Everybody and his dad has a blog now!

Including my dad.
So, we got his painting blog going, and he can load a million pics in there. Just starting. And we moved DEAD TREES AROUND WITH THE TRACTOR!
Gotta get some work done now..........

Potter Playing Hooky

heheheh...growing up is fun. I had Tonka trucks toys and dirt in the yard when I was a kid, now....!!!!

Obligatory man on tractor picture

At the parents' farm. They don't farm anything, but it is fun to ride around and move stuff with the tractor.

Donald Rith Painting

My dad painting on the campus of Colgate University, with Abby.

Amish Cowboy

My father is a watercolor painter. Recently a group of Amish families moved into their area. Everybody works hard, and he sketched and painted this 12 year old herding the family cows.
My parents live about 44 miles away from me, about an hour, and I am visiting their farm today.

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS

Me and the boys were talking about They Might Be Giants yesterday. We live in a grand world when we can watch stuff like this whenever we want. NOT to be confused with Big Head Todd and the Monsters.
So, have some fun with Tunes o' the day.

Pachyderm Pack

So, our old pal Greg is in the market for some elephant stuff. I had mentioned Tuesday that I had thrown the parts of an elephant teaset, here is the finished batch, plus a few spares. I made the eyes extra googly. Left to right you see teapot, cups, creamers, sugar bowls. Greg had been WORRIED that he was getting extra sugar bowls and such, but I explained that as it is a fragile and unpredictable medium, I often make extras when filling an order. That way you know one of the items ought to come out OK. Now these guys get bisque fired, maybe Sunday, then glaze fired blue, probably Monday.
Dreamt of our old nutbar neighbor's nutbar wife, GALE. As the old Arab curse goes 'may the fleas of a thousand camels infest________________'

Hamlin Beach State Park, western NY

Hamlin beach is one of those swell places you went to when you were a kid. We lived for much of my childhood in Brockport, NY, between Buffalo and Rochester.

geez it is busy around here

Remember Mr Pig, the guinea pig, shown last week?

Somebody said recently 'you do custom work' and I said to myself 'I do?'

I mean, I went to college and studied art, calculus, biology, psychology, literature and probably many other things, and I guess that I could not have predicted one day I would be doing a custom guinea pig. Mr Pig, in his photo, looks like a 3 color miniature cousin IT. Well, I did it, rather successfully I think, along with a host of other dogs for some rather sweet people in New Hampshire. It is , ahem, a challenge, trying to make a person's specific pet, but I think I have risen to the challenge.

Do you have any idea how long it takes to glaze a table full of guinea pigs and zebras? I'm hungry.

JOE COOL

Alert readers will have noticed that I am a very fashionable guy. Lucky me, I got this Snoopy 'Joe Cool' t-shirt the other day for just a dollar and change! I think that says it all.
I was trimming my hair the other day. Still looks a bit fuzzy. Maybe it needs...a little less Kramer on top.

Kingston, Ontario

I don't see any palm trees.

(thanks Google images, Queens Univ. and the tourist who posted the docks)

travels with gary

Having never been to Kingston, Ontario, I naturally dreamt of it extensively last night. My parents and I were wandering around on a warm day and there is a spectacular beach next to city hall that looks just like Miami Beach, but I took my dog Buster into city hall and we were wandering around and bumped into Alan who was very surprised that me and my dog were wandering around in his office, and although happy to see me, he was wondering if I was some kind of stalker.

I shall be very disappointed if this city on Lake Ontario does not have a gorgeous beach with palm trees. Anyway, everything I write here is true, although I do spread it on thickly at times, but I do not lie or make up stuff. I don't have to! If I am able to travel to Ontario, and there are strangers reading this, we will be the ones on the beach. I will be wearing my black Led Zeppelin t-shirt and wild hula-girl swimming suit and my wife says she will be the one in the black leather mini (see Halloween). OK, I made that part up.

So, little face mugs above. Nothing like a green face on your coffee mug leering up at you for sipping pleasure.

Our old pal CM has flown from Toronto to New York city to do some secret work for BIG CORP, and she has plans to hang out with my sister-in-law Emily. This is all quite cozy, and shows the power of blogging. All these nice strangers getting together, but HELLO to cm, have fun.

Alright, How About Jane's Addiction's other big hit, an irresponsible guide to shoplifting?

where an elephant teaset begins

I got confirmation around 4 that a customer needed an elephant teaset, like the one down a couple of pics, in blue. It needs to be dried and glazed and delivered soon. I said I would be able to show step one by 5:30, freshly thrown cup and teapot parts. Check.

ok, 2 elephant creamers for a teaset

sugar bowls

another way of making an elephant teapot

Ok, one way of doing an elephant and a teapot

Dental perfection

Gordo is well known herabouts. Now, I hate orders, as mentioned before, BUT I always listen politely, and heck, sometimes people have good ideas, like Sean and the hippo sugar bowl (I made another just now, on the right). So, Gordo has a family, saw Sean's toothbrush holder, and asked about one with a starfish. I think he had some good and specific ideas, but I got my own ideas and ran with them. The problem with an order is if it is somebody else's idea, you make it poorly. You have to get into yourself, with the planning and such, to do your best work. Like Denis saying I should do Big Foot. Just can't picture it, Denis.

But I have made many cute little starfishes, although not since about 1996. Gordo is giving me a VERY helpful idea here. So, his family has maybe 5 humans in it, plus maybe the occaisional visitor. Six holes then. BUT, how to wrap the arms of the starfish around the holes, yet leave the middle open for toothpaste? Also, if there are little kids, maybe kids toothbrushes are really short? I dunno. The holder on the right was the taller first one, the far left is with the top curled over a bit. It seems to me that these 2 starfish have sort of a saucy look about the lips....

Anyway, I think I want to glaze them entirely in light green, but maybe one of the starfish I will leave as a sandy color? I will do one each way.

up to 2300 plus

You havn't asked yet, but OH YES, it was on your mind. 'What's all this talk about kilns, computers, microwave ovens?'
The kiln I use most often, to about 2200 degrees F, which is what, about 1000 c? is on the right. The large blue box on the right is the firing control, you can just see the digital readout and number pad on the top. Yep, just like a microwave, roughly: key in time, temp, hit start. It has an automatic program you can use, or alter as you prefer, and it goes slooooow at first, then fast then faster, and sloooow at the end, and I program two extras: at the start I XXXXXXXX secret and at the end I also XXXXXXXXX secret. The second bit, at the end, promotes crystal development, and each of my glazes has a lot of XXXXXXXXXX secret ingredient one, two, and three, to make crystals. Crystals, to the layperson, are speckles, in this case. If you XXXXXXXX for 3 hours, it would make huge crystals, but I don't do that.
Anyway, industrial blower on top with a counterbalance on top, to raise and lower. Big duct out the window to remove water vapor, sulphur dioxide and carbon something oxide, out of the house.
The 2 little kilns on the right are also electric kilns, and I don't use them often, unless I have to repair the big guy. I have torn the big kiln apart a few times: the more fancy features, the more that can break down, sigh.....like the thermocouple, twice replaced, 5 of the six elements, and most of the wiring inside.

Jane says

It had been a busy morning, Sunday. I had to glaze fairly fast. Glaze firings last about 12 and a half hours total, going to around 2200 degrees. Therefore, you want to get an early start. In the evening, around 1950 degrees, the kiln made some electronic squeals. You never start the kiln and then go out on the town, you know, just in case. Although it is computerized, like a microwave oven, things can go wrong or break, although they seldom do go wrong. So, the fuse was loose and the kiln was kinda off and on there at 1950, and I made sure it stayed ON. The firing had been briefly interrupted, but all was well and it was a good firing, and this teapot for Shelly, for example, came out very nicely. The question is, where do you get these sexy bamboo handles? Aftosa in Calisfornia sells them now, this one is from Sheffield pottery in Mass. There are rigid wire loops at each end, so you use pliers and tighten the handle onto the teapot.
Dreamt that Spirit and Kitsch Gallery had added a preschool, which makes sense in a way, as us artists are little kids still messing around with paint and clay.
OK, Jane's Addiction, 'Jane Says'. What is it with this band? They are so strange, but certainly had a couple of sweet hits, this one may be about their biggest. This performance is quite a spectacle, and you sorta wanna join the fun.