Progress!

Been keeping busy, throwing a new pumpkin army. Eventually, I'll get to the other, new ideas I've got bubbling, but for now, I'm feeling comforted by the repetition of throwing familiar forms. It's helping me to get back into the rhythm of making.

I showed my dad, who really hasn't seen me in a making cycle, and he made all the appropriately impressed dad noises. (Can I just mention how lucky I am to be spending this time with my dad?) I had to laugh when I looked at the jacks piling up, since I can't fire them until the studio I go to re-opens. Maybe I'll have enough to rent the whole kiln by that time!

Rebirth

On June 3rd, it will be three years since I had to leave my home, my studio, friends, everything I had worked hard to build. I even had to leave behind one of my dogs. It was indescribably painful. 

But time marches on. Things change. I've managed to adapt, albeit clumsily and without much grace. It was hard to fathom all the ugly, ugly things which came to light in the last three years, but somehow, I've managed to hang on and to continue the process of growth and healing. I've been so lucky to have a core group of friends to hold my hand and listen to my travails!

Now, things are truly moving forward. I've recently completed my very first stint as a producer for a proof of concept short film. And I lived through it! And the director and all the crew had a great time and were very complimentary! I never imagined myself here, in this place.

And I finally had a conversation with my dad about getting the electrical at the house upgraded to allow for a kiln. Since the house was built in 1941 and it's still all the original electrical, it's simply too outdated to accommodate a new 220 circuit safely.

Dad said that it's OK! Hooray! So now I get to start saving for a new electrical panel and a new kiln! It's going to take me a while, and it may not actually happen until next year, but at least now, I have a way to reclaim my artistic talents and skills!

It was really hard to be told that my ceramics business was one of the reasons my ex decided to disappear, particularly since he was the one who demanded I make it a business. (Ah, the moving goal posts! Gotta love being set up to fail!) It was like a kick to the gut, and the lingering after effects sucked the joy out of life for a long time.

My favorite clay, in action (the three on the right).

But now, not only do I have this very attainable goal, my very favorite clay manufacturer brought down their prices for shipping clay! Yes, it's still more than it would be if I still lived in the Sacramento area and could pick it up, myself, but I'm still super-happy about it! That clay is really plastic and forgiving, and is perfect for making stoneware and also for Raku firing. It's very versatile, and man, it's just the best thing since sliced bread!

In this crazy time of isolation and sadness, it's been a relief to have something positive to work towards!

I determined that this time, in setting up my ceramics, I would take my time and not be pressured to immediately make a profit, so when my dad pointed out that I needed to consider whether I was going to actually make it pay to have a kiln, etc., (he was being nice about it, just spitballing, as it were) I started to recognize a trigger being activated.

So we had an honest chat about it. I told him that, in all honesty, I wasn't buying a kiln so I could be profitable. I was buying it so that I could enjoy my skill as a potter and a sculptor. I think my exact words were, "Do I have to make a profit in order to justify doing what I do best?" And I told him that what I wanted to do is to expand my skills, to study ceramics and apply my knowledge to making my pieces better and more interesting. To give myself the opportunity to just explore, rather than have to immediately be commercially appealing. (You never know for sure that anything you make will be commercially appealing, anyway!)

I also mentioned something another friend of mine, who is not American or Anglo, said:

"That's you Crazy White People, taking the happiness out of life with always having to have more, make more money! Why do you guys always have to ruin it for yourselves? Just have fun!"

So while yes, I do want to continue to sell my pieces (you can buy them here) so that I can offset my costs, I don't really want that to be my driving force. I want to have fun with it again. I want to feel the sheer joy of creating!

And boy, oh, boy! Do I have some fun new ideas!

Mask Donations

Plan for the Fall!

This post contains links to Amazon products and I may
get a commission should you click on the link.
Although the chances are better that I'll get struck by lightning.

As long as we're all on lockdown, I figured it would be a good time for me to remind you to plan your garden for fall pumpkins! 

A quick search will reveal a number of seed companies, and I'm sure if you do a little research, you'll find some with good customer reviews. You can click here and here for full instructions about how to grow pumpkins.

I prefer the classic Howden pumpkin, myself. They're wonderful for carving! But if you're really ambitious and have a lot of space to play with, you might try these Big Max seeds. They can get upwards of 100 pounds!

In any case, it's a good time to consider growing your own pumpkins or other goodies for canning or preserving this coming harvest season!

Social Distancing? I Was MADE for This!

From the opening sequences of Creepshow

I'm very lucky in that my office is small and I can work at least part of the time from home! So while I work, I've plugged in a couple of my old favorites. They're movies I can half-watch while plugging in numbers to a spreadsheet because I've seen them a multitude of times.

Like Creepshow! Hooray!

Life has been busy, aside from the plague. My boss enlisted me to produce a small, proof-of-concept film which was shot this past Sunday. It was pretty crazy. He told me when I got back from vacation in Maui that we were shooting in two weeks and we had no crew or equipment as of that moment. I did get some input from the director and the compositor, both of whom I've known for a little over a year.

It was stressful, but it was so much fun! Even though we had a couple of crew members to replace at the last moment, it all worked out very well, and everyone got along beautifully! I wish I could share more, but, well. Those pesky NDAs, you know? 

I've wanted to start expanding my knowledge so that I can move out of being an executive assistant and into post-production. Production would be good, but it seems a little intense for me at this point in my life. I'm excited that I have my first Producer credit under my belt, regardless!

In any case, I hope this finds you and yours safe and healthy, and that you're taking your work from home time and making the best Halloween props you can imagine, or at least organizing your work space so that you're ready to go when the weather turns good!

Farewell, My Heart

On Friday, the 20th of December, I had to say goodbye to my Samhain, my Sam, Sam the Man, Sam-Sam. I am crushed beyond words, so I'll try to spend a minimal time on the sad, and share some of the cherished memories.

Our last photo on Friday afternoon.

Sam had been fighting Hemangiosarcoma since sometime before the end of March. Just before my birthday (which seems to be the time for things to collapse to utter garbage), he was diagnosed with splenic Hemangiosarcoma, and had the splenectomy.

Friday, after a very good day at work, the dogs got their dinner. Within a short time, Sam started showing the symptoms of bloat, and I rushed him to the emergency vet. (My dad was very brave and didn't scream once as we were racing to the vet and weaving in and out of traffic!) The vet confirmed my apprehension, and said she thought there was another tumor which had possibly caused the bloat. Sam had thrown up a few times in the past few weeks, which was unusual, and putting that together with the bloat, I felt the time had come to let him go. He was already six months past his prognosis, and putting him through a surgery would not have been the kindest thing to do for him.

There are a bunch of posts about Sam here (a couple popped up in search that don't have anything to do with him) which go back to the very beginning, when he was a newborn.

Last week at the office, helping out in the archives

He was there for me when those I trusted most, loved most, left. He was always ready to play, ready to cuddle, ready to go for an adventure, ready to hang out and watch movies. He loved people so much that he was the unofficial greeter of the UPS store next door to the office. People went nuts over him. 

The kids this past Hallowe'en were telling other kids and parents that there was a "really awesome dog" at my house that they had to meet. The babies thumped him hard on the head and he just gave them tiny little kisses on their chubby legs. The toddlers threw their little arms around his neck and he stood still so he didn't knock them over. The teenage girls fawned over him and called him handsome, and he preened and gave them mighty slurps and giant, full-body wags. The moms and dads were amazed at what a good boy I had.

He adored them, one and all.

And he was good to the newest addition of our family, even though she's a terrible brat and does not care about pleasing anyone, unlike my Sam, who was crushed to report he had, in fact, tipped over the trash can.

I don't know what I'm going to do without him.

Hallows 2019

Hallowe'en in L.A.! The fires we've had have made the traffic so bad!
How bad was it?
It was so bad, people were just dying to get out of their cars when they got home!

I didn't do very much decorating this year. I sold some props last year in the hopes that when my Hallowe'en Spirit finally returns, I can make new and more beautiful props than ever before.

A few favorites still showed their faces to good effect, and honestly, everyone who came to the door last night was just as delighted as if I'd put up my full graveyard with all the pneumatics, like I used to.

Dad graciously carved the pumpkins this year, and I was really impressed with the faces. I thought he did a great job!

I even put my own, handmade cbeeswax candles in them which was pretty gratifying!

My beautiful Sam (not pictured) was the doggo of the hour. Sweet and gentle with the tiniest of Trick-or-treaters, he was convinced that everyone had come to see him! It even got around that there was a sweet and beautiful dog at our place, and people came just to pet him.

I'm so grateful to have had him for one more Hallowe'en! I hope he'll make it to next year's.

Anyway, Happy New Year to you all. I hope you had the most wonderful of Hallowe'ens! 

Happy Hallowe'en!

It's that most wonderful of days! Enjoy it!

Happy Samhain, all! Happy Hallowe'en!

Stalk/Stab/Strangle

FATE

Click on the pic...