Another step along the blogging road

My memory (or lack of it) never ceases to amaze me . . . I totally forgot that I had already signed up for a Flickr account and posted pictures from it on my blog page. On the plus side I had an extra hour now to learn something new about posting pictures, so I played around with the tiff/jpeg format. Since I couldn’t upload the smallest tiff image that I had to Flickr’s free account I needed to find another way to create a jpeg from it. I started reading the “help” section on iPhoto (when all else fails . . . ) and there it was - I had the capability all along and didn’t know it! I could open the tiff image in ‘Preview’ and save it in another format - it was that easy. D’oh!!!!!!

I’m writing this down because I want to remember all this, dang it. I bet everyone and their pet fish already knows this, but that’s ok, it made my weekend to finally figure it out. 

I’m finally getting some more work done in the studio, although it’s never as much as I hope for. Handbuilding is such a slow process, at least compared to throwing, that I never feel caught up, especially if I try anything experimental. I’m pretty happy with the process I’ve developed now, though, so I’ll be sticking with that for the time being.

I want to create a section that just deals with that - my work process and how it changes (or doesn’t). I’ve been very bad about documenting techniques and inspirations, as well as forms, and I need to do a better job. It would help me tremendously to understand my own work better and to verbalize my interests and objectives. It could also help me do a better job of marketing . . . I really, really dislike talking about my own work. I’ve come to the realization lately how much that is to my own detriment, since I sound kind of stupid when asked about anything more than my work process or some other technical question. So there’s my next project, and hopefully with the new camera I should be getting (as soon as Uncle Sam sends our refund check) I’ll be able to have some visuals as well as written descriptions of the work.

Buying local

We received our first produce delivery yesterday from Rise ‘N Shine Farms near Chattanooga and is it ever good! They brought strawberries, lovely bunches of lettuce, baby bok choi, kale, 2 bags of sprouts, arugula and a big bunch of radishes. We’ve already eaten 1 basket of the strawberries . . . I made old-fashioned shortcakes and topped them with a little whipped cream. It just doesn’t get any better than this!

I used recipes from the Scott Peacock/Edna Lewis cookbook The Gift of Southern Cooking. It is one of my absolute favorite cookbooks, and not just because I love Southern food. Edna Lewis should have been declared a national treasure and hopefully some day will be as appreciated for her contribution to the American food scene as Julia Child, Alice Waters, and James Beard. From her books I learned the glories of lard (yes, lard) and I now make the best biscuits, pie crust and cornbread ever. I render the lard myself - it’s easy - never buy the nasty stuff in the buckets at the grocery store! She also made her own baking powder - also easy - and it’s an incredible improvement over the commercial product. I would not have believed it would make such a difference but it truly does. I’m going to start a page listing favorite cookbooks and posting recipes . . . I do believe we are what we eat and it’s worth the effort, time and money to get the good stuff.

I also buy our meat, chicken and eggs from River Ridge Farms. Dave Waters drives into Chattanooga once a week for delivery, so it’s not inconvenient. I don’t even look at the stuff in the grocery store any more. It’s not just about health, although that’s important; it’s also about the impact of factory farming on the environment and the humane treatment of animals. We aren’t vegetarians (yet) but I decided that if we were going to eat meat it would come from animals that were at least raised in a humane environment and fed healthy diets . . . no steroids, hormones, antibiotics, etc. Until I did some reading I didn’t realize that feeding cattle grain is not only inefficient use of that food crop, it actually makes the cattle sick and makes them breeding grounds for e. coli bacteria. Grassfed (or pasture-raised) is better for us, better for them, better for the earth!

The challenge is to make this food more affordable and more widely available,and to educate people about the advantages of eating locally and organically, whenever possible. Books I’d recommend to start with are Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and any of Michael Pollan’s books, especially the latest one, In Defense of Food. Now go eat something good form a local farmer!

And now, for my next trick . . .

Today I’m learning to transfer photos to my blog page - I am so glad Stacie sent those instructions. It’s not that hard but it is a little confusing . . . I’ll need to do this a few times to really get the hang of it.

I thought I’d post a couple of my dogs’ photos here since they occupy such a huge part of my life. Sadly we just lost our oldest dog; she was sixteen and it really wasn’t a surprise but it still wasn’t easy. We miss her even more than we thought we would, but we still have a houseful of canine companions so I know they will keep us busy and help us with her loss.

Casper and Piglet both came into our lives five years ago. Casper is an absolutely beautiful Aussie, but he is deaf as a doorknob. Piglet, we think, is a pointer/pittie mix, but she acts more like a big chicken in a dog suit! Both were rescues - we found Casper at a nearby recreation area, and Piglet showed up at a neighbor’s house starved, filthy and scared to death of everyone and everything.

This is Piggie . . . .

And this is Casper . . . .

We have another dog, Annie, who despite being 14 years old is still my “baby.” She’s a Spitz/weiner dog mix and very cute, if I do say so myself. I will get a better picture of her and post it here soon. She’s a difficult subject since despite her age she doesn’t like to sit still for very long. She also doesn’t like being left out of things! 

So today’s lesson went well - I found out I can’t use the TIFF images I have with the free service but the others are fine. It’s fun playing around with the different buttons and settings and I’m looking forward to adding more photos soon. I’m already thinking that this would be a great way to share my Shakerag workshop week coming up in June and now I may have to upgrade my camera equipment as well. Another idea for birthday/Christmas present (hear that, John boy?).

One of those ‘aha’ quotes . . .

Last night I had some trouble with my email account and I was looking through my notebook of passwords, user names, etc. checking to be sure the settings were right. Stuck inside the cover was a post-it note from who-knows-when with a quote I’d saved: “And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.” (Anais Nin)

I’m definitely a late bloomer! It really hit me, though, how painful it is not to ‘bloom,’ to remain closed, tightly wrapped and guarded. Whether it’s taking a risk in my art work or trying to learn something new (like blogging!), it’s always been better to try it and take the chance of failing, looking foolish, and feeling stupid. As obvious as that seems it took me an awfully long time to learn that . . . I grew up hearing the admonition “When in doubt, don’t.”

That’s not an attempt to blame the parental units; they were both depression-era babies and grew up in times we can’t even begin to comprehend. It’s just not very good advice to apply across the board to one’s life. Being an artist is all about taking risks, trying, failing, trying again, failing again, then getting up the next day and doing it one more time. While I’m still a novice at risk-taking I can be very persistent about getting at something that challenges me. Maybe that’s why clay has held my interest for so long . . .the problems are never solved!

Welcome

I’m excited to finally be joining the world of blogging! I’ve enjoyed reading other blogs and learned a lot from them as well, so thanks to Stacie Florer, a wonderful artist, blogger and teacher extraordinaire that I met through In-Town Gallery, I’m finally here . . . thanks Stacie!