Asheville!

I LOVE being in Asheville.  One thing I'm mindful of in my time here is how I forget to take pictures!  STill, here is the one piece of pottery I bought earlier today.  It's a bowl by Mangum Pottery.  I like how it's signed and it is well, rather quite thin.  Not sure if I like that or not.  

The colors are simple and beautiful.  I'll use this one for sure.  Much better to only get one instead of a while set.  Then I can get one bowl from many different potters and then keep building that variety.
Really like the Mangum glaze combos.  Check out their website!
Purchased this cereal bowl at Morning Gallery.  Great art there; interesting that the potters don't have their names displayed with their pieces.  Interesting that the staff didn't know the artists.  Took 15 minutes to get a piece of Julie Covington's identified.  Her work is absolutely gorgeous!
Went to Blue Spiral 1.  Inspiring to see the functional forms that are altered.  Seeing all this pottery gives me some ideas about how to make mine, well- mine.
At the same, time I can't say how much I love being here.  For starters, here are a few quick reasons that come to mind:

Pottery!
Openness to well, almost anything!
Environmentally focused---  care of the earth matters
Good fairly priced local, organic, vegetarian food
Incredible Episcopal worship at All Souls Cathedral
Beauty (mountains, etc.) beyond words
Pottery!
Galleries galore
Highwater Clay supply store
Great clothes!  (I get most of my clothing here).
The arts....
Malaprop's Bookstore!
Greenlife Grocery...

I could live here in a heartbeat.
This is my short list.  That's all for now.  Atlanta tomorrow after a trip running a few errands and then to Highwater Clays!  :)

Bigger and Off!

 The very good news is that I'm making bigger pieces.  This bowl is from 7 lbs. of clay.  I'm so pleased!  I remember Adrienne Dellinger saying once that by continuing to make lots of smaller pieces, it would help me make the bigger ones someday.  I have been so content in making the smaller ones and remember vividly one day just adding some more clay to center and well, what she said worked!  This one will be trimmed and then get words etched onto the outside of it, I believe.  Good news!

The other good news is that I'm off and away for a week, which is simply wonderful.  Spent time with good friends today, went running in my favorite place in Charlotte, and tomorrow, I'm off to Asheville.  Thanks for the gallery insight.  I will go to Blue Spiral in Asheville for sure, and I just discovered Signature Gallery in Atlanta too as Mudfire is too much out of the way.
Loving the pottery world these days.
Oh, and this picture is of me and my dad last summer in the North Cascades Mountains.  Yes, that's snow atop some of the peaks in mid-August.  It was a heavenly time.  I'll be hiking there about a month from now.  Can hardly wait!
I may return home from either trip.  I just may.  :)  After all, my pottery wheel is there.

Which Galleries to Visit?

All in all, it's been a very good Friday.  Trimmed a bunch of bowls and then etched quotes in 12 of them.  Then, managed to throw two bigger ones- each about 10 inches in diameter.  Won the flowers in a raffle for Teacher Appreciation Week as I'm the chaplain at the Episcopal Day School here. 

Here's to making bigger forms and well, more of them!
I'm off to Charlotte, Asheville, and then well, Atlanta next week.  One of the few downsides of pottery is that I can't take the wheel with me.  Well, I could, but...
Any recommendations of galleries to visit in either place?
Planning on going to Lark and Key in Charlotte.

Bowls and a New Venture

So I have this wonderful friend, Julie, who is full of grace.  She and I were talking today and I mentioned the bowls that I'm making and how I am looking for some quotes.  (Ironically, I don't collect quotes or even keep any on hand).  Anyway, she's a yoga teacher and in a short time, she had emailed the yoga studio owner and 4 quotes have come my way.  I'll etch these onto some of these bowls you see and well, this may become an opportunity to sell some bowls!  I continue to remind myself that I do this because I really enjoy it first and foremost, but having this new possible venture is a wonderful thing.  Will keep you posted. 

 Meanwhile my plants are doing well.  The petunia that just 'appeared' weeks ago is blooming like crazy-

And the zinnias I planted from seed are taking their time but making some progress.

And I rescued this verbena from Lowe's.  It's flowering!  More blooms coming too.  Not sure how it's purple in the picture- it's really red and white!

Oh, and here are some of the quotes I'll be etching onto bowls this week:

The obstacles in our path ARE our path.  Rolf Gates

Try to say YES to each and every moment.  Eckhart Tolle

It's not who we are that holds us back... it's who we think we aren't.

Stay Strong and Carry On.

And here's another one Julie shared with me that I really like:
You are the sky... everything else is the weather.  Pema Chodron