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

Monday, March 31, 2014

BE the elephant and NOT the chicken



First thing first:  it is going down now, but OI!
Last week I showed you ice on top of the picnic tables, riverside down the street from us


Same picnic table below, in a flood of water.
And now...one of our neighbors agreed:  flooding looked like the 2nd worst we have seen, almost up into the road in spots.  It stopped rising late in the afternoon.  You ever feel like climate-wise we are FUKKED?  WEIRD weather.....


AND OH yes, we were talking of the chicken and elephant.  The other day I had some time and fell asleep, ahem, I am an active guy, but as usual it was a CREATIVE nap and put in mind sculpting an elephant with a bird on its back.  So I did.  LATER that same day I saw the awesome painting at the top of the post, the elephant playing chess with the chicken.  And therefore coined the new Zen term:  be the elephant and not the chicken... you know what it means....***



(elephant teapots and sculpture by Gary Rith)
***WELL! Later, I am surprised to hear it not as obvious as I thought:  be the elephant and not the chicken means, to me, be proud and strong not a quivering and shaking little chicken... or something like that...

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Jazzy



I am babysitting a new dog this week, JAZZY!  You are saying "that looks like Yogi"  and she does look like him.... and act like him and walk like him and...too bad both golden doodles were fixed 'cause they would have made DYnamite puppies...
the wife is along walking with us and spies the ancient couch by the dumpster...and makes sure we pose on it...it didn't SMELL AS BAD AS YOU MIGHT think.....it did not have have mystery wet spots either, but later I am wondering "bedbugs????? FLEAS????" 

Saturday, March 29, 2014

KEB MO

Some of you will know that my BIRTHDAY is on the horizon...something we plan to spend a lot of time celebrating ;)
We went out and saw Keb Mo last night...20-30 songs in 3 hours... HOT DAMN it was good!

 

Friday, March 28, 2014

dogs and CHEEZ whiz don't mix: when good dogs get great haircuts


(Yogi Tuesday, before)

I was out babysitting Yogi yesterday.  He smelled GREAT and was fluffy and cute and soft.

As a result of THREE EXPLOSIVE and VOLCANIC, ahem, eruptions, I called his family later that same day:

me:  "Whoa! What did he EAT?  Did he lick the soap and shampoo which turned his stomach into a GIANT SLIP AND SLIDE?"

they:  "Dang GROOMER.  We've told her to stop but she feeds him CHEEZ WHIZ, sorry!"

Glad to hear it is not exactly life threatening....

Here is the before and after.  He looks like a rasta when his coat grows out and a little lamb when he is clipped.  Note:  my hat. It is one of my 2 identical baseball hats, a dog playing in snow.  I have been wanting to put those ACCURSED hats away for spring and finally did so yesterday, ENOUGH SNOW already!

Thursday, March 27, 2014

pot dump

Who is gonna read THAT post title and wonder....? But I don't live in Colorado, now do I? ;)
Just considering which pics to post of new work and its like "Why choose?  Put 'em all up..."
Have an AWESOME Tuesday!

(new pottery by Gary Rith)

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

FRIED CAT and other nasty things around the kitchen....


(mug with Godzilla on the bottom by Gary Rith)
Call it an early April fool joke:  there you are drinking your half caf skinny latte and WHOA! There goes Godzilla, swimming in your froth....

It remains COLD and snowy here.  Spike found some warm on the stovetop...which is not allowed, of course, yet still funny :)  Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

speaking of LITTLE CUTIES



(orange sized wee teapot by Gary Rith, fresh outta the kiln Monday)
Do you get them at the grocery store?  I can't remember the last time I bought a normal orange:  we always get the wee clementines and mandarins, the little cuties!  So sweet and the peel almost falls right off.
THE CONCEPT of little cutie is true everywhere, don't you think?  I love beanie babies still (see my chest of drawers below) and half of their appeal was that they were SMALL little cuties.  Like a small orange is cuter than a big one, right?  DITTO SMALL teapots:  somehow they are cuter than full size, hmm?
(note:  my chest of drawers here:  I got it a few years ago from an antiques dealer.  It is SO over the top in every way, I just love it...but you would be appalled to hear that it is, um, one of 2 dressers I have, the other being devoted SOLELY to my tee shirt collection, this one solely for jeans, and, well, more tee shirts)

Monday, March 24, 2014

"while you were gone" and speaking of GLACIERS....

There is a small river/large creek behind our house named Fall Creek.  It is 30-50 feet wide here, a few feet deep, and goes down through Ithaca to create a huge gorge and falls.  It has been covered with ice most of the winter, very unusual in recent years, but it has been terribly cold for us: perhaps our coldest winter on record (NOTE: today it is currently snowing and 12 degrees, I kid you not...)

ANYWAY, there is a wonderful park down the river a bit, and I run there everyday.  The ice broke free a few days ago with huge ice blocks and sheets being pushed all over, and the park was covered with slabs.  The picnic tables went UNDER the ice blocks and have been melting.  YES, ice on top of picnic tables, and I finally got the camera over there...blows you away, hmm?

In other news, the wife got this fine shot Friday of me on a mountain above the Hudson River....

and finally, the wife got home last night from NYC and her good times there....the cat had taken over her spot in bed, is that surprising??? Probably also NOT surprising that I don't know how to make a bed ;) Have an awesome Monday!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

nope, nobody gonna dump here....



I go running past this spot down Lower Creek Rd every day.  It is horribly ugly and appalling, but funny in a sick way...have an awesome Sunday!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

"by the time we got to Woodstock.."

The wife tells me this story as we enjoy a roadtrip yesterday:

"We were visiting my grandparents near Albany one summer and my Prussian grandfather tosses down the newspaper and harumphs: "6 thousand hippies at this rock concert in Woodstock.  I bet they are ALL ON DRUGS!" and my wife's Prussian grandmother looks AGHAST and shocked and my mischievous mother-in-law who is their daughter tells them "maybe YOU should have a music festival here!" which nearly made them all faint.

It was 1969 and Woodstock is close to Albany and there were a hell of a lot more than 6000 people at Woodstock.  I was 3 that year, but no matter, it has affected us all, right?  We live in Ithaca, not too far from Woodstock, and had never been there! (the town is an artsy paradise but the actual CONCERT in 1969 was some distance away...doesn't matter, Woodstock was and is still groovy).

SO, the wife was gonna catch the train to NYC this weekend and I wanted a creative way to see her off.  Like, visit Woodstock!  And more, as you shall see....

Some things about Woodstock, and YES, I could live there happily (I like living in places with FEW rednecks and republicans, places where you don't have to explain being a liberal artist because EVERYBODY is a liberal artist).
1)  there are none, NOT a single chain anything that I could see.  The town planning must forbid McDonalds and Home Depot etc.  There are many shops and stores, all independent.
2)  I didn't realize that it was REALLY mountainous there.  BIG Catskill mountains all around, we came from the woodsy western direction, but then you leave to the east and enter a flat part of the Hudson River valley.
3)  Yes.  Woodstock knows what it is.  What it is is a beautiful old village with lakes, creeks and mountains only about 2 hours from the largest city in the US.  It is very wealthy or I should say it has a successful economy, and you can see it would be very popular May-October.  There are only 5-6000 residents, but I am sure it is crowded in summer.



We left Woodstock because I wanted to visit Storm King.  There is a sculpture park of that name there and state park which is famous.  The sculpture park does not open for another week or 2, but the state park is notably famous:  HUGE steep mountains on the Hudson River.

In this picture we are WAY up above the Hudson and on the right side of the pic is West Point.


This little mountain is more steep than you may think...and there were climbers all over it!


Finally, we went to Middletown for the wife to catch the train to NYC and see our buddies Kate and Jim... Kate, it should be noted, DID INDEED go to Woodstock in 1969 when she was a hawt young teenager with nothing better to do on a summer day than go join "6000 hippies on drugs".....

Kate and Jim have 4 cats...and invited our wee beagle to run free amongst them..which was somewhat HILARIOUS....


Strangely, and you know my musical tastes vary widely, Crosby Still Nash AND YOUNG is my favorite... and fits the mood of this trip...have a great weekend!

 

Thursday, March 20, 2014

talking tiny teapots....


(new teapots by Gary Rith)
OK, the teapots?  All about the size of an orange.  Sitting there all morning making these things was wicked fun and the time flew by..... what a priviledged life, hmm?  Sit around making fun stuff all day....
I am on the road on a secret mission so talk amongst yerselves and catcha soon!

another tiny teapot

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

in which I apply for the job FROM HELL.....

This is the stuff dreams are made of!
I have told you (you will remember yesterday's post about having a BABY with a loaded diaper) that I have very vivid and real and imaginative dreams.  A friend had a baby, suddenly I dream I HAVE one too.
I was telling the wife yesterday:
he:  "they are so nice at the bank branch, they let me walk the dog in then they give the dog a treat!"
she:  "...!"
he:  "but gosh, that job would be tough, they have to JUST SIT THERE all day...SIT!   There are jobs where people just sit all the time...and like, at this bank branch?  They look like they could use a little movement"
she:  "...!"
he:  "I would go flippin' NUTS if I was bank teller, sitting on my azz all the time..."

SO WHAT do I dream later that same night?

We moved to Florida for no reason I can discern, and each tried for work.  There were very few jobs (remember, I have been an independent full-time artist since 1997) but I got an an enthusiastic call back from a bank about a teller job, which I could actually walk to from our apartment...in the dream I was like "at least I can walk to and from work, sheesh!  SITTING all day, gah! I'll go nuts".   So, I almost have it, but I am told the bank owner wants to meet me, because I have not worked a jobby-job in what, 17 years?  OK, so I walk over to meet the owner, who is this elderly republican good ole boy chamber of commerce type in a wheel chair, who says we are gonna play double solitaire and chat about the job, he likes to get to know potential employees....I woke up just as I wheeled him into an elevator to head up to his office... and find, as usual, I am still a potter and dog and cat sitter :)

Hey, great stuff outta the kiln Tuesday, have a LOOK!  Lions!  I drew a lion too!





(new pottery by Gary Rith) OH GOSH I love this song, speaking of lions....

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

where'd the baby come from????



(new teapot by Gary Rith)
I was dreaming just now:  we had a baby! SURPRISE!  We have friends with grandkids..in elementary school....but here we were, with a baby. At a mall.  The baby filled the diaper with... GOO.  I had to go to a NOT NICE RESTROOM...without one of those giant baby equipment bags people probably always have...SO, there I was, with paper towels and a NOT NICE sink and no counter trying to scrub down this baby.... I will say, much to my surprise:  the baby was mellow about it, and so was I.

I don't need a baby.  Or any puppies or kittens either...

SPEAKING of which I babysat my neighbor's dog Yogi yesterday and woohoo, lookit him!  He came over to play with Penny too....


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