In the Studio: 3 April

A new working situation, where my wife and I are splitting some hours, is allowing me roughly two hours a day four times a week in my studio. I’m uber grateful for this opportunity and plan to make the most of it.

Above is a selection of greenware waiting for the fire. The slightly different forms in the middle of the shelf, with the sapphires and rubies pressed into them, were a bit of a “happy accident.” We’ll see how they turn out. Unfortunately I have very little completely finished new work from this year. I want to smoke the terra sigs on the bisqued pieces, and instead of using foil (or, if I had one, a sagger) in my electric kiln I hope to put together a small wood burning unit in my backyard for this purpose. That probably won’t happen until the middle of May. Between now and then I will be out of town for two weeks, and in between will be building a bed for my brother.

A couple of opportunities related to my artwork are still ahead this year. First is the chance to exhibit or install an installation in a coastal Georgia church. The second is the opening of a gallery named Local Flair. The proprietor hoped to be up and running this month, but her husband — the builder — has moved the schedule back to the middle of summer. The Flair will be, ideally, located in the ever cutening downtown Siloam Springs. The aforementioned builder recently teamed up with a pair of brothers who are financially backing the renovation of some of the more decrepit buildings in the area. By the end of the year it seems we’ll have a new bookstore, restaurant (hopefully) and art gallery downtown.

There is a tension for me in combining more personal posts like this with the more in depth inquiries I often make on this blog. There are pros and cons, in my mind, to keeping them intermingled as well as separating them. For the time being, I’m sticking with the interminglement.