this is a real gem

Chris Gray.

these caught my eye

the cast in order of appearance:


Benben Li
Kaori Tatebayashi
Joe Christopherson
Piet Stockman

the power and charisma of simplicity, elegance and quiet beauty.

A measure of success

Tday was a great success!  It started with a spectacular crispy clear walk at the beach with friends.  Thank god it was some pottery friends; they were dual-intervention against my "artistic neuroses driven brink of a meltdown.
Great dinner with family! Great second dinner where my gorgeous brother waltzed in with  a huge bowl of fresh caught cooked & marinated CRAB!  SO GOOD...even tiny pup wanted his share.  
the cup is one of the 2nd Gen cups; I'm finally getting close here to where I want to go with these.  
here's what on the horizon:


Madrigalli Market 
December 3rd-4th 
Historic Pedro Point Firehouse
Friday night reception 6-9pm |Sat 10-6
1227 Danman Ave
Pacifica, Ca


Holiday Sale at Clay Creations
December 4th & 5th 10am to 5pm.
2316 Palmetto Avenue
Pacifica,


Invitational Cup Show
OPENING Party Thursday, Dec 9th 
7-11pm
2370 4TH ST, BERKELEY, CA

Vanessa Smith

BEHOLD; Vanessa Smith's work...

more here

Over at American Craft

This article about Keiko Gallery in Boston and some cups by contemporary Japanese artists.

check it out - some beautiful work!

THREAD

My friend Shirley Tsung-Crowley owner of HSU-LEE Designs is going to be selling her beautifully hand crafted jewelry at this event this Sunday.

For almost instant gratification; BUY Shirley's work HERE.

Shirley made the very brave and courageous move this year to shed her corporate shackles and fully invest her time and creative juice in being an artist.  I envy and applaud that!

break

Break:  verb, broke or ( Archaic ) brake; bro·ken or ( Archaic ) broke; break·ing; 

–verb (used with object)

1.

to smash, split, or divide into parts violently; reduce topieces or fragments: She broke more than a dozen eggs; or, the waves were too big and broke her surfboard :(  

—Verb phrases

break away,

to leave or escape, esp. suddenly or hurriedly.

to sever connections or allegiance: with your coworker or employer

to cease to function: a breakdown in communication
a break in: to stop suddenly; discontinue:
to break off relations with one's neighbors.  

To break out,

e.

to take out of (storage, concealment, etc.) for consumption:
to break out one's best wine.

—Synonyms 

1.  fracture, splinter, shiver. Break, CRACK, crush, shatter, smash  mean tore duce to parts, violently or by force. Break  means to divide by means of a blow, a collision, a pull, or the like: to break a chair, aleg, a strap. To crush  is to subject to (usually heavy or violent) pressure so as to press out of shape or reduce to shapelessness orto small particles: to crush an egg. To shatter  is to break insuch a way as to cause the pieces to fly in many directions: to shatter a light globe.  To smash  is to break noisily and suddenly into many pieces: to smash a glass. 2. disobey, contravene. 6. disrupt. 14.  surpass, beat. 22.  demote. 34.  fragment, smash.69.  rent, tear, rip, rift, split; breach, fissure, crack. 74.  stop, hiatus, lacuna, pause, caesura. 

...oh, but wait?!

—Antonyms 
1.  repair!!

I suddenly noticed the last few weeks have been all about breaks; breaks in the action, breaking eggs, jobs breaking, relationships breaking, pieces breaking (lost an entire kiln load), seams splitting, and of course one fabulous surfboard breaking (no body parts were broken at least - phew).

"Breaks" have everything to do with the every day studio life of a ceramic artist (at least this ceramic artist).  I am forever working the "try, try, try, wait and see, try and then try again" angle; I'm convinced it's good practice.   In fact, I'm convinced you don't have a choice in the matter.  Turns out that kind of experience helps when things in everyday life inevitably break.  Hec - I try to fix the break, put the pieces back together, problem solve, isn't that a natural reaction?  I even might try some (not so) 'magic' water, slip, pray, drink?  If that doesn't work, at some point, it's time to let the thing go.  Then you think about what went wrong.  Then it's time to get your hands on another bag of clay and get to work.

Hopefully, you learn something in the process about yourself, your work, your life...

Some things can be fixed, affixed, and some cannot.  It's that sort of thing that makes life so interesting.
It's easy when it's easy - it's the challenging bits that get the blood moving - even if they leave a mark.