A Random Post...

I've packed up all my things & said my goodbyes to Oregon... at least for the summer. I'm off to see family and go back to my travel job... in an attempt to finance another quarter of school in the fall. I've made this drive quite a few times, so I don't often stop for pictures. 

Well, except for Mt Shasta... I never tire of photographing this mountain. I absolutely love it.

Speaking of love~ coffee! This was a frequent stop along the way. Did you know that coffee is the number two import... just behind oil?! I have a love/hate relationship w/ Starbuck's.  I love that they have the cleanest bathrooms (which is a huge perk to a traveler!) and I love a venti-extra-hot-no- whip-mocha. But don't let the fact that they now serve a few varieties of fair trade coffee, or have had a few brochures made about their eco-friendly practices fool you. This is a fairly recent development... and they are still hugely "Corporate America," and specialize in making a huge profit off of you & me, and often at the expense of others. Not at all trying to slander them... like I said, it's a love/hate relationship.

There's an excellent documentary called "Birdsong & Coffee; A Wake Up Call " that examines the relationship between coffee, cultures, corporations, & ecosystems... I highly recommend it. 

Moving on... Purple Mountains Majesty near Tehachapi, Ca.

 

That about wraps it up for now! I'll be spending the week with family before I head out to the next job...

I'm contemplating changing the name of my blog, as I am no longer an art student... at least for the summer. Any ideas?

Coffee, Anyone?

For those who were wondering... my mug from "When your Apartment becomes your Studio"  just made it out of the kiln this morning... and it survived! Yippee!! It's the little things people... I tell ya! Here it is~

I was really excited to get this back, as I have made four more in various shapes and sizes, and with different stains for the beans (hoping to get a bit darker & more realistic bean.) Sometimes you don't really know what's going to work & what isn't... so I was very pleased! I volunteered to unload the kiln this morning & the pieces were still very warm... literally right out of the "oven!" I got back several pieces... I won't bore you with them all... but I do have to show you the cute little container I made to hold all my ceramics tools!

Much better than the old plastic tub I was using!! The bowl below had to be sacrificed in the name of testing for the big bowl... so it's a bit of a mess! 

Other than that... I had a glazemania sort of day! Looking at my notes, thinking about what glaze to mix with what other, dipping, mixing, wiping the bottoms of countless bowls so they don't stick to the kiln shelves... all in all, a great day!

The wonderful thing about the end of the quarter is that the kilns are going non-stop... so I only have to wait until next week to see the results! Now I just keep my fingers crossed that all goes well in the kiln!

:)

Good Friends, Good Coffee

My life the past few weeks has consisted of printmaking, drinking coffee & thinking about my life & what the heck I want to do with it. A lot of my thoughts center around whether or not to continue with school, or just keep looking for where to call home & making art on my own rather than forking out so much cash for a "formal" art education. But, I digress. Back to the drinking coffee part. I am a caffiene addict & I can accept that. I've toyed with the idea of giving it up... as most coffee junkies have at some point or another... but seriously, life without coffee? Sometimes I'm excited about going to bed at night just so I can get up & start the day fresh... with a fresh cup o' joe. Which brings me to the title of my post: Good Friends, Good Coffee. My good friend just returned from 6 weeks in Africa (fulfilling a long time dream of hers) & has stopped by to visit... bringing with her tales of her adventures... and 3 different kinds of coffee & these lovely handmade baskets from Africa. Although I am tempted to have some this evening- coffee & sleep don't mix for me... so I am looking forward to tomorrow morning! I'm including a link to Amanda's blog if you want to check out her thoughts/images while traveling solo in Africa:
http://www.atravelinggirl.blogspot.com/