face jugs

I lay here in the fading light on a saturday marked by a cultural excursion, wondering why I can't fall into another nap, considering how little sleep I've had. It's just nonstop around here- I feel like a balloon filled nearly to capacity, stretching from inside, poked from the outside, patching little pinpricks, pliable in essence, but taut. So last night was a gallery opening of work from this year's instuctors, and the wine kept flowing long into the night. Full moon- we are laughing on porches and playing vollyball in the dark. We are talking about politics in art school, swimming in the dead sea, and bravery. In the midst of it all, Kent is firing the small kiln with waste vegetable oil! It got going late in the aftrenoon, a bit too much burner for such a small kiln but not an incredible amount of smoke... later in the night among all the mayhem, I saw that he had switched it back to two propane burners. They were finished at 1.30. maybe I'll see him at the party in the glass shop tonight- mojitos and appropriate vessels for it..
I'm sorry, I ought to have taken a few photos of the historical pots I saw today- I'm kind of aukward with a camera, and mine is too big to hide in a pocket.. we left the mountains, to the Hickory cultural center to attend a lecture by a folk historian, and check out the contemporary pots of the area. It was a craft fair of area potters, some of whom stick to the traditions of wood-ash glaze and strict function. It had a family feeling, as so with the lecture- tracing a few generations of men who "turn and burn". Light on history, warm of image. In the hall, lots of face jugs- the moonshine jugs decorated with frankly african-american features and snaggle teeth. disturbing. I am going to ask the other class' teacher about them tonight- I'll tell you about their evolution. Now it seemed every potter there and his mother was selling face jugs. And antique pots- with more character, more grit. Other than a few gems, it was not my cup of tea. oh well. me and the girls drove home in the sun, sleepy.
So life is good- great people everywhere, it's warming up- we're starting to sit outside at lunch and the conversation is shifting from "so, how's your class?" to amputees and how polar bears are breeding with brown bears. Our class is getting along well- morale is high, we'll unload the kiln tomorrow and i just did some castable repair on the soda kiln, so we'll fire that one next week.