My current favorite lamp is now in it’s new home here in Raleigh.
My trip West was a big success, and I now have a prominent display in Asheville's "New Morning Gallery." They just held their 51st Annual Village Art & Craft Fair. The work's stellar quality makes it a fair extraordinaire, and I look forward to doing it next year. This year, I'm having my knees replaced.
I know everyone says they wished they'd done it sooner, but there is a sadness to losing something you've had for over sixty years. Me and my knees have done a lot together. When I was small, I confused the word legs with eggs. It cracked my father up. Together, my legs and I learned to waitress, climbed the rigging to set sail on tall ships, started a pottery business, slung 50 lb bags of clay off the back of freight trucks, played "I'm gonna get you with" my dogs, loaded and unloaded so much pottery from the back of so many vehicles over the years I can't count as well as having danced into the night. I have sadness about this, but it's not about scars. I know it comes to all of us, but this recognition of youth lost is complex; it's part of my sadness.
Happy customer Bebe with her tile of two bees.
As I approach the first surgery date, September 22nd, three things bolster me. One is that my husband and friends have my back. My favorite foods are in the freezer, the railings are going up, all the support equipment is in place, and the dog will be on vacation for the first few days I'm home. I've also taught her not to jump on me. Two, everything will be more fun when it's all done. Three, my work only gets better. There's a glow and vitality to the work I took to the mountains and the work I'm producing now. It energizes and motivates me to heal and get back to the studio.
I'm finishing commissions and expect to participate fully in the Boylan ArtWalk. With the second surgery on December 8th, I'll keep you posted on holiday hours. There'll be a limited amount of work this year. But I promise that the work there is will be vibrant and full of celebration for life's joie de vivre.
Recent kitchen backsplash commissions depicting a lively field of coneflowers and black-eyed Susans on a rolling hillside.
Shortly after publishing the blog the install picture came in. It looks great. If your curious about the field tile, it’s Altea’s Matcha colored subway tile.