Wall Pieces and a Tea Bowl

I was going through some photos for different reasons and forgot about these; a few wall platters and one of my favorite tea bowls.
I also just realized that Paul Soldner had passed away recently and it got me thinking of the time myself and 3 other friends had met him at an NCECA conference in New Orleans in 1993?, something like that. There we were sitting against a wall looking pretty haggard from the night before (being up all night on and off bourbon street; too many funny stories of that night.) Paul walks up to us and says " You look like you could use some coffee, can I buy you kids a cup?" So off we went to spend half an hour chatting with the illustrious Mr. Soldner just before we embarked on a 41 hour non stop driving trip back to missoula, Montana.
This being the first post for 2011; I resolve to stay on it and post more than I have in the past. As I am starting to write a book about my nomadic adventures for a 9 year period of time, I am going to post some excerpts from it from time to time.

Trees equal Life

In the pacific northwest, trees come and go; in the coastal hill mountain range trees are the life blood of soooo many families. It's how we heat are homes, mill lumber for your houses, make telephone polls, cabinets, doors, beams, firewood for portland and the coast, fire kilns, and many other things. Trees are beautiful and majestic and inspirational, and incredibly useful; the grain, the species, the bark, the chips, the heart. It's pretty amazing to mill a tree into lumber, my friend Matt and I spent the weekend milling logs into usable lumber for several of his customers, cedar that had been sitting in water for 80 years in Canada, now milled into boards for a fence and arbor. Pine milled out for...who knows what they want to do with it.
It's always a treat to work with one of my best friends, conversation, laughing, and his new puppy "hash brown" never quite always on the scene. The boards are heavy and big (20 feet) and green, but the benefits are more than most would ever understand. The off-cuts of the orders go to me, more than a lot of the locals, anyone who "needs" wood, Nils Lou, and others. I LOVE working with my good friend Matt.

Aviation Visuals

A trip to our local Evergreen Aviation Museum (permanent home of the illustrious spruce goose) offers some fun, a good space movie and some interesting visuals. I'm pondering how to incorporate some of this into my new series of ceramics and/or screen prints.

Well, after many months of being away from the computer and taking care of a lot of personal things, I finally finished the 9th and last firing of my kiln. It was without a doubt the best one yet; some very interesting results and some very successful experiments with obsidian and other glasses in the pots. Two of my friends have offered me space on their property to build my next kiln, I believe I will take them both up on it and build two different kilns that will be modifications of the last one.....sounds like a busy summer, eh!?

October '09 Fire

This was one of the most memorable firings i've ever had the pleasure to do, largely due to the great friends and people who were involved in it; stories, music, comedy, food, and opening the firing up to the general public for viewing was fantastic; seeing their expressions and amazement brought me back (way back) to when I first got involved in it all in the early '90's; firing these types of kilns truly is an experience unlike any other.

manana manana, the puzzle, manana

The work is done and now the fun begins! Packing tomorrow, the fire will start thursday morning after my massage. =)
The orbs and oblong pieces are designed as cremation urns, all the rest is mugs, tumblers, plates, and bowls.

Brown Eye?

a close up shot of the concrete island i fabricated recently and the eye of an animal?

got wood?

The tree that has been threatening to crush our house is now firewood! It was a tense moment as the tree finally made it's way toward the ground; two trucks, one pulley and one cum-along were needed to get the job done and the house is untouched by the big leaning tree. thank you matt!

The Beauty Of Garbage and A Brain

2 weeks after slicing my thumb open, it's starting to heal, only minor nerve damage and into the bone; i think it might take a year or two to get it back to normal. i've been playing catch up with the polished concrete jobs and happened across some pretty cool images in my clean out area.
Kim is having a show this month at the cornerstone coffee shop in Mcminnville and one that starts at the end of the month at the Gaurdino gallery in portland.