Thursday, December 3, 2009

What I love about the people that stumble into my life...

First of all, I just want to say how sad I was to read this blog post about the Bennion's dog, Dixon, being shot by a hunter. What kind of world are we living in when someone can aim an arrow at a beautiful animal and take it's life? I don't know how you forgive an act like this....

Today is just one of those weird days (full moon) that attracts strangeness and ramblings in my brain. I've been thinking about people that have come into my life at certain times, people I still think of but may never see again, people that have passed away that I miss deeply, and then Gerry and Wesley who are with me always. My daughter and husband are laying out in the yard right now looking at the stars. We had torrential rains last night and the ground is soaking wet, but there they lay.... Gerry is shooting an hour long time exposure of the stars, should be nice. Wesley walked out to the car this morning with her face towards the sky and she has pretty much been like that all day, it's like the Mother Ship is sending a beacon signal or something, but I love that they are out there laying in the yard together. Then there are the girls that have come into my life through classes at the Artscenter. I have the very best class right now. Today we laughed and cried and shared all of our joys and problems, and still made pottery while all of this was going on. I ask you,who else but potters can do this!? They are really the best group of women. I was thinking about how many amazing women I have met through the Artscenter in Carrboro and it reminded me of one incident I had there when I first started teaching kids. I had a big group of summer campers and all three of the kilns broke and we couldn't fire their final pieces. I had planned an "art show" for the parents and we were going to have a little reception. Well, there was nothing but bisque for the parents to see. My friend Susan Wells was there and I was close to a panic. She walked in to the studio where there was total chaos (because that is how all of my classes are), told the kids to put their hands in their laps and give her their attention, which they did, and then she so beautifully described how we were going to make pinch pots and put votive candles in them (which she just happened to have on her shelf) and display the bisque in the candle light and how it would all be sculptural and wonderful, and the kids loved it and all was right with the world. Again, I ask you, who but a potter would come up with this!? When the kilns let us down, we have to suck in a deep breath and figure it out, and Susan did that for me then, and so today I sucked in a big breath over my kiln issues, while my friends had tears over being a new mom, and being a mom with sick kids, and being a mom with a kid that turned 21 and just tears that come with being a mom. Then there are the people that have stumbled into my life through this blog. I met Michael Kline through this blog last year and without even knowing me he invited me to camp out at his place when I was up that way taking a workshop and fed me a wonderful meal. Brandon Phillips has taught me more with his videos than most teachers I have had, Hollis Engley sent me a cup I now drink out of every day, Meredith Heywood fixed a most wonderful lunch for me and my daughter and invited us into her home, never met us. Not to mention all of you that give me such great words of encouragement and support, greatly appreciated and sometimes greatly needed. And I figured out my pin hole problem thanks to a suggestion from my student Kristen! which I will talk about later.So with a heart very full today, I came home and glazed a bunch of stuff to Raku tomorrow. So I do battle with the kiln yet again. It's what we do, right? I'm going out in the yard now and lay down in the wet grass and look at the amazing sky we have tonight. I'll tell you what I figured out about the pinholes tomorrow! and let's all say a little hello to Maynard Dixon Bennion!

8 comments:

cookingwithgas said...

you just filled my heart and put me in such a sweet place.
Thank You!
M

Hollis Engley said...

You do know how to say thank you to people, don't you, Tracey? Amen to all that.

Paul Jessop said...

You've made my day, what a great picture you paint.

Tracey Broome said...

Awww..... you guys brought a tear to my eye! Paul I could say the same about your blog, funny that you and Wesley were both looking at the cloudless sky yesterday an ocean apart :)

kriips said...

Tracey, thanks for checking out my blog (the mushroom entry). SOrry about the Whatnot-Whynot confusion - but hey - now I found another great blog to follow!

Anonymous said...

hi tracey... wish i hadn't followed your link about the dog being shot, it is one of the saddest things i've ever read and infuriating too. i just can't get my head around this supposed "law" that allows hunters to kill dogs. your post made me wish i lived in the country where there is less light from the city and i could see the stars... i'm lucky if i can see venus on a clear night.

Linda Starr said...

What a beautiful post and oh so very true about potters, if I never have a successful pot but just make work in clay and then talk with all the potters around the world - it all will have been worth it.

I wasn't going to look at the other blog about the dog because I thought it would be too painful for me, but after Jim's comment I have to read it - a law that it's ok - that needs to be changed.

Tracey Broome said...

Hey kripps(don't know your name sorry) I saw some of the mushrooms in my yard today that you had on your blog, never knew they were there. Jim it is a horrible post isn't it? I just cried when I read it and was awake at 3am thinking about it. Linda, you are so right, if we just all meet through pottery it would have been worth it.