tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54975006652331892662024-03-13T10:38:32.483-07:00the treadleheadLife and times of Careen Stoll and the Tin Man, a potter and her kiln in Portland, OR. This blog is rapidly becoming more about my thoughts, restoration and modification of the carriage house, travel writing, and links to fun art stuff. KILN LOGS and notes on construction are under Tin Man on CATHOUSECLAY.COM.
with LoveUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-23704064864839513902013-09-19T23:21:00.000-07:002013-09-23T22:03:37.686-07:00solar powered porcelain pickling crocks!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l1vc-Zu0dss/UkEdG-wIwJI/AAAAAAAAAco/uPJEXJ1R2Cc/s1600/web-crocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l1vc-Zu0dss/UkEdG-wIwJI/AAAAAAAAAco/uPJEXJ1R2Cc/s320/web-crocks.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT";">Care of your crock</span><span style="font-family: "Engravers MT";"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Century;">Your fermenting crock is made of durable vitrified
porcelain. With normal care, it will serve you and your loved ones for
generations. Feel free to compress
your pickle with a wooden mallet or the flat of your fist, whichever is more
comfortable. The lip and flange
are the delicate part, but you can lift the jar by the neck without
concern. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Century;">The stones are sized to rest just at or below the inside
of the neck. When you pack your
pickle into the crock, allow for the stones to end up there. The foods will expand and the stones
will press them down again because they have locked against the neck. For this reason, I advise that you fill
the crock to the correct stone placement, not partway.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Century;">For fermenting, place the lid on the jar and fill the
flange with water. The water
becomes a seal against unwanted bacteria. Unless you live in the desert, there
should be enough water volume to not evaporate for about a week. Top up as needed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Century;">Clean the jar with soap and hot water by hand, or it can
go in the dishwasher if the weight is distributed around the lip. Please do not pour boiling water in the
crock or subject it to any thermal shock (like putting it on a range). The clay itself is impervious to water
and does not require any kind of sanitizing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Century;">You may return (at your expense and in the original packaging)
undamaged jars within 3 months of purchase for a full refund. Should you find a functional defect in
the work, I will refund your purchase entirely upon receipt of proof of
defect. Studio seconds are
available for sale at the studio and occasionally on Etsy.com. Seconds will always be clearly labeled
as such with their flaw detailed, but still functionally sound. The purchase of a second is final.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Century;">If you have any concerns or questions whatsoever, please
do not hesitate to contact me. I
love what I do and I exert stringent quality control. Feel free to visit the studio and meet me during an annual
open studio on Mother’s Day weekend.
If you would like a reminder, send me a message, and I will send you a
quarterly email newsletter.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-85662309878412506782013-05-10T10:44:00.002-07:002013-05-10T10:53:26.208-07:00As I spend a little time editing web copy for the launch of our new collective website TinMansHands.org, I ran across this post from many years ago. As the keystone exxon pipeline is still somehow up for debate and CO2 emission standards are not getting more stringent under this administration, I feel that the letter is still current. At the time I was referring to the talks in Copenhagen which, as I recall, was another cycle of going no-where with ensuring a habitable planet for future humans. <br />
<br />
My letter to the president- 2009<br />
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Dear Sir-</div>
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I write to you from the cold attic of my carriage house, two
candles over there, dirt under painted nails here, as I have been out in the
garden all day. You have a slow and steady way, and I do yet believe that you
will manage to wash some sins of past administrations. I struggle with many of
your decisions, aware that you balance daily a multitude of pressures and
global needs. I do not agree with many of the positions you steadfastly hold,
so sometimes I despair. Until I remember your wife. I look forward to the day
when the news coverage of your organic garden extends beyond her fashion sense
and gives greater weight to her statements about the sensible economics of your
little victory garden. Could she speak a bit more about the way a body feels
after a day in the garden? Tired but satisfied, with oxygen in the blood and
the brain. Cheap health insurance. Perhaps I should write to her...</div>
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<br /></div>
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But I write you because you have the voice. May I introduce
myself? I am a “maker of things”, a potter; I glowed to the praise of your
inauguration speech. I am a young woman with a mind made keen by travel and
high-quality education, a body made hard by labor. I have strong ethics about
my consumption of energy, so when it came time to establish my own studio, I
designed and built an innovative kiln that fires with wood and waste vegetable
oil. I fire functional porcelaineous service-ware to 2300 degrees F in a kiln
that is completely carbon-neutral. I am part of the scattered army of green entrepreneurs
just dying to break into this supposed new paradigm of ethical consumption, and
I clarified my position in an interview with the radio broadcast Speaking of
Faith.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I have been trying to dance on the grave of bloated big
business but it just won't die! Here's what I'm thinking- I'm not against
capitalism, I'm against exploitation. Fair business practice without abuse of
power is a must in ethical society. America has lost its moral standing? Well,
we should quit being complicit in the abuse of other nations' people and
resources (not to mention our own). The more effectively we can keep our sights
on the acquisition of the materials, their construction and sale, the more
accountable the business in question can be to the community it creates. In other
words, make local, buy local. Or at least national. But it's a big nation,
these United States. The wheels of change turn so excruciatingly slowly.
Perhaps it is this that you encountered more forcefully upon ascending to the
high office in which you are now find yourself. Congress is mostly in the
pocket of lobbyists, seems to me. It is so painful to watch.</div>
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What can you do? You can risk it all. Everything it took to
get you to where you are now. Mary Oliver says “Tell me, what is it you plan to
do? / With your one wild and precious life?” (the summer day). I feel a great
pressure in the world, but not nearly enough. We are teetering on the edge of
calamitous climate change. Everyone is looking at America. You know it- they
are looking at you. Well, you and India and China. But, You. And Me. Little me,
with no voice, no press, no gilt-edged fingernails. I have nothing to lose by
giving the finger to big oil. You, well, I'm not sure what you have to lose
either, quite honestly. We all die someday- you could go down in history as the
president who, in a time of great crisis, gave dirty money the finger and told
the truth: we are running out of oil and there is no such thing as clean coal.
Harness the tides, implement bio-char, rip up the lawn. Oh, it would be
marvelous! Of course, the press would roast you. Ah, but the people would hear
you again!- you could just say it over and over- fair, ambitious, and binding.
Explain why it is crucial, you know the facts. Fair, Ambitious and Binding. All
the way to one of my favorite countries where the sun shines at midnight and
the bike lanes are ten feet wide. Will you? Will you help clear the rubble and
let us build a sane, ethical and accountable future? What will you do with your
one wild and gifted life?</div>
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<br /></div>
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With love almost always-</div>
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(and give Michelle a hug from me)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Careen Stoll</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-37521208349469924342012-06-29T01:12:00.001-07:002012-06-29T01:12:23.770-07:00summer class, first daynoncredit, so I can be very relaxed. I state it on the first day: my teaching philosophy is to pretty much follow where your interest is: if you want to do your thing in the corner and not be bothered, that's fine by me.. if you want to become comfortable on the wheel- this is the one in the line where I do demo's - choose these nearby as your front row seats... if you think you know what I'm talking about, you may politely and quietly ignore me- its all good... but fyi, I'm good at this, so use me while you got me.. I love them, and they know it already, so most head for the wheels<br />
<br />
after a super-condensed explanation of the process of making pots along with studio orientation, we get going- poorly connected splash pans are rattling around, clay spins off the wheel, I do an excruciatingly slow demo of how to center and stop there, shifting to letting them try and figuring out where they need help.. the more experienced move off to the edges, the newbies near me, and the tuning begins.. I must observe, focus on one at a time, thoroughly enough to truly help them, and meanwhile not drop the budding excitement of the others before it turns into dejection after half an hour of trying to center. If I lose someone the first day, I usually lose them for good. One woman showed up with her husband, supporting him because he didn't want to come to class alone.. she sits at the wheel, never having touched clay.. she is one of seven I am tending to, and I can see in her body language that she is frustrated, even if her words are otherwise.. cheerful, but she is putting a happy face on it- she's frustrated- I am helping someone else, and then someone else, and I had of course warned them all that it was a very steep learning curve at first. I see at a distance her fussing, helpless strong motions that don't correlate to understanding of this spinning lump, the physics of pressure on rotation, and I give her a little attention, then move on.<br />
<br />
fifteen minutes perhaps, I return to her, a larger woman, red-faced and kind, her body getting in her own way as she tries to follow my instruction to put her elbow against her hip- impossible- I adjust my instruction. but when I return to her, she has whittled her pound and a half to half that, and it is perfectly centered. unbelievable- a complete beginner, not an hour on the wheel- and I sit next to her to encourage.. she says- well, now what? and sit at my own wheel next to her to show her what I was going in wait till next class to show- opening and the beginning of throwing.. she can't hold back to just watch me for a second- she's in, she's enthralled- she's - I can see the look on her face, her body language again shifting, her face softens, delighted, phrases like "wow", subdued exclamations like "oh! I've never..." she turns to me, apologizing, says "I'm about to cry"- and it nearly makes ME cry- I laugh with delight, say "we have a witness!", and within a few more seconds she has ruined her little pot, but the look on her face, the joy evident in her entire body was so beautiful.. it was just, so very beautiful...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-12420185867861548552012-05-17T12:46:00.001-07:002012-05-17T12:49:27.671-07:00may, and musing on this "job" while tending the gardenI've hit an odd sensation: wondering if the pure sensory pleasure of porcelain and liminal obliteration of fire are really the reasons that I continue to make pots. This year I have a goal of financial self- sustainability. The same goal I have had for years, and will for years to come, no doubt. This year I have my studio time with little distraction, which is new in comparison to recent years, and I find myself strangely daunted. But why? certainly it isn't a creative block- I have never been at a loss for what to make. I muse on the topic as I do a spring cleaning and fixing fest, or start the next round of lettuces in the garden. Why do I feel like actually, I'm procrastinating? Procrastinating, doing the one thing that I most love? I mean, sure, its a great feeling to now have a waterproof patio workbench and not be spending money on greens at the grocery store, but there's something else in the back of my mind...<br />
<br />
I sold out of small items at both the nceca show and the ceramic showcase, a local potters association show. Obviously I'm underselling my "product" (as my dad would say), since the income was a measley $1000 from each event. ok, well, I'll have to step it up over the years coming, analyzing the pieces that sell and increasing their price by 15%. It doesn't appeal to my "pots for the people" preferences for wide accessibility of all people for my work. But who am I kidding.<br />
<br />
Look at this example: I am initiating a slip-cast version of my mug, which always sells. my cups do too, of course, but there's tremendous variety to them, not so much with the mugs. I had a meeting with the homegoods buyer from New Seasons market, my grocery store chain whose mission is to support local growers and the community. The community goes there to buy wholesome foods (or frosted flakes) usually produced organically, priced close to what gives the grower a living wage. The clientelle is aware that their hard-earned money is going back into supporting the community in which they live, etc, its a lovely cycle. New Seasons also sells candles and dishes and cards and hats, also usually made by local peeps. They are the fastest-growing chain in portland, and the people who shop there are definitely my target market. But they are, we are, so accustomed to the fruits of chinese labor that the homegoods buyer suspected that even though the whole story of my design manufactured by a local slip-casting operation was a great pr story, the price point that would provide all parties a living wage was probably beyond what the customer would likely pay. She committed to buying a hundred from me. I need to sell 700 to break even on the investment. Even slip-cast pots for the people are too expensive compared to what we are accustomed to paying. If everyone gets a living wage, a slip-cast mug would cost about $30, and I only designed the thing. That's what I ask for a mug now. The prices for my hand-made, wood-fired ones are therefore, what, 1/50th of what they should be for me to be actually paid for my time? <br />
<br />
Call me crazy, but that's why I don't want to rush to the weekly market to pick up my csa eggs, and ride my bike instead of buzzing over there quickly on the motorcycle. no-one is ever really going to pay me for my time. For the first time in my life, I'm in that question zone where the hassle of meeting a deadline (in this case a potentially relatively lucrative art fair in Bellvue, Washington) is turning the joy of touching porcelain into a job. and its a job where still nobody is really paying me. It's turning into a job that increases my stress and wears down my body but doesn't meet my goal of "independance". It makes me question what it means to be independant, why I value that so much, which makes me think of where my financial lifeline lies and all the ties that bind there... which strengthens my resolve to cut them but, well, I'm 35 now and ensconced in this "job" that will never pay in the culture in which we live today... Linda Christianson warned me that I would never make a lot of money, but it is possible to make just enough, if you live simply. Silvie said something similar. Both of them had partners who helped somewhere along the way, for greater or lesser duration. I have my parents. We are never "independant". and those ladies were getting established at a time when the craft movement was strong. diy might be making a comeback in portland but its not trickling down yet.<br />
<br />
But what I do know is that if I don't water the seedlings, they will die. and then I need to buy lettuce at new seasons. So I go do that. It feels more immediate, less "artistic". Its not like I lack for friends all supporting each other in their passions for the absolute necessity of the arts. But even friends seem distant when I listen to the news or wake alone, thinking again about those paintings called three little birds that I'd love to have above my bed, and how cheap they are, but how I might never buy them because even though they are as cheap as my cheap rent, that's still 400 dollars and I blew my wad at the artstream at nceca.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-55648374924089642182012-02-22T12:51:00.004-08:002012-05-17T12:48:35.980-07:00old man winter smiling on us firing feb 2012Old Man Winter is smiling on our first firing of the year. That's Georgianna Jones taking it all in...<br />
<br />
we are at cone 7 on this mild and breezy day, the wood is in perfect shape and we have more than enough of it, the oil was prewarmed, no clinkers are developing, the crew is well-rested and fed. Dogs are smiling, friends dropping by... so many years of heartache and headache seem to have been necessary to bring us to this place.been necessary to bring us to this place.<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwshaAkq5nwRP6qoEKFFZi7VeFO-AeV8hR6mnrOmCmfCXOGkI0XsT1Pi6rHAQZM3mO7cWS9DGN07MDGTHO2Rw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-4345352576145391582012-02-08T15:52:00.000-08:002012-02-08T17:11:10.350-08:00close to the bonea pensive moment as I too encounter one of the many hurdles so many low-income people must leap. I have never hid the fact that much of my income is from family gift, untaxed, despite my work ethic. This year I am attempting again to rectify that situation as well as make the most local choices that are available to me. To this end, I just signed up with a meat share CSA, but more on that in a moment. I have also been trying to switch my money to a local credit union, advantis, where I now have a checking account that gives back two percent interest provided that I meet certain conditions. Imagine my surprise to be declined for a credit card. not just the rewards credit card that I wanted which earns miles towards air travel, but ANY credit card. I mean, I get junk mail all the time offering me credit cards because my credit rating is very high. why is it so high? because I'm always paying my existing one (a miles-earning one from wellsfargo) in full. because I'm able to constantly dip into the jar of honey, and I'm never in debt. How did I get the credit card that I have now? when I was a student and first signed on with wellsfargo in utah. maybe they just extend the card to those with a higher credit to debt ratio because its more ways to suck in the poor. But Advantis doesn't play that way, apparently. They want people who can prove (via tax returns) that they have little debt load. and even though I have no debt, it doesn't show up that way.<br /><br />very interesting to me. for one thing, I know damn well that even if my family is operating well within legal parameters, there are ripple effects to the action. The situation is not comparable to the true injustices of tax loopholes, insider trading, predatory lending, etc. But its fascinating to me to observe it from the opposite shore. At this point, based on my own merits, I am not able to get a credit card from a reputable bank with safe lending practices. I'm not able to start the process of building my paper worth. I couldn't get a loan for the same reason- I guess I need to start thinking of a credit card as a loan as they do, instead of a tool. By using the tool as I have been, I am offered flashy things and free crap all the time, the spoils that go to those who have enough money to make more money, ill-gotten or fair.<br /><br />and so a junction point, the same one I have encountered before, which means that at least one road is circular and I must be sick of this ride: do I continue to dip into the jar of honey, dropping 700 dollars all at once on a six month share of grass-fed protein BECAUSE I CAN, never mind that the comparison value of the meat is very reasonable, never mind that I will share it, never mind all that- if I were on my own "paper merit", I couldn't put up that kind of cash all at once, I would have to scrimp and save for it, and given the state of things, I'd probably never get there. Which means one less customer for a family farm.<br /><br />no, as I have stated, with years of prep work completed, this year (and likely, many into the future) is a great experiment: four firings and four shows, building inventory, applying for the best, not wasting time on side-projects, going for the money. this year I'm all about earning money off my work in the studio. I want to see what I can do. get off the circular road of someone else's money and the subtle ties that bind. those are not the ropes that I love- those are the ones I abhor.<br /><br />what's sick to me is the yardstick by which I am measuring myself: my paper merit. my taxable self. my degree of involvement in the machinations of the state. I appreciate the law and order, I do not appreciate the warmongering. why cant we pay taxes allocated to what we care about?, other than the obvious database nightmare. ...<br /><br />well, I received that news just an hour ago. However, months ago, I was sleepless one night and researched CSA farms, landing on <a href="http://www.sweethomefarms.com/">Sweet Home Farms</a>, the kind of place that just makes me ache with love for people who persist in swimming against the stream of appalling ranching practices- its not even ranching, is it, when they raise sows in cages in warehouses - what is that? if we are what we eat, what am I if I eat that meat? a poisoned slave. I'd rather starve. If that's the meat I can afford with my artist's wages, let me go vegetarian. let me go back along my circular path of parental money. I purchased a share from Sweet Home Farms, and immediately filled the studio with the smell of the simmering stew bones that they throw in for free in winter. my poor bike panniers! fourty pounds of meat and root veggies - beautiful...<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5RBL5pstvZU/TzMbXmmUyvI/AAAAAAAAAaY/DYDJxtyIyPs/s1600/IMAG0025.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5RBL5pstvZU/TzMbXmmUyvI/AAAAAAAAAaY/DYDJxtyIyPs/s400/IMAG0025.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706935245120785138" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-7345591892173348792012-02-02T16:25:00.000-08:002012-02-09T01:33:12.158-08:00full stop<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uv-srDK34hI/TysqSC_QB5I/AAAAAAAAAaM/G93BqtWu2V4/s1600/IMAG0015.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uv-srDK34hI/TysqSC_QB5I/AAAAAAAAAaM/G93BqtWu2V4/s400/IMAG0015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704699842523039634" border="0" /></a><br />to say that everything comes to a halt when seed packets or better yet, live plants, arrive at the door* is not completely accurate. but certainly, my excitement jumps to a higher valence level and I find myself magnetically attracted to doing whatever needs to be done to support getting the little plants the food and water that they need.. the photo is an unpacked box from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/onegreenworld.com">One Green World </a>, a nearby nursery devoted to permaculture practices that has scoured the globe for plants suited to my climate as well as many others- detailed notes available. In Portland, I could grow certain bananas and citrus, pawpaws, pinapple guavas, passionfruit (no kidding!) in addition to vit-C packed seaberries and goji beyond the obvious such as blue and strawberries (including ones that fruit the whole year). I bought purple asparagus, an delicious eatable fern, saffron, razzberries, and 50 stems of three varieties of those year-round strawberries.. and I am loopy with delight....<br /><br />*uh, right- anyone else notice the irony here?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-50664536252435683082011-11-21T16:37:00.000-08:002012-06-13T10:18:30.581-07:00no ER for meI gashed my lower knee today and I'm not going to the hospital. The cut is 1 1/4 by 1/4 inches, so definitely would benefit from stitches, but given that even at 900$ a quarter, blue cross does not pay for ER visits that do not lead to hospitalization, I know what I'd be looking at: I did go, at the urging of my father, to treat a cat bite two years ago, and it cost 600$. Assuming that stitches would be relatively more messy to deal with than a shot in the arm, I can only assume they'd be comperably more expensive.<br />
<br />
its only a flesh wound. no tendons or bones. didn't even hurt much<br />
<br />
what I did is this: I cleaned the area with antiseptic, applied a large band-aide in such a way as to pull the flesh back together, and then I went back to the attic. I had just started using the orbital sander, having finished with the various belts. I was approaching a difficult area: semi-underneith a low desk, and narrow. I was clearing the cords and such out of the way, with the sander on in my right hand. it made that mild orbital movement that they do, and I let my wrist roll with it, but my knee was too close- the edge bit me just below it. I think I finished moving the cords and then turned off the sander to see how deep it was, surprised to see the sedimentary layers of body.<br />
<br />
so I had just been in an excellent conversation with an interesting character in my life, who had described an accident he had had and how he dealt with the situation. I decided to try the same: replay the incident as if the mistake had not been made. thirty times, focusing on recreating it in your mind as having been done correctly. I did. stand up, turn on the sander, crouch over there, approach, mindful, move cords, begin sanding, stand up, return to start. thirty times, and trying, as with meditation, to clear all memory of the accident, to imprint my mind with a new pattern. Eventually, I just kept sanding, and am currently taking a break. (and breaking the new imprint by writing this, I realize!). there is an intermittent mild pain in my leg, but the bleeding stopped almost as soon as it started (and I cleaned it off the floor so my assistant (and I!) doesn't know it ever happened.) right, so, I guess I've wandered into faith healing territory, but we'll see what it looks like in a week. I'll take another picture.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-87143482742291740662011-11-01T18:33:00.000-07:002012-02-09T01:40:21.239-08:00seasonal princessstill reeling from the meal that I just wolfed down like an existentialist lunges for the light- ...'is it possible that "I" am "alive" and consuming this divine nutriment' was the general sentiment of the past 20 minutes- it was a chunk of coho salmon, seared, with rice, a persimmon, a few fresh figs, and local wine- I thought of the good people in my life and how I would have loved to have them here with a similar plate to share, and I thought of how poignant it is that we all try so hard all the time and yet still, the place where the effort, appreciation, and loved ones come together is so elusive- as if the vast majority of our time as social innovators/ historical preservationists pans out as just (crucial) practice: 2011: you must value and allow 1000 meals composed of ingredients from carbon-responsible sources before you may share one with a friend- wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off....<br /><br />life... as it shows itself presently... is looking wonder-fullUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-77236927799880482562011-08-08T14:03:00.000-07:002011-08-08T14:22:10.300-07:00a tiny summer update<a href="http://podcast.kzme.fm/ArtclecticPDX/?p=episode&name=2011-01-13_artclecticpdx01162011.mp3">Link to an interview on artclecticpdx about to rebroadcast</a>.
<br />
<br />ya, so its august already, and this year I am consumed by creating institutional memory about my PR job for PDXOS in addition to doing it, mentoring about it, and doing other people's work occasionally. Check out the new website at PortlandOpenStudios.com.... just re-wrote most of the copy as I organized its recent launch. Next up: serious database analysis and instituting a professional jury software service!
<br />
<br />Studio is on simmer until next year when I shift out of this job obligation. Still managing to fire twice this year, but that's not much compared to what I could do... Having a full and varied social life is a very high priority as I figure out how I want to move forward into the world. And I am still remodeling the sweet little carriage house in which I live and work, but all those photos are up on facebook now- look for them there. I send out a quarterly e-newsletter to my mailing list instead of posting here much anymore.. if you'd like a copy of that, <a href="http://cathouseclay.com/node/37">sign up here</a>.
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<br />hope you too are loving your summer--
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-34316755149891294492011-02-21T20:09:00.000-08:002011-02-21T20:13:53.352-08:00arts dispatch writes the pres about the NEA cutsBarry Johnson's blog arts dispatch a loca-arts-ivore staple: <a href="http://artsdispatch.blogspot.com/2011/02/dear-president-obama-dont-cut-national.html#more">here he writes to the president</a> about the NEA cuts.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-56553044052747733182011-02-02T18:14:00.000-08:002011-02-02T18:17:12.884-08:00PDXOS calling all artists!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vZ8jd1awCZQ/TUoPpV2FVPI/AAAAAAAAAaA/ou2NnYUSEbU/s1600/cta%2Bfront%2Bfr%2Bcarolyne.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vZ8jd1awCZQ/TUoPpV2FVPI/AAAAAAAAAaA/ou2NnYUSEbU/s400/cta%2Bfront%2Bfr%2Bcarolyne.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569281092110079218" border="0" /></a><br /> <style>@font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }</style> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:20pt;">Portland Open Studios: Call to Artists</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:16pt;">Deadline March 15, 2011</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:16pt;">Jury: Mark Woolley, Elise Wagner, Modou Dieng</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:14pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:14pt;">October 8, 9 and 15, 16</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:14pt;">All artist studios open both weekends</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:14pt;">Application at www.portlandopenstudios.com</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">What is Portland Open Studios?</b> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The annual Portland Open Studios tour is a unique opportunity for you to open your studio to the public and educate visitors about your creative methods and materials, inspiration and enjoyment.<span style=""> </span>As a member, you will meet other artists, have access to quality publicity and dialogue, and sell your work.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Open to all visual media. Artists are chosen by a jury of three art professionals.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The participation fee is $140 plus 8 hours of volunteer service. Artists who choose not to volunteer pay an additional $155.<span style=""> </span>There is a separate non-refundable jury fee of $25 for early application before March 8.<span style=""> </span>The jury fee is $35 from the 8<sup>th</sup> to the 15<sup>th</sup>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Artists are required to open their studio and demonstrate their working methods both weekends. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Open to residents of Portland, Tigard, Beaverton, Aloha, Milwaukie, Oak Grove, Gladstone, Happy Valley, Lake Oswego, West Linn and Tualatin</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="">Kimberly Gales Scholarship</span></b><span style=""> Artists 20–30 years of age are encouraged to apply for the Kimberly Gales Scholarship to Portland Open Studios. Recipient will have all fees waived, and will receive a $100 stipend. See the website for details.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">The 2011 Jury</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Mark Woolley</b> founded one of the first commercial galleries in what is now the Pearl District in 1993. Known initially as Acanthus Gallery the space featured emerging, mid-career and iconic late career painters and sculptors as well as challenging and provocative "outsider" artists and socio-political installation shows coupled with legendary openings and literary events. For the last 17 years, Woolley has been a force for moving the visual and performing arts forward in Portland and co-founded the Wonder Ballroom in 2005. He currently curates a variety of independent spaces and sponsors selected individual and group shows throughout the Portland area. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Elise Wagner</b> has been a working and exhibiting artist in Portland for over twenty years. Best known for her deft handling of the encaustic medium, Wagner teaches both nationally and internationally. Wagner is represented locally by Butters Gallery in addition to Chase Young Gallery in Boston, Hallway Gallery in Bellevue, WA and Aberson Exhibits in Tulsa, OK. Elise Wagner was the recipient of a 2010 Oregon Arts Commission Career Opportunity Grant to fund concurrent 2011 solo exhibitions in Boston and at the Sordoni Art Gallery in Wilkes Barre, PA. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""> </b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Modou Dieng</b> is an Assistant Painting and Drawing Professor at PNCA. Dieng is known internationally for his multidisciplinary artistic work conceptualizing visions of contemporary life. He has exhibited with numerous galleries including Steve Turner Gallery (Los Angeles), Pascal Polar Gallery (Brussels), Museum of Contemporary African and Diaspora Art (NY), and Carousel du Louvre (Paris). Dieng is the founder and curator of Portland’s Worksound Gallery.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""> </b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="">Benefits of being a Portland Open Studios member artist:</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style=""> </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">• Have your artwork published in 2,500 full color Tour Guides with targeted distribution, and on the website with a link to your site.<span style=""> </span>A ticketed map with your location will also be printed.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">• Get 5 free Tour Guides and the use of studio signs.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">• Connect with other artists in 2 free workshops as you learn marketing and demonstration techniques.<span style=""> </span>Gain confidence with self-presentation.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">• Submit announcements in the Portland Open Studios blog for one year</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">• Tangible benefits extend beyond the two weekend event:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The Tour Guide is a valuable catalog with your name and contact info given to and used by the media, curators, and art buyers all year long. Artists may be invited to exhibitions, sell their work, become the subject of news articles, or asked to teach classes as a result of being in Portland Open Studios.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""> </b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-28396235315294959042010-11-26T13:27:00.000-08:002010-11-26T13:36:15.741-08:00energy panel: major cultural paradigm shift needed in face of limited resources<a href="http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/300162">http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/300162</a><br /><br />...learn to live creatively with less consumption...learn to value life by different markers... no more subsidies for monocrops... U.S. oil peaked in 2000... need federal support for local foods networks.... growth has occurred for 100 years on the back of petroleum, it is a finite resource, and now we're struggling to get it... wealth disparity contributes to the problem... three indicators before a period of famine:...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-92099507602950473892010-11-24T08:13:00.000-08:002010-11-24T08:48:43.207-08:00debunking misinformation about oilRobert Rapier who writes the R squared energy blog <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/asher-miller/there-will-be-fuel-an-ope_b_786807.html">pointed out this article </a>in the Huff Post.<br /><br />yes, I'm back. it was wonderful. What a treat to meet and spend so much time with various artists- Dustin and Nim, their friends in the various places, my friends old and new in Berlin and London- truly the way to travel. No, I didn't see buckingham palace, but I did have a lovely conversation nearby with my friend in a crazy posh apartment with animal heads. No I didn't see the shards of the berlin wall, I had dessert and wine with three artists and a chef, comparing cultures, histories, politics, passions. I walked through a vibrant art quarter in London with a fashion designer, eating bagles and spotted a small parade of loveliness including a well-known queen in a full-length pink feather cape. and caught a cold from sharing so many spliffs. oh well.<br /><br />so I'm on facebook, and photos are there. I see facebook as a necessary evil to keeping up with certain friends in a more consistent, less focussed way. I really don't like their privacy policies. I look forward to using the decentralized network that Nim's friend Max Ogden is writing. No monolith. <br /><br />The day after returning, I tore the kitchen apart. Mama bought me a new energy star refrigerator and a proper range-top to replace the 1950's beast of a free fridge and gutless hotplate that I've been using. With the construction of a shed this year, the bisque kiln is now out of the single room in which I work and also live (hooray!), and that corner is being claimed as a kitchen. I will now have the facility to cook for more than two people, so I look forward to hosting dinner parties like I've so enjoyed in the past.. ( the most recent one was three years ago in which I made french onion soup which took all day on the hotplate, and then used the bisque kiln to broil the cheeze on top- )<br /><br />happy thanksgiving, all! truly, it is a generous world. (if you don't ask for too much)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-35062882305940832882010-10-23T12:07:00.000-07:002010-10-26T04:30:59.780-07:00Berlin with Dustin and NimI am feeling porous- a favorite feeling. a challenge, in which I know that I am stretching out of my skin. that my mind is moving and maybe parts are hurting a little. Today was Research Club's Brunch in Berlin. at first it was only us and our hosts and one student from an art school. But it seems the relaxed pace of the venue Gartenstudio carried through in its perfect way- most people arrived "late", others came and went multiple times, some people who didn't know what we were about until last night presented their work spontaneously. One couple (or collaborators) arrived "at the end" with four-page copies of her project descriptions (in german) and proceeded to wow us with their work. We have done what we could to plan and invite and generate energy around the event and then what do you do when most of the speakers you hoped for don't show up and it seems it "isn't working right"? Nim has a watery look about him sometimes- you can see he is in a semi-liminal state. throw a cat at him and he wouldn't be perturbed- he would laugh, joke, defer, question, reference some chinese parable or web project and say hey, check out so and so, and the show goes on... as I said at the beginning of my presentation (also spontaneous), I am continually energized by these meetings. This one was no different. cattywumpus yes, and completely great nonetheless. <a href="http://researchclub.posterous.com/heavy-meta-day-9-2410-2010-brunch-auf-berlin"> here is a link for the research club blog post about it.</a> that post has embedded links to all the speakers as well as a summary (and links) of the interviews that Nim has done with Dustin recording, for their research in a feature within Proximity Magazine. <br /><br />so the speakers! were: Per Schullman, with whom we spent a very pleasant evening last night too at Dustin's<a href="grand-detour.org"> Grand Detour</a> screening of Portland area experimental film. He is one of those for whom Dustin adds a "f*$#ing" in front of "awesome"- he designs and has built these excellent cabinets of salvaged drawers restored into a new casing, and will soon be constructing a moving cart (in Istambul) that will unfold into a banquet table into which will be integrated a cookstove and oven, tiny kitchen. He has a little gallery in Hamburg where art and community events happen. He visited Gallery Homeland in Portland and has been involved in the happenings at GartenStudio, which has been our home for these days. We have also enjoyed the company of Malta who gives Gartenstudio its life and character- he is involved in many art projects and teaches flamenco. passionate music and the smoke of hand-rolled cigarettes fills the kitchen.<br /><br />I presented my short story, Nim had it on file from earlier this year, thank goodness because my friend <a href="madelinestillwell.com">Madeline</a> didn't make it- mistook the day. but I presented in her stead, and what fun too.. to see people's eyes light up. Mine certainly did when a beautiful french woman stood up a bit later for the first of several spontaneous presentations- with her little girl tugging on her skirt and her equally interesting filmmaker husband coming and going, she described for us that she is a conductor and has created two situations in new york and London in which a painter, the orchestra, herself and a composer created a whole new experience in which a piece was vocalized for one hour but people came and went as they pleased, and the painter made his work impromptu (word?). The next was a neighbor, Stephan. He shared a short promotional video he made for a small vacation place in Italy that welcomes people with special needs. something that will not be advertised with all of that attendant cost and commercial consideration, but shared with friends to generate interest and information about this otherwise unassuming location. Nim also shared for the newcomers that kept dropping in what Research Club is all about. I think he had three opportunities to do so, all of them appreciated, as brunch extended well into five or six pm, I think, with all the coming and going.. <div> <br />And then a classy and quirky couple arrived and soon began to share their delightful creations. From birdhouses to squiggly installations of telephone cord to rocketships under mirrored ceilings, topped off with an animation involving the merging of the yin yang and -was it Goethe?- to create cam shapes and eggs, Maria and her partner Martin opened a little window into her imagination that tickled her lips and quivered her eyebrows.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>... the next day I went to the contemporary art museum and caught up with Madeline, and after a little time with her alone, we went to her friend's house for wine and desserts- quickly falling into my favorite conversation topics- art, social justice, history, how certain systems work, and food! I'm at home...</div><div><br /></div><div>...now we're in London, at the loft of some of Nim's friends from Glasgow art school- it is exactly as you might imagine- a slightly cold big brick building that has been modified over the years to accomodate living quarters- simple but sturdy interior stud walls splitting some spaces into tiny sleeping lofts, a laundry line connected to a pully so it can be raised up to the tall ceiling, and of course the flotsam of artmaking everywhere- fake fruit, sixties postcards, photographs of textures, books on books on piles and shelves of books, twisted bike parts, flags and plants and a fireplace painted on the wall one evening that someone was cold.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-68232831512397870762010-10-15T12:07:00.000-07:002010-10-15T13:29:51.428-07:00rip Hermann Scheerjust as this potter on alt fuel is headed to Germany, <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/15/hermann_scheer_1944_2010_german_lawmaker">here is today's interview on DNow!</a> ...<br /><br />he says in the next ten years or so, one hundred cities and provinces in Germany are instituting systems that will have them on 100%! renewable energy sources. I must listen again to understand the mechanisms of policymaking that managed to subvert the corporate energy powers in Germany, but somehow it is now clear to the people (75-80% statistics) that they can and have voted for an entirely new paradigm of energy policy. it involves a restructuring of investment opportunity. *** With this paradigm shift is also one of ethical policy that is supportive of developing countries on an economic level*** and should America finally take note, we could move away from our poisonous relationship with Saudi Arabia. mutual enablers. get off the sauce!<br /><br />you better believe I will be asking people about this when I get to Berlin.<br /><br />and hey hey, here's <a href="http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3649/14619/">Research Club in the Wweek</a>! it took us a second to figure out how they ended up with boy George's head on a toilet...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-27619553119839243352010-10-07T21:03:00.000-07:002010-10-08T10:55:37.350-07:00a blogger riffs on the art criticBob Hicks send me his link: <a href="http://www.artscatter.com/general/open-studios-see-rare-artistus-americanus-in-its-native-habitat/">http://www.artscatter.com/general/open-studios-see-rare-artistus-americanus-in-its-native-habitat/</a> --- a lovely way to flesh out (and gently shift the record on) that tricky aspect of what proportion of our artists have gallery representation. <br /><br />oh, I am just in a fit of delight! The press that I've been scrabbling for this year is all being printed this week- <a href="http://portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=128639677649411600">here's another</a> in the same paper that featured me last month (a story organized by the pr dept at Art in the Pearl). <a href="http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=667&NewsID=987523&CategoryID=18149&on=1">Here's one in an independant</a> paper that goes to my quarter of town. I wrote one for the NE quarter (they couldn't afford a professional writer), but they aren't online. apparently they liked it so well that they put it on the front page.<br /><br />and that's all i have time to say- I've already gotten a late start, since i was so enjoying hanging out with two dear men at Biwa's last night. potters, and foodies, both of whom want to be on my firing crew- ya! love it! what a relief to have people excited to help fire and put pots in the Tin Man-Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-24267075769421867142010-10-02T11:20:00.000-07:002010-10-02T12:17:28.057-07:00the art critic writes about Portland Open StudiosOur local art critic for the big paper wrote about us. It's a tricky truth. and not completely true, because many of the member artists are quite successful. But then, they don't always participate year after year. So, it's true- <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2010/09/preview_portland_open_studios.html">he called us out</a>- we are working artists doing what no-one else is doing for us.<br /><br />And apparently we're kicking tail this year! One week till go time, and sales of the tour guide are higher than expected. Typically we sell the most this upcoming week, of course, as all the ads are printed and the articles published right about now. Other than the unexpected gift from the critic, there is <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/beaverton/index.ssf/2010/10/beaverton_glass_artist_carli_schultz_kruse_shows_the_accessibility_of_her_art_during_portland_open_s.html">another article</a> in the Oregonian, a<a href="http://www.boomnw.com/news/print_story.php?story_id=128597055332062000">nd two tha</a>t I can l<a href="http://www.swcommconnection.com/news/story.php?story_id=128569373065285700">ink to here</a>, plus one in every little paper I could find. ads on the air of a popular radio station that decided to sponsor us- sweet!- and maybe some bloggers will announce us too. It's all very exciting for me to see tangibly the results of my hard work this year. We'll see what happens when the good people arrive at the carriage house doors...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-26959373690645275852010-09-28T09:06:00.000-07:002010-09-28T10:33:37.098-07:00keep walkingI was recently poked by two people who read this blog- Hi Gail hi Larry!- they and presumably a few others are wondering why my web journal has become hushed. In short, I am busy, more busy that I've been since the last year of grad school, but that it slowly tapering off, and I have that emerging from a tunnel feeling. In length, I am so immersed in the expansion of my place as a maker in this town and in the world in general, that I can hardly analyze it in real time. As a maker, I started this blog to document information about my innovative firing process, and that info is condensed on the new website. As a person, I started it to put on the sunglasses and face the glare of an unavoidably public life. And there's the rub- if I had time to write, I would at this time not have certainty about how to fully address questions about my making in the public sphere. I am a spokesperson for a small arts organization. In one mild form or another, I represent one hundred people. I control my communication, which means some of the juicy bits get left out. ahhh, better for you to ask in person! and fortunately the press is more topical at this early stage of my career. <a href="http://portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=128337127506210000">Here is an article</a> written about me in a small but widely circulated paper. This piece was organized by the PR department of <a href="http://www.artinthepearl.com/index.php">Art in the Pearl</a>, the big high-end art fair for which I busted my butt this year. I felt great about my work and its presentation, I did not suffer a loss, but this alone will not be the studio's big annual paycheck (assuming I get in next year). Keep Walking...<br /><br />So the light is visible at the end of the tunnel. I now have an idea of how to deal with this beast known as the Press. And I have a greater person to person confidence when networking in advocacy of my organization and by practiced extension, of myself. It has been one of many ways the I am learning to shed a burden. So the question now is this- who cares? a few care- that's great. As I learn about the mechanisms of social networking, I learn the ether-version of what we know so well in real life- to make friends you must seek their story, and ask questions. I think one of the other major reasons why I have let this blog fall silent is that there is so much interesting activity in Portland right now, I'd rather be out exploring than home (still!) on the computer (still!) making equally meaningful but er, mediated connections with other bloggers- I can find, I can read, and I can comment and make friends. And lord knows I desperately need to connect with fellow potters around the world. That is an aspect of staying current in my field that I consistently neglect, to my detriment. boo! maybe come winter, I'll catch up on new yorkers and all my contemporaries....<br /><br />for the moment, I thoroughly enjoy time at Research Club events. I put a link to Nim (the chef) explaining what RC is all about in a previous post. Timing is such that the day after <a href="http://www.blogger.com/portlandopenstudios.com">Portland Open Studios</a> is over, he and Dustin who runs Grand Detour (indy film) are flying to Glasgow. then on to Berlin, London, and returning to Scotland. As my friendship with them has grown, and my need for a vacation, I asked to come along, and they said please! so I'm going on the Heavy Meta tour them on Oct 18. press release below. I'm going to see my friend <a href="http://madelinestillwell.com/home.html">Madeline Stillwell</a> in Berlin. and I am researching potters who work with alternative fuels in these locations... if anyone out there knows any, please let me know.. SO, big exciting break on the horizon. blogging will continue. promise.<br /><br /><a href="http://research-club.org/assets/files/one-page-pr.pdf">Here's the one page pdf of the tour press release</a><br /><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/15209020">HERE'S THE KICKSTARTER VIDEO THAT DUSTIN PUT TOGETHER</a>.<br />does everyone know about kickstarter? it's a great way to reach a wide audience of supporters for new projects. The Blue Cranes are going on tour by train in part because of the help they got from their kickstarter..<br /><br />lots of love- CUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-80284787887349226812010-07-15T22:10:00.000-07:002010-07-15T23:09:22.035-07:00I closed the computer, but it's open againIt is 10 pm on another luscious summer evening, and my friend's birthday. I am not downtown carousing with him and the wily company that he keeps because- I'm being good.. I'm trying, still, to get on my own two feet when it comes to money- why does this matter to me?<br /> even if I were capable of finding a well-paying job in this town doing something I don't love, I'd have a hard time accepting it. so I took a poorly paying job doing something I don't really love. <br /><br />But it's an important job, for me and for others. It serves the growth of a small arts organization that I believe in, one that has at its core the generosity of spirit that comes with opening a facet of one's intimate creative life in order to educate and facilitate excitement in others. that's huge. it's the mundanety of working with this ether-box that I find so draining. oh, sure, I'm writing sometimes, I'm researching interesting people sometimes, but really, it's an office job. it's not a shitty office job and it's not a jailhouse 9 to 5, but I stare at this plastic screen for hours and days on end, organizing. when I reach a stopping point, the last thing I want to do is work on my website<br /> <br />the time-suck PDXOS job is balanced nicely by teaching a single-credit workshop at a community college once a term. I did the math. I make about twenty-five times as much teaching as I do for Portland Open Studios. Between these two situations plus maybe some income from Art in the Pearl, if I weren't paying a premium for health insurance, I might be able to be independent this year. But I have no time to make pots. But I wouldn't be able to continue the home improvements. and no motorcycle. and no crazy vacations in South Africa for a month. even if it is on Pop's dime- its too much time away from the studio. In short, I am, as usual, straddling, uncomfortably, my ability to access someone else's money, and my privilege- guilt driven desire to be just me. On my own "merit"? someone I love dearly says he wants to "make something of his life" beyond the lucrative but lonely career in which he finds himself. He wants to make a family. I want to make "a living". what an absurd name for the acquisition of money- a living? that's not living. that's making money. I don't want to "make" money- what a waste of time- I want to make pots. which is more useful? you tell me! which, I ask you, is more conducive to living the good life? bah! (and no, I don't want to make babies, though I hope my friend does someday..)<br /> <br /> in other news, we had a great firing, number six. the first time that I've felt confident enough about the result to charge for space in the kiln. Mostly Richard's work, but I finally worked the glitches out of an easily reproducible oval plate. and a brand new design for an flared bowl! very very exciting.. someday soon, the website will be up, with images.. I actually have a deadline now, because it's printed in 3500 tour guides for <a href="http://www.blogger.com/portlandopenstudios.com">Portland Open Studios</a>, which will be available to the public on July 23rd. eek!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-52586468745671496652010-05-30T11:11:00.000-07:002010-05-30T11:23:52.054-07:00Research ClubWow, this year.... seems like a scramble of tending to the next highest priority. I let one low-priority item jump to the top of the list last week and restored a rocking chair about three times older than me, but now it's back to dj-ing. I spent the last two days at the Research Club constructing a few white walls suitable for showing art, and now I need to get some more content uploaded to the website. But I wanted to share about RC and include this <a href="http://vimeo.com/12011205">recording of Nim</a> explaining a bit about the history and future...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-62125842589969875862010-05-24T00:11:00.000-07:002010-05-24T00:12:07.948-07:00yes, thank you, that was completely lovely<br /><br /><a href="www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04302010/watch3.html">Bill Moyers and Barry Lopez</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-48334783698438896392010-05-15T00:11:00.000-07:002010-05-15T00:47:25.858-07:00current events<span style="font-family: times new roman;">are occasionally overwhelming for this little lady with hermetic tendencies. This year I am focussed on connecting as a professional with the wide world of possibility. Portland is full of good food, great ideas, wildly creative people, and no money. That kind of works with my m.o. I'm working towards insinuating my work into cafe settings- and I got into Art in the Pearl, a high-end affair, so we'll see just how much money there isn't on Labor Day weekend.<br /><br />I spent the first few months of this year in the tumble of a new job, new lovers, new friends, teaching, and making sculpture. My old friend Richard and I filled the Tin Man with our work two weeks ago, and were joined this round by Lauren, a new friend from NYC. Lauren and I have become fast friends, and I hope that she will continue to join us. With the completion (and yes, success) of the firing, I feel more settled, and eager to return to functional work.<br /><br />In a week or two, I will be ready to present the new website Tim and I have been working on- long-awaited for me... hard to put together a confident website before I have a high-quality "product", as Pop refers to my pots. It was only last year that we got the kiln figured out.<br /><br />so much- it is exciting! and I am stretched. <br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-71868743430842631772010-03-10T06:54:00.000-08:002010-03-10T07:01:13.973-08:00political bodymod<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/9/105_000_tattoos_iraqi_artist_wafaa">this</a> interview starts interesting and gets better- he ends up talking about one of his other projects in which he hacked a video game created by the us military to illustrate his point.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.wafaabilal.com/">here's a link</a> to the current event- the server is overloaded at the moment<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497500665233189266.post-37800503962509489432010-03-01T11:49:00.000-08:002010-03-01T11:52:44.631-08:00I'm now PR for Portland Open Studios, this is my first projectPress Release from the city on the wire!<br /><br />Thank you Careen for all your help on our press release and this one!!<br /><br />Cheers,<br />Kindra<br /><br /><br /> <span style="font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"> <table style="border-collapse: collapse;" border="1" width="945"> <col width="195"> <col width="457"> <col width="292"> <tbody><tr height="57"> <td rowspan="3"><img src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=287eb3a5a4&view=att&th=1271b04c749a5b28&attid=0.1&disp=emb&realattid=0.1&zw" /> </td> <td>City of</td> <td rowspan="3"><b>Sam Adams, Mayor</b><div style="text-align: right;">E: <a href="mailto:mayorsam@ci.portland.or.us" target="_blank">mayorsam@ci.portland.or.us</a> </div> <div style="text-align: right;">Twitter: @mayorsamadams <a href="http://www.mayorsamadams.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><u>www.mayorsamadams.com</u></span></a></div> </td> </tr> <tr height="86"> <td><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>PORTLAND, OREGON</b></span></td> </tr> <tr height="59"> <td><span style="font-size:130%;">Office of Mayor Sam Adams <div style="margin-bottom: 4pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></div> </span></td> </tr> </tbody></table> <div><span style="font-size:85%;">March 1, 2010</span></div> <div><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</b></span></div> <div><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>CONTACT:<br /><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Mayor Sam Adams, Portland Arts Community to Celebrate 10 Years of Portland Open Studios</b></span></div> <div><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></div> <div><b>Portland, Ore. </b>-- For two weekends every year, "Portland Open Studios Tour" artists in the Portland metropolitan area open their studios to the public. This Thursday, March 4, Mayor Sam Adams and Portland Open Studios will be hosting a City Hall reception and ceremony to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Portland Open Studios. </div> <div> </div> <div>"The arts in Portland help define and differentiate Portland as an energetic and creative community," said Mayor Adams. "Helping artists make their work accessible to the public and helping the public understand the value of professional artists benefits us all."</div> <div> </div> <div>To commemorate the milestone, Mayor Adams will read a proclamation recognizing Portland Open Studios' commitment to providing art education to all members of our community, adults and children alike, and for its dedicated support of local working artists. Portland Open Studios will unveil the organization's 10th Anniversary Purchase Prize gift to the City of Portland. </div> <div> </div> <div>"In the past 10 years, over 500 artists have participated in Portland Open Studios, sharing the act of art making with thousands of visitors from around the block and across the country," said Kelly Neidig, President of Portland Open Studios. "We could not have remained self-sufficient for ten years without the individuals and business who support us and local artists by buying our Tour Guide and taking the tour. This celebration is for our volunteers, our neighbors and for everyone who has supported us."</div> <div> </div> <div>Portland Open Studios supports local artists and also provides an art education experience; visitors can watch artists at work in 100 studios around Portland during the second and third weekends in October. In 2009, for the tenth year anniversary, an exciting mentorship program was introduced, connecting art students in the public high schools with participating artists. More than 20 artists on the tour mentored 45 students, giving them an inside view of their studios and business practices. These young apprentices could become the future creative capital of Portland. </div> <div> </div> <div>"Portland Open Studios was truly a springboard for me as an artist because others took notice of my work that may not have before then," said Chris Haberman, 2008 Portland Open Studios artist. "It helped me get on OPB's Oregon Art Beat and into the next phase of my career."</div> <div> </div> <div>The City Hall reception also kicks off a special month-long City Hall Exhibition, The 10 x 10 Show, which features works of art by over 80 artists in the 2009 Portland Open Studios tour. The event is free and open to the public. Artwork is for sale with 20 percent going to the Kimberly Gales Scholarship fund for young artists. </div> <div> </div> <div>Visitors can enjoy music, refreshments, and this rare opportunity to see an array of art by Portland Open Studios' artists. Refreshments are being generously provided by Storyteller Wine, Full Sail Brewing Co, and Artemis Foods. Music entertainment includes Jim Boydston, Daryl Davis, and Steve Remington of Manzanita.</div> <div> </div> <div>To learn more, contact Pollyanne Birge with the Office of Mayor Adams at 503-823-4182, or visit <a href="http://www.portlandopenstudios.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><u>www.portlandopenstudios.com</u></span></a>. </div> <div> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> ###</div> <div> </div> <div> </div><div> </div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0