we need sunshine!

despite the fact that it has been raining since the day after we arrived in NH, we have enjoyed spending time with family and friends. on saturday we did get to Lacoste Gallery in Concord, MA for the opening reception of the Don Reitz exhibition. it was very inspiring and Don did give a short talk. my favorite part of his talk was at the end when he used my favorite Joseph Campbell quote... "follow your bliss", it really works. Reitz has been using a lot of color in his work and there were some wonderful platter forms with awesome feet that were hung on the wall. i was very drawn to those and probably because i have experimented with a similar form in raku some years back. perhaps i will revisit that shape in the next few months.
monday was spent with my daughter... we enjoyed a fun day that included a martini lunch. i took Meredith's advice and had lobster! the yummy part is that it was mac & cheese with lobster... perfect for a rainy day.
a trip to NH always includes a stop at the liquor store. liquor is cheap here compared to NC... almost HALF the cost. so of course you have to stock up. while i was at the register they had these little guys on the counter... they made me think of Gary so i couldn't resist buying one...

skull head vodka!!! how cool is that? 

today it's back to work. we will start to pack the bus with the contents of the storage unit... oh and to top things off... the starter in the bus was giving us trouble so my brother in law Steve is going to replace it today. of course nothing is cheap to fix on something that big! he started to work on it yesterday but it was getting late and the rain was pouring down. 

it's still raining today - jeff said that it's raining and cold so that we will be reminded why we love living in North Carolina!

... lastly i want to congratulate my potter friend Paul Haigh.  as of yesterday he is a state juried member of the League of NH Craftsmen!

the gypsy potters road trip

i am in New Hampshire... and it's cold here! it was sunny when we arrived late yesterday and it was about 68 degrees. this morning is overcast and and about 48 degrees. 

we travelled in the gypsy potter bus so we can empty the storage unit...

we picked up a rental car when we arrived since parking this thing can be tricky and then there is always the price of fuel. most of the trip we are staying with our friend Roni who lives on Bow Lake. her home is a short drive down the road from the little home we had been renting on the lake prior to the big move south. it did feel like coming home as we drove the windy road around along the lake to Roni's. it is beautiful here on Bow Lake...

to avoid homesickness all i have to do is look at this picture of my last winter in NH...

there is a Don Reitz exhibition opening today at Lacoste Gallery in Concord, MA. if we are lucky will have time to drive down this afternoon to see it and maybe hear his gallery talk. 

on monday i get to spend the day with my daughter Danielle... can't wait to see her!!!

getting out of the studio

this was certainly a week of inspiration...beginning with the Under the Influence reception last friday... and then yesterday jeff brown and i went to the Currier Museum in Manchester, NH and saw the current exhibition, Function and Sculpture: Building a Ceramics Collection and from there traveled south to Concord, MA to catch the Don Reitz exhibition at the Lacoste Gallery before it ended. I found his geode bowls fascinating and you can have a look at them on the gallery's website. Upon returning to NH I took jeff up on his offer of an impromptu water color lesson...I have been thinking about experimenting with watercolor in the art journal project. we ended up painting until 1:30am! it was great fun and left me with lots of ideas running through my head.
...and
i did get my hands in some clay on tuesday.