happen much when I go to NCECA. This time I am going out on a limb and staying in a Hostel. Hopefully it won't be too hostel. ;). Perhaps the hostel is my biggest source of worry... Sharing bathrooms(EEK!!!germs) locking up all of my belongings everytime I leave, and my ever present concern that the person in the top bunk will be testing out the free condoms they have at the front desk. Before I left home, Keith looked up pictures of the bunkrooms and common rooms which aleviated some, but not all of my worries. I am excited about staying across from Pikes Place Mkt, I think that will be an adventure in itself for this small town desert rat. Plane is landing, here we go!!
Monday, March 26, 2012
It's time for SEATTLE
It's time for SEATTLE
I leave in the very early morning tomorrow! I am just about packed. I had a nice family dinner tonite with my family. We all went for a little walk out to "the Bench" at sunset it was beautiful. I am currently testing to see if I can mobile blog from my phone, as I have decided not to take my computer. I am traveling VERY light, the lightest ever in my whole life. I take more when I go for a little day hike. I have the rolling/backpack suitcase which has 3 days of clothes and my bathroom stuff. Then I have a regular backpack to carry on which has my sketchbook, raincoat and umbrella in it. I know I won't have enough clothes, but I will do laundry on Saturday. I hope I can make this all work. My last week of work was not too good, so I am glad to be getting away. I think I have figured out how to deal with one of my biggest problems, but it will be good to mull it over for the week.(so I don't do anything rash)
I hope my next post is from Seattle...
See ya in Clay Disnyland.
Love, love, love,
Jada
I leave in the very early morning tomorrow! I am just about packed. I had a nice family dinner tonite with my family. We all went for a little walk out to "the Bench" at sunset it was beautiful. I am currently testing to see if I can mobile blog from my phone, as I have decided not to take my computer. I am traveling VERY light, the lightest ever in my whole life. I take more when I go for a little day hike. I have the rolling/backpack suitcase which has 3 days of clothes and my bathroom stuff. Then I have a regular backpack to carry on which has my sketchbook, raincoat and umbrella in it. I know I won't have enough clothes, but I will do laundry on Saturday. I hope I can make this all work. My last week of work was not too good, so I am glad to be getting away. I think I have figured out how to deal with one of my biggest problems, but it will be good to mull it over for the week.(so I don't do anything rash)
I hope my next post is from Seattle...
See ya in Clay Disnyland.
Love, love, love,
Jada
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