Jefski Samo

Paintings

2011-05-18T20:48:00.003-04:00

Here are some large paintings in progress...camera sucks at picking up light re-fraction from oils, better pics of finished works coming next week, stayed tuned!

Rapido

2011-04-07T10:57:00.005-04:00

Just a quick check in, trying to stay current with the blog here. Making lots of work, jewelry, painting, and ceramics are keeping me very busy! Here are some shots of paintings in progress...

Did you realize no-one can see inside your view?

2011-03-20T09:58:00.006-04:00

Here is a new painting. If you are on facebook, and would like to connect please click on link and like page, thanks for all your support!
Click here to join my page..

Stretcccch...

2011-03-14T09:04:00.004-04:00

Learned how to stretch canvas over a frame I made, like having the control to tighten the canvas extra tight! Stretching my own canvas is the way to go, since I like to paint big. Shit is very expensive to buy already assembled, and I would like to try different materials as canvas. School starts back this week, I feel refreshed and ready to spend some serous time in the metals studio, and crank some frames out in the wood shop. Here are some process shots, the dancer is on the frame I made and canvased, thanks for showing me how Cory! Have a great day everyone.

Gotta start somewhere....

2011-03-06T07:51:00.004-05:00

It has been quite a while since I last posted. The short version is I am back in school, this time pursuing a studio degree in art, with a focus on metals, painting and printmaking. Being self-taught, this experience is a dream come true. Surrounded by talented professors and students, I feel very alive and challenged, having access to a 30,000 sq ft multi media studio is a good thing! I am learning technical aspects in painting that are helping my eye become more sensitive to light, color, and form. painting slow and with intention are new concepts for me, I am committed to learning several styles, Currently glazing is what I am practicing, the building of thin layers, using the white canvas to push the light through the color. I admit it is very frustrating for me to work in this method. it is slow and methodical, you have to wait for the layers to dry. After the frustration passes however, I see the results, and began to have intention with every stroke of the brush. That's another thing, I am teaching myself to use brushes! Imagine that, well it is possible, and not having to worry about whether i will die from soaking cadmium into my skin is nice also. I am taking a metals one class, and have started to investigate the ring form. Most of the work I am teaching myself, watching the advanced students and asking lots of questions. Here are some samples of last weeks work. The rings are in varoius stages of finishing, experimenting with an ammonia sawdust tobacco bury. The green ring has a flame patina with cupric nitrate wash. The painting is still being built up, I am painting over an old painting of a chair that I did that wasn't all that. Oh yes, hello again:), if your have followed my blog in the past, and welcome if you are new. Please feel free to comment and leave feedback, critiques are welcome, don't worry I got thick skin, and I am committed to learning all I can in my field!

2010-06-06T08:20:00.002-04:00

lots going on, my written post just got erased somehow, i will update late, off to mow!

summer groove

2010-05-27T19:15:00.003-04:00

so much going on in my life right now. seek and ye shall find. wherever you are i wish you unlimited growth and abundance!

.....

2010-05-21T20:29:00.004-04:00

yo.

2010-05-19T07:55:00.003-04:00

about to paint. i have been working a getting into a tight schedule with my work. the goal is to crank it out when i don't have my daughter. it is important to me to be present with her, and she needs lots of my attention.and i want to give it to her. making work with a soon to be four year around is next to impossible! so on days when she is with her mother, i like to have a 8 am start time. i really can get much done in six hours of painting. anymore and i lose the fever a bit, plus there's a lot of other shit in life besides pushing oil around. like cleaning up my clay studio! i have not touched it since i broke my collar bone six weeks ago. it is a disaster, huge platters left in mid creation, all kinds of stuff has been stored in there. scary shit people. it will be a full day job. i rather split in two, and get some of these folks who will be making pots in my studio this summer, to come over and help straighten it up! here are four rooster paintings..a lady who owns a folk gallery requested these, she sells a lot of rooster work. i am up for that, never painted a rooster before, but really liked it. two of them look like ducks playing dress up. even better. have a great day!

double down sucka.

2010-05-16T07:55:00.004-04:00

a lot of things have happened since i last blogged. started up a lawn care business. martin's mowing "mow for your money". thanks to the support of my friends, i have landed five accounts in the first week. going out and estimating jobs was interesting, seeing that my last experience with pricing lawns was when i was fifteen, and the customer would tell me what they would pay. looking back on that is funny. i would mow big lawns, with a small scrappy old mower, listening to guns and roses or metallica on my tape deck, mowing for two or threes hours and getting paid jack. and by jack, i mean jack mother fuckin squat. haha, they would throw me a twenty, and i was rollin, money for skate gear and the movies, but mostly for gambling at the pool tables. i would go to fat daddy's restaurant, to the downstairs bar section, with my ratty looking skate friends. high on nicotine, salty french fries, and lots of coke(cola), we would play each other for smokes, and every now and then land a daytime drunk, or older teen, and try a swing a hustle. our young looks and size made for a good decoy. little did they know we lived in my buddies basement, shooting stick into the early early, we were obsessed. every now and then we would get taken, and walk out with only our smokes and skates. still fucking happy and high on the fallen hustle. i got in too deep early on, before the fat daddy days, in my buddies basement. i keep betting double or nothing with the older neighbor, steadily losing my shit, getting deeper and deeper in the hole. finally he called it off with me owing a couple of hundred. i was thirteen. i thought it was all a joke, i wasn't going to pay him. he then explained to me that i would pay him, or his friend who like to break people's noses would coming to see me. he explained that his friend was a kung fu master kind of guy, he would probably use his foot to break my nose. i was a bit freaked out, this guy was no angel himself, and the only reason he didn't pummel me for shirking on a bet was neighborhood politics, namely my 6ft5" step dad and uncle who were a bit intimidating to piss off. whose to say if his friend would have done shit.....needless to say i settled the debt for half, and had to come clean with my parents to get the money. no more gambling on pool for me after that one....well, okay no more doubling down past more than i had in reserve!....but as far as the parents thought, no more gambling...shooting pool for cash taught me many lessons, and built my confidence., i landed my first real job at 15, by beating the day manager at burger king. that is another story in it's self. a bukowski one at that..i continued to shoot money for pool until my late twenties, due to my mixing booze in the equation, i am not sure how i did overall. i would say i am up five;)...so yes, the new lawn hustle is new on many fronts, estimating, promoting, buying equipment, but yet very familiar on so many others. the memories are being dragged up from the bottom of this ocean, i am swimming in my youth while the clippings fill the air with promise, the sweat baths my skin with life, and the sun kisses my skin. i love the lawn biz. the art show last week was ok, nothing spectacular on the money front. my daughter was there, i so lots of friends, and the sun was shining, so over all it was great. i also had a huge shift occur in me that is revealing itself more and more. here is a process series, that shows the oil on glass method. have a great day-peace.

steak knife cardboard

2010-05-06T07:01:00.003-04:00

yesterday i painted my last painting before the show. i will be leaving with my lovely assistant liz tomm. around ten am. usually these days are frantic and stressful. not so much anymore. selling/taking paintings versus pottery, is much less laborious. mainly due to the kiln cycle necessary in clay. paint a painting and that is it. especially since my frames are inclusive. i make and decorate a pot and that is only half the process. secondly, the sheer volume is different. i take a hundred clay pieces down. i am only taking twenty -five paintings!. any potter who has done shows, knows the never ending cycle of packing, unpacking packing ect. here is what my day looks like in terms of show prep.
1. blog
2.wake up baby girl, get ready/take to school
3.hardware store trip
4.install hanging hardware
5.cut boxes to size
6.cover paintings
7.go to lunch with friends
8.cover paintings
8.5 drop off some painting for a friend to transport to show
9.assemble show gear onto driveway.
10.wrap chicken coop in chicken wire.
11. kick the now too big to live inside chickens out!
12. prime windows for live painting
13.pick up baby girl
14.load truck
15.dinner
16.load truck
17.water plants
18. babygirl bedtime
19. go hit up disco-techs. with some fine ladies from barcelona.
20. wake up from dreaming from falling asleep while putting emma to bed.
21.watch a movie/decompress.
there you go. it feels good to have all the work done ahead of schedule, and having done a show with paintings last week, feel comfortable with how things will be packed and set up, ect...having an assistant is really nice too.

cerca

2010-05-05T12:23:00.000-04:00

hey can i get one of those?

2010-05-02T08:55:00.003-04:00

i have been smoking cigarettes for three weeks, just picked up the habit after i broke my collar bone. never been a smoker, and will stop at the end of this week when i head to my show. you cannot really smoke there. and i really don't see being a smoker as part of my life, i ride bikes and the habit just won't fit in my lifestyle.that being said i have enjoyed smoking them! at first i was like this is silly, makes my head light, and clothes smell. well, i can see why people are addicted. the smoking habit is one of subtleties. the hand movement while talking, the moment before you light the cig, the need to take a break from whatever. the conversations you have with others standing around smoking. the coffee and the smoke. glorious lovers. i found myself last night pissing over the cash girl, as i stood there debating which brand should i try? i have found myself enjoying smoking. now if you know me, then you know i don't smoke. people around town have basically had the reaction of "what the hell are you doing?" good question..if my mother reads that i will get hell i am sure. i still think smoking is a horrible habit, and this will be my last week as i close for this show. but damn i have enjoyed it a bit. also just to even out the scale, here are the shitty side effects i have been experiencing; my lungs have tightened up, i have less energy after i smoke, i have had some irritability when i forget that i am a smoke now, my clothes smell, people yell at me to stop that shit, and i cough up shit in the morning. so all in all, smoking culture is nice, i will miss the camaraderie of hey we are all killing ourselves with this shit, but lets just do it anyways and talk about something else, but the side affects of dying a bad death and not being able to ride my bike really fast and all day out weight it but a elephant's mom. here are some more paintings i am doing between 3-5 a day, depending on my schedule with my baby girl-peace.

yo la tengo.

2010-04-27T18:53:00.004-04:00

alot to blog about, but limited time. i have a show in 9 days, and very little stock. i had a blockbuster show, almost sold out. i had to borrow a hundred bucks to get there. faith is action baby. well, the window frames were a hit, people like the stained glass aspect. i have some big ideas to pursue with them after this next show. i did six paintings while there, and having ran out f windows started using old tin i found on site. that was a stroke of luck, people bought those up too! so i will be painting on all kinds of shit besides canvas. which is great, canvas coast too damn much, for the speed at which i paint. i hope to knock out twenty in the next nine days. the "office" has turned into a painting studio. i have a painting studio downtown, but time is too crunched for me to use it now. the time is now! i will also have my rabidly beautiful wildfire daughter with me. should be interesting. only got one shot, my help for the show Jaimie, and then forget to bring my camera.thanks jaimie, you rocked! awesome potter extraordinaire tracey broome got some shots of me. her pots were very nice, i loved the houses. go big with those girl! i loved meeting her and her family. her husband and i are cut from the same fucking cloth i tell ya. and her daughter is very sweet and talented in her own right. super hero family, in my book. alright off to paint .peace

iiiiits showtime johnny!

2010-04-21T17:10:00.004-04:00

getting ready to head off the mountain tomorrow. setting up at shakori hills, this will be the seventh show i have done there. it is a great venue, lots of music and good vibes. usually i take down a boat load of ceramics, but due to by broken collar bone, i will be showing paintings only! this is both exciting and uncertain. i have a good following of people who collect my clay work down there, but there won't be a single mug in my booth. i also was splitting the booth with a friend, who does fiber arts, but alas, she has pulled at at the last moment. all good, i have a friend who is going to be my assistant, and there a some folks down there that are ready to help me set up my booth. i love adventure, so this is right up my alley. i will take lots of photos and look forward to sharing my journey with yall. i have had tons of help, with everything, alot of folks pulled through, and i am grateful for having such good people in my life. while i thought i was down to only one arm, i have realized that i have dozens of arms, and feel blessed to be part of such a tight community. here are some oil paintings down on old reclaimed windows. see you when i get back. peace!

creepin n' peepin

2010-04-17T10:20:00.001-04:00

whats another word for pirate treasure?..

2010-04-15T17:16:00.002-04:00

what have i got myself into? secret treasures bring new found joy!

recipe for success

2010-04-13T07:30:00.004-04:00

here are a couple of paintings. the face and hands, is done, the "elephant" still has some minor hashing out to do. today the green house gets more glass, and i try and crank three paintings out before we do some soccer with the kids later. here is a good piece on how to maintain, applicable to any profession. came across it on joshua flint's blog. now to wake up emma. peace.
Be an artist- not an art slave. Find a ritual that works for you. Stay connected to the river of ideas…your inner voice…your muse. Whatever you choose to call it, art is a spiritual process. If you aren’t cultivating a relationship to creativity, you probably won’t have one when you need it. Here are a few tips that work for many artists I know, including myself. The only problem is: you have to do them every day to make them work.

1. Get up happy. Say some affirmations. Get rid of the negative chatter in your head-that voice that says things like, “I’m not coming up with any good ideas. I’ll never make this deadline. I’ll never be good enough to do this job.” Instead, train that voice to say something positive. Reprogram yourself. “I am illustrating books that people love. I am happy with my art. My career is going great. I am a successful artist…” This might sound too simple, and you’ve probably heard it before from the self –help gurus. Have you ever actually tried it….consistently over a few months?

2. Exercise and stay healthy. This is not an option. When you feel healthy, you are more open and ideas come more quickly.

3. Sit quietly each day, do yoga, or meditate. Get calm and peaceful so that when the ideas come, you actually realize they are there. Worry, anger, fear, and other emotions actually block the ability to grasp those sparks of imagination.

4. Create a place and time to be at work. This is important if you are working at home. Your mind needs to understand, “I am now at work. I will now be creative.” So sharpen your pencils, put on music, sit before your drawing table and begin.

5. Don’t talk too much about your ideas; this depletes some of the magic. On a subconscious level, your wonderful idea has become a real thing in the world. It’s not real, and it won’t be, until you do it. So, instead of sharing your magnificent thoughts, go make the work happen.

6. Take time outs doing something you love. Go to a museum. Sit by a lake. Walk through the woods. You must replenish yourself. Fill the well. Don’t view this as goofing off…this time is very important.

7. Don’t be a workaholic. This is difficult, because you won’t know it, until it’s too late. Your friends and family will know it before you will. ONLY YOU CAN CONTROL THIS. Be the work police and set your own boundaries. Make a contract with yourself. “I do not wok on Tuesday and Sunday. I go on vacation without my work. I have lunch with a friend on Friday every week. I only work from 9am to 2pm.“ Put up a sign. Remind yourself that you are free to set your own schedule. Work as late or as little or as early as you want, but make sure you’re enjoying the pace.

big wheel keep on turnin'

2010-04-09T14:34:00.002-04:00

i get asked, so how do you come up with your designs/ideas/inspiration.., what kind of dreams do you have, are you high, have you been to south america...the list goes on and on. i work very intuitively, relying on the state of inspiration to be channeled. i feel that everything is already in existence, we just find it, or bring it to the surface. every song, every painting, every feeling all of what has been and is happening, already is. i can wrap my head around that, just got to leave time and fear out of the equation. limitless energy, nothing created nor destroyed. only perception narrows the boundless field. have you every sat down and just wrote and time stops, and you realize you have used a language that is unspoken, yet you see the words before you? i feel the same about painting, i just show up and the ancients collide with destiny while my mind is freed, solving inner enigmas that each of us carry from birth. painting is birth, music is birth, dance is birth, decay is birth, love is birth and hate is birth. get it. me neither. i just show up and feel it all. so here is a quick painting i did about two hrs of work, mingled with singing off key really loud, responding to texts, throwing maebelle's ball and drinking yerba. the first process shot has little to do with the end painting, yet it was the first step i took. such is life!

one way to lose these walking blues..diamonds on the soles of my shoes

2010-04-07T10:26:00.003-04:00

still crippled, but don't give a damn. painting lots and got a green-house being built on my property. baby chickens coming this weekend, and emma staying with me for next five days, life is jammin'!

hey hey hey

2010-04-02T17:08:00.003-04:00

thanks mike for hooking up some sweet frames and hanging the paintings. today is so beautiful, i won't waste a minute more on here. art crawlin tonight..peace

oil invasion

2010-04-01T10:29:00.001-04:00

my house is becoming a painting studio!

workin'

2010-03-29T15:34:00.005-04:00

here are some paintings, two finished, two in progress..camera is shoddy sorry for the blur......well, not letting upload pics! check back later!

plans? haha!

2010-03-28T12:06:00.002-04:00

well, there is a saying. if you want to make god laugh, tell him your plans! since i last wrote, i have broken my collar bone. on a skateboard of course. i broke my other one years ago on a bike. it is quite a painful injury. typing sucks with one hand so this will be short. i will not be making pots for a couple of months now. my show season is about to crank too. whats a brother to do? well luckily for me it was my left -side so....i can still paint! and paint i will. i plan on taking my paintings to the next level. besides taking care of my daughter, dog and rooster/wait he got eaten by my sister's three legged jack russell! , so yeah i got nothing else to do but paint. i am going t bring paintings to my shows, approach some new galleries, and finish rebuilding my website and portfolio. i am taking this time being injured to uber-focus on two styles of painting which i will explain further ,later. here are three i am working on now, i plan on doing a painting a day, or at least every two days. bon-voy-age!

cock-a-doodle-do

2010-03-22T19:30:00.002-04:00

acquired a rooster. got him set up right before the storms started to roll in. he's a pretty boy, i couldn't be prouder. he was the outcast of a brood? i don't know much about these things, i do know i will be getting some chicks soon, emma and i are goin' be farm people before ya'll know it. ye haw!

promise

2010-03-19T10:19:00.002-04:00

you float like a feather...

2010-03-15T14:58:00.001-04:00

in a beautiful world.

oil spill

2010-03-14T08:37:00.003-04:00

these are going to philly, they are almost finished, i will be taking work up there at the end of the month.there are oil two by three feet. nceca baby!

2010-03-12T14:13:00.002-05:00

there is no tomorrow......

2010-03-11T11:19:00.005-05:00

had a friend come over back on drugs trying sell me all kinds of shit. made my soul hurt, i gave him ten dollars for a rooster bell and old barn door, which i will do a painting of what drugs and alcohol made my soul feel like towards the ends. i am free now though. he is not. i gave him ten dollars to buy some more chains, and told him his light was out and that i loved him. he is a good guy when he is sober. i used to be fucked up on lots of shit so i hold no judgement only prayers now. maybe he will stop maybe he will die maybe he will just live as his own prisoner...i am free and every day is a gift every breath is gods. i should have been dead myself. but i am not. this is why i feel so alive. mostly the love grows. mostly i hope never to forget were i came from ..and mostly i need a new camera! off to pot, followed by roller derby with my daughter later. carpe diem.

the sky's flooding over and i must be gone...

2010-03-09T09:32:00.003-05:00

here are some snapshots of the art-life that has been happening around here. life is a series of highs and lows...i had only two platters out of five survive this firing. one platter still had moisture, one grabbed the kiln shelf, and one i have no idea! on the up side i sold one of the intact platters the very same day to a lovely family in town., and the other platter came out really nice. the photo is crappy, doesn't do it justice at all. also my oil paintings are coming along real nice, and thankfully i don't have to worry about them cracking! all in all life is good, emma and i are hanging out this week she is on spring break. she wanted to go to cancun but i said no. just kidding , she is only three 3/4...we painted a picture of monster, a castle, princess and a pony today..i got a little to into the monster...

erase and rewind

2010-03-06T08:05:00.003-05:00

big day today, lots to do in the studio, starting to make show stock, finishing two commissions, and making some big platters. first i will do a bit of painting....here are some shots of last nights art crawl and two paintings i am almost finished with, my camera gave out early, the crawl was a really good one. our gallery had a huge turnout! carpe diem..peace.

loading

2010-03-04T08:55:00.002-05:00

loading the big platters today, will single fire them. still need to get pics of the ones from last week. here is a rough shot of one, and a sculptural piece my daughter did with a couple of ball and carving scraps. genius no?.....have a great day!

pienso

2010-03-02T08:47:00.006-05:00

again i am torn with the desire to sit and write about my work, and to get out in the studio and work. people often ask,"how do you make so much work?", the answer i give is i just make the work. everyday i am consumed with the desire to create. anyone who has lived this way knows it is both a blessing and a curse. why a curse you ask, well if i am not able to make work, i go a bit mad. i am tethered to the blessings of close contact with the most high. the vibrations that i feel demand translation, i am merely a conduit. the flow must have a manifest or it is denied a complete cycle and becomes backed up, a fevered froth of visions and colors, crashing against the innermost sodden walls of my soul. the levy will break. and i will be swept away in abundance of gorgeous drift. i have always "seen" shapes, figures, visual compositions, much like a person who composes music must have notes and phases surrounding them in what most hear as everyday sound. as i have gotten older the frequency and intensity of these visuals has increased to the point where often words are not longer words light and shadow are no longer light and shadows. things just appear. someone can speak a sentence and i see a visual phrase of color and form. this is why music is the highest form of communication in my mind. it is a seem-less thread encompassing emotion, form and time. i look at my art as my music. and i have to have my music everyday. know what i mean?

stipulated freeways and byways

2010-02-28T08:05:00.002-05:00

days gone by

2010-02-27T09:59:00.006-05:00

well it has been a couple of days since i have been doing any work, the combination of my daughter being out of school, working my part time job, and lack of sleep do to my daughters cough have made the last two days a washout in terms of studio work. this is not altogether a bad thing, for it gives me times for ideas to gestate, and really gets me excited about getting back in the studio. i have the painting bug again, and man its bad. i daydream paintings in my head, and have become a bit obsessed with light quality, staring at peoples faces, and going through old Christies auction catalogue getting inspired. i am going to get some canvas today and get into it. i be using white, burnt umber, and french marine?..no black this time, i want to work on depth quality, and texture in color. black seems to be flat and simple. our eyes will make black out of very dark blue, but it the quality is more round. in the studio i hope to finish off the next series of platters, and start some commissioned work that i have been putting off. the cristina cordovaa demo was rad, she is very articulate about process, i wish i had brought the video. i could relate to allot of her visual concepts, and so of course i am in love with her work! would have stayed longer, but they were going to make simple molds of the head she was doing, and i already know the process, not that exciting to watch. would talk more about her, but need to paint a picyure with my daughter before a swim birthday party we are going too. adios!

gruvin...

2010-02-24T07:05:00.003-05:00

just a quick post, before i go to the studio. had a couple of days where i didn't need to have the wood stove crankin', but alas the old man is back and his breath be mighty cold this morning. had a successful kiln, all five large platters 100%. this is great, i now have a firing program that works well, no fear of thermal shock. this was a single fire also, it took about 28 hrs total time.(open kiln) so rally i am saving quite a bit of energy and $ in the firing cycle. it can be done! single-firing rocks. i will post some photos of the platters soon, again i am trying get into a friends professional studio to have this done. they are much too big for my light box, and well i just want shoot them proper you know? here are some works in progress. i had a stellar black and white platter come out, in which i was painting light thinned out layers of slip. very happy with it so i am going to go that direction for a bit. something about the black and white, the emotion is more cerebral than physical, colors are sex, black and white the discussion afterwards?

lunes

2010-02-22T08:05:00.003-05:00

new day new week. waiting for the latest platter kiln to cool, interesting, my dreams the night before i open a kiln seem to be very vivid and strong. in this one i was trying to unload my kiln admist some sort of convention. the space was huge, and there were tons of people milling about with trucks parked right next to my kiln. i was trying to unload but it was too hot. my life story.
this week looks to be a busy one, i have a "travel mug" and bowl order, which i traded for a scag mower. that's right folks i will be starting a lawn mowing business on the side. i love to do landscaping, worked for a small company when i was a wee lad, and in middle school my buddy josh and i had a lawn and leaf business. really it was just me, he was to busy playing nintendo to show up. i love being outside, the smell of the grass, music in my ears, good exersize, plus the summer up here are to die for, not to hot at all. most people don't own airconditioners..just the elderly and wussies. martin's mow will be the name for now. i would only like to take on 10 or so customers, get them on a rotation. let me know if you would like me to cut yours! now what does this have to do with art? everything! as f. loyd wright might say. i wouyld mow his lawn for free. not. every one pays, one way or another. here are the finished haiti auction paintings. i am happy to say that two of them sold and along with some mugs, a good chunk of change is going over there to help. getting paid for my art is cool, but knowing i can help others by making art is the best feeling of all. peac to you, and have a sweet day. it might be your last you never know.

healing for haiti..

2010-02-18T08:04:00.004-05:00

there is a silent auction this weekend that is part of a event called healing for haiti, click on highlighted link..besides some ceramics liz roberts and i are donating three/four? painting that we collaborated on. we have different styles, this was lots of fun! b i have been wanting to get some "art money" over there to help out, and this looks to be a good fundraiser, coming out if you are in the high country area! on a side note i saw a brand new red cross hummer driving around the other day! talk about mis-appropations of funds, this is why i do not donate to large charities, and instead look for grass root organizations. really do we need a seventy thousand dollar red cross hummer up here for? it made me sick!..anyways, the world is full of it, and i can choose who i give my money to thank god. off to work have good day. and yes i am drying my clothes in the doorway, i can't stand the dryer smell and i already burn too much electric using my kiln! plus it is a natural humidifier. man i miss my clothes line!

mugged culinary schmulinary..

2010-02-17T08:31:00.003-05:00

anyone else spending a lot of time shoveling snow? jeez louise!
so this is a recent conversation in my head. i stand looking at the row of large platters, starting to amass and take over my studio.
should i make some smaller work? i am enjoying making this large platters, working first as a potter, and then as a painter, i am well fed, my belly need for variety stuffed and slumbering joyfully as the hands sing a song in colors across the clay. but yet the nagging thought forks my mind, shouldn't i make some mugs? why after all they sell well and these platters aren't exactly in the impulse snack isle. i have procure a part-part time gig waiting tables twice a week, to offset the fact that i am not selling as much
fare, this winter has been a new adventure in cooking with clay, and while it has been a success in the studio, i have yet to get financial feedback from the public. yes it would help if i put these platters in more than one gallery, and yes this is the off season. and as far as the pagoda planters go, they are quite tasty but ice cream does not fare the masses palate in dead winter. as i write the aroma of decision becomes palpable, i can fairly taste the answer that seeps out from under the silver colander of personal inquiry. i should make some damn mugs! this entry was dully faceted out of my mind after imbibing ken burns delectable mark twain documentary;)

we have a WINNER!!

2010-02-15T09:56:00.004-05:00

hey thanks everyone playing. i am happy to say that micheal kline is the lucky winner of my secret secret silent no rules contest. micheal won being the fiftieth person to follow my blog. who would've guessed. we have been waiting for you! anyways, the next giveaway will also not be named in the spirit of the tao teh ching it shall be hence known as the eternal contest, and nameless in origin, "the Mystery of mysteries is the Door of all essence." got it? good. all the snow is making me closer to the eternal crazy i do believe. off to the studio, have a great day...micheal, email me your address @jeffmartinceramics@mac.com..`it was a tough contest folks, but hey don't give up the next one is not so soon to be not named also.

where doth thou heart live?

2010-02-14T10:12:00.004-05:00

happy valentines day. i am spending it with my lovely daughter, she is a great light in my life. so is the work that i am so blessed with. hows that song go..change the world with my own two hands...i have had a good weekend, not been in the studio, which is a challenge for me. actually i have only not been in there for one day! whatever, it seems like a long time. i have just got my clay order for the wood firing that is coming in the beginning of march. i will sit down and make a list for the work going in mark's kiln. three different types of clay..three different styles of work. the second round of pagoda planters is about done, and i am going to finish out a round of large platters this week also. tonight i start a collaborative set of paintings for a silent auction benefiting haiti. three, acrylic on wood. with liz roberts a very talented artist. should be fun. what did i do yesterday? your looking at it. emma has her own kitchen now, she is stoked, been slaving over the stove all morning! and here i am with my new dan finnegan mug in the never ending snow. dig it!

pagoda planters

2010-02-12T09:46:00.003-05:00

so much new work in the studio, i have got in over my head with it all. so the plan is not to start any new work, until the second round of pagoda planters are in the kiln drying....here is the first round, i am quit happy with them. really these are miniatures of the ones i am looking to make, say four to five feet. i also would like to have bonsai trees/plants seated in them. the concept is to have an ancient quiet movement to them. off to the studio. have a great day!

blizzard demo

2010-02-11T08:42:00.002-05:00

wow that was a crazy intense storm yesterday! mother nature kicked ass like a cold-hearted bitch. sub-zero, 70mph winds ten ft snow drifts, pretty awesome. feel very fortunate to have shelter, and heat..hell i was making pots in this weather loving life. this is a real winter. i rather have this then mediocre wet cold..here is a demo, where i quickly show the process on how i make large platters these days. throwing dry allows me to go big quick and speeds up the whole drying process alot. anyone who has ever done big plates, knows drying times are long!..i just made this process up, but i am more than sure someone else was doing it long before me. such is the world of clay. hope you like it. carpe diem!

life translates life

2010-02-09T10:42:00.003-05:00

pagoda planters will be posted, got a surprise in the mail, and new shit on the fringe. first i digress and enjoy the snow!

death and day

2010-02-03T07:48:00.003-05:00

well. another day. how will you live. i had a friend pass away after complications from routine knee surgery anesthesia went awry. he was in his sixties and strong as a bull. now he is gone. left us sunday, after being in a coma for two weeks. life is so delicate. our bodies are but thin veils that separate us from becoming dust again. from dust into dust. unreal. i am amazed just to be here. we are only passing through. a very short span, a flicker. today is the day. i try and say this everyday. i have almost died once, that is another story. i lived, and the near death experience has been one of the greatest gifts i have received. so has the memories of my friends who passed away in their prime, i live for them. i live for my daughter, i live for you, and i live for me. death comes for us all. how will you greet the unknown. i hope to do do so with no teeth and a grin full of memories, and riding a full life. day by day. you know when you meet people only a handful of times, yet the connection is so strong, you are at once friends? this was Tom to me. he had a lust for life, and even though he was taken unexpectedly, he lived every day full. hope you are too. off to the studio, going to take part in Michael's assignment. i haven't made twelve of anything in a very long time! here are some shots of new pagoda planters in the works.

new platters..

2010-02-02T10:42:00.004-05:00

a little delayed in showing the new work. wasn't able to get them professionally shot yet, so here they are shot with my camera...they are large 20"-24"....i still need to get pics of the planters, waiting fro the weather to get above freezing, they need to be shot outdoors. i will be firing a wood kiln at the end of this month with dr.mark, and mark peters..so i will be making work for that..

WA-LAAH!

2010-01-31T07:47:00.002-05:00

well, got up before dawn woken from a dream in which i was showing my friend the new pagoda planters, that i wanted to sell in her restaurant. i was very happy with them and explaining that they were only 50% complete without the plants...they planters were a little more abstract in my dream and i remember the shape of one, which i will jot down in my sketch book here so i don't forget. so out to the studio i go in my pajamas and slippers walking the short path i shoveled through the foot plus snow we got yesterday/friday, and near 0 temps. didn't feel a thing i could have done it in bare feet and not felt the cold. do you understand obsession? well i am knee deep in it with my new projects..and i have been waiting close to two days to open this kiln! ...so it was at 140 f, and i cracked it...and wa-lah! there they are in all their splendor..since they have some solid parts that are holding the heat longer, and i the ever patient potter(haha), decided to heavily crack they kiln while i went back in to have coffee and oatmeal..so now i have read my beautiful fellow artist blogs, and much inspired i am more dressed and out the door i go, good thing they didn't exploded, since i started five bigger models yesterday!...i will post pics later, and yes i have some cutting that are ready to be planted..see you later!

pajama's, 800 f., and solid rebellion

2010-01-29T08:44:00.005-05:00

i have yet to take pics of the new platters, hoping to get access to a friend's wife's photography studio...on other fronts, the first round of pagoda palnters are in the kiln. i awoke before dawn with alot of anxiety that the had exploded, even though i force dried them in the kiln for more than 24 hrs! so i hopped out of bed and went out into the studio. the kiln was reading 800f. now most people would hesitate to open a container that is reading 800 degrees, but i strolled right over, tapped the lid handle to make sure it wasn't 800 f, and then acracked it super quick like, and to my delight they were all sittin' pretty..my life was at once backe in harmony and every thing was true and good on the world! interesting way to start the day, welcome to my life...so, after much research and pondering, i have decided that single-firing these bad boys is the way to go. the use of a bisque fire is done more out of traditional convention than function. bisque firing came about when majolica deco was being discovered. before that pots were only fired once....it makes no sense for me to do a combined seventy hour fire, when i can achieved similar results with a thity-five hr one. i am doing two things that most potter are taught not to do in the universities. one i am only firing once, applying the slips/gazes/stains/ during the greenware stage..2. i am firing solid b thick blocks of clay. these sculptures are not made from slabs. the are made from sold parts of clay. i want the planters to have a very real feel to how the look visually. strong, rock-like cliffs and heavy stone bases. this will also help with the function , since some of the plants will sit high and could tip over if not weighted properly...most will say " hey! you can not fire solid clay! how dare you you!..well, i believe i can...it is just a matter of how slow i fire and cool the pieces..the current time frame for this round is 25 hours up with a very slow crawl thru quartz inversion and 15 hrs down to 750..so we shall see...i am very hopeful..we shall see...wherever you are, hope your day is good and you are living in passion and truth! today is all we have......

before....

2010-01-26T07:41:00.003-05:00

after soon to come!

composition un-composed

2010-01-23T14:08:00.003-05:00

many frontiers being explored, the newest is piano. my life is different now that i have a piano...everything bleeds, and life is grand! i used to think i was tone deaf, bit in truth i cannot sing, my ear seems to be good, i am picking up and learning short passages fairly quickly. i have started composing, really have no idea if i am tabbing the notes correctly, my friend is classically trained , and will attempt to play what i have in my head.... firing a glaze load, and very curious to see the results...here are some finished pieces from last kiln, sadly had a 50% loss rate...still it is 25% better than the first kiln, but i am am hoping to get it up to 75% consistently...

wintertime and the livin' is...

2010-01-19T08:27:00.003-05:00

here are some shot of my life yesterday.got me a piano!!!...unloading a kiln, and then going to play taxi for a friend...i knew i shouldn't have called him back!haha....

leaning towards a couple of things i like to know

2010-01-17T09:38:00.003-05:00

four out of five made it through the bisque. not sure but i think the crack in the oplatter happen during the drying phase...oh well..here are some pics..i am taking these bueaties up to cone 6..that will be about a thirty plus hr firing@! that is long for a 10 cu electric kiln folks! i will need to sell these just to pay my damn electric!haha...well off to pot, have a good day.

god bless my soul before i put my foot down and start to stroll..

2010-01-16T17:28:00.004-05:00

i will come back to these later and disect them...pagoda planters..is the thought behind the design..now off to a roller-skating parteee!..
need to get off here, so very quickly these will have plants the will live in them. sort of mediation planters..with pools of glass and water flows that will ahppen when watering them..

back that jass up...

2010-01-12T08:44:00.001-05:00

jass was what jazz was origianlly called, "jass" meaning sex in the new orleans area early 20th century...right..being the begining of a new year, and the fact that i am still trying to aquire a camera for blogging...what better time to jump back in time and see what i was up to..

i will be going out to the parkway school, to give a demo to the seventh? graders there. i have done this a couple of times before, and it is alot of fun. i plan on doing deco work on a large bottle form. the week has been a busy one, i am making some big forms, and trying to solve my platter cracking problem, these two seem to be okay, i have kept them covered, and then put stilts underneath so air flows around the whole platter., one issue could be that the plaster bats are keeping the bottoms too moist. i really like how the plates pop off though, with large platters, wire cutting them is a ridiculous procedure, ya feel me!....the kiln looks to have come out beautiful this morning. i will be posting some new pics this sunday..
.i am seeing so much potential in my work, and in my life right now. i feel very grateful for these gifts. it is so poetic for me, this symbolism that is occurring. there is change and hope taking place on a global level, i feel this energy in my own life. i do believe in synchronicity. even though there is a lot of healing happening just by his being elected, he will not solve our problems. you see, the greatness of this man's mind is that is understands this. we on a individual level are responsible for the change.
"be the change you wish to see in the world" -ghandi..
i wish you a blessed day.

lost in translation

2010-01-09T19:31:00.004-05:00

very sleepy will comment on these mananna goodnight.,
alright, damn nothing like a good nights sleep to change one's perspective! last night i was feeling like what the hell am i doing here..i know myself well enough now though, i was really tired and resisting sleep...so ignoring my morbid thoughts i pulled the sheets uptight and passed out. now life is full of possibilities and glorious again...funny how easily the brain can develop a view dependent on simple needs such as sleep, hunger, sex!!! that's right..you know what i am talking about..needs baby..anyways....back to the clay,for that is a whole other blog...the platters are moving right along, working on what would be the third series now. i find that this is a whole new way of working, it is really pushing my comfort zone. first there is no rushing these, the drying time alone is about two weeks. coming from a place where i was slip-casting, having the ware dry in a matter of hours and firing a kiln every week, the contrast feels absolute. i have much longer to think about the design, and have started again a sketch book, which is an overall great tool. i recommend it strongly. the ideas are kept better and allowed to ferment in a viable way, whereas in my head they can be lost first of all , no problem, or stagnate just being rolled around mostly....and lost. with these platters i am working in two directions. 1. i am trying to simplify the design aesthetic and 2.experiment like a motherfucker...learning as much as i can about the stains,slips,glazes that i can...so since i have so much time waiting for the platters to come around( i now have the fourth round made running out of table space)i will focus on test tiles..something i have never done. this will be nice to have a visual palette on the studio wall i can reference. i have always seen this on other clay artist's walls, and said to myself..that's nice....also i have a new new new new camera(i break shit, it's my electrical field. causes things to drop and what not), and cannot figure how to rotate the pics..the sculptural piece is 180 degrees o9ff here.

i lost my heart somewhere...i need to take more time...

2010-01-07T08:17:00.002-05:00

the good be tonyas, they are the tits i do believe. this morning i will be re-organizing my studio a bit, more shelves..open up the space. i removed a water-heater from the garage(my studio), the space was built to be a car detailing shop...transfers very well to a clay-studio. i was hurrying, in the middle of moving a friend, dropping off some shelves..when i said to my buddy, "hey let's take this old water heater out so i can put more shelving up." so i then start to rapidly rip the sucka put, cutting through wires(power was off), and generally wrestling the beast detaching it from the wall...then there was one. a solitary piece of plastic pipe, that i now know is the water supply. tearing into it with a pair of garden shears, the artery responds, gushing water five feet up into the air. mind you we where just stopping to drop off some shelves, and we now found ourselves in an all out five alarm frenzy, trying to find the main shutoff as water came forth in biblical proportions. luckily the place is set up for water to be flowing, and the new river made a path directly towards the central drain. i was very excited, saying " i will go shut off the main water valve.". for some reason i like this, i am gather shovels and picks dash across the lawn and began excavating through the six foot snow-drift to get to the water main. this takes a good ten minutes of intense digging, pulling, and generally fighting against the frozen lid, trying to get it off...finally i do and i am able to turn off the levers that is down in a four foot hole. happy that i have arrested the flood i run back, excited about the good news, to find andrew calmly rearranging the shelves... i say " hey, got the water off"..to which he replies, "i told you i found the valve" i was like "when" , he was like "when you ran by the door." "i thought you said you couldn't find it", "no man, i said i did!" sooo, there you go..now i get to learn some more plumbing as i must plug up the line to the w.heater before i can get water back...*disclaimer* there tends to be a descriptive stretch in this story...but like mark twain says "whats a story without a stretch"..actually i just made that up, he never that but i bet he gladly takes credit from the beyond the grave ;)

baby it's cold outside....

2010-01-04T07:08:00.003-05:00

shoot. 6 degrees this morning, with sub-zero temps, a ten day stretch of this.....coldest winter i have experienced up here so far. ..i love it. really...there had been lots of snow, and i like the extreme weather. makes me feel alive! there do seem to be a lot of whiners up here though...you are living in the mountains for god sake,...toughen up. this is glorious!people don't like when i tell them that they are being wimpy...takes the wind out of their wimp-sails. oh well... the fierce winds, deep snow drifts, cascading ice flows, crisp hard air filling my lungs as i truck up a ridge line, all of it fills me with wonder. hell i want to tell the whiners that if they don't like weather move to the flatland....this is a land of struggle and triumph over one's comfort zone. mountain people have lived here for centuries, and they are no whiners. just shiners' haha...anyways i digress, i am leaving for a trip down to asheville to pick up some low-fire slip i came across on craigs' list, and then a trip to highwaters for materials, i will be loading the hell up! lots of new stains, glazes...the works! all for the platters, which i view as canvases.....the slip guy is liquidating his mother's slip-casting business, and says there is a basement full of molds. sweet. his mother is 87 and has dementia, so we have to be delicate in this situation. she is still very much in the mindset, that she will work again...this will probably be me. my kids having to divert my attention, as they sell off my studio... i have dealt with my grandpa's dementia first hand, and it is a shitty disease, i don't wish it on anyone....well the platter's are coming right along. it is a very different way of working for me...each platter takes a good amount of time to make and then even longer to deco, and then forever to dry..i am used to working fast, so i have to keep telling myself that it is okay to take a ;longer on a piece...now that i worked out the firing issue, i feel much less stressed know ing i might lose the platter in the final process..that can be quite nerve-racking...here are some new ones the marbled clay one is my fav. it will get some glass in the carved circle, and the protruding bisqued pieces are receiving some glaze effects. the overall aesthetic is a primal sculptural feel, the marble clay makes me think of the planets for some reason..have a good day.

so much to begin with and nothing is lost....

2010-01-01T07:54:00.005-05:00

this past year my work has gone through much change...i learned how to work with plaster and slip-cast about this time last year...when spring came, i found myself painting with my fingers in oil, franticly producing painting after painting, i left the ceramics alone for a couple of months..summer brought my first employee and a lot of slip-casting!.. then i came back, not interested in the sgraffito work i had been doing for the last three years, started incorporating a "street" asteatich into the slip-ware, adding decals and stylisiclly where akin to the oil paintings..then did a series of sculptures, learning how the incorporate hand building with wheel work, also trying a low-fire earthenware clay for the first time, tip-toeing around with stains,slips, and colorants....this led me to my current work very large platters.
soooo...to sum up 2009, it was a year of adventure, trying new techniques, and trying to allow the process to dictate the direction...i feel like i learned much!..my tool box is a little fuller, and my mind is secure in the notion of pure manisfestation...good and bad>. thought word action...by far the platters have been the most challenging. i have lost 100% of the work over 20"...alas this has been a blessing, i feel failure is only so if one accepts the situation as a mistake and not an opportunity. i reached out and the beautiful clay artists responded. i am becoming well-versed in the art of the slow fire...the final glaze is cooling as i write..what will it say?..hopefully not anything shocking! (clay humor there)...anyways, 2010 for me feels wide open..i am going to focus on the platters for a while, trying to bring a sense of painting composition mixed with sculptural qualities...my studio is turning into a mad-scientist laboratory..excellent. i am creating a vocabulary of colors and textures using slip, oxides, stains, glazes,, and raw materials. really trying to push the boundaries, yet striving for a sense of balance within the work...i will hope fully be posting pics of large un-cracked platters later today...hope your new year is blessed.

ramp it down slow baby oh yeah...

2009-12-29T10:47:00.003-05:00

off to pot..more to come....so..i had some disasters with the large platters...lost two huge ones in the bisque(weren't dry, my impatient ass), and four that "popped", dunted..during cooling.. i have figured out the firing issue, which i hope will resolve the thermal shock and awe shit that has been occurring, causing me much distress. haha. the current firing i am slowly going through the 900-1100 degree f. phase, both in the heating and cooling. also controlling the cool down, not allowing for it to cool faster than 150 per hour! talk about a long bisque fire..try 25 hrs!

good advice..

2009-12-16T10:06:00.003-05:00

being an artist on facebook can be both good and bad... good for being able to check out others's work, staying connected with friends, comrades, customers, and getting advice on all kinds of issues pertaining to art..there are thousands of years of experience on the fb. pretty cool. here are some great tips i got, wasn't expecting this level of advice, potters rock!...maybe you can use it so i will pass it along:) here is a video of the large and xtra large platters i am going to try and successfully fire. whew, i need a larger kiln...Justin Rothshankslow down everything. bisk, glaze, and cooling.
Yesterday at 10:24am · Delete

Shannon epk underneath the platter will help (works as ball bearings)
Yesterday at 12:27pm · Delete

Lee Also heard recently, that if you fire the platters braced in a verticle position, this helps. (Rather than stacking the flat.) Have no first hand experience on this, as haven't yet done platters.
Yesterday at 12:42pm · Delete

Richard P Compress the plate very well while you're working it on the wheel. They're right,,,slow down the production processes. Slow dry,slow bisque with controled down ramp. Use something that acts as a agent that lets the plater move during firing.Down ramp the glaze fire also. Large platers are a pain.
Yesterday at 3:18pm · Delete

Euan I haven't bisqued for 15 years, so there is a lot of shrinkage in the firing.The largest I have worked with are 95cm fired, but I haven't done anything that big since moving from the pokey little house with the big studio to the big house with the pokey little studio. The percentage doesn't change regardless of size, but the actual shrinkage distance does. So for a 22" plate, with 10% shrinkage, that means it shrinks 2.2". That's a long distance to drag across a kiln shelf, so the advice about EPK (thanks Shannon and Richard) or some other powder that acts like flour when you roll out dough is really good. I personally use Alumina, as I wood/soda fire and Kaolin can flux out, sticking the pot to the kiln shelf.

If the cracks you get are firing cracks rather than stress/shrinkage cracks, then you need to go slow around 573 Celsius, when the alpha beta quartz conversion happens. If your heat source is directional (as mine is with the wood kiln) the front of the pot can heat up faster than the back of the pot. So with a large platter one side could reach expansion point before the other, expanding the silica by 2%, and the stress between front and back (or outside and inside on large encolsed forms) can cause firing cracks.

There is always the possibility that the cracks occured during drying. Again, the shrinkage stress. You need to get them off the throwing bats as soon as possible. I dry large work on two sheets of newspaper with corn starch dusted between. It allows even drying which prevents warping as well as the free movement to avoid shrinkage stress. ...
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Yesterday at 6:15pm · Delete

Patricia Euan certainly is right on target. The only difference for me is that I do bisque. Upside down on 50 mesh grog. I also slow it way down doing the alpha beta quartz conversion on the way up and on the way down. I also put aluminia hydrate on the shelf for the glaze run. Good luck!
Yesterday at 7:11pm · Delete

Richard Wow,,,what fantastic skills are out there. It's all solid advice Jeff . I use grog. It's cheap and has done the job for me for 35 years.It doesn't srew up an element is it get on it.
Dale Neece and I use plaster board cut to dimention to rest and dry our mega plates on. It obsorbs the moisture and supports the ware,covered with plastic to control the drying. Compression is a really big issue. Large platers are still a pain..........
Yesterday at 9:35pm · Delete

Jeff Martinwow..i am printing this comment run out, very solid advice. thank you so much, i feel like i have some tools to use going in. i have done platters around 20" and always lost 50%, so it was quite discouraging. i use drywall board, it seems to pull moisture fairly evenly, but the cornstarch sounds helpful. euan , are you putting a piece of paper on ...
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Yesterday at 10:03pm · Delete

Agp ArtstudioYou guys are the best! I made a note of everything and will definitely take things a lot slower in the future with my large platters. Thanks,
10 hours ago · Delete

Euan Call it a double layer of news paper, underneath only, with cornstarch between the layers and between the paper and the pot. It serves the dual purpose of allowing the plate to shrink without friction and also even drying. The exposed top surface of the plate or slab will dry normally, and the newspaper will "Crinkle", (in the potato crisp sense) which allows air to circulate underneath the plate as well so that you get even drying, therefore less warpage.
5 hours ago · Delete

Jeff Martin brilliant! newspaper is the duct tape of the paper industry...
about an hour ago · Delete

you wind up peeking down a keyhole upon your knees...

2009-12-14T10:46:00.003-05:00

this is just a video test. ..i used to throw them on the wheel, but they always came out too round. i like the roughness of the form when i combine hand-building and throwing together..they are still in the greenware stage, i am using slips, and underglazes to build up a composition..next i will add another layer after bisque...

swing wide your door

2009-12-13T11:21:00.004-05:00

i haven't posted shots from the previous show, so that will be the bulk of this post. stacey's work was a big hit, i liked it myself, very fresh, i got the #3 piece. her work would be great installed in a skate/snow/surf shop.... felt the show was two-pronged, a success in terms of exposure, attendance, and my own feeling about the work. the other prong was weak sales, which is okay, it was only a one night show, i was bummed, but have let that go, so really lets just call it a one pronger now! i can still move the work around to galleries. and a few pieces have sold post-show-word-of-mouth. really the issue, is that i put high expectations on shit, and the same lesson is handed down to me each time. a simple universal equation..high expectation can equal high disappointment. really the direction of my work has opened up a big door of new areas i can take my visions into the clay. to let the painting and the clay become closer is absolutely lovely. i couldn't be more excited...i am slowly moving away from purely functional work, toward color composition, and sculpture. i am a lucky man indeed. this is a great unlimited world in which to explore and express. those are the two ingredients for me to live in the realm of inspiration. i have had some requests for my black and white sgraffito work, but cannot go there. it would be unfair to the buyer and myself, to produce uninspired work. life is too short, sure i take a hit money-w ise, but i must stay true to my inspiration and really i have never made much on commission work anyways, it can be allot of trouble making something tuned to an other's vision. i am currently making a series of large platters that will go up in a high end tapis bar called crave. crave that says it all for me......

going up and coming down..

2009-12-08T10:56:00.002-05:00

scratch away...here i am at at turning point in my life. i just finished doing a show with stacey simmions, and it was a success in terms of the people that cam out, and the response. it was stacey's first show in town, and people responded well, buying a good bit. i have mixed feelings about the show. i did not sell much, but got alot of compliments...personally i was very happy with the direction my work went, i explored a new clay body, and and used hand-building as the main tool in creating the pieces. i have a whole new skill set, and the last couple of pieces felt like the beginning of something much bigger. on another note, i felt depressed about the sales, i had but alot of energy into the show, and was depending on making money to pay the bills. really i just broke even, although i am reminded by others, that i have inventory now, and the show was only one night...still i made 20 t-shirts and only sold a couple...something about making art for aliving is hyper-emotional for me. i get very involved in my work, and when the sales are not what i expected, i get down...whatever. maybe it is good to have some bombs every now and then, keep my fragile over-inflated ego in check!...
i am now in a fresh space, i feel re-energized about the next direction i am going, and the big lesson for me was 1.don't put all your eggs in one show basket, i had been neglecting my galleries, and etsy. not smart. the more streams the better. 2. expectations on a one night show, should be kept low. 3. people will drink ALL the alcohol you buy 4.t-shirts for a show are a big risk. 5 i love taking risks so, i will make show shirts again i am sure.6..thank god there is another day to make art for me.
so...my camera is broke right now, but i will be posting show/piece pics soon., i have some x-mas commissions that i will be working in stone ware, doing the sgraffito process. besides that i am going the sculptural route, i willl make large platters some wheel thrown, some hand built, busts, wall pieces, and what i am most excited about is a line of funky planters. i made one planter for the show, and it was a major break through for me, i have all kinds of visions for different ones. the concept of my work will focus mainly around texture and colors. i want to bring a painterly conversation into the work, mixed with a raw feel and look of the earthen ware. also on the home front, i watch the show hoarders on a and e. i have decided i am a class one hoarder, most of americans are class 2 i think. anyways, i will be putting most of my shit that i don;t use in boxes and bags. not label them. and in the spring if i cannot remember what is in them, i will have a big yard sale and let it all go. all i want in my house is art, plants and rocks. i have too many clothes, dishes, magazines, random shit i don't even know what it is for...my daughter emma is a class 3 hoarder, but that is normal for 3yrs old..still i am getting rid of all her toys mostly. she doesn't play with 90% of them. she like bugs, rocks, clay and paint. clutter breeds clutter. right. well i am outta here, got to clean up my studio, from the deadline glaze bomb that exploded. cheerios...

but the one thing i know....

2009-11-24T23:05:00.003-05:00

i been led downtown, and felt outta-sight..here are some process picks of my week, loving the progress i am making this upcoming show, i feel alive while working, and my direction is new and everyday is a discovery....one of my favorite places to be..kids, do you have a favorite place to be?...ahhh mr.rogers is a permanent stamp in my psyche, how beautiful..i heard an interview on him maybe it was this american life..regardless, he is a very soul full person, and had much wisdom in how simple he saw the world...he loved to always be at the piano, and said silence was to be the most respected, since it came first. was he a Taoist or what!..here's to your inner mr.rogers, wherever you are....

and you go home with miss sally ann....

2009-11-18T22:30:00.002-05:00

great day, very tired, might expound on the new work tomm..all i can say is i love my daughter more each day, and she my heart, having her start to be able to work with me and create is very high on all-time satisfying activities in my life..she really digs painting and working in the clay...ahhh the rain is falling hard now..goodnight.

whew..

2009-11-16T22:35:00.004-05:00

i am spent long day, working in multiple mediums, never a dull moment..i am much to tired to elaborate on much..arted all day, the gym, then gallery meeting...ready to hit the sack. i am currently reading China Men, by maxine hong kingston..put on a kevin costner movie,and then realized that was a bad idea..the book is much better!...the photos are snapshots of projects happening, and my lovely daughter the consummate professional photographer

just draw my cigarette till you make my good ashes gone..

2009-11-12T12:57:00.004-05:00

cigarette blues by bo carter...damn good song..man you gotta hear it before you die kinda song. anywys, this will be short, i am very busy, getting ready for a big weekend with the fashion biz and starting to produce work for the show in dec....i got experience my first fashion shoot yesterday. it was fun! i was the make-up guy, photographer, and bottle water(well tap water) provider for my very patient and awesome model elizabeth. i was going for a sultry look with the make-up a little over the top and her hair was the main prop, trying to catch it in action. this led to her getting frustrated(not really) but i wanted her to look a little mad, she seemed to start laughing every time i said "get angry"..so i just shut my mouth...watched too many fashion shoots on t.v. caused me to be a little pushy, when really she did best left to her own devices...it was an over-all success, and i look forward to shooting with some nice clothes from american apparel soon. i have got alot of good advice and know the direction i will take this. also the backdrop could be a little more funky..i need a red brick wall. a funny side note the blush is red-oil pastel i shaved with a razor. there you go ladies a secret fashion tip from yours truly...thanks elizabeth! and thanks crystal! for letting me borrow your awesome camera....these shirts are available in my esty shop, and i will be putting the rest up later today...

paddlin'

2009-11-09T09:35:00.004-05:00

when they said repent, i wondered what they meant..yes it has been a leonard cohen morning. funny how he always sets me in a philosophical,contemplative mood....hmmmm....don't have a camera right now, it was possibly stolen at the gallery opening friday night, or i just set it down in a strange place when i walked in. i hope the latter, why someone would want that ragged out taped up, slightly bent lens ed camera is besides me..but it was in a nice case. this week is a strong paddle stroke in the direction of my work. it is two fold, luckily i have two paddle in my boat! first i am spring boarding back into the art on clothes business, i have the opportunity to learn the process in detail, and rent out the shop to do my work. this is perfect, i will have complete control of the design process from start to finish....i printed out two small runs last week and have the fever hot coursing through my veins now....i plan on filling my etsy shop up with clothes..that mean i get to be come a fashion photographer...fun! i have always wanted to work in fashion design industry, specifically in the skate/surf/extreme sport genre...these were the clothes that i grew up with and still turn me on. i like the urban atstectic, and feel my work will translate well in this arena. i have a ton of shirts that i got second hand to work on my style and designs..second oar with be pulling my ceramic work in a new direction for this month. something completely diff i am hoping. any ideas?i have a fuckin' show with a girl from nyc in one month! ahhhh! her work is very collage like aith a strong urban feel to it. hard to explain. she is taking old antique carousel horses and well you you will have to wait and see! dec.7th is our show date..shit better get to work see ya!...

more evil..less perfume please..

2009-11-05T12:01:00.002-05:00

well well, i am busy today. just finished a dark painting in acrylics for the nth show tomm. the show started off as a halloween show, and now will be res-shown for our towns art-crawl tonight. the theme was dark halloween shit, and i was told to paint something to fill in a blank space on the wall. i tried to get dark, but was feeling very un-dark yesterday...so i painted this 2x3 ft masonite, while listening to happy music and chatting with customers who came into hands gallery yesterday...really didn't know where i was going with it, has been a couple of years since i messed with acrylics, but i liked the fast pace in which i could work them. the painting went through several stages, as i try to show here.besides that today i am decaling slip-ware, casting pots, and buying t-shirts for tomm. screen-print run which i am pumped about, since james is letting me get my hands dirty with the process and screen some of my shirts...soon i hop to be completely in control of the whole process..i am buying the shirts from the thrift store since, and will use the money made to buy some nice shirts for the next run...also, it is possible to wear too much perfume ladies, i will never buy conventional spinach(sprayed) again(tasted like metal), and obama seems to be another cog in the great machine..albeit a shiny and pretty one..wassup health care-reform package? bullshit! these are my organic free-range opinion of the world for today...

ceramic cleavage

2009-10-14T23:07:00.002-04:00

no reason to explain. i am back never really left. just been swallowed whole by the face-book social whale....so my art-life marches on, always evolving, and bored by the finished product mostly. i am stuck in the high of process and new territory...the main focus has been a ping pong dance back and forth paint and pot...mostly now i am slip-casting, which has thrown me more into the surface design, and less into the making of each piece. when i get honest about it, i am just trying to get my paintings on my pots..is that such a crime? maybe, but i always felt most deviously comfortable in translating the lines of obscurity. painting is both the poison and antidote. yes, i want to abuse ceramics and sling around tradition. hell i don't even feel like a potter these days..like i am robbing the vaults of ceramic history for whatever loot can help to glue my vision of color and collage. been experimenting with slips, stains, underglazes, glazes, and next decals...all in the hopes of transposing the images of creation and decay, through color, texture and language. these are some tea-cup shots from my last show... so in short i still don't know shit and am very happy finding out something new in my art everyday.

living in color..

2009-06-11T11:51:00.002-04:00

i am slacking on the blog, here are some new paintings, one is i am still working on.. i am torn between the two worlds, during the dat i work on ceramics, which i am in a bit of a rut, need to make some new molds, and start some large wheel worked pieces. the paintings arejusyt coming out, one every two or three days., only had a couple on view, and they sold, which is a good sign. i really like working in the oils, i am learning something new each painting. i will try and keep this blog flowing with pics,...now it is raining, and i am brewing some strong yerba. ready to paint. add music and i am off into another world for a couple of hours...i love my job.

plaster disaster and the biggest moments of my life...

2009-06-02T08:24:00.003-04:00

.yes, life is awesome right now, so many new events manifesting and my art life is the fullest ever. i will let the pictures do the talking,....hope you are well, and living everyday full. it is why we are here, to experience and learn. which is what i am doing with this damn plaster. God has placed me on earth to learn the limitations of my using flashing for the mold container...the almighty has spoken in the abstract sending a powerful sign three times, the plaster did run. the vision appeared after the third, a strong dream came to me, in which i went to the hardware store, and build the wine goblet frame out of wood and with clamps. clamps my son!, stop fucking around here....these are the words that echoed in my mind... paintings are moving along,these two are alomost there... i am waiting for the raw frames, to finish, and i will be showing and painting this friday at the art crawl..also,i am sufficiently addicted to face-book. as i write i am curled up in the corner of the bathroom shaking,..have not checked my homepage in over ten hours..the withdrawals are bad man,.... it happens people. i have been posting most of my work life and cerebral wanderings on there. hey, join the good fight and be my friend. use my name or jeffmartinceramics@mac.com for the search. you really get a day to day experience, sometimes hour to hour depending on how bad i am distracted from real life.

rotting my brain..

2009-05-22T08:00:00.002-04:00

been doing alot of painting as of late...stepped into oils and am happily slipping into apigment induced coma..the lady at the art store suggested that i stop painting with my finger, or risk "rotting my brain out"....right on track with that. the slip work is moving ahead too, forur new forms designed, a large platter, two mugs, and a tall vase...my daughter is graduating from pre-school today...should be exciting!

finado...

2009-05-14T14:53:00.003-04:00

i am slacking on my blog, so much work that my days are consumed with potting and painting..i am working in both mediums at a fairly thick pace.. got shows, and galleries to fill. plus my ass is domesticated don't ya know, gardening, mowing ,planting, building, staining sanding, folding clothes and cooking for mis and mi babygirl. ..this is good, i just have no time really to show yall whats happening. ..off to the hardware store for stains and dispaly hardware, then gym and back to unload and glaze a kiln, followed by some more painting...i will sleep when i'm dead.

bueno!

2009-05-12T10:31:00.002-04:00

damn good busy right now, pot during the day paint at night....will post more later, need to fill a kiln. here is a painting finished at my last show...have a good day yo.

non-stop.

2009-05-07T09:37:00.004-04:00

working for one-self in the ceramic/art world, in my experience is non-stop. i am preparing to leave for the firts of two shows, and have been busy making work all week. today is pack day and get errands that have piled up over the week cleared out...i will be going down to black mountain to the LEAF, it is a good size music/arts festival...my daughter will be camping with me at night and we will run around in the morning together. i am bringing my easel, and have a new booth setup that my buddy built for me yesterday. here is a couple of paintings that emma(almost 3), did and and i inked on them. she loves making art, and these little collabrations are just the begining for us!..!....more later, when i am more relaxed..gotta run!

moving and groovin...

2009-05-03T15:38:00.002-04:00

taking a quick break in working here, been filling up the table with pots pretty steady for the last five hours, will have a full kiln load by tomm. morning. the first glaze kiln will be ready to unload by then, and it is round two before my show this week. on the employee tip, i had let him go, he was a no call no show teo days in a row. it is better, he was looking for something full-time anyways. so now i have an artist who comes up from greensboro on the weekends to work as assistant manager of the farmer;s market, to help me. i will train her in the slipcasting method the weekend after next and she will work six hrs a weekend. this works out better, since art is her dedication, while the other guy just needed work. she also has some clay experience. to top it off we are trying to get a two person show at a gallery in greensboro, so this will be good for us to co-ordinate our work. she is a painter, and i look forward to working with her. i told yall, that once i opened the employee door, that was it. and i mean it, i have set up my work to incorporate an assistant., so that i can raise my income ceiling. raise the roof yo. here is a clip of me and some friends at an auction. it is the real deal. i ain't telling you where it is at. i want to do a documentary on this family, they are off the hook. in this clip, towards the end of the sale, everything gets real cheap..like two dollars cheap..my artist friend, chrissie is bidding on a poem magnet(they think it is a picture frame), and little did she know she bought the whole table!. she does awesome mixed media paper clay sculpture with found objects, which she gets from here..she was the one who turned me on to the auction, she has been going for over twenty years...

market then auction..

2009-05-02T13:34:00.004-04:00

my kind of livin'..sell some art, then buy someone else's old junk!..farmer's market today was great big turnout, good sales, great to connect with my community! here is a vid of emma leading the way through the market...next video is of a red head woodpecker..they are quite big, and their is a pair that live on the property..mixing glazes and working the molds now, will glaze a kiln later..after the auction! i am stoked, this is the real deal. i will get some video of the action!

what is the 401k homie...

2009-04-30T09:50:00.002-04:00

well, life in the the art biz will never be same for me. i have tasted the joy of having an employee do the jobs i'd rather not do. that is right i have hired someone to come on borad and take the jeffmartinceramic experience to the next level. he is working right now, two hours a day. he is a woodworker by trade, and is out of work. the plan was to have him work trhis week, so i could crank it for my two shows coming up. i have him doing the slipcasting, pouring,releasing, and cleaning. it frees me up to concentrate on looking at the facbook, just kidding! really, it allows me do do the designn work on the pots and so far my output has doubled since he has been here. i learned a little secret of capitalism, outsource basic labor! at first, i was like i don't really have the money to pay someone, but once i crunched the numbers, it is well worth my while to bring someone in to do the simple tasks that consume much of my time. i just have one part of the equation to fill, keep the pots moving! bringing someone in, means i can expand with my galleries and and online biz. so, i do not know how long he will work here, but i do know this, i am all about having a part time assistant now! it is on! i also enjoy the company, he has good tatse in music(mine), and likes to drink the yerba mate with me and make some pots...sweet. here is a small vid, of him being laborious..and the new mug form i casted, it is huge. emma's teacher uses it and wants a custom one. ..

groundbreak..

2009-04-28T08:50:00.003-04:00

miss me? awww i missed you too!i took a break from blogging, it has been real busy around here, spring has arrived. in between working, playing and being a papa, i have been planting as much as in can! i got six friut trees in the ground, 2 peach, apple, pear, cherry and a fig. along with some ground cover and three rose bushes..my friends helped out and that was awesome. also started seedlings for the garden. my last show was a big success in many areas! also i am painting again, which is good for me. and finally the farmers' market starts up this weekend, i have a big four day show next week, followed by art in the park show, and galleries to stock. soooo, i got a part-time employee! there is no turning back now. he is working two hours a day, i am teaching him the slipcasting method, which frees me up to crank out the sgraffito. very exciting..and also i am severely addicted to facebook. like everyone else it seems! hit me up if you are on there..look up jeffmartinceramics@mac.com.. here ar some new paintings, they are done with house paint on masonite, the joker guy is still in progress...

showtime!

2009-04-15T21:59:00.002-04:00

have i started to pack up for my 10 am depart time?..hell naw! i also wait till the morn, then it is a mad scramble of loading, packing, more loading, and then shoving off when a ton of pots and some side art to sling on down the road. travelin' man..have pots..will travel..been real busy, ran two kilns, back to back... got about one hundred pots to take down, and some paintings that i am doing now. i also plan on taking my easel and painting to the live music that will be fifty yards from the booth. i have always got a prime spot right in front of the main stage..i am too tired to unlod the pics of the last couple days work, but here is a quick clip of two paintings i did last night/this morning...they are done with house paints on masonite..very fun, gonna do another tonight!

chiggidy check!

2009-04-10T12:01:00.003-04:00

where have i been? everywhere! so much livin' i squeeze out the time to blog! thats is alright. livin full is where its at. i have been very busy, planting, potting,...i will post some pics tonoght..l;oding the kiln as we speak. have a good one! well..it is sat morning and i have quite a bit to do... finished loading kiln last night, but will not fire until tonight. i am going to bust out some more slip ware today, go to the gym and start on some paintings that i would like to bring to next week's show. they will be acrylic on masonnite. lots of bright colors, very excite to start them. also this evening i will be going to an auction with some friends. that will ebfun, to try and get some funky stuff for cheap. i hope tp score some old pictire frames..no time to unlaod and process camoera..so here is a video of emma from breakfast yesterday..almost everymorning is like this.. she is off the jook. like eating breakfast with someone who is drunk and has a.d.d....

snow squalls..

2009-04-07T09:10:00.002-04:00

here is a pic of me on sunday watering a newly planted pear tree...now it is twenty two degrees out and snowing..ahhh spring.thank goodness for the woodstove in the studio! made a three coffee mug molds and three platter molds..ready to go!

chow da thai..

2009-04-04T19:45:00.003-04:00

my ass is going to eat some thai food..great day in the shop..three new molds made, all firsts..had some friends stop by, and keep me company while i played in the plaster. my dog is good company mind you, but it was nice to have some people to engage with. i do miss that part about working a "real job".....

good show..

2009-04-01T21:30:00.003-04:00

the kiln was a beauty, the liner glaze came out creamy and complicated, a rich green, with subtle hints of blue and brown. i added more gertsley borate, twice the amount actually...also stocked a new gallery with the work,hung with baby-girl outside.. .long day too beat to think about it anymore see ya mannana.

gardening..

2009-03-31T11:55:00.001-04:00

check back later, kiln is cooling and i am outside planting stuff!
1.one apple tree planted,
1.one garden box composted.
1.one fig tree hole dug.
1.one hole dug by maebelles for one tennis ball
1.one suspended from school neighbor kid put to work...3 hours..five dollars, included studio sweep and fire wood stack...
1.one baby girl swinging the oliva newton john look before school.
1.one spider found next to purple flower.1.one bikini woman on two different tumbler forms.
1.one peek in kiln, looked beautiful.
1.one good day

sunday..

2009-03-29T08:53:00.002-04:00

hello.. been a couple days. haven't had much work to report on, i have been busy being papa this weekend. all the parents out there know that having a toddler and accomplishing tasks is almost impossible. i can work when she sleeps. the kiln is cooled and ready to glaze. i will do that tonight. my mom got in town for a visit yesterday, so we are going for a hike and then some lunch...went to the banff last night. it was good, watching films about mountain climbers is always inspiring. if you get a chance and it comes to your town, go.

crankin'..

2009-03-25T13:55:00.002-04:00

just lost my post..that sucked..i am not going to re-type it. kiln is almost full. new molds..bowls will be tested tomm..

!

2009-03-24T10:12:00.001-04:00

worky-work...busy day today. off to pot.

weekend..

2009-03-23T09:42:00.004-04:00

had a great weekend, spring is just right around the corner...didn't get as much work done as i'd liked, but i never do, so that is okay. this week looks to be highly productive, with the introduction of some new forms. these molds will be a coffee mug, square japanese style plate, medium size bowl, and serving tray..also i will get back on the wheel and throw a couple of large platters....double also have a couple of sculpture cups to create..i love mondays, they are the start of a new week of creating and working through ideas..emma is already in bare feet walking in the woods and on rocks! mountain born girl here! she was very excited about the lambs ear we found on our hike behind crystals'(emma's beautiful mother)...

bueno!

2009-03-20T08:27:00.002-04:00

two great things happened yesterday. one the company my mother and step-father work for sold! i am very happy for them,they have been working their tails off for a while, and deserve the payoff. i use their camera for all my videos, the Flip is top-notch and very user-friendly. that is right i am plugging my parents work, hey, that is what family is for. really though, for the money you cannot get any better! two, i got my work into Carlton Gallery, which is a stellar gallery run by artist extradonaire, toni carlton. i know we will have a great relationship, and look forward to the possibilities. today i will be working on some sets, for her gallery, i would like to have some clay in her space by next week.
here are some pics of more work that came out of the last kiln. these will be in my etsy shop very soon!

50/50

2009-03-19T09:38:00.002-04:00

that is how i feel about the kiln..i used a blue underglaze that just doesn't pop out from the black. you can see the difference in the before and afterpics..someone out-there likes it i am sure, but not i. also i am learning that when the cups are casted very thinly that, there will be a percentage that cracks. this might heve to do with the speed at which the kiln cools..over-all it is a useable kiln with some really nice pieces coming out. i will post more work over the weekend. i will began to restock my etsy store again with this kiln...today i will meet with a prospective gallery owner. she has a very nice place, with incredible work. i hope we will be working together in the future..

rips and sticks...

2009-03-18T08:00:00.003-04:00

i have about fours-five hours of solid studio time, before i pick emma up from school...yesterday i slip-casted, while doing deco-work on the dryer tumblers. i am very new at this technique and the process is teaching me daily. the slip drys very fast when the weather is nice, the humidity low, and being that i can produce work at a fairly fast rate, i have altered my design work a bit. i will do a design on the tumbler and then "run" with it on the next four. there is a evolution as new ideas pop into my head. i like this. i also am just working through a fixed design, so that i can produce matching sets. like this too...
so..the next step is branching out with the forms. i feel somewhat limited with my skill making molds..for instance this pic above of a face cup is the culmination of eight hours of design work, both in creating the original sculpture, and in re-working the cast, so i can get the mold out! and it still rips and sticks. i will have to discard this mold, and that is hard for me to do...but i do know how to cast the mold differently next time...well, as far as forms, i can utilize my wheel skills! i have not thrown in over a month! a combination of slip casting and wheel-work will suit my needs fine. i have a new-gallery meeting tomm. and excited to to see the results of the kiln that is cooling..

future potters..?

2009-03-17T08:13:00.003-04:00

the class was great...i really enjoy spending time showing how i do my craft to young folks..i believe i will be doing this much more in the future!..i am glazing today, and taking pictures of work for my etsy store, which needs updating badly! off to take babygirl to school, have a good one!

new fromat..

2009-03-16T07:40:00.002-04:00

well, it is early and i just saw my mom off. the coffee is staining my blood stream, and my mind is booting up...i like blogging better in the morning, when i am refreshed and full of promise for the day. so, i am going to switch up the fromat (format, i just like saying fromat), and blog in the morning, i will do a brief summary of the prior days work, along with pictures, and any thoughts on the direction that i am going to take my work to today....and anything else that falls into my thought stream as i boot up for the day..i will be finishing deco work, by adding some color to the tumblers..casting some tall tumblers, and loading the bisque kiln...i am going to take dolly's like, and put no color a a few of the tumblers, just black and white. i first started out, only putting one red heart on each piece. it was my signature, but as with everything evolution could not be held back, and in my heart i am a painter, color is language, so the introduction of more color seeped in...i will post pics tomm morning, have a good day!

sunday..

2009-03-15T20:26:00.002-04:00

worked at the gallery all day. it has been a busy weekend with my mom here. we have got grandpa settled somewhat, he is enjoying all the attention and seems to fit in just fine. i was unable to get in the studio like i wanted too. for me i need six hours to really get in a groove and let the flow take over. i was mostly doing an hour here and there, and it is hard to really produce any deep groove. what the hell am i rambling about with this groove, and flow..in plain english, i need to work! i am busting at the seems with all this energy....tomm. i see my mother off., and have a good shot at some real time in the studio. then at four i am having a high school group come back over to finish some work they started a month ago. they are taking me out to eat afterwards, and i am hoping i can drive the bus! here are some tumblers, i did some new designs, a couple of trucks, emma's books are are bleeding into my mental imagery..these still need colors.

woohoo..

2009-03-12T20:44:00.003-04:00

sooooo...gramps seems to like his new "apartment". his roomie is also a ww2 vet, so they get along good. the social aspect is great for him...has only been there a day and thinks he has been there a week, and has plans on buying half the building. this is wonderful! i feel light and free, excited about being back on the scene..got my slip, plaster and masonite shipment in today. i am ready to get this party started. emma is with her mom, this will be the first weekend i have no one to watch after in a very long time..well at least for tomm., i am keeping emma on sat. so crystal can go see ani difranco..lucky!

***

2009-03-09T18:48:00.002-04:00

busy getting everything ready for grandpa's transfer to assisted living. he goes in on weds...it will be better for everyone, including him, and especially me! i am ready to rock it out this spring. i told my friends, watch out i am back on the scene. work has slowed down to a crawl, just have too much on my plate to take care. all good two more days and then a big release. i am excited...me and emma are goin' bust open on the scene yo.

nice.

2009-03-08T13:16:00.003-04:00

so beautiful here. sunny warm, perfect. we are outside all day! see you tomorrow!