Gary's Third Pottery Blog

When the going gets tough, dragons gonna get going....

Gary's third pottery blog

WRITE TO ME! garyrith@yahoo.com Come see me! Open studio HERE! November 25-26 (11-4 each day); Aurora Art and Design, daily until 12/24; Cooperstown Art Assoc. daily until 12/24; Ellis Hollow Community Fair, 12/10; December 10, Little Red Wagon at the Space at Greenstar. All material on this blog unless stated otherwise is copyright Gary Edward Rith 2016

Saturday, July 31, 2010

BAR exams and BARS


(teapot by Gary Rith)





(you will have noticed my punk bunny tee, of course, designed by Kasey)
Righto! Twas Friday and you know, get the work done then slide down the hill to the Chapterhouse Bar by Cornell. It is usally a Cornell potter gang with various other direputible types, and potters this week included Danielle and Elon. Judy and Stevo and my wife came along, with, of course, Danielle's Bill. Bill was telling us he hadn't slept in 36 hours and just got back from Cali. You look at Bill and Elon and you think "what did these friendly people do this week other than have a beer and play foosball Friday?" and the answer, of course, is that they both took the bar exam. Bill took the bar in California, 3 hellish days of exams, then flew home and came out to have fun with us. Elon may be a lawyer, but he is a kick azz potter, and finished the bar exam in New York and got into the studio to glaze. We had much to toast and celebrate....

Friday, July 30, 2010

"teh goths rock the black and red"






Back a few months ago, Becky Jo asked for a cute teapot with a pug on it for her elderly mother. I was wondering what color to glaze it, and Kasey was like "teh goths rock the black and red" which is sort of hilarious and out of nowhere, considering the recipient was an ELDERLY lady from Iowa, not known for being a goth (the pug teapot was glazed a pretty blue). It DOES make a fantastic color combo though, doesn't it?

Last week Stevo gets back from the seaside and he is like "there are all these skull and crossbones at the seaside, will ya make some skull things too???" and I did. A LOT of skull things.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

dog breath and taxes





I am sure it is abundantly clear to all that my cute little beagle is a legitimate tax deduction. AND her smelly food. Without her, would I make cute doggy pots and sculpture? I think not.
It is gorgeous and warm outside, but some leaves on the trees have begun turning and here are a few from my walk just now.

and then....



(Penny and pottery by Gary Rith)
You can guess who modeled for this teaset, eh wot? Penny gets hot and camps out under the table.
Below you see this turquoise glaze I have been working on this week. I fired a couple of mugs in the baby kiln to try it out and its AWESOME. It is a combination of my Spike spring green glaze and my jade combo glaze. Each of those is the result of mixing 2 glazes. So, if you do the math, this turquoise is the combined mix of 4 different glaze recipes! Yummy!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

"all art is quite useless"


(teapot by Gary Rith)
That is the wife quoting Oscar Wilde. This super extra gorgeous teapot just came out of the kiln, everything looks perfect, BUT the spout on this little cutie got sealed with glaze :( So, it is a, um, sculpture. Useless as a teapot.
Dig this turquoise glaze test below, super gorgeous, eh? I have 3 items road testing the glaze in the baby kiln today.


new toy!




OK, busy day Tuesday, making all them new pots, but the kiln fired and finished early and you look inside briefly, still over 100 degrees in there, and the TURQUOISE glaze test looks FAB and the other stuff too and you're like "omigosh, it's like getting a new toy!"

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Priceless.....


(sculpture by Gary Rith)

the whole Stepford Wife vs Vampire thing....


My BAMF ART BLOG BUNCH group blog of friends turn to ME for all them insights into MEN. That's ME, just a regular guy, able to explain us dudes.

(Thanks Jill, Kerry, Kasey, Christi, Maureen, Lizzie, Becky Jo and why shouldn't Stevo join the fun with the ladies too?)
Q and A with Gary: I am an expert on NOTHING, take my word for it, but I am an untrained and unlicensed advice columnist, so read ON:

Gary
Maureen asked me about the Stepford wife thing for q and a. Basically, why would men want perfect and docile robots as wives? My feeling is that there are some men who need to dominate and control, and don't want a lot of fuss in order to have their way. I wish my sock monkey was more docile, but maybe he will make some dinner tonight...
ANYWAY, your reactions to the idea that some guys want a docile piece of eye candy to marry, who also cooks and cleans so they don't have to?
Thanks! gr

Kerry
Eep! I think you're right, Gary, it's a control issue. Also an ego thing. If you keep li'l wife in her place, you get to the Big Superior Man. I dated a guy who felt he had to knock down every accomplishment of mine because he felt it made him look bad to have me do better than him. Even academically, when I had the reputation of being a smart nerd and he was a dumb jock (not that all jocks are dumb, but, yes, in this case) he felt he should be the superior one in the relationship. I finally got tired of every win I had being cut down. When I had my "pre-life crisis" and quit my job, gave up my apartment & moved back in with my folks to go to grad school, he was very much against it. His response was, "Meh. It's only Alfred U." Around that time, I ran into my future husband out at a bar. He asked what I was doing in town & I told him my parents were taking me out for a drink to celebrate my acceptance into grad school. His response was, "That's so great! I'm jealous! I miss being a student! What are you going to study?" The difference in those reactions made me realize I didn't want or need someone in my life who felt he had to tear me down to make himself feel better.

Kasey
I think some men don't like women for what they are. They like the idea of a women. Someone to go to dinner with them. Accompany them to weddings or work events. Clean up after them like they are his mommy. Listen to his problems and have none of their own. Actual people aren't like this.
Oh my gosh, Kerry. I dated the same type of man. It was awful and just left me and my self esteem in ruins. I would send him an email, thinking I was being entertaining and surely he would just laugh and laugh. No. He sent me an email back one time telling me that he thought I was trying to intimidate him with my emails. I had no clue what he meant. Just mad at me for being me. The thing is, I don't know how it got to a point where I was accepting that sort of behavior as normal. I don't know where along the way I came to think that I just had to take it. I did though, for some time. I felt terrible about everything about me for forever. After I finally broke that off I dated wrong men cuz I was deliberately going out with people I wasn't attracted to. I thought it was a defect in me, liking the wrong people.
No. Turns out you really shouldn't date people you don't at all like. Sometimes it takes a call to your mom telling her how much you'd like to punch him in his stupid face to make you realize you're going about things all wrong.
I just needed to stop dating emotionally immature people. Broken people and I somehow thought I would be the one to fix them. Instead I let them break me a bit.

Kerry
It's a really great feeling when you realize it's okay to want to punch them in the mouth because, frankly, they deserve it.


Gary
I was thinking BLOW UP DOLLS. You want a compliant and available and docile latex doll, not a human female.
Kerry's husband Brett is the most kindly and creative man, and I 'd like to think she had her practice with the jerk, therefore can appreciate Brett. I APPRECIATE Brett cause his pizzas are feckin marvelous.

ANYWAYS one of you said it, I think: emotionally immature.
For me and the wife, we are both pretty feisty and stubborn at times, but I would not change a thing about how she does anything, ever. She is smart and opinonated and life is better sharing that way.

Kerry
Yes, practice, I like that! What's the saying, you have to kiss a bunch of toads before you find your prince?

Maureen
I am so glad for this post because today I see so many woman falling into the same old trap from the 1950's. Thank God you two have learned early on.
Most people do not realize that when I was a young woman you were forbidden to go out of the house without a dress/skirt on. I could not attend school if I wore any kind of jeans or dress pants. We were definitely not welcomed into regular social forums as men.Men were never allowed to present to the public that they were their wives friends. You were considered weak, and worthless. Men worked, woman didn't except if it was house cleaning, ironing, clothes washing, or taking care of elderly or bedridden people.
It was truly a horrible time for woman. The truth is that many became extremely psychopathic due to the loneliness, worthlessness, and plain old hard labor. They used to call it "Melancholy Disorder", when actually it was Post Traumatic Stress syndrome.
When the 60's came, when I was in my early teen, ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. So liberating, and we finally had freedom....When Rock and Roll came on the scene, and woman united and said, "We are not going to take this crap anymore"! It stopped abruptly! :)
I think that Gary and Brett sound wonderful, but they are also educated, which definitely helps. Where I live in Redneck Land, they are uneducated (most of them), and learn from their fathers, or peers. So sad for them. I adore my husband, married him during the 60's, so so glad he was not part of the generation before him! I ADORE GEORGE AND HE ADORES ME! lol lol lol...Are we perfect? OMG no way! But that makes it all the more wonderful! :) We have always been a work in progress, together! :)
Kerry
I HATE the dismissing, "nice try, little girl" tactic! Under the surface it's always, "Go back to your kitchen where you belong." And the dudes that seem to blame the world's problems on women. They're usually the same ones complaining that all women just want a bad boy who will be mean to them, and why can't I find love? Whiner.

Gary
Therefore young women are like "give me a devoted vampire! men are dicks!". Not me, not George or Brett or Kasey's Scott. I think Scott takes notes for his comedy routine when Kasey speaks up :)

Kerry
I think the vampire's greatest appeal is that he listens to and pays attention to Bella! What a novel concept to some guys-- but not the ones you listed above!

Stevo
What I want in a spouse is a friend, and confidant, a companion, a lover, someone to share a lifetime, someone to tell me when I'm being an idiot, someone to brag to about our great children, someone to share a laugh and a cry...

There is a lot of drudgery work around the house. Both of us work out of the house, so we share a lot of the drudgery work. She never tells me to do tasks around the house, and I don't ask her to do them either. I think we each appreciate that the other person can make personal choices on what they want to do.

I see my children doing similar things with their significant others. So I think there is progress.

When I look at my parents, and Judy's parents they still act like they are in the 1950's. My mother and her mother do most of the cooking and cleaning, and the men do the outdoor chores.

Kasey
Except the vampire wants to kill her!

Gary
True, dat! Everything is so complicated....

you lie and yo breath stinks



Last night I am cutting the grass and the wife is out late. I come in and find Georges Le Soq, my rotten French sock monkey, is sauteeing some veggies and all. He is like:
"mon ami, ees tater tot casserole surprise, the sequel" and I am like
"oh, different from your last tater tot surprise casserole?" and he gives me that withering and condescending look the French are born with and tells me
"I no remember what was in last tot surprise, this better" and it WAS fantastic: noodles mixed with tomato and rotel hot peppers and tomatoes, topped with sauteed peppers and mushrooms and onions and then vegan cheese and finally, le tots, baked at 350 for 30 minutes.
Then, this morning Georges is again in the kitchen and he is like
"dere was leftover tots. I make zee omellette" and I was gonna ask him about his overdue rent but found myself eating instead, which may have been his plan all along....



Monday, July 26, 2010

FALL





I told you some maples have started to turn! This is Trevor and Allison's place across the street from us. That maple always gets an early start on fall.
Buster below on the bridge over Fall Creek behind our house and finally the view looking south toward Mt Pleasant. I cannot believe we live in such a pretty place.

I accomplished VERY little this weekend. Not even the bare minimum. I DID accomplish a tasty BBQ last night, veggies and fake riblets...yum!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

making BAD decisions


You know I am sometimes swept up in the excitement of garage sales. Like, for example, I got this nice 4 part shelf thing yesterday, just needs some paint! But then I got the velevet Elvis too....
Tommy's family has this rule: get rid of 15 things, then you can bring one thing into the house. I need to get rid of a LOT of stuff now I guess....
I had Elvis in my studio but he it is so horrible I took it out to the garage and hung it up over the trash can, dollar sticker still afixed...

Saturday, July 24, 2010

new glasses and Danielle kicks some azz....





The wife gets her new glasses on Friday and is like TOTALLY AUDREY HEPBURN and that is the absolute BEST look and I know you agree...and I picked up my new glasses too. You are probably thinking, correctly, that they look a lot like my old glasses. I liked my old glasses, therefore....anyway, life is a lot more in focus and I cannot complain about the menu board up on the wall at the Chapterhouse anymore. I have been missing a lot of specials! My rotten sock monkey Georges Le Soq was along at the Chapterhouse with us, and he is like "ha! look at my new glasses mon ami!".

When you are a teacher and a student is doing badly, you feel horrible. Conversely, when a student is as good as Danielle here, you feel like the best teacher on earth. Thursday in my last Cornell class of the summer, Danielle tells me "I want to make a teapot" and we had talked about them before and I help her a little with getting started. FRIDAY we are all back in the Cornell studios working and gossiping and Danielle comes in to show me her finished teapot, and its like "OH MY GOD that is awesome". She says she worked on it for 6 hours!

Julie needed personalized bowls for her little cousins with cats on them, and they look super good, eh?

Friday, July 23, 2010

junk music smackdown: Nirvana vs Terry Jacks death cage match



This horrible Terry jacks song from my childhood was bouncing around in my head and I thought it would get it bouncing around in YOUR head too...and then I discover Nirvana covered it......

moo.


(mugs by Gary Rith)
Allison across the street is like "my mom needs one of your cow mugs" and they are having a garage sale and I see this rather excellent quilt and I am like "swap?" and we do and all is well.
Here are a couple of terrible cow jokes:

It's so easy to milk a cow. Any jerk can do it.

John : I don't know what to buy - a cow or a bicycle. Peter : You will look silly riding a cow. John : I will look even sillier trying to milk a bicycle.

What do you get if you sleep under a cow? A PAT on the head.

What's the difference between a bull and a cow? A bull smiles when you milk it.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

mug = your best friend :)


Get yourself some nice pots, yes? Nice selection of new items at my etsy shop!

I would do it for my mother-in-law, but NOT for you


(blueberry bowls by Gary Rith)
About ten years ago I started making bowls with apples, grapes, blueberries and strawberries on them, like these guys. They are VERY time consuming, and I do not make them often. My mother-in-law has 4 and wanted 4 more, and I will make them for her, but you would have to BEG for me to make them for you. They are really quite gorgeous. These are small, and would hold about 2 ice cream scoops, glazed in a nice ice blue.
OK, alright, I should make all 4 fruit types so you can admire them.

We had a boat load of storms and five minutes of hail. I have seen more hail before, but some of the chunkcs yesterday were the biggest I had seen--true golf ball sizes!


If you want to know how I DO IT, I have been thinking about that. I have this teapot here with the fancy ray gun spout, but otherwise it is a solid and stolid teapot I like to use for my own tea. I make all kinds of fancy teapots, but this one is uber practical and easy to use, and I am reflecting on what sort of teapot is super easy to use:
-broad and steady base
-wide opening-easy to clean
-lightweight and balanced to pour
-same thing with the robot mug---it is an excellent mug shape to grip, hold and drink from
This does not mean I will not make other shapes or fancy teapots, but it is nice to notice the most comfortable.


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

chunky Chuck






We have this huge wood chuck named Chuck living around our yard this summer. He is pretty shy, but I love him. He is so chubby, yet runs so fast!
OK, my finger? Yesterday my neighbor the field biologist is telling me about butterflies and their adaptation to milk weed or something and he pulls out a knife and wants to disect a leaf for my edification and I don't want to hold the leaf but he tells me to hold the leaf and promptly disects my finger....shoot! The whole thing was soooo darn stupid, and now you know the story. If somebody ever wants to chop something, tell them to hold it themselves. I should know better. (finger will be fine)
This morning the wife tells me I was asleep late last night with Spike and Penny and we all looked cute and she took photos...

Top pottery blog 2015

2014 winner

Me and Missus Tastycakes

Me and Missus Tastycakes

garyrith.com

ME, the TV interview :)

my etsy gallery

my second blog, 2008-2009

my first blog, 2006-2008

Followers

Blog Archive

About Me

My photo
I am a full-time studio potter, sculptor, and dog walker, married to superhawt Missus Tastycake.