So close, but still so very far away

It is almost 8 months since the flood, and itt will be exactly 10 months since I was told to evacuate my condo on April 20th. I had a meeting this morning regarding the rebuild stage and although I was not given an exact timeline, it has been estimated that it will take 3 months from Feb 3^rd before we will get occupancy for the units that were destroyed. So I was a little off on my Easter guestimate, but notby much. If all things go as planned, with no supply hiccups, or subtrade shortages/difficulties, I might be back by May 3^rd. My fingers are crossed, but I am not holding my breath. Once the dry walling starts (possibly next week if inspections are ok for the fire stopping work that needs to be done), that would only take a couple of days apparently. Then we will begin meeting with the contractor to discuss finishings etc. The thing that might tip me over the edge will be the 7am weekly meetings with the contractor and the owners. I don’t get out of bed sometimes until 7:30 am. That is going to be tough, but I will just have to suck it up.

On the pottery front, I have bisqued round one for the galleries, but I still need to glaze. I am in the middle of getting work ready for the second bisque firing and it will have large bowls, platters, casseroles etc in it. I threw some really lovely 7-8lb bowls over the last week, as well as some large 5-6lb platters and a couple more teapots, ‘cause you just can’t have too many teapots in my opinion.

No pottery pics today, so here is a puppy pic…

It's been like driving down a washboard road with no idea how long it will be until you hit pavement again.

If I squint, I think I can see a tiny pin prick of light at what I am hoping is the end of this very long tunnel.

I found out yesterday that construction has begun in the main floor units (one of which is mine) of my condo building that were destroyed during the flood last June. There is a week of bringing the units up to code, as this building was originally constructed back in the mid 1960’s. Then, in hopefully a week, they will begin hanging drywall, laying down flooring, installing cabinets and other fixtures. Exciting times are ahead. I will need to go out and buy all my appliances soon, as well as furniture. I just need a timeline so that I can have all this stuff delivered and installed.  

Who knows, I might even be moved in before Easter (fingers and toes all crossed).

Production Mode

My hands were wet all weekend. I now have a severe case of lizard skin. I spent about 3 hours on the wheel on Friday night, again on Saturday night and then a full 7 hours on Sunday. It felt like I got a lot more done than the picture says I got done. However, I threw all the mugs on Friday and Saturday, trimmed and handled them all on Sunday. The teapot is to go with the short mugs and was thrown on Saturday and then trimmed/assembled on Sunday (required a torch to get it stiff enough). This shot shows all that I made/completed over the weekend.

Here is a shot of all the mugs (19 in all). The short little guys are new for me and I am really liking their simplicity.

This bowl was thrown on Sunday and will have a few handles stuck on the rim.

Finally, this teapot is not my normal bulbous style. I figured I needed something that matched the mugs, so here it is.

I am focusing on resupplying one of the galleries I have neglected over the past while since the flood. I just never seemed to have the time or energy to devote to it. Next will be some more large bowls, serving platters, casseroles etc

My new mug

The mug and hand made brush arrived yesterday. It came all the way from Brandon Phillips in Texas. I had a mug of hot chocolate in it and it was GREAT! The brush is going to the studio with me tonight. If I leave it at home, Lucy (the poodle) might think I got her a stick with a delicious deer tail attached to it.

Now showing...

Some of my newest pots (as well as a few less than newer) are on display (for the next 8 weeks) in the Sunlife Plaza downtown (144, 4th Ave. S.W.). These photos are not the best as I took them with my iPhone and they are under plexiglass, so there are a lot of reflections and hot spots. Anyway, If you are in the area, and want to have a boo, they are scattered throughout the lobby. It is quite a nice lobby, lots of tropical plants and water features etc. Here are the pots I took down. Sorry for the poor image quality...

Blogger won’t let me reply today.

So this is my response to a comment left on my post regarding to an upcoming opportunity. Hi Isabelle, Thank you for reading my blog. I am never sure if anyone out there is actually reading this thing, or if I am just talking to myself :) As to your question about how ceramics is doing over here in Canada, I can only comment on Western Canada and then only as it relates to Calgary, Alberta. Canada is big… Also, my opinion is narrowly focused on functional pottery. I have found that there is definitely a perception that functional pottery is not an art in and of itself. It is considered a craft, and as such does not qualify as ART. This then means that potters are not fully fledged artists, but are categorized as artisans. This makes it hard, not impossible, but still difficult to get represented by galleries. I guess if you can’t hang it on the wall, it’s not ART. Don’t get me wrong, there are really well known and well represented potters out here. But it does seem to always be the usual suspects that get the attention. However, that being said, if a region has a long history of clay, then the public and the galleries have a better understanding and more respect for it as an art form all on it’s own. This is probably most true in the Eastern United States where the tradition of pottery has been around for much, much longer. Alberta does have a clay history, but it is no where near as long as places like North Carolina etc. Alberta is only officially 109 years old, so we are mere babes in comparison. Hope that sheds some light on the ceramic art situation over here. I am by no means an expert on this, so this is only my very humble opinion based on a very limited perspective… Thanks again, Ashley

New addition

Well, it's official, there is a new member of the family... no name yet, hopefully one will become evident.

New Opportunity on the Horizon

I was contacted recently about showing some of my pots in an exhibit space in one of the buildings downtown. I am not going to say anything more until I know more and when, but I am meeting on Saturday to hopefully send the work off to be displayed. This would not be a selling opportunity (an honorarium will be paid instead), but my business cards will be displayed along with the work and the public will be able to contact me directly regarding purchase if they want. Once I know when the exhibit will be up and running, I will post the info. This is my new(ish) business card for lack of any pottery pictures worth posting...

This is the front

and this is the back

2013 In Review

We are now 1 week into the new year and I thought I would do a little recap of 2013, as I saw it.

Way back in January 2013, I was getting ready for a salt and soda firing in Medalta. The firing was not until April, but I was making pots in preparation for it really early.

I think I was done making for this firing by mid February. These are most, if not all of the pots I was to take with me.

A group of students and instructors at Fairview Studios were also in the middle of organizing the 1^st ever studio OPEN HOUSE in the hopes of attracting new students as enrollment levels have not quite been what they used to be since we moved to the new location. So at the end of March, in preparation for the June open house, I threw a few groggy tea bowls to be raku fired on the day of the open house

.  I also made some really, really good ribs and served them up on one of my sgraffito plates.

and the amaryllis plants that I started from seeds that I had pollinated by hand many years ago, decided to bloom too.

My pal Susan and I trundled off to Medicine Hat in April and fired off the salt and soda kilns

. We were very tired puppies by the end of it all.

Not much happened in May. I was exploring more with the sgrafitto, trying to come up with unique designs for every pot (almost). That taxed the brain and I have since pared the patterns down to one or 2 good ones.

.

I  got a new photo cube) and in June, I began seriously documenting all the new pots that were coming out of the kiln.

But then came the flood and washed it all away on June 21^st. All the rain we had gotten over the spring had saturated the ground and when some parts of the mountains received over 108 cm of rain in 24 hours, the ground couldn’t hold it and the water surged into the little creeks that became raging torrents and they cut swaths of destruction all the way down into the foothills and the prairies beyond.

This first pic is looking down on the elbow river where it winds around behind Lindsay Park and is just 2 blocks north of my street.

)

This image shows the vastness of the flooding in the Victoria Park and Mission neighborhoods and is looking south towards my part of Mission.

. This one shows Macleod Trail looking North from Cemetery Hill. If you were able to turn left at the bottom of the hill, my condo is 2 blocks west and 1 block north of this image. The water kept going all the way over to the Stampede Grounds and Saddle Dome that are just to right of this picture.

I got my first up close look on June 24^th and this is what I saw

. The next day I was floored by how many people came out to help. There were roving groups of people in rubber boots with shovels ready and willing to lend a hand. All of the people I know that were able to come out did, all of my sister’s friends came and helped, local businesses helped with food, water, supplies and even beer. Everything I have ever owned is on the lawn in this image.

 The next day we all came back and began the process of moving all of the mud caked and water logged mounds of garbage into the back of the garbage trucks that were there at 8:00 in the morning.

As soon as I was able to get back in the studio, I started making these flood mugs and gave them away to fellow floodies and selling to any and all that wanted to buy them.

The year progressed as it always does – in a blur. Fairview had it’s Christmas Sale, and I had a couple more of my own sales at the end of November and throughout December. I also kept scratching away on my sgrafitto pots. Just before the Christmas/New Years break, Ceramics Canada moved to a new location and I was there helping with some painting and unloading of trucks.

So things have changed a lot for me, but they have also remained the same in many respects. I started the year out living in my condo and have ended the year living in my parent’s basement. I am still making lots of pots (no change there). I still work for Ceramics Canada, just at a newer location. Calgary also saw lots of change, there was the flooding, there was a train derailment over the bow river (no leaking of oil or explosions thankfully) and there has been record breaking snow falls.

So 2014 has a lot to live up to. It can’t be much worse than 2013 was (knock on wood).

Last kiln load of 2013

I got a few nice pots from the last firing. There were a few uglies too, but I can deal with that.
These two pots came home with me last night. One of them is the urn I made for my great Aunt Ellen.

Last Chance!

Friday, December 20^th from 7 – 10 pm will be your LAST* chance to get some of my HAND MADE pottery before Christmas. I will be showing my work at Brandy & Moe’s Christmas Market located at Brandy Leigh’s at 233 10^th Street N.W.

Along with my pottery there will be lots of other art and craft vendors to get that one of a kind and very unique gift that has eluded you this shopping season.

I will have a lot of my very new black and white sgraffito work, as well as some more colourful items. I will have tons of teapots, many mugs, copious casseroles, plenty of pitchers, bountiful bowls, you get the drift. If you want the alliteration to stop, come to the sale!

In fact, some of the items I will have on offer will be still warm (ish) from the kiln. I don’t even know what they look like yet!

So tie up your galoshes, put on your toque and come cheque it out. Oh ya, if you need more temptation, there will be bevies and snacks to munch on too!

It should be noted that part of the proceeds are being donated to charity. It’s like killing a whole bunch of birds with one stone. What more could you ask for?

* Technically it isn’t really your last chance, if you contact me at ashleymorrow@shaw.ca we can always work something out before it really is too late.  

These pics are some of the items that will be there, they are just in the kiln right now, so I can't give you a "finished" pic. You will just have to come check out the sale to see what they look like all shiny from the kiln.

An Urn

I finished carving the urn for my great Aunt on the weekend. I will bisque and glaze this coming weekend if I can fit a firing in. The urn will have a wash of blue underglaze and then a clear glaze all over.

Condo Restoration News

It would appear that there has been some movement on the condo restoration front. I was called on Tuesday to arrange to meet with the flooring company and pick hardwood and tile for my unit and I went over yesterday afternoon. I have picked it all, and it came in a little under budget, so hopefully I can use that extra money for something else that might cost a bit more. I ended up going with a hickory hardwood. It is dark, but not too dark. It is a really warm colour and I am sure it will be nice.

As for the tile, I only need a bit of floor tile in the bathroom and the laundry “room”. The laundry room is actually no more than a closet big enough to hide the stacking washer and dryer. I ended up going with a ceramic tile with a warm but neutral “marble” look to it. I was also picking tub surround tile and kitchen backsplash and went with 6x18 subway tile. The bath tile is a high gloss white tile with a raised repeating texture, reminiscent of upholstery tufting. There will be a plain un textured tile running about 5 rows up from the tub all the way around. The kitchen backsplash is also a white gloss with a raised pattern of miniature rectangular tiles.

I am NOT an interior decorator by any stretch of the imagination. I have always lived with 2^nd hand, hand me down, or just plain old cheap/inexpensive furniture and all the choices in fittings and fixtures etc were already made. I have never been in the position to choose my own style. I don’t even know that I have a style. I just call it shabby lazy, not to be confused with shabby chic.

In this picture, the wood floor is the darker brown right in the middle, not the paleer wood to the left of it. 

In Progress

After a couple of hectic weekends of pottery sales, I have not had much time in the studio. I did manage to squeeze a few hours in on Sunday morning before the last sale, but I always feel rushed when I have to be somewhere and never seem to be able to focus. I did however get a few things done. Trimming, throwing and scratching. I cleaned up a new wall piece with a rasp and it is now slowly drying. The sale went reasonably well and I made a few new contacts for possible new craft shows next year too.
Here are a couple pics of my most recent scratchings.