Kyle Carpenter opening tonight at Crimson Laurel Gallery

Hope some of you will be able to attend the Kyle Carpenter opening tonight at the Crimson Laurel gallery, here in Bakersville, NC to view these elegant, exquisite, salt fired pots in person.

I'm moving slowly after a good night of partying last night - lots of good wine, pate, shrimp, cheese fondue, pecan pie and the company of great friends who not only brought some of the goodies but also bought 3 pots from this weeks firing. Life is soooo good!

Kyle Carpenter at Southern Highlans show

Jim and I had a play day in Asheville yesterday. Our first stop was the Southern Highlands craft show at the Civic center. Here's a couple of pictures of Kyle Carpenter and his exquisite salt fired pots. 

After the show we joined Jim's niece Andrea for a delicious Indian lunch at Chez Pani and then headed to the Fresh Market to pick up a few groceries and sushi for dinner.

This morning I dug up some perennials for friends and neighbors, did a bit of weeding and picked and cleaned more cucumbers. Jim is off to the store to get some dill and dill seed and when he gets back I'll make a small batch of Jewish, deli style, crock pickles. They're made without vinegar - just salt, lots of garlic, dill and some some spices. I also put a little bit of dried hot red pepper to the mix. In this weather I'll be munching on them in three to five days. I like them best when they're mid way between a fresh cucumber and a pickle, which is they way I've had them in some of my favorite Jewish deli's in New York and L.A.

I'm hoping I can get into the studio for a couple of hours before getting together with friends later for porch sitting. There are still a couple of pots to decorate and a few other studio chores to take care of before I start another throwing cycle next week.

Kyle Carpenter Salt fired cup

Here's a sweet little salt fired cup by Asheville area potter Kyle Carpenter. This is one very talented young man!

Yesterday was another one of those "man plans, God laughs" days! I was counting on a full studio day and there was one meeting after another yesterday morning with the subs. I had to make decisions on dry wall, lights, hardware and on and on. By the time everyone had all their answers, plants tended, it was noon, so I suggested to Jim that since I lost my morning time and it was obvious with all these people and activity that I was not going to get a full day in the studio, maybe we should go to Asheville and get the rest of the hardware. So we grabbed a slice of cheese and some almonds to hold us until we could get a proper lunch or dinner and took off.

We bought the last of the hardware at Lowes but still can't find a small, ceiling fixture for the smaller upstairs bathroom. The size is very limited, as is the shape, so I'm going to have to continue to explore on line lighting stores tonight. So far, no luck. I also made a quick stop at Highwater clay to pick up a quart of resist and couple of boxes of clay, both for the cone 6 soda project and a box of Moon White clay which I'm phasing out, to finish an order. I've finally decided on one commercial claybody-- Phoenix, so once I use up the reclaim and other clays I've been playing with, I'll finally get to use my de-airing Bluebird pugmill. It's such a horror to clean that I haven't wanted to use it again until I did all my slip and glaze testing and settled on one clay body.

We had an early dinner/late lunch at the Chinese restaurant so I didn't have to make dinner. I just make some buttered popcorn with parmesan cheese and a sprinkiling of cayenne while we watched "The Secret of Roan Innish" - lovely, mystical, movie!

The tile work was finished when we got home and looks great - except the carpenters forgot to make the recessed areas in the tub area wall to store shampoo, etc. Neither Jim or I caught it, so now I have to search for something to hold soap and shampoo - probably one of those gizmos that hang on the shower pole.

Well, time to think about breakfast. It's nice to have a quiet morning and the house to ourselves for the weekend and get some uninterrupted studio time.

Till later,
June