Hello form Chautauqua, NY...

Greetings gentle reader...I am now posting from Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY right on the shore of Lake Chautauqua...it seems to me they(whoever named this area) was at a loss for other clever titles...maybe something shorter would have been a good idea...I am going to go out on a limb here and refer to this place as the Cha., who knows maybe that will catch on with other lazy typers like myself. Anywho, the above piece is a recent installation in the new sculpture garden here within the bubble. The Chautauqua Institution has been in existence for well over one hundred years and is a summer haven for those looking to immerse themselves in the arts as well as some serious lake time. It is truly a beautiful community that blossoms in the summer months. Oh yeah...the big hand was made by Joe Molino...ceramics professor at Carnegie Mellon.

The above image is the side entrance to the ceramics studio located in the fine arts quad. The orange and brown panels are rolling doors to the kiln palace...my personal kingdom, since I am KILNMASTER!...do you here the echo too? Everyday I spend the majority of daylight and a good portion of the evening hours here. I have a great crew to work with and everybody pitches in to help keep the studio up and running...stocked with clay and glazes...and answering millions of questions from the Chatauquans taking morning and afternoon classes with the visiting artists/instructors. Speaking of, for the first 3 weeks we are graced with a wonderful couple who both teach at universities in Tenn. Frank and Polly Martin. They have been patient and easy going and a pleasure to work with. Polly's interest is in making beautiful functional pottery to be used in the home and Frank creates assembled objects based in pottery finished with vividly colored glazes. They also gave a lecture together...great work and interesting talks... Both are so worth the google...

But let me acknowledge somebody who has been indispensable here in the studio...without whom I could not keep things rolling along. She is the studio tech and my right hand here...Ladies and Gentlemen...Ms. Ashley Dodge!

Ashley is a recent graduate of WVU...she earned her BFA in ceramics. She is a very nice person with a great attitude...knowledgeable and best of all...somebody I can count on. She has been busting her butt for the studio as well as trying to find her own time in her studio to make new work. Below are featured a few of her cups and stem ware...her pieces are cone 6 porcelain with flowing sumptuous glazes...my favorite part of her stem ware is that they all jingle! You can shake them like a bell after you finish your libations...such a cool idea...I hope to come home with a few of her pieces at the end of the season.

Ashley has great things in her future...as for me...I have been working hard and also trying to get some me time in my studio too...I have been working on some big super wonky mugs...over sized and made from a porcelainious stoneware...working on some super funky decal images to finish them off with...and thinking that they will be in my first cone 6 soda fire here. This is them, with a couple other pieces drying in my studio window...all possibilities for the soda firing.

So ends my first post from the Cha...stay tuned for more from within the bubble.