rip Hermann Scheer

just as this potter on alt fuel is headed to Germany, here is today's interview on DNow! ...

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!

you better believe I will be asking people about this when I get to Berlin.

and hey hey, here's Research Club in the Wweek! it took us a second to figure out how they ended up with boy George's head on a toilet...

a blogger riffs on the art critic

Bob Hicks send me his link: http://www.artscatter.com/general/open-studios-see-rare-artistus-americanus-in-its-native-habitat/ --- a lovely way to flesh out (and gently shift the record on) that tricky aspect of what proportion of our artists have gallery representation.

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- here's another in the same paper that featured me last month (a story organized by the pr dept at Art in the Pearl). Here's one in an independant 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.

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-

the art critic writes about Portland Open Studios

Our 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- he called us out- we are working artists doing what no-one else is doing for us.

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 another article in the Oregonian, and two that I can link to here, 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...

keep walking

I 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. Here is an article written about me in a small but widely circulated paper. This piece was organized by the PR department of Art in the Pearl, 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...

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....

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 Portland Open Studios 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 Madeline Stillwell 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.

Here's the one page pdf of the tour press release

HERE'S THE KICKSTARTER VIDEO THAT DUSTIN PUT TOGETHER.
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..

lots of love- C

I closed the computer, but it's open again

It 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?
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.

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

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..)

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 Portland Open Studios, which will be available to the public on July 23rd. eek!

Research Club

Wow, 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 recording of Nim explaining a bit about the history and future...

yes, thank you, that was completely lovely

Bill Moyers and Barry Lopez