Poetry, Carved Pottery Mugs, and Kids' Art

 

 

Carved Mugs and Sake Bottles (greenware).
I've been working on some smaller, limited edition pieces for the Lubec Landmarks exhibit upcoming in June. I've been having fun with all kinds of texture and images. The weir carving is my personal fave.

 

Chris reading poetry at Calais Bookshop.
It was a great venue with a wonderful host, Carol, the bookshop owner.
Chris' red squirrel imitation was priceless. Wish I had a video of it!

 

Student Art Show was last week. We usually have the art show in the cafeteria but this year lined the hallway. The kids did a great job picking out their favorite pieces. Thirty pieces were juried for a summer exhibit at the library. A selection of works will also go on display at the Quik Shop and lighthouses will soon head off to the West Quoddy Lighthouse Visitor Center gallery for summer sales. The last few weeks of the school year are going to be hectic!

 

Bouli guarding the beautiful blooming plant.
We inherited this plant from a friend two years ago. She had asked us to watch over her plants while she spent the winter on the west coast. Nearly all her plants died in our care, except for this one, which she decided to leave with us permanently. It bloomed this same week last year. That week brought a big change in my life and now I am waiting, anticipating, the next big change.

It's the last day school vacation week and I sure have enjoyed the leisurely awakenings each morning. Of course, on today which is my last day of sleeping-in, I woke at 3:15 a.m.  At 4:00 a.m. I sauntered out of bed down to the cave to check on yesterday's studio work, worried that the slabs that I spent several hours rolling in my final push to get done the "the next step" might be drying too fast. All is well. I have my hot cocoa bedside, the cats are fed, and I am, at least for the moment, wide awake after only four hours sleep.

The blog has been neglected the past couple weeks. The work docket is full with a multitude of projects and I have been trying to peck away at each day. I don't like having so many unfinished things to do but all deadlines seem to be coming at me at the same time fast and furious. Today I have an ambitious schedule planned and in some crazy way am glad that I woke so early.

We have two new additions to our family...well, sort of. Two snowshoe hares have taken residence in our yard. They seem quite comfortable and unaffected by our our presence, or the cats for that matter. We have affectionately named them "White Foot" and "Sir Fluffy Foo Foo". They have taunted us by sitting in the middle of the garden plot that is soon to be planted. When Chris drove the car up the driveway two days ago, Sir Fluffy Foo Foo took a while to budge while Chris sat mid-drive, engine running, waiting for the right-of-way. The cats sit outdoors about fifteen feet from the rabbits, curious, as the bunnies munch on the fresh new greens emerging from the preciously barren earth. Yes, spring has sprung. The warm weather this past week has brought the critters out in mass. Moose tracks along the road, coyote evidence, eagles, vultures and hawks, and an eerie screaming fox.

The past week in the pottery cave has been a good run. I am working my way through several orders and preparing to stock a few different shops which all seem to have seasonal openings at the same time. I was pleased to learn this past week that my pottery was accepted by the Center for Maine Craft. About three weeks ago I attended a jury session with some of my functional wares. The short jury session involved much prep and a long drive, but am pleased to be making a presence at such a wonderful location. The gallery itself is a real feast for the eyes if you enjoy fine craft and the location is awesome with high tourist traffic, located at a visitor center off I95.

The prep for my solo at Lubec Landmarks has kicked into super high-overdrive-gear. I continue work on the ceramic installation sculpture which is the major piece for the show, but I also am working on a smaller limited series of functional pottery. I always enjoy carving in clay and this show is giving me an opportunity to play around with some fun textures and Lubec motifs.

The morning seems to be going by quickly depite my early rise. I need to get images onto a disk and fit in one more photo shoot for the new website in progress.  I've spent far too much time this past week editing text and will be glad to have the first portion of the site behind me. Lots of other behind-the-scenes business stuff to do (it isn't all clay and fun!!!!). Running a business, even a micro one, has lots of tasks that eat up time that would preferably be spent in creation mode. 

I am hoping that within three or four hours I can get back into my cave and do step two of yesterday's slab tasks. Thankfully my aching body has recovered somewhat from yesterday's muscle-intensive studio session. (Chris will be glad to see this next phase done, too I think, since the slabs have taken over his normally-coveted area of the basement).

As I sign off, a few announcements:

Lubec Arts Alive 

 A documentary by noted filmmaker Jon Wing Lum

Screening at Harlow Art Gallery

Hallowell, Maine

Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

If you are in central or southern Maine, this is your chance to check out the film.

Razed

A solo exhibition by Shanna Wheelock featuring 

a sculptural installation that commemorates the lost factory industry of Lubec

showing at

Lubec Landmarks

50 Water Street, Lubec, ME

June 1-19, 2012

Opening Reception

Saturday, June 2, 2012

2:00 p.m.

A list of shops/galleries that will be carrying my functional pottery this summer:

Ironbound Gallery
37 Bayview Street, Camden, ME

Center for Maine Craft
Travel Plaza, located off I95 West Gardiner
288 Lewiston Rd., West Gardiner, ME

Cobscook Pottery and Fiber Arts
162 N. Lubec Rd., Lubec, ME

Northen Tides Gallery and Gift Shop
24 Water Street, Lubec, ME

The Commons
51 Water Street, Eastport, ME

The Red Sleigh
Rte. 1, North Perry, ME