new place setting project

Hello again. This year for the National Arts Program Exhibition I decided to go more traditional. I had been working on a new place setting design and glaze combination for our home and came up with this. I really like the combination of the balance between the masculine and feminine elements and all of the pieces work very functionally and of course stack nicely in my cupboard and in the dishwasher. Things I never thought I would consider when creating work. Currently I am overwhelmed with commissions which is a blessing but I am anxious to get back to my work this summer also. I am able to take on a new teaching challenge this fall that I am so excited about. I am teaching the wheel throwing classes beg and advanced. I will manage the lab and help the new adjunct as he finds his way. I am grateful for the help and I hope he is up for the challenge. I did take an honorable mention for this piece at the exhibition so it helped to reinforce I was on teh right track. I also have a more feminine series I am working on. Maybe I can get them done in the fall. The honey pots are thrown and bisqued and ready to glaze tomorrow.

The new thing in my life is massage therapy on a regular basis. It is amazing what it can do for your body! I highly reccomend that if you can afford it on a weekly or bi monthly basis to definitely do it! I have more strength, flexibility and I am in a lot less pain of a daily basis! THis is a big deal for a ceramic artist and teacher!

On a side note William turned 7 this month and David turns 9 tomorrow. What a crazy month! Mom is in Ohio taking care of my sister and her kids as she is recovering from surgery and a trip in July is looking inevitable! My dad also seems worse so the visit shouldn't wait! I just wish we had the time and money for the trip. I will take donations for this trip!!!

I hope this finds all of you out there happy and healthy and doing what you love every day!

Being away from family

O.K. I knew it was going to be hard to live so far away from my family but I had no idea how hard until this past year! My dad had a major cardiac episode and now has a pacemaker (pictured above), my sister seems to be losing her breasts to infection and is having trouble with depression and anxiety and also high blood pressure, and now as of today, my step mom is in a nursing home recovering from hip replacement and today my dad had another cardiac episode, he didn't even call 911, his pacemaker just shocked him and after he recovered, he went about his night. I was lucky he even called. I have the strongest pull I have ever felt to drop everything and go right now to help out. Dad and Barb HAVE to change their diet NOW and that is going to be hard for them! My sister has my mom with her now so things there will be better, I hope, but really..... what do I do? He called "just in case something else happens tonight".... It is a twenty + hour drive, even if I did leave now.... I know this is not my normal type of blog, but I really needed to just get this out before I felt a bit crazy! What am I going to do? I have a commission I have to get done, but I could leave that in others hands. and how will I sleep tonight.? O.k> I will stop whining now and get back to life. Thanks out there for letting me spill tonight. I promise the next one will be more uplifting.

Abilene Autism Extravaganza

David was able to attend this all day conference on autism and meet one of our heroes, Temple Grandin. She and David talked about science and animals and art and she was very encouraging for him. He came right home and wrote about it. David also had over 10 people from his school attend including his teacher and his principal. His new school has been so supportive and his academic life has been changed forever because of it. We have been so blessed be having the right people around us during this entire experience! Thanks to you all and I hope you have a great day!

Texas Snowman (woman) the 2nd

So, here we are in Spring Break in Texas and we are still able to make a snowman. The boys decided to use some tools to carve this one to get more detail to create a portrait of me. How sweet, right? Well at least they are creative kids! Hopefully we are at the end of the bad weather and we can start enjoying the normal Texas heat!

Appendix Out, Studio is coming along..

O.K., I have taken a bit of a break but I did have a good excuse, I had to have an emergency appendectomy. So I am now one organ less and feeling much better, still not 100% but MUCH better. Thanks to all of you who helped out, stopped by and sent food or prayers my way. Doctor said it would have burst before morning so I was very fortunate! Brad has diligently been continuing work on the studio and apartment. Doors are on the spare room, it is also primed and ready for paint, not to decide for a color... I will post pictures soon, I would like to finish the room first though... I am so impatient. We are gathering our inventory in preparation to officially open up as a business, and trying to clean up the studio portion of the shop, but as construction is underway that is a bit tricky. We will make due. We have another opportunity to put our work up in a backroom in a new shop in town to use as Oilerstudios 1 1/2. Very excited about the possibilities there and ready to get started! I am still waiting for our normally very pleasant weather to come back for me to start spending more time outdoors and in the shop, but my teaching and putting classes online is taking up much more time than I was anticipating. Things are slow but they are moving. We are figuring out our place out here int he country and how to tie that in to our city life and teaching life. Scheduling is so much easier with my mom here for a while and I am so happy about that since baseball season is upon us for William. New art commissions are happening and we are getting paid for them! That has been great news!

The biggest recent news of all is we recently held the Third Annual Abilene Empty Bowls Project and raised something just under $15,000. That makes our three year total at $35,000. Big news for Abilene Texas!

I am anxious to get back into the studio to work on my own work so wish me luck there. I hope you are all finding time for your passions and dreams and follow them every day!

Back to the Daily Grind

O.K. School is in full swing, lectures are going, quizzes are happening, projects and research have started, and I AM TIRED~! I wonder if I will be able to keep up this pace all semester? There is always so much I want to do with my classes, with my family and with my art and there is always so much I never get to. Here is hoping for a more balanced semester!

The Abilene Empty Bowls Project

Join us on February 20th at the Highland Church of Christ from 11-7 to end local and world hunger. Donate money, choose a well crafted handmade ceramic bowl and get served some of the best soup in town. Listen to some music, bid on some great local products and art and educate yourself about the hunger in the big country and the world. It is a day of fun and a great project to get involved in. If you are interested you should visit the website at www.emptybowlsabilene.org

Hope to see you all there!