DOG is my co-pilot....

(Penny and I drive off into the sunset)

Last week I was telling you about making a wall piece with a dog riding in a car....the point being, I am applying for an exhibition next spring with wall pieces. The very possibility of that show means I have to prepare now, and the ideas are flooooooooowing......

SO, having made cars before, it occured to me that a dog riding in a car would make a great wall piece, modeled after you-know-who the beagle....and

SHOOT, I swear, if that yellow cake stand below is the best piece I have ever made, this is the second, what a great week :)

(pottery handmade by Gary Rith)

serving ROYALTY?????

You will recall that last week I talked of making a CAKE STAND for the wife, or cake plate if you prefer, and I made the first one I had ever made, in 2 pieces. These sorts of things REALLY like to break and warp in the kiln, it is a very unstable shape. Somebody suggested I make them in one piece, stand and plate together, and I have since done so with a second cake stand which is bigger than this one, and I hope it fires OK too...but for now? THE FIRST ONE IS OUT! And looking magnificent....it is ours and for us...and for, well, important personages and serving them in the way they prefer....BTW, I accidentally dumped the can on the floor a second after these pics and Buster our big dog ate all Spike's lunch.... (I opened another can...but poor guy!)

Putting Penny on a pedestal...and a POT

OK, so there is this amazing Euro (read: PRICEY) coffee pot in NY magazine and, well, I lust after it. Bloomies is selling them, and lickety split, I order one for Christmas, figuring FOUR months would get it here by then. No. Bloomies was super nice, but the manufacturer ran out of them and then would not return their calls....I guess they were THAT popular!

So, 2 months on back order, no end in sight, I cancel with Bloomies.
In the pics below you see our old coffee pot, purple with a zebra! I made it a few years ago. You put filter and coffee in the top, pour boiling water through. Through constant use and abuse, I had also broken the handles, and therefore set it aside and we don't use it now, just admire it. So I decided to make another zebra coffee pot for us, but BIGGER BIGGER BIGGGGGER! And have the wife make a cozy for it. Because the last cups in such a pot are not hot, just warm. Anyway, i was making a zebra coffee pot, and well....it became a beagle coffee pot.

You wonder why I put animals on pedestals in sculpture? I think it is funny, but also.....well, we own pedestals. Our front door has columns too, I love classical columns......



(new pottery by Gary Rith)

How to win friends and influence people, according to Penny

We went over to Amy and Dave's farm yesterday. Golly, tis glorious out this weekend, warm and sunny! (Friday night it had snowed a bit, again). Penny's little doggy friend Zippy was there, of course (Penny hates other dogs...but Zippy is her pal) and after we had been hiking around the back 40 for awhile we went inside....and Penny met the cats.......she was pretty polite, and they were pretty surprised....

Back home, of course, she and Spike the cat like to sleep on the "beach", the strongest heat vent in the house....

"management material": ME???????

I was dreaming just a minute ago, that me and some buddies were all set up for summer internships making copies and coffee for someone, and we had rented a house in Maryland for the summer...the PARTY HOUSE was the idea (this actually happened at our college in Vermont, you know, between my junior and senior year--the stove went out because the lease holders hadn't paid the gas bill, but we were college students, and used a hot plate and endeavored to GRILL every night on the front porch...and we did :)
Anyway, so I happen to meet the house owner in my dream, and my summer of mirth is interrupted by him telling me "I can see you are management material, we have big things, big responsibilities planned for you" and I was like "Oh sh!t, there goes my summer of fun..." Like in OFFICE SPACE, remember that?

I was amused yesterday, me and the wife were finishing dinner....and crosswords together....one after another, our wee addiction....

You will dig this turquoise teapot, totally cute, hmm? I am trying out these textures and ideas together in a series of them...this particular one for sale now at my etsy gallery!

the birds and the bees, the bags and the kitties....

(new pottery by Gary Rith)
You will remember our good friend Summer, who is an artist on the side, but first and foremost a research biologist who studies and lectures on her area of expertise, which happens to be what you and I might call "bugs". Talking with Summer is to enjoy a thrilling conversation featuring snakes, wasps, pottery, bees, food, beads, glass....
ANYWAY, a week or 2 ago, Summer is talking about Christmas and her father. Her father, you would not be surprised to learn, keeps bees. He is also a chef around the house....and, well, could I make a gravy boat for him? With bees on it????
I thought and thought and thought about it, and came up with this rather awesome item with bees all over it. It turned out so well, I need to make some honey pots and even mugs and bowls with bees, and this blue-green color scheme....
Spike, as you see below and have seen before, gets wicked excited about grocery bags......

bits and pieces.....

You will see here another before and after type picture comparison: just snapped a pic of the top of the kiln, still cooling and about 130 degrees, fired yesterday to about 2200 degrees at 4:30 in the afternoon at the end of a 12 hour firing cycle. The lower photo shows how grey and chalky pieces look before glaze firing. It is like a cake, batter becomes this beautiful chocolate dessert!
Also down there, a tiny teapot and cup for an elephant sculpture I made....YES, those were made on the wheel like a full-size piece :)


(pottery by Gary Rith)

making stuff, living the life.....

You will see below the parts that went into making the cake stand and car wall piece. I hadn't made a cake stand before, but the wife wants one from me for Christmas. You make it and you are like "this thing is wicked fragile, hope it survives drying and firing without cracking". I figure if it survives (I can make many many more, btw) it will be YELLOW!
Also, I was talking to Brett and Robin earlier in the week about an exhibit of my wall pieces in 2012. Sure, I do wall pieces, you have seen the 3 pigs or the cow over the moon, but in talking with them, I got an idea for BEAGLE RIDING IN A CAR adorable wall piece, and made one....you see the dome shape below, which became the car....and of course, you also see the DOG IN THE CAR which inspires art work like that (Penny and I went on a trip to hike in the gorgeous fall weather yesterday, soooo nice out!)

Pajamas, penguins, Penny, parties and polar bears: the postscript!

Yesterday the wife sees the first 2 photos here on the computer, of Spike with my (secret) new penguin PJs and she is like
"wait, that is my cat, that is my bed, but whose legs are in those penguin PJs, you don't have penguin PJs" and coincidentally, I was wearing them at that point and came out saying
"well, I have them NOW" and she is like
"you went back to the store after you got bear PJs and also got penguin PJs???" and I am like
"well, YES, I did....they were your favorite when we saw them!" and she is like
" :) "

You know how it is at home for passionate couples, sometimes it is a BEAR night...but maybe sometimes it is a PENGUIN night...do I have to spell it out?

Also, you see below, more shots from Kerry Brett and Terry's visit Sunday.......