I fought the claw

Samantha making mugs, Seagrove, NC

.....and the claw won.  I bought this t-shirt when we went to Maine 4 years ago.  We had an awesome time and ate lots of lobsters for dinner and oyster stew for lunch. 

We are busy in the studio making functional pottery for the Moka glaze kiln and more pieces for our flowing glaze kiln too. I have a few more days to go for the Moka glaze, probably take me the rest of the week to finish up and decorate the thrown pieces with dotted patterns.  Cousins in Clay is the weekend of June 1 and 2 this year. We are really excited to meet David MacDonald and see his wonderfully patterned pottery and catch up with Jack Troy who will be returning with his luscious wood-fired work.

This weekend, May 3-5 is FireFest, a first time annual event in Star, NC., hosted by Starworks, celebrating Art made with fire!  I hope we can get a few chances to go down and check out all the neat things that will be happening just 5 miles down the road.  You can buy tickets ahead of time for a bit cheaper cost, or wait and buy them on the day for a few dollars more. There are demos during the day and talks and music Fri. and Sat. evening.  All of the details are on the STARworks website.

Samantha making mugs, Seagrove, NC

I really love to throw/turn pots. There is something so comforting about knowing a form, the amount of clay I need to make that form, and to be able to do it mostly without too much struggle. The tumblers below were like that this time.  Sometimes this form can take a me few to get the rhythm down, but a couple of nights ago they were friendly to make.  It is satisfying and pleasurable to feel the clay pull up almost on its own. 

Samantha's tumblers before trimming

Samantha covering pottery for the night, Seagrove, NC

Maine is a beautiful place. When we went it rained everyday, which actually made for a very relaxing vacation. We didn't feel like we had to hustle out of the house to go hiking and do something, so in the mornings we relaxed and read books and enjoyed the beauty around the house, and in the afternoon we ventured out in our raincoats to eat and take short hikes. The mosses were lush and the shoreline blissful.  The following are some images from that trip.