Chance to Catch My Breath!

WARNING: I AM STARTING OUT ON A "SOAPBOX".

First, what is wrong with all these people who are upset with the idea of Obama speaking to school children??? As a teacher, I think everyone should be encouraging kids to stay in school and to earn a diploma. And, for the President of United States to make a special point of addressing students seems to me to be the type of role model we have needed in Washington for a long time. Even though I grew up in the Washington, DC area, I can honestly say that I have no interest in politics or "party platforms". I am more interested in leaders who act in appropriate ways and demonstrate true leadership qualities. For people to threaten keeping their children at home on Tuesday so they won't have to listen to a leader who is trying to promote education because they are afraid it is a ploy to "indoctrinate" young minds just shows me how absurd the whole political party system has become. People need to think less about party politics and more about what is going to promote the common good of this country.

(Excuse me while I get down off the soapbox.)

Second, as far as education goes, let me say that I am thoroughly enjoying where I am teaching this year. Although it is a public charter school, it really has a private school feel and takes me back to my prior experiences in Virginia. But, like all job changes, there is a learning curve in trying to determine how things are done, so I have had little time to devote to pottery the last three weeks! I am looking forward to this long weekend to get back in the groove.

The first thing I need to do is to get some pots wrapped and ready to ship in the mail - sorry, Dora, Christie, and Patterson. Your pots are ready and will be on route early next week. I have got a couple of special orders that I need to get done, so that will be the next thing on the list. I have been getting more interest in my work lately - partially from past sales and partially from the different places where my work is being shown.

One of the latest orders was for a large face jug - at least larger than I am used to making. Face jugs started out as a special piece for Justin, my middle son, when he was living in Japan. He would draw these demonic looking figures, so I thought I would turn one of his drawings into a jug, but it needed to be small for sending overseas. After that, face jugs became an after-thought for me - a way to use up scraps at the end of a throwing session. When I took my collection of face jugs to a show, they were the first things to sell ("Oh, I need to buy that. It looks just like my uncle Frank!"). So now, I am pretty intentional about making a few jugs each week to have for shows. This latest order is for a face jug smoking a cigar, so I did spend some time last week creating what was beginning to look like Groucho Marx, but I think will do the job. It will be bisque-fired this week and hopefully glazed and finished by the end of the month.

The other orders have been primarily for bowls - lots of bowls - and chip and dip platters. I have purchased a larger bat so I can try and throw even larger platters (for bigger appetites). I want to try some majolica style glazing and think the platters would be a good "canvas" to work on. More on that later. As for now, I have plenty to do with the little bit of extra time I have this weekend.