chrochet.

I've been crocheting a lot lately, so when I saw this, I was reeeaaally excited.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/27/news/economy/crocheted_bull/index.htm?hpt=C2

tv at the cabin.

I wonder who likes to watch TV more, Sylvia or Grandma??

our handsome man.

He's getting a little bigger, but better behaved as well. We're still working on not jumping on humans, and how to "drop it" when we play catch, but overall he's great!

Isn't he so handsome??

cosmo in the big city.

A few pictures of Cosmo for your enjoyment...

and he's finally here.

Well, the time has come. We finally adopted a puppy! Mr. Bogart, a 7 month black lab/whippet mix is a fine young gentleman. It was a bit troublesome at first - he was pretty scared at my mom and dad's house, but as soon as we got to St. Paul his ridiculously long tail was wagging all over the place. He's doing great on walks, and hasn't had any accidents in the house yet. And sitting? Well that was easy, he sat on command after about 5 minutes of training.

We're going to work on going in the crate, and not jumping as much - he's still a little wild.

Oh, hi guys!

More pictures soon.

time lapse.

I've been preparing for a show that I've got coming up and decided to take a time lapse video of my process. The video is roughly 8 minutes of work. Enjoy!

lucy.

She's pretty cute.

puppies.

I've been spending a lot of time looking at a dog to adopt. A LOT of time.

Main problem that has prevented me from adopting a dozen dogs already: two roommates with allergies. But! I'm trying out a few things to make our house more "dog-friendly." First, we're trying a product called Allerpet-D on a tester dog (ie my brother's dog). Hopefully that'll reduce the amount of dander on the pup, making any dog an acceptable fit. Also, I've been doing some research on dander-free dogs. A few breeds that I'd love to have in our house --

Portugese Water Dog, adorable, but only available from breeders.

Wheaton Terrier -- haven't found one available for adoption yet, but still looking.

And more recently, I've been looking at the Northern Lights Greyhound adoption. Since they shed very little and rarely bark, they'd be ideal for our current situation.

Isn't she cute?? Sort of ??

We'll see how the Allerpet experiment goes, then hopefully I'll be able to get a pup of my own!

changes.

So, I've realized that updating a blog is number 2345213 on my giant list of things to do, hence the sparseness of the summer.

A few changes have occurred in the month of non-blogging:

1. New job - working at 3M in the renewable energy division testing the backsheet of solar panels. I actually love it. I've enjoyed everyday I've been there so far, even though it gets overwhelming at times. Hopefully this will lead to something bigger and better...

2. New house - we're moving to a beautiful victorian home in St. Paul that has a gigantic backyard (perfect for an energetic puppy) and a beautiful view of downtown and the river. Moving in September 1st!

3. New business - I'm working on an etsy site to sell some of my old ceramic stuff, plus all my hair pins! More details as soon as they're available.

And finally, I leave you with some pictures of the final installation I did at school. I hung the tiny pinch pots from the ceiling using an invisible thread. The room had a gentle breeze blowing through when the doors opened, which caused them to swing and spin in tiny circles. I wish I had taken a video of the shadows that were created on the floor below, the slip trailing caused a unexpected yet brilliant form -- as if each little group of dots were swing dancing. I'm looking forward to the next time I get to install it!

recently. long overdue.

Who would have thought it would be so easy to become a lazy blogger? Recently my life has been so full of activities that I haven't taken the proper time to sit back and reflect, so here we go. Highlights include:

• finally getting a job!
• working on grant writing at The Soap Factory.
• walking that large dog I posted a picture of earlier.
• figuring out how to have a life beyond a full-time job.
• learning to live without a TV.
• reading books about GMO's, Warren Mackenzie, and how monks in the Eastern US train their dogs.
• getting a new studio!!!
• catching up with friends I haven't seen in a bit.

Well. There you have it. I'm working at a production pottery business in St. Paul currently, and have been enjoying getting my hands dirty on a day to day basis. But man, 8 hours of being hunched over on a wheel can be quite demanding. So hopefully I'll figure out a more sustainable way to work, otherwise I'll be in desperate need of a massage at the end of every week.

Hope everyone enjoys the Fourth!

tara donovan.

An artist I've been looking at lately... Tara Donovan.

Nebulous, 2002
Scotch Tape
15' 9"(H) x 29' 9 1/2"(W) x 3 1/2"(D)

Nebulous, detail

Untitled, 2003
Styrofoam Cups, Hot Glue
6'(H) x 20'(W) x 19' 2"(D)

Untitled, detail
Lure, 2004
Fishing Line
2 1/2"(H) x 10'6"(W) x 26'(D)

Check out more of her work here.

aplateaday.

Yesssss. I made it onto "a plate a day"!!! #404 seems just perfect to me now.

summer so far.

Activities so far this summer have included:

• cleaning out the studio
• accidentally breaking some pieces while cleaning out the studio
• constantly looking for jobs
• job interviews
• internship at the soap factory
• gardening
• laying in the sun
• finding a subleaser
• crocheting
• reading
• taking care of this guy

I moving out this week from Keeler, my home for the last three years. I'll be taking care of Hobie, the pup in the picture for the summer in the Seward neighborhood only half a block from the co-op! And its about three blocks from Northern Clay Center, perfection.

Today is going to be a day filled with my girlfriends, a pool, and hopefully some good gossip.

sale ad.

I took a stab at design tonight for the upcoming Ceramics Collective Sale. I'm pretty happy with the outcome, and hopefully it'll lead to a successful sale! Oh, I'm really excited about the logo too. I found the "C's" on a free template website and tweaked it a bit.

If you're in the area next week, stop by and say hi!

tots.

I almost forgot, in honor of Mrs. Virginia Brodd, I made tater tot hotdish last night, but with vegetarian meat substitute. It was delicious. Thanks for the recipe, Mom.

new project.

As a part of my directed research, I had to somehow link my chemistry education with my work in the art department. Though its still a little heavy on the artistic side, I think I came up with a pretty decent project. Using software in the chemistry department, I made the oxides that together form kaolinite (clay). Then using a lino-cut method, I made a 15"x13" rectangle to print from. A dry underglaze recipe and some linseed oil were used to create a printable ink, and then printed directly onto a slab of clay. Finally, a hump mold was used to create the bowls and plates. A few more things had to happen to complete the pieces, but that's the general idea. Here's a few pictures...

A close up of the underglaze on the clay slab.

Underside of the pieces.

The mold that I use.

Leatherhard pieces.

And I decided to have a make-a-thon by myself, so I started making closed forms and vases. My studiomate Maggie taught me how to make closed forms, and that's all I want to make now. They're so much fun! I think I'm going to turn the spheres into some sort of molecule-related jar. We'll see what happens.

nceca part 2.

As promised, the remainder of the NCECA pictures. Enjoy!

Gerit Grimm's Candyshop show.

Malcom Davis gave the closing lecture. Some of the highlights include his talk about working with Martin Luther King Jr when he was a radical Pastor, only then to touch clay for the first time at the age of 40. Since then he has become a hugely influential potter, especially for his Shino glazes.

Super awesome NCECA dance. We watched middle-aged women dance the night away. Well, we only sat their for about 20 minutes, but this was quite a hit with most of the drunken potters.

It was Spring!

Whales! I can't remember the artists name, but they were made at in this park right before NCECA with raw clay. What you're seeing here is how the clay dried and cracked on top of the wood and wire supports that he built for the shape.

Val Cushing exhibit in the middle of nowhere.

Did I mention it was Spring?

Mexican Pineapple! I took a little one of these guys home with me. Last year sometime, my throwing professor showed us a video on how these pieces were made. Each one of those individual bumps is from a sprig mold which gets attached to the piece with slurry. They mix all the lead glazes by hand and then apply them by throwing the glaze, again with their hands, onto the piece. Its lead... LEAD! How crazy. But after watching this video, I realized that I wanted to make pottery.

A Kathy Butterly show that we walked about 5 miles to get to...

The Magic Gardens by Isiah Zagar. Go to the link to understand how incredible this man is.

There was a bird living in a ceramic tea cup! Can you spot the babies?

Still disappointed that this sculpture wasn't bigger...

Tourists at the liberty bell.

And finally, what the three of us had to deal with for 7 hours. The sound that the rotating door are not nearly as annoying on camera as they were in person, but you get the idea.