Framing and Ceramics and Summer

It has been awhile since I have posted. Sorry about that. It seems that my only excuse is the lack of Wi-Fi.  Since my ceramic class ended and I have not been staying at Jesse's and stealing her Wi-Fi, it has just not been good to use my data for blogging.  Yeah right! It is not a good excuse, but for some reason, it bothers me enough not to blog.

Summer is here and the temps are heating up.  I'm afraid it is going to be a hot summer after such a nice spring.  Toby and I are getting into the hang of the summer.  With the longer days, we have more time to get things done around the Lazy B.  Unfortunately, we don't have the stamina that we used to have.  We have also been practicing our retirement. Since Toby is soon to be laid off, we are budgeting our spending, looking at different things to keep us busy and maybe make money, and we are just seeing how all this time together will do us - ha! Over the Memorial Weekend, we went out to the barn each morning around 7AM and played with the pottery stuff.  Then we went back out in the evenings to work on things - sometimes ceramics, sometimes framing.  Then there is the gardening.  Someone asked me what time I normally go out to the barn to throw pots. I answered 7-9. That works for both AM and PM.  It is just too hot any other time.

Tomorrow I am supposed to take a bunch of my paintings down to Viridian Coffee to hang on the wall for the month of June. I have been matting and framing paintings to get ready.  Also, there is the CTAC Art Walk later in June. If I do this event, I will need to have pictures matted and framed.  It was so hot last time I did this event, that it makes it difficult to want to do it again.  Plus, people don't buy much at things like that - not art anyways.  So it cost me more to frame my paintings and put up my tent and money for a space than I make.  Then there is the lure of the mountains.  My sister and Jesse and I have been discussing a quick trip to RR on that same weekend.  

Between getting my 2D art ready to hang and doing ceramics, I have been pretty busy with my art.  Here is the latest batch of ceramics

I have been experimenting with different glazes. Still, I have not found that perfect glaze.  It is like a crap shoot (is that the right words). You never know how the glaze will look. It could be too thin or too thick Or it could just be ugly.  Now and then it works well. Like that plate in the foreground - I really like the left side which has two glazes on it, but the right side is just okay.  Last night I made a bunch of little slabs of clay to fire and then put all sorts of glazes on them to make kind of a key to use - to show what each glaze will do. Even then, it might not work out the way you want it.

Jesse quit her teaching job.  She is a free woman.  She has a few months with a paycheck before she has to make a living.  She is not too worried about it.  It is good to be young and single and free.