Once in awhile, something big moves in your life. A partner comes or goes, a job does, or an opportunity…
And when that happens, it’s like trigger, that suddenly makes you aware of all the things in your life you thought might be different by now. One thing stops time, and all of the little voices, that were heretofore in the background, resound in a chorus of demands on you to fix whatever is wrong – and there is a LOT to fix.
Excitedly, I used some glass from my 30th birthday ceremony in my latest ceramic glazing experiment. The piece I was glazing was one of the first pieces I threw on the wheel. Twice, it was going to be a bowl, until I pulled up too far and caused the top to fall off. What was left was a base (perfect for a candle holder), and a wavy, delicate rim, and the shape delighted me for some reason, so I decided to fire it.
Last weekend, my mom came to town so she and I could attend a workshop together in Tarrytown. Afterwards, we were feeling very inspired, and I decided to take her to what has become one of my favorite places – Stone Barns.
To get there, we drove through the legendary Sleepy Hollow, and down a beautiful, hilly road. My mom commented that it reminded her of where she grew up in West Virginia.
The sun was beginning to set in the early-October sky. The sheep were in the meadow, and rather shy. The pigs were in the woods, and had no qualms about hamming it up for the camera. Sunlight streaked across trees that were only just beginning to consider changing colors.
Continue reading “The Beginning of Fall – Tarrytown Field Trip”
I just want to take a moment to write about courage.
Firefighters have so much courage, that they run into flaming buildings to rescue the life otherwise trapped inside. While many of us don’t face such literal life-and-death risks each day, we do constantly exercise courage.
Little kids who are learning to walk keep losing their balance, and falling over and over and over again. Imagine having no sense of how to control your limbs, and yet repeatedly trying to rise to your feet. (You did it, once. Don’t forget.)
I recently turned 30, and I wanted the celebration to be a reflection of my life, as I saw it in the beginning as a small child, how it has evolved through the years, and how I am now stepping forward with all of this experience into my future.
I am very excited to have successfully thrown a couple of pots on the potter’s wheel. This was not an easy feat for me!
The first step in the process is called “centering,” during which you shape the clay into a cone, and then flatten it, and cone it and flatten it again, until it spins in the center of the wheel without showing any signs of wobble.
The trick is bracing your elbows against your body so that your hands put even pressure on the clay. You make yourself as solid as possible so that the clay moves in the way you are directing it – rather than having a wobbly mound of clay make you move and wobble, too! Continue reading “Ceramics, Part IV – My First Wheel-Throwings”
Briefly, I wanted to show off some of the amazing talent of my friend and client, Christina, whose wedding I photographed this year. Christina and I were introduced through a mutual friend, and then discovered that we both take classes at the same ceramic studio – Choplet.
Christina hand-made all of her own centerpieces for her wedding in ceramics. I was completely blown away by the concept of a “modern farm,” that she managed to make both elegant and adorable. Continue reading “Someone Else’s Ceramics”
Recently, I went to the MoMA with my friend Arthur (a brilliant attorney from Cleveland), and had the chance to check out the films and paintings of Salvador Dali on exhibition there. Dali is an intriguing artist because of his commitment to the dream state – his work is uncensored in sexuality, in a certain grotesque-ness, and, frankly, by the norms of waking-state logic.
One more trip to the beach…
This summer, I rented a car several times for various excursions, for business and pleasure. I visited the Berkshires twice, went all the way to northern Ohio, and drove across Long Island to Shelter Island. Each time I drove somewhere, I would 
inevitably come upon a garden center or farm selling flowering plants, and I would stop and select a new plant friend to take home.
In the Berkshires, there was this huge, amazing garden center and greenhouse. I got two different little flowery plants there – each with different size buds in different shades of purple. In Ohio, I stopped at a local garden store close to my parents house and found a huge petunia plant, in yet another shade of purple. Driving back from Shelter Island, I found this amazing farm where they sold all kinds of organic produce, and there I bought a pot of sunflowers, ready to bloom.
Continue reading “Urban Gardens, Part 1 – Fire Escape Garden”
