Studio water

One of the issues when designing a pottery studio is how to handle the whole clay-mucking-up-the-plumbing problem.We never got around to adding running water to our studio, so we don't have plumbing to worry about. Our water source is pictured above~ the downspout from the studio roof runs into a plastic (sorry) bucket which overflows into one of our sinks, then the runoff drains away underground. From time to time, Mr. Cranky fills a bucket in the studio with fresh water from the downspout and that serves as our sink. Used water is simply pitched out over the bank. That's it.

If you have plumbing you want to protect from gunk, have a look at how Emily Murphy does it here.

Ravenna at work

Ravenna got a new job

She is a master at social networking with mad computer skills. Those traits, coupled with her humanitarian spirit and idealistic nature landed her in a place to help create a very cool interactive cancer support/resource website. Check it out.

Smiling

Smooth, no crazing, no cloudiness

Success! The rest of the batch are firing in the kiln right now.

studio vagaries

Mr. Cranky sprayed the birds with clear glaze, but he thinks it may be on too thick. Gah. I am firing one small bird and one leaf in the test kiln to double check the glaze application before firing all of them. If the glaze is too heavy, the colors will look milky/cloudy and the surface will craze (= no good for outdoor use). I will have to wash all of the birds and re-paint them and re-glaze them if so. Double-gah.

That picture near the glass is a Frida Kahlo print in a heavy metal frame that I got for xmas, it sits on my work table for inspiration.

Lucy contemplates color chips, dreading the prospect of re-glazing. Note her scowl.

Completely unrelated, but so adorable~  wagashi

antenna dyi

I like to know how to do things, so when something is needed/broken I try to figure out how to make/fix it myself first.
When television went digital, our rural location lost all reception. It has been some time now and Mr. Cranky hasn't gotten over his Bill Moyers withdrawal, so what we need is an antenna. Antennas are expensive!
So~

I watched a video about how to make an antenna and made the sketch above based on his directions.

Then, we (Mr. Cranky helped!) assembled the tools and materials, all items we had laying around (= cost free).

I found a website that tells you where on the compass to direct your antenna for optimal orientation.

Isn't it adorable in a folk-arty way? And it really really works.

Little Piter (well, wouldn't you have named it?) likes it best to sit on a wooden child's chair pointing exactly 122 degrees toward the southeast.

And if you are wondering what this has to do with art for daily life, I connect it thusly~ when one lives the life of an artist, the need for thrift is generally a necessary part of the subtext. Also, making things by hand develops a sort of confidence too, that allows my mind to even entertain the thought that I might be able to solve a problem myself.  Besides, I just love sticking it to the man.

Survival of the kindest and the plague of positive thinking

I am so happy to know that a cuddle hormone exists.

mmmm...serotonin
On the other hand...

Happy New Year

God Jul and Happy 2010 from the whole crew!

Keep your prefrontal cortext well-fed.