Wow, an actual vacation

Unbelieveably I am actually on vacation. These photos are the view that I had waking up this morning at 5:45 am with the resident family of swans passing by the house...I suppose that a vacation with kids tends to change the time structure of a standard vacation and 5:45 is just another day. The only hitch was that Aurora had a fever of 103.6 so that was a bit stressful. Thank god for Motrin, although the fever spiked again this evening hopefully it will break over night sometime. The day was good and started with low tide and me oystering before the time tide came back in. Sarah's grandmother lives on the Long Island sound and you can walk across the back yard and over the sea wall and end up in the water. One of my favorite things is to go out and collect a bunch of oysters and then suck them down for lunch. There really isn't much like eating an oyster literally right after coming out of the water. Some don't eat them in the summer months, or those months that don't have an "R" in them, but I couldn't taste the difference. I ended up with about two dozen oysters and a fat clam, which was a great pregame lunch to the BBQ that was scheduled for the evening. Hopefully Aurora will be feeling better in the morning, as we are planning on taking the ferry across from Port Jefferson to Bridgeport CT and thought she would love it. She has been watching the boats pass off the back patio and getting a huge kick out of it.
The studio has been popping lately, and I finished up some new cup forms before leaving. They are these flattened slab forms that have Nichrome wire rims...we'll see. I'll take a fresh look at them when I return and see how they sit with me. I do that with new forms sometimes just to try to get a new look at an idea that has usually been tainted by rattling around in my head for a while. It seems like everything has been happening at the same time lately and I have about six deadlines all coming due mid July. I can't believe it's July already, but the kiln overhaul maintenance is almost complete and I'll post some pictures of the new work soon. I always say that, but sometime shooting the work in process makes it a bit too solid. I enjoy looking at other pictures of work in process, but it makes it a bit too real for me when it's my own.

We head home tomorrow, and I'll get into the studio a bit in the next couple of days. Somewhere here I need to start scraping the house to get it ready for paint. We have anew baby sitter starting soon that will come and hang out with the kids for the day while I am getting work done in the studio. I can't work in short bursts so this may make it a tad easier to get some volume done. It will also help Sarah as she has had an even tougher time of getting things made. Word...I'll keep you posted.

Back again

Well, I feel as though I am finally able to sit down again and write a bit here, even if it is 11:00 at night. I have turned a corner in my schedule and it feels great. The past month has been a huge stress, and it's not over, but it has settled a bit. I have spent the past month moving my mother out of the house that she had been in for close to 3o years and that I had grown up in. Its a shame that it is no longer going to be a place to spend time. So many good memories as well as some that we not so great but still integral to the person I have become. All of the thoughts of elementary school friends, sneaking out in High school, getting into alot of trouble, spending time with the greatest fishing buddy ever(my Father), learning to cast a fly rod in the back yard, family dinners, and unfortunately Hospice with my father, were there as I cleaned out rooms and boxed up stuff. My Father passed away two years ago, and the house was just too much for my mother to take care of, and too big for one person to rattle around in. Soo on the market it goes with numerous mixed emotions all around.

The house is in Syracuse NY and is a Carpenter Gothic farmhouse built in 1849 for a MR. Nathaniel Burt Searl. He owned a good hundred plus acres in the valley of Syracuse at the time given from a civil war land bond. My folks were both artists and lovers of American primitive antiques, so there was a lot of stuff to go through. It makes me evaluate the amount of stuff that has accumulated in our house after five years, much less than my folks 25 years there. It's scary to say the least. It is interesting to see how that is undoubtedly how I have found my love of the "old" and the beauty that can be found in the patina of age found on antique objects. So many hands and so many lives have added to the bones of these objects and to the House its self. How a structure can become an entity baffles me, but this house is indeed an entity. Two summers ago I spent the summer fixing the exterior of the house so that it could go on the market. Sweat and a few drops of blood for sure are now in that house from me and I have an even greater appreciation of it now. I really did it the way that it needed to be done, and I poured just as much attention to detail that I put into my pots, into that house. The thing that scares me more than letting it go is driving by in a few years and seeing that the new owners have let it go to shit. No control over that though.

Now that the house is empty and Mom has moved in with a friend, the studio has been calling. It is clean, chicken dirt has been vacuumed up, and I spent the last couple of days pulling slabs and wedging reclaimed clay. I love this point in making pots when there is so much latent energy out there, all of this raw material just ready to explode...its exiting. I have new glaze tests to continue testing and some temp explorations to get into and the light at the end of the tunnel has opened up, and the grass is greener for sure. Stay tuned for images of new work, pictures of new fish, and the smell of the creative process.

Cheers.

Gundowringa Sheep from Maria Fernanda Cardoso on Vimeo.

I came across this while doing research for some course work I am prepping for the fall. Pretty great project, and a really interesting way to look at a dying method of yet another traditional industry. Agribuisness and synthetics have almost pushed wool out of the picture and this is a pretty poetic response.

Chickens In The Yard!

Well, today the chickens had their inaugural trip to the yard and it was an enjoyable event had by all. Aurora was the most intrigued, although a close second was probably our Labrador, Sadie who was curious, but surprisingly calm. I figured you put a dog whose genetics tell it to retrieve birds in the same proximity with chickens at least one wouldn't fair well.
Only five came out to explore and quickly began to peck and forage and were supprisingly tolerant of us, although the rest of them stood at the door watching and were close to joining. Aurora chased them around trying to pick them up and most allowed her to at least pet them, and one of the reds even let Aurora give her a kiss. Not the best thing, but some things you can't intervene with in time.
The ladies seemed to be especially curious of Aurora, even though she chased them around trying to pick them up, and they stayed right around her. The chickens love the coop, and I bought a large metal feeder the other day which means I don't have to feed them daily. It's amazing how much these birds eat and I was feeding and watering them every day. Our schedule is so crazy that this frees us up a bit and the ladies stay happy. It's nice to have them housed and happy and watch them have some more space to move. They haven't found the nesting boxes yet and they kind of nestle into the hay on the floor at night, but they are definitely happy.

So is Aurora...

"Trout That Swim"

Just some words for the day. Found this in Greys Sporting Journal, thought I'd put it up to share with people.


"Trout That Swim"
John Poch


Wait to wade. Streamside, kneel, retrieve a stone
from the wet edge. Beneath slither the nymphs
of flies, a moving prehistoric sketch.

They scuttle their inept attempts at bone
to undermine the light, your sight, and hints
of what will cast successfully. Yet you catch

that shine, that peacock herl. This refusal
whets wish, is charming as a timid princess.
Understand a rock if you would match

(undistracted by the bobbing ousel)
this hatch.

Progress!!

The last two days proved to be wonderful in terms of getting some much needed time building the coop. As of Friday it was framed, the roof was on and the plywood sheeting up which was a bonus as the wood and floor would remain dry, but it had been pretty slow moving and the chickens aren't waiting to eat and grow until I finish the coop. Seeing as how my semester is now officially over, tuesday was a day that I was able to focus solely on building. I had to pick up a few pots from a local show in Syracuse, but for the remainder of the morning and all afternoon was spent driving nails. It was a really satisfying day to be honest. I forgot to eat until six o'clock, and my plans were pretty fuzzy so I was figuring things out as I went. I finally figured out how to get the nesting boxes to work which are the overhanging structure on the side of the coop. I started to trim things out in order to finish the door and get the window in, and things started to really take shape.


It was really awesome to see it go from roughed out openings and plywood, to actually having a resemblance to the drawings I had done as preliminaries in just one day of work. This evening I went back out to try to figure out the little chicken door that will allow them to leave in the day and return to the coop in the evening. I decided to put the door on the front so that we could see the activity of the chickens from the house, and it also breaks up the solid front wall a bit. I threw the little trap door together while Aurora came out and helped a bit. Her visit was a bit short lived as it had been raining most of the day and everything still was wet. She went back in and I got the little chicken ladder together, screwed it to the coop and called it a day.

The coop is a seven by six foot footprint and is six feet tall at the front of the coop and slants to four feet in the back. There is an added sixteen inches of depth plus the thickness of the wall for the nesting boxes (with a trap door lid for collecting eggs). It seems as this should be enough room for a dozen chickens, and it's funny how through this process I feel the chickens should have a little bit more elbow room. It's hard for me to not do all of the snidley nit-pickey things because that is the stuff I love. My studio mate Matt Shaffer in Grad school was (and still is) a figurative sculptor and he used to call all of the finish work the "Gravy". I loved that term and still use it as well because it is indeed all of the stuff that goes on top to make the meal that much more tasty. I still have a little bit to do like closing in the soffits and putting in some roof ventilation, a bit more trim, and of course paint. My summer project this summer is to paint the house and the barn, so the leftovers will go on the coop. I'm having a bit of trouble finding some portable fencing so I can move the ladies around as they graze. Having a lab and tempting genetics with birds in front of her nose means "free range" needs to be a bit more structured. I really need to get the girls in the coop though, as they are quite large and could use some room to move. Hopefully I can find some fencing relatively quickly and get them into their new home. I give it another day or two...

What a week!

Well, this week sort of kicked my tail. It's the last week of the semester so classes are working on final projects and I am running around trying to get my crap together. Some nice stuff had been in the works, and we were in the middle of an Anagama firing at the Syracuse University kiln plus raku mania during class wednesday. All in all pretty eventful. I even managed to get the floor framed up for the chicken coop so the chickens will be able to move into their new house and I will be able to have the studio to myself again. I thought clay was dusty, those chickens take the cake there. This post will be a photo post so enjoy!




Evan, a great student who isn't even an art major.


Raku firing with my ceramics class.



Chicken Coop floor getting leveled up.
All framed up and ready for plywood and some walls.
Even had a little to try to fly a kite. Not enough wind but some great time spent with Aurora.

Ahhh humans. Such funny creatures.

This was found on the happy homesteader blog from mother earth news. Aren't we an interesting group of animals. Funny stuff.

Help for Aggressive Roosters

4/9/2010 11:45:44 AM

By Robert Plamondon

Tags: Robert Plamondon, roosters, baby chicks, keeping poultry, raising poultry

People often ask me how to handle difficult roosters. They tell me, “I went out to the chicken yard to collect eggs, and the rooster attacked me. Of course, I had to show him who’s boss, so we had a fight and I won!”
And I assure them, “Sure, I can show you how to fix this, and it’s worth it. Imagine how much more pleasant your life will be when you never have to worry about a rooster again. But first, I want more detail. So you’re out in the chicken yard, and there he is. He acts in a threatening manner. You act in a threatening manner back. He acts even more threatening, and before you know it, the two of you are fighting, right?”

“Sure.”

Then I ask, “But did I just describe what happened from the rooster’s point of view, or from yours?”

Maybe you’ve heard that a stage hypnotist can make you think you’re a chicken. That’s nothing! Even a chicken can make you think you’re a chicken! In these barnyard fight scenes, the rooster is in charge from start to finish. First, he decides what’s going to happen: a fight, right here, right now. Then he gets you to join the fight. How does this happen? And how do you make it stop?

But let’s not give too much credit to the rooster. The issue isn’t that the rooster is powerful, but that the human automatically accepts whatever role is thrust on him, and that means that even a chicken can redefine who you are! … at least for a minute or two.

Of course, everyone makes mistakes, and the first time a rooster attacks you it’s a big surprise. You can’t expect to do your best decision-making when startled, so the first time doesn’t count as far as I’m concerned. We’ve all been there. But what’s the long-term solution?

Don’t forget, a rooster who thinks that you’re a fellow rooster is mistaken! And by fighting him, you are not only participating in his delusion, you’re reinforcing it. First he was convincing you, and now you’re convincing him.

Suppose you win. What’s the payoff? The glory of vanquishing an eight-pound bird? Sort of a foregone conclusion, wasn’t it? And what is all this fighting going to look like to the neighbors? Are you sure you can explain it to your kids … or the cops?

Thoughs on "stuff"

Why is it that our mindset is based on the accumulation, personification and the inevitable sentimentality of stuff? I have been reading a Blog lately called "Wet Fly Dry", which is a really great attempt on the writers part to re-evaluate the need for stuff, and basically sells everything that won't fit into his truck and any unessential fishing gear, and is about to embark on a journey of a lifetime, one that is unencumbered by work, equity, furniture, object, real estate and the like. His words really allow one to process what it would actually be like to go through this purge because he is doing it...or rather I assume he is. I think about this idea of stuff more because I am a generator of it, and funny that this post is on Earth Day. I make things. I love to make things. I make pots, I make fishing paraphernalia, I have made two wonderful and amazing children (with the help of my wonderful and amazing wife) who hopefully will one day grow up and change the world. I love the idea of people living with and using things that I have made to effect their daily activities.
I think that the human people on some level, be it genetic/physiological, social, cultural or whatever, need stuff...and it's funny that that idea bothers me, because I am adding to the stuff. It's amazing how over the course of our lives we accumulate so much stuff. It's like the remnants of life's existences swept into the corners of our memories, all attached to some tangible thing. I am a month out from having to move a life's worth of stuff with my mother, all of which is so connected with her life, or more importantly her life with my Dad. These things are the embodiment of close to twenty four years of living in a house. But I guess the thing that I find so interesting is how the memory overpowers the object. They become one.
Hopefully I will be able to purge the unnecessary, hold on to the important, and find the things that need to remain on a lot of levels both mental and physical. I will never stop making and I embrace that. I am a crafts person, and the only way to be good at something is to do it, repeatedly, until it is right. And even then when it's perfect, I'll do it again. Happy Earth Day and hopefully everyone can find a way to simplify.

Short Hiatus...

So it seems as though I have been taking a bit of a hiatus from the blogging thing lately, and it's funny that I feel a little bad about it. Can't say as I haven't had a lack of things going on, but it is amazing how little spare time there is in the day right now. It is the end of the semester and that takes a bit of time to prep and get organized for, but I think my schedule is not conducive to spare time this semester. Teaching until nine four days out of the week seems to take a bit of energy out of the equation. Even more frustrating than not being able to keep on the virtual world is not being able to find much studio time. I have some things I really need to get done, not to mention some of the things I would like to develop and work on. Two weeks left in the semester and time will be on my side once again...I hope. This weekend was good in some respects and strange in others. I feel like this has been more of a fishing blog lately, which isn't a problem at all, but I have been able to fit in some of these things in between naps and bed times and early mornings.
I have had this old bamboo rod that I picked up in an antique shop somewhere, and it was in pretty rough shape, put had a feeling that it would make a pretty nice small stream rod. Well I finally started reconditioning and altering it a bit from it's earlier form, and I am really exited about how it is turning out. I made a simple cork ring clamp to clamp up the grip on saturday and got the rings all reamed out and glued up. The alterations on this rod mainly is the fact that I am only using the top two sections of the rod, taking it from a nine foot three piece to a six foot two piece, and from feeling it before stripping it down it had the feel and spring of a stiff 3/4 weight or a soft 4/5 weight.
Two summers ago on a trip to fish the Battenkill river and others around the Manchester Vermont area, we also coincided with the American Museum of Flyfishing summer festival. We came across a guy that I think was making rods called "Yoshida Rods". He was making Bamboo rods out of Japanese bamboo, or Madake, instead of the standard Tonkin cane and they were phenomenal. They were small, light, beautifully made and cast farther than any graphite rod of the same line weight that I had cast before. So in putting this rod together I decided to take a couple of ques from a couple of my favorite rods. The first was the reel seat from my Orvis one weight with the cork and double ring slide bands. Nice and simple. I also came across this one on one of those small bamboo rods and thought it would fit. Simplicity but class and the color of the bamboo wouldn't compete with or be competed with by an exotic insert in the reel set. And the little flash of nickel silver wasn't too bad either.
I then shaped the grip to a simple fat cigar shape, that is about five or so inches long, which was a new experience for me and am really pleased with how it came out and by how it feels when held. I can't wait to see how it handles a couple of casts. I'll post more pictures and words on the project as it develops, and would love to hear from anyone who might have any comments.