I still can’t get a pot made before noon, but just a few minutes after that I cranked up the satellite radio and turned on the Honda generator (or vice versa) and threw 40 bowls in less than 4 hours.  It’s a real good batch, made with 2 lbs. of clay and just a little bigger than the last time. It felt great to fall so easily into that semi-conscious and I’m still kind of reveling in the feeling while I sit here hours later. There was a time when I made big lots of pots all the time…multiples of 50 and 100. Times have changed as has the way I work. And my tiny studio can only cope with so much wet work at a time so I ended the day by throwing some parts to assemble as they are much slower to finish. One advantage of my cold studio is no ‘chasing plastic’…everything dries slowly. That’s particularly nice because I slip and glaze everything raw. 

 

 

 

 I was outside getting rid of some tea I had drunk earlier and saw two adult bald eagles chaperoning a teenager right overhead! They were gone in a flash, but low in the sky and traveling together closely like they were out on a school field trip.

Almost everything I’ve made since getting a new start in January has been extra labor-intensive and I’ve been quite content to roll with it. But I’ve been promising myself that I’d begin some serious throwing and then I don’t, instead I carry on the bird and tree theme. But as you’ll see at the end here, I did warm up with a few bowls. Tomorrow’s challenge is 36 by 6 (pm that is).

 In the meantime, I revisited my homage to the Martin Bros. tobacco jars ((loyal readers will recall that I made the first one last spring).  It’s made from 3 thrown parts and LOTS of little balls o’ clay. The beak is my favorite part. This one will get a crackle slip and some ash based glazes. It’s a bit of a rip off, but it sure is fun! And I’m obsessed with the birds…it might be a reaction to the snow covered ground and the company of birds that I’m feeding at the studio.

I did make another tree, this one starting with a thrown base and why didn’t I think of upside down birds before?

This shape is my version of a Winchcombe salad bowl form. Mine emphasize the change of form and really define several planes, where WP bowls are rounder and softer. Emphasizing and defining the point where forms change is an essential element of my work. I’ll take better photos tomorrow…the light was fading.

 

 

 My good friend Bill Thornton finished hooking up LibertyTown’s new electric kiln. I don’t think that there is any one worth buying except L. & L. and Bill heartily agrees. Great design and easy to maintain. We’re challenging Beth to keep it this shiny for a long time!

 This gives us three kilns now and should make everyone’s life a bit easier.  They have a programmable computer and I’ve never learned how to fire them (on purpose). I am not a mechanic and if it weren’t for Bill I’d be lost. Wood kilns, I understand.

Ron asked about coin banks and the existential question “to put in a stopper or not?”. I would rather not do it myself, but experience shows that the consumer prefers easy access to their cash. A lot of old timey banks didn’t have a stopper, and I still believe that any coin that fits in the slot will come back out. Of course, that doesn’t solve the paper money dilemma.  Most of the shapes I like to throw for banks aren’t conducive to turning a hole in the bottom, so I cut it by hand, using this plastic lid as a template for the hole. Once fired, these nifty rubber stoppers make a good seal.

I spent the day putting handles on 21 oval pots. Some are pitchers, most are vases and some will get sprigs before they’re done. I’m big on handles…most of my pots look naked to me without some sort of appendage or other. In case you don’t make pots and are reading this, these pots are thrown on the wheel without a bottom. I then reshape them and later add a slab built base. I think it is a very graceful shape.

I put this ‘tree’ together with the idea of covering it with little birds tomorrow. It makes me think of old folk pots.

The snow continues to be incredible and wonderful…we are approaching 50″ total accumulation and it still sounds like there’s more to come. I’ve been spending most of my time on the farm, which allows me to share my 4-wheel drive Jeep with Paul and Emily and Ellie AND to reach my studio instead of driving out from town. But that means a good 1/2 mile walk there and back through feet of snow, some of it falling furiously. Mixed with all that snow is a melted layer that has frozen and a layer of sleet as well…plenty of trees have lost big limbs or have come down altogether, mostly pines and magnolias and others that hold their leaves this time of year.  All through the woods are trees bent to the ground as if in supplication. It’s magic. 

 

Yesterday was warm enough to start the big melt and the roofs are slowly shedding their icy blankets. Hanging 3 feet or more off the edge, it eventually breaks off in big lumps and chunks making a sound  more felt than heard. But before than it looks like a wave frozen in time. Just don’t get caught underneath when it goes!

 

 Once I get to the studio and warm it up I’ve been pretty productive, finishing a bunch of coin banks and nearing the end of the ovals I made earlier. I’m going a bit crazy on the little birds lately, which is not an unusual behavior for me. I’m trying to dream up a vehicle for a pot that would be covered with dozens and dozens of ’em. I can’t help it, I’m a pottery binge-er. 

 

  

 

Who doesn’t like those beautiful brown salt glazed silos? This bank turned into one with out much trouble at all.

I showed you in an earlier blog my attempt to make a Kline-ish crock so as I was slipping it I decided I might as well carry on the game and try my hand with a little brushwork. I used some simple brushwork on my work for about 5 years in the early 1980’s, applying an oxide mix over a neutral semi-matt gray glaze. I liked the simple use of shapes by the likes of David Leach and Nina Davis and Ray Finch. It felt forced and I eventually gave it up. The truth is, I’ve always had a strong sense of what form is right, but I’ve been all over the joint when it comes to surface. Anyway, it was fun to revisit.

At one time last week they predicted 3′ of snow…it wasn’t quite that spectacle, but it did snow pretty steadily for 30 hours or more…and something like 18″ fell. I took a great walk with Tom O’Hara and his fireplace as my destination. I dropped off a copy of Tom Wait’s newest live vinyl release, ‘Glitter and Doom’. A touch of Irish whiskey to ward off the germs and I then headed back home to carve my LibertyTown currency. I know I’ve said it before, but I do love this winter weather!

I tried my best to meet the by know famous ‘12(pots) by 12(noon)‘ challenge. I also failed two days running, but it was interesting to note the added urgency gained by just promising myself that I’d try. Then I thought of ways to circumvent the rules!!!…include a clock in the photo but set the time back! or count the pots made Tuesday evening as pots ‘made before noon’ Wednesday (technically they are…). But I couldn’t do it.

I did get myself on the wheel before noon, which was an accomplishment in itself. And below is some of the fruit that resulted. Coin banks and a bunch of ovals. Some are pitchers, some are vases. They all get a slab built bottom and most will get some sort of handle or other.

    Getting a start on a new series is what Michael’s challenge is all about. It may strike someone who doesn’t make pots as odd that we sometimes have to go through mind games to get ourselves going. Self motivation is key element of a successful career in the arts. I don’t usually lack for that. After all these years, getting to the studio is still a thrill. So much to make…so many ideas to try out…or to tweak. And I enjoy the labor of it. Anyway, I’m getting off the track.

    What I meant to mention here was how I measure my output in the studio.  I use two different numbers; what dollar amount do I need to produce on the days I throw and how many of each individual kind of pot to make? Both numbers help me stay focused and on track. 

    It’s not too hard to calculate: If I throw pots 75 days a year and I want to gross $75,000 a year then I must make $1,000.00 in pots each of those days. Depending on how many days you throw and what sort of overhead you have just plug your numbers in and away you go!

    A trick I learned from Eddie Hopkins was to always fill a board so that often determines how many I’ll make. 9 big mugs or 12 little mugs or 3 cereal bowls etc. fill a 1′ x 2′ board. If I’m throwing on bats I use 4′ long boards, but I’m seriously thinking of changing everything to 2’…I’m wearing out!  Ol’ Sid Tustin used to talk about carrying two(!) 4′ long boards at a time across the yard, one on each arm. Full of beautiful earthenware pots.

    I also tried my hand at a little 2lb. crock in honor of Mr. Kline. Maybe I’ll slip it and add some leaves! Looking at it I thought that it could be a cool new blog challenge. Pick a day that everyone would make their versions of someone else’s pot. What do you think?! Hollis day! Ron day! Hannah day! etc.

We’re supposed to be enduring the storm of the century, but so far we’ve seen about 2″ in 8 hours. I lent my 4-wheel drive to Paul and as he drove off I realized my beer rations were in the back! At least I have milk for my tea.

   I’m slowly making my way back into throwing on the wheel and it has made Michael Kline’s challenge all the more relevant. We often talk about the rhythm of making pots, but sometimes getting underway is more like trying to start a car that’s been sitting for a long time, sputtering and stuttering along. 

   I think one reason I put it off is that once I do get underway, the obsession kicks in and everything else takes a back seat. So, it’s important that all those loose ends are tied up so that I can then be transported to the land of form in 3 dimensions. 

   The first thing I did was make the blanks I mentioned last week for making LibertyTown money. I’ll sharpen them up when they’re leather hard and carve them when they are dry. The clay is a very fine white stoneware. I use it for all my stamps.  Then I’ll biscuit fire them before opening the ‘Fredericksburg Mint’! I’ve got three sizes for three different denominations.
   I also threw a bunch of coin banks and some oval pots that I’ll take photos of tomorrow. Modest things. It’s good to have that feeling return to my hands that only comes from a day of being polished by the rotation of wet clay.

Having a contest is a rather shameless way to generate comments, but I’ve been known to be shameless more often than is fair to tell.  Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter! Even if you didn’t mean to. I’ve learned a couple of things about holding a contest :

*Two weeks is w-a-a-a-y too long to wait in the blogosphere. 

*Lots of folks will enter a contest even if they don’t know the rules (all that you needed to do was make a comment! = 53 ‘entries’).

*If you make up the contest, you get to add addenda to your rules (don’t you?). In which case, I propose and accept the following tweak to my original thesis: I will pull two names, not one, from a hand made bowl (Ray Finch) and send a mug to each. This doubles your chances of winning… or dashes your hopes twice.

So, if Fetishghost from Stockton, California and Jeff Martin Ceramics from Boone, North Carolina will send along their addresses, I’ll put a mug in the post suitable for Napa Valley wine or moonshine from the hills! Stay tuned for a new and exciting contest in February…

I have lots to tell about my week on the farm and yet another winter wonderland of snow. Hiking through a foot or more of new fallen snow from the studio to Paul and Emily’s house and back again was serious work and absolute joy. I’m sure it’s pushing all the buttons that were played when I was a child, but it doesn’t matter what the cause, I find it thrilling.

I also brought to an end a month of handbuilding by making this coiled pot. I’ve been meaning to make  another big pot with these bands for some time and I’m really pleased with this one.

    Sunday is the big prize drawing for my January contest. A number of you have figured out the unpublished rules (it ain’t rocket science!) and you are welcome to vote early and often.

    I’m farm sitting this week as I finish off the last of my ‘Bedrock’ sculptures. Hoping to get snowed in there?

    I plan to climb back on that Shimpo Whisper Wheel next week and begin throwing. Once that begins, it’s hard to keep the rest of life in order as obsession returns.

I’ve been thinking of making LibertyTown money for some time and I roughed out a prototype the other day. I carved into a blank I made out of my fine white stoneware. I let the clay get entirely dry before I begin. I want to make different denominations in different sizes and use them as currency…in place of gift certificates and as prizes for kids who complete our scavenger hunt. Maybe we can sell ’em as good luck charms. Geoge Ohr, the Mad Potter of Biloxi,  used to make rude and suggestive coins for Mardi Gras.  This one is about 1 1/2″ wide. I’ll throw some blanks on the wheel this week and carve some more ornate ones.

I’ve continued to develop these sculptures over the last week in the midst of finishing 150 slip/glaze tiles. These newest ones are getting bigger, which means up to 10″-12″. They combine so much of what I love about clay…texture from rolling, pinching stretching and tearing. The juxtaposition of classic geometric forms. Spirals. Containment and volume and balance.

This face also comes from a stamp I carved. I sandwiched two together with glass beads for eyes. Back in college I used to use impressions from a cupie doll mold I made. Another oldie but goodie.

I’m trying to figure out how to get more height. This is the tallest so far. The base makes me think of Dali’s melting clocks.

The disc shapes are made by draping slabs over plywood cutouts, letting them firm up and then sticking them together to create a shallow but 3-D form. Everything else is a pinch pot or little ball of clay.

I’m using two slips these days, one with 6-tile(a N.C. kaolin) as it’s base and one with a French kaolin. I like them both, one being thicker and paler, the other a thinner, orangier skin. But I need to use a different clay for each because of problems with fit. I hate wasting tests on tiles that I can’t make use of, so for years I’ve been making these 2′ – 3″ tiles. I have hundreds (if not thousands) of them and there are several ‘installations’ scattered around LibertyTown. I also showed you the hearth extension in front of my fireplace which is tiled with them a couple of months ago. They also are installed in Paul and Emily’s shower. Jason and Lisa’s, too. One day I’ll figure out a more serious project. It’s the great joy and the great dilemma of being a maker…w-a-a–y too many ideas and projects…not nearly enough time. And sometimes it just takes years to find the right place for an idea to blossom.

Lots of entries in the  Birthday Contest! Keep ’em coming in. The judges are impressed with those of you who have cracked the code.

Check out this amazing online catalog/collection of American Redware and Stoneware.
Click on ‘Featured Lots’ and feast your eyes. Thanks to Jerry Brent for the heads up!

Detail of stamp

19th c. Harvest Jug (not to be confused with the Harvest Jugs that inspire Doug Fitch!)

Thought to be a pot by ‘Dave the Slave’

I like flasks (for their obvious use…)

Dr. Mike Costa got a mug of mine last week…here’s the e-mail I received yesterday:

Mug questions
microwave safe?
how about gamma rays? If nuclear attack is impending should I encase it in lead or can I just leave it exposed on the shelf.
How about temperature ranges – if as expected my kitchen approaches absolute zero tonight will the mug shatter into its component atoms?
Please reply – the responsibility of being an owner of a genuine Dan Finnegan mug is weighing heavily on my me.
M costa

Now this is a man who takes his pottery seriously!
I am always amazed at how much importance a simple mug can have to it’s owner. Here in the ‘Burg my mugs sometime seem to have a cult-like following. I’ve witnessed a woman take her DF mug from her purse in a restaurant and hand it to the waitress, telling her that she ONLY drinks from this mug! I also hear the stories of work mugs being stolen, of spouses who fight over a certain one, or worse yet, a spouse who has broken their mate’s mug and wants to get a replacement just like the broken one! (good luck with that…it’s been more than 20 years since I made ‘standard ware’). I always wish I had kept track of how many mugs I’ve made. A very low guess-timate goes like this:
200 mugs/year x 30 years = 6000.
Back in the early production days I probably made closer to 400 or 500 a year. I wonder where they all went? Now that would be a cool satellite map… dots atop every household that has a piece of mine!

A bonus snowfall that totally fooled the weather prognosticators fell yesterday morning and gave us a few inches of beautiful powdery snow, much like the snow I grew up with in Buffalo, NY (average yearly snowfall – 96″!). Usually we have an icy, wet mix here in the Rappahanock River Valley but the frigid air we’re experiencing right now makes a big difference.

I drove out to the studio after helping to sweep the parking lot at Libertytown for our First Friday reception later in the evening. It was fun to try out the four wheel drive coming through the woods. Snow was a foot high in places.
Once the studio warmed up I got back to my little sculptures. They (or I) are slow going, but I’m having a blast and as these little landscapes have been developing I continue to be entirely amused by them. Lots of Dr. Suess there, I suppose.

This one has some 6-tile slip on it. I have a tendency to want to fuss too much with the decoration. Note to self…cut it out.



And all of a sudden my little birdies are coming back with a vengeance. Each requires 6 parts:
-torso
-tail feather
-2 wings
-head
-beak
They are maybe an inch long. I have always liked to make little things. I couldn’t do it all day , but once in a while I’ll find that particular groove and moving slow as I am, it’s a perfect one. The guy at the top fell and his beak got a good bash…of course, he’s my favorite. (and please don’t ask me how I know his sex…!?)

The afternoon turned blue sky and brilliant sun. Emily, Ellie and I blew thousands bubbles that sped across the pure white landscape. The snow, like the bubbles, won’t last long here, but is exquisite just the same. I know that our friends in England might be a bit overwhelmed by their wintry weather and I hope everyone is keeping warm and drinking plenty of tea and whiskey. I will soon be doing one or the other in front of a fire, myself. Cheers!

The first pottery book I ever owned was “Finding One’s Way with Clay” by Paulus Behrenson and it turned me into a pinch pot junkie for years. I used to use his various exercises when I taught and it was a real pleasure to meet Paulus himself at Penland a number of years ago.
These figures are made of pinch pots assembled and ‘rolled’ and I often go back to them when a new cycle needs starting.

My early years in clay (when I was in college) were split between making raku sculpture and throwing useful pots on the wheel. 35 years later I still wander back and forth between the two although ‘professionally’ I’ve never done much with the sculpture…I’d like to find a venue one day. The problem is that I don’t do enough to promote my functional work let alone start another campaign.
It’s amazing to me that I can continue to find new directions within such a small idea…stacking little rocks that can conjure up images of people or prehistoric sites…part of the trick is a feeling of balance. They are fragile until fired because the joints are minimal. I ought to stack them over metal rods, but where’s the challenge in that?
First I make a bunch of parts. Then I arrange and rearrange before sticking them together.


When things go awry I try to attempt something new so it’s not as much a waste. I threw these ovals just before I came to terms with surgery and they were too dry to put bottoms in when I got back so I goofed around with slip. I made a huge comb from a scrap from a door sweep…perhaps a bit too wide.

The weather continues to be frigid and it’s comforting to know that Doug and Hannah and Hollis and Michael and Toff are all enduring the same. As they say in England , the weather is ‘bracing’ and I like it!

The promise was to myself and I’m happy to report that I delivered on it! I spent most of the afternoon of the first day of the year in my studio on Claremont Farm. Mostly I cleaned up and rearranged and dreamed of pots to come.
I just returned from another afternoon there spent dipping my fingers in…making bits and pieces for some little sculptural ideas…pinch pots and handbuilding and next I’ll try throwing some small parts. Even with such a significant new beginning I don’t have any drastic new direction to head in…I’m hoping to put together some familiar ideas in some different ways…that’s plenty for me.

Loafer’s Glory and Phoenix clays ready to go.

A new calendar is essential. This one is wildlife. Last year was outhouses!

This little ventless gas heater runs off of a propane tank and together with a dirt floor and 6″ of insulation it is very efficient (and cheap!). I took it apart and cleaned it out and it still runs nicely. I only run the little pilot at night but I’m not sure if it has much effect…

The temperature in the studio starts out around 40 degrees and slowly creeps up to 60 in an hour or two once I turn the heat on. I’m fine with the cool, as long as the clay doesn’t freeze it’s all good. I grew up in the Great White North, you know.

I found this in the ceramic tile section of Lowes the other day. It has a different grit on either side and seems to be a real beast of a tool.



This is made by Chris Light, a master with all things wooden. It is pretty big (10″) and I’m still not sure how I’ll use it, but I’ll figure out something.

I’m happy to be turning from a patient back to a regular old human being. I have lots of pots to make and the touch of cool clay in the quiet of my rural studio feels just right.

This has been quite the season for generous friends and Xmas continued that trend. I’ve never had a ‘secret santa’ before so I was excited to be invited by a certain red-headed blogger to join in her reindeer games this year.

This wonderful pot arrived Xmas eve and there’s no need to tell you who made it, do I?! In fact, I’m certain that I recognize it from one of Michael’s previous posts! From my seat here in front of the computer I think of Michael as the king of pottery bloggers…fearless in the face of technology, he is blazing a trail across international boundries with his charming words and images.

More importantly, he makes fabulous pots…Michael’s ability to unite form, decoration and surface in his work is masterly and I really think he’s one of the best. I’m so happy to add this pot to my collection and it was my favorite gift this year…until…

…Susan Wyatt gave me this beautiful ‘charger’ made by my main man, Ray Finch! I was flabbergasted and I’m still not sure how she obtained it, but it is a classic and unlike other pots of Ray’s that I own. I’ll try to take some photos of the others I have and show you. (Ray was glazing some of these back in 1978 when I asked him for a job).
I’ve been saying ‘thanks’ a lot these days…and I mean it!
3 days until I plan to return to my studio…

For more than 30 years the Christmas season has been a frantic time of making, firing and selling for me so it has been odd to spend this season so sedately. Several of the wonderful gifts I received yesterday seemed to have a theme that I will call “Yes You Had Surgery, Now Get Back In The Studio and Fire That Kiln”. And gifts came in unique pairs this year.
Below are the two pairs of hand knitted fingerless gloves I was given. Both are intended for loading wood-fired kilns in the winter. I was hoping to wait until the spring, but how can I delay when I now have the perfect equipment?
I also received two different night shirts! Having been a patient for the first time in my life I took to wearing an ancient one I owned. My friends are making some sort of statement that I’d rather not interpret! My legs dangling at the bottom of a nightshirt is not a pretty sight!

I also got two amazing pots and I’ll give you a gander at them tomorrow.

These are Susan Wyatt’s very first effort to make gloves and they are tres’ cool. All cotton (I can’t bear scratchy wool) and illustrated with flickering flames of fire and the words ‘WOOD FIRE’ written across the knuckles like a prison tattoo. I do have pinkey fingers, by the way. We’ve agreed that I have to grow them longer or Susan has to make them shorter…

Anna Branner’s have a new wrinkle that I’ve never seen before…no fingers at all. The yarn is hand spun but I haven’t had the chance to ask her if it was spun by herself. My guess is yes…she, like Susan, does many things well. Including her new blog which we have yet to discuss, but I encourage you to take a look. I’m not always easy to give gifts to as I’m a bit particular, but this was a stellar year. Yet another reason to be thankful!

Usually I’m irritated by the instantaneous title awarded by the TV media to every storm that comes our way…it makes each event seem like a chapter in a rather lurid romance novel after a while. But the Weather Channel has called the lovely snowfall that we just got a ‘Wallop’ and I like that word plenty. It has a great sound…wallop. I even looked it up…it has to do with great force.
I’ve been taking it easy for 6 weeks now, but with 12″-18″ in our part of the world this weekend, everyone else has had to slow down , too. It has hurt our business in a big way, but Nature has spoken and I’ve been enjoying this taste of serious winter just the same.
I miss writing here but my days have been pretty event free. I’m feeling much improved, though, and even did a little shoveling which was fine.
I have been doing some serious baking and liked this funny pattern of cookies over a teatowel.

The cutouts in the foreground have anise and sesame…subtle and perfect with tea.
The round ones in the background are peanut butter with chocolate kisses.

My sweet home in the snow…the fireplace has been cranking thanks to Tom and Shannon and Michael!

Miss Moneypenny.

Great drifts of snow.

Herself in silhouette, trying to figure it out.

Everyone at LibertyTown has been busy preparing for the last of our First Friday openings of the year (everyone, that is, but me!). Susan Wyatt spent days rearranging the Emporium with a new (for us) idea and it looks great. Elizabeth, Beth and Aline are putting up the “Small Works” exhibition by our very own artists and our 5th?/6th? annual student pottery sale commences on Friday evening as well. I was ‘under the knife’ last month and this will be my first public appearance since then.
I have a lot of pots from last May’s firing which I’m showing for the first time. Some have been to England and back, some were made in England this summer, and some spent a couple of months in West Virginia. Oh, and a whole bunch went to NY and back as well. Think of the stories they have to tell!!!

As I continue to mend I’ve begun rummaging through my collection of books on clay, starting with the oldest and wandering from there. I enjoy the sometimes archaic language and the strong opinions that seem to have disappeared as we’ve gotten more ‘civilized’. The stronger the opinion the better, I say, whether I agree or not.

Birch’s Ancient Pottery by Samuel Birch is a 2 volume set printed in 1858. There are no photos, but it is illustrated with 100’s of fine lithographs and in some ways they make it easier to see the form of a piece.

Mr. Birch’s intro begins: “A work has long been required which should embody the general history of the FICTILE art of the ancients”…I had to look up ‘fictile’ ( It’s from the Latin word meaning to mold). I should have known that…now we all do!
He also writes: “In the application of form in art, the Greeks have excelled all nations, either past or present.”
In another of my favorites, The Book of Pottery and Porcelain by Warren Cox (also 2 volumes, copyright 1944) the author disagrees: “We, therefore, find at times a certain coldness in the art of the Greeks. It is though they prefer a straight line to a curve.” I believe the later to be true, but mostly I enjoy the differing views of the experts.

I’ve been playing around with some bead making and pendants for Nicky to turn into necklaces.
I do enjoy working on wee little things. Most of these are from stamps I’ve carved from fine white clay and biscuit-fired.

For those keeping score, I visited my surgeon today and he won’t be needing my company again for 6 months! Another positive milestone.

I’m having a quiet day reading and half watching football with a good fire in the fireplace. Of course, I’m drinking tea with biscuits, too. I’m getting stronger and eating better everyday; I’m just very sore and they tell me that it is normal.
I really just want to write to say thanks again to the countless people that rallied behind me these past 6 weeks…it gives emphasis to today’s celebration in a very real way.

Hello again, friends! It has been a whirlwind of a month, from diagnosis to cure, but I am now a part of that growing population that calls themselves a cancer survivor. 10 days ago the wonderful surgeon, Dr. Earnhardt, removed 8″ of my colon and 3 days ago the lab report came back with the wonderful news that no bad cells were found in the lymph nodes that were also removed! The surgery was more extensive than the Dr. had hoped, but with results like that one can only be grateful.

I am eating most anything I choose, walking around the block, and you would be hard pressed to know what I’d been through if you could see me now. I’m still very sore and trying to ‘manage the pain’ without depending too much on the serious drugs they’ve given me.

I can’t begin to tell you how important all of the good wishes mean to me and if the power of positive thinking truly exists, I have countless people to thank for my recovery. I’ll be laying low for a while yet, but it won’t be too long before I’ll be heading out to the studio. Happily I enjoy making little pots.
One of the most extraordinary people to help me along the way is Steven, one of the 7 nurses who attended to me. That’s him below. He was upbeat and kind while at the same time pushing me to walk and move when it was the last thing I wanted to do. He was as therapeutic as any medicine they gave me! If there are angels on this earth, he is one of them. More soon about all the support I’ve gotten.