Dry Spell

Sorry folks, I know it's been awhile since my last post, two and a half weeks - the longest dry spell I've had since starting this blog back in 2008. And it's not as though I didn't have anything to blog about, rather it's more the opposite with too many things going on and not a moment to even put my thoughts together. 

Since we arrived back in Canada on my birthday in early May, our days have been filled with reconnecting with friends and ramping up for my big brother's wedding with several pre-nuptual preparations and events. The actual wedding was this past weekend and I am still riding the emotional high of witnessing my brother and his beautiful bride Sarah walk arm and arm down the aisle. It was a magnificent day, despite the unseasonal snowstorm in Calgary. Sarah was a most stunning bride and will be a gem of a sister-in-law, and witnessing Chris so in love and surrounded by his most cherished friends and family will always be imprinted in my memory. I am so happy for both of them. 

Around the same time today that the newlyweds left town on a jet plane headed for a honeymoon in Ireland, we DuPonts headed out of town as well on yet another adventure. Packed to gills with clothes, toys, bikes and pots we made the three hour trip southeast of Calgary to Medicine Hat. Robin begins a month long artist in residency here at Medalta Potteries tomorrow morning. 

The kids and I are happy to be along for the experience and we've spent the evening settling into our 70's style bungalow adjacent to the studios - mustard coloured shag carpets and all! I'm most looking forward to the next month of staying put. As exciting and eventful as the last few weeks have been, I've found it difficult to stay grounded, moving about so much and sleeping in several different places. The kids have also felt the effects and are not entirely themselves. I think it will do us all some good to have a place we can call 'home', even if just for a little while. 

I've been unpacking our things this evening and can already feel some restlessness easing. Even the urge to write has returned, so stay tuned for more regular posts this month!

 

Official start

On your mark, get set, GO!

We've officially begun our summer, despite leaving Logan with yet another snowstorm at our heels. We caught this Mother's Day photo with our tulips in full bloom, moments before we pulled out of the driveway to make the 14 hour trip north, home to Canada. Instead of taking our usual route north through Montana we decided to mix things up a bit and headed east towards Boise instead. This route tacked on a couple hours to the drive, but was well worth it for the scenic value - and besides, it's summer! 

The most interesting part of the drive began north of Boise which took us through a series of winding canyons and a whitewater kayaker's playground to Lewiston, Idaho. Our friends and neighbors had told us about this area and deemed the Payette river as one of the greatest they'd ever paddled. Besides enjoying the gorgeous cliffside views, we chose this route because it took us through Lewiston where Robin had sourced out his summer's supply of clay and had arranged to pick up. And even with 500 plus pounds of clay on board, he still had space to dig a little sample of raw clay out of a pullout cliffside. 

Tuesday was full of surprises to commemorate my birthday when we arrived in Nelson late that evening. My mom had made the trip to the Kootenays to be part of the welcome wagon and share a little birthday brownie with me. And yesterday was dedicated to making phone calls, booking appointments and grocery shopping. Whew!

Although we've landed, I'm still not feeling at all grounded. It may take a few days to shift into Kootenay time and transition back into the Canadian life! I'll keep you posted. 

 

Wind caves

With Robin being finished up more or less in the studio, I've been the grateful recipient of some 'mommy time'. Yesterday I gleefully hiked up a local favorite trail called Wind Caves, just east of Logan up the canyon about 15 minutes. The trail is short, but steep and winds itself up a series of switchbacks and ends up at some pretty cool caves. Round trip takes a little over an hour to hike, and I was delighted to spend the morning with my friend Sandra. Sandra and her family are moving to Connecticut next week, so the hike was a chance to hang out together before she takes off. 

The hiking and backcountry around Logan is terrific, but by far the best part of living in Logan has been getting to know some really great people. There are many folks that will be sad to see Sandra, Mike and their daughter Anna leave town, as they've left a lasting impression on so many of us. But they've got plenty of exciting times ahead; new jobs, being closer to family and a dream home building project. Tomorrow night we're getting together with a big group of friends to wish them farewell and have a last drink or two together. 

Full Plates

Second year of grad school - CHECK!

Robin finished up the semester last night with his final critique after a marathon couple weeks of back to back firings and late nights in the studio. He's been making plates. Lots of plates, with the odd mug and pitcher thrown in to fill spaces in the kiln. He's been doing plenty of research, looking at plates and various forms in books and on the net and even spent time poking through other people's kitchen cupboards to check out their dinnerware collections. He finished unloading the soda kiln yesterday morning, giving himself a short window of time to mull over the results himself before laying them all out on the table for discussion.

Last night after the critique was over he came home and we stayed up late talking about the feedback and critical dialogue that occurred with his peers and professors about his most recent work and ideas. He said it was a really good crit, got everyone talking and seemingly engaged and there was definitely some food for thought to take away. His only regret is not being able to squeeze in one more firing before we head north next week for the summer. 

 

Unfortunately, or should I say fortunately, all that we have time left for this week is to do a little socializing and packing up. Got a lot on our plate this summer and it seems the time has arrived to dive into it.  

Little Monsters

Today my kids were nothing of the sort, monsters that is! They were golden. I've been feeling swamped these days with all sorts of to do lists before we head home. In particular we had this one scholarship application postmark deadline for today, and despite efforts to work on the package over the course of several days - it inevitably came down to the last few hours to get it in to the post office. Both Isla and Roscoe were as understanding as can be, for a two and a four year old, and we did manage to get it off in the mail on time.  As a reward for their patience we took them out for ice cream despite the drizzling and winter-like conditions outside.  

 

Say it ain't snow

Yesterday we woke up to a blizzard, and this morning mild flurries, but seriously????? 

This is a photo of my forlorn looking cherry blossoms that had just blossomed out the day before the weather made a drastic change for the worse. Most of the snow had melted by the end of the day, but air has remained cold and not springlike at all.  

Hopefully the weather won't hold back the folks that intended on coming out for the annual Ceramic's Guild Spring Sale. All the studios have been cleared out and mopped down. The sale starts tonight and will run through until Saturday. I had been hoping to cut a few of the cherry blossom branches to set out in some of Robin's large jars. 

An Earnest Gentleman

It's been awhile since I posted an interview feature on the blog, but I didn't want this guy to slip away before he saluted ol'USU farewell. Ernie Gentry is a third year graduate student in the ceramics program, a long standing resident here in the studios of USU and one heck of a funny and fabulous character. Ernie has been around these parts for the past six years, arriving back in 2004 one week after getting hitched to his southern belle, Sage. Ernie is also a southerner, hailing from Clinton, Mississippi and a product of Ol'Miss' a.k.a. University of of Mississippi's BFA program. His classified 'special ' student status here in Logan eventually led him into the MFA program, which he began in 2007 and is now about to finish! Hooray Ernie!

Why USU?

Back at Ol'Miss, Ernie had based his undergraduate thesis work on John Neely's salt firing research, for which he was keenly interested in. But when prompted as to why he picked USU to do graduate studies, he insisted that it was the energy and vitality of the studios that he picked up on immediately on a trip out to visit the faculty and facilities. Ernie was well familiar with the reputation of the program and it's faculty, and was most impressed with how everyone seemed to be both welcoming and helpful during his visit, not to mention inspired to work. 

Why clay?

Ernie actually wasn't overly impressed with the medium of clay when first introduced to it in his first ceramics class, an elective that he took at a Junior College and took much more of a liking to painting. It was only because he actually failed that first co

urse that he had to take it again, at which point a better and more inspiring teacher won him over and ultimately changed the course of his career.

What inspires you?

"Anything and everything", says Ernie.  His current body of work embodies his fascination with interesting and foreign objects. Ernie is inspired by everything from Mid-century design, chinese bronzes, to African currency and old age undergarments! This guy loves to find inspiration from objects that were once useful and have been taken out of their functional context and now have instilled value.   

What's next?

Ernie and Sage are off to Cedar City, UT in less than a fortnight. Sage has been working equally as hard as Ernie while he's been playing around with mud, and she is graduating this year as well from a Master's program in Landscape Architecture. She's landed a sweet position in the southern part of the state and Ernie has a couple of solo exhibitions planned for this summer.

We're super stoked that they aren't moving too far, and hope to visit them in their new parts in the fall, perhaps to get in some of that sightseeing we keep talking about and maybe they'll serve us up some of that yummy southern cooking they excel at. Jambalaya! And congrats to you both.