What's new?

Well, life can sure throw a curve ball when it's wants to. My mom is finally done with her chemo and is now in remission. My dad however, went into the ER two weeks ago with chest pain. He had an EKG and found out he was having a heart attack.. The gave him a catheter in his heart and they did a triple bypass. If you haven't figured it out either, I am going through a divorce as well. Although it has been pretty civil, it has also consumed my life for the last few months. Needless to say the first thing to be put aside has been the studio. I did manage to finish all the trim and the interior of the main part. All I need to door is paint the doors, trim them out and get some light and outlet covers. The position i am in now is to continue on with this dream or to scratch it all together and move into a smaller, more affordable house. It's not a decision I am making right now. I can wait a bit on it. So there it is. That's what's new.

Clay Sculptor

Philippe Faraut is the artist here. I love this guy's ability to do so much with the human face. His knowledge of bone structure, muscle structure, gender, and race is unbelievable. If your looking to learn how to work with the human form, especially the upper portion, I highly recommend his books or video.

What Happened?

It probably seems like I fell off the face of the planet. Well not really. I don't want to publish too many personal affairs so I'll just say that my life is changing significantly. I haven't stopped working on the studio and on my own work. I just haven't had the time to get here and update stuff. I did make a few small adjustments to the site. I am hoping to have some new work with a new flavor posted soon too. It is time for a change in my work.

So here is the latest with the studio. I have a little trim to do around the windows and the remodeling in the main room will be done. Then I can make some cool shelves and storage racks. This will be the fun stuff and should go rather quickly. I most definitely will be having classes this summer and maybe late spring. It won't be as elaborate as I had originally hoped, but I am OK with starting off a little small. I plan to have a schedule up in early spring on my site and will forward this information to anyone on my mailing list. If your at all interested, let me know and I will make sure your on the list. Classes will be mostly, if not all clay. I plan to have wheel throwing and hand building classes of various types. Space will also be available to use as an open studio situation as well. I am open for suggestions and would really like to hear what kind of classes you would like to take. So if you have any suggestions, let me know.

change of plans

Always something to changing my plans. The studio isn't going as planned and neither is everything I wanted to do this summer. Sometimes I wonder why I even make plans. I won't be going to Pittsburgh this week. That has changed. I won't be having classes this summer. I didn't plan on cutting up a tree for 2 1/2 weeks. I didn't plan on my mom getting this sick. I thought I was done training for races, but now I might be reconsidering that. Funny how things turn out. I've come to realize that as I get older life doesn't toss things at you but rather, life throws fast balls and curve balls directly at you. I've learned to take it all in stride and allow things to take me on a course and I can only serve as sort of a guide. In the end, life is still good and the world still goes around.

What now?

I have had a little time to think about the no bathroom situation and I really have no answer on what to do. I can't see charging people to come to take classes & workshops in a really nice studio setting with a price to match and then say "yeah, the crapper is the red port-a-john in the back yard". I would be too embarrassed and if it were me, I would feel jipped. I probably wouldn't come back. I did check out grants and loans and there is nothing easily available for me. I don't think I want to commit to a loan of $10,000 plus. As much as I have confidence in my idea, I am a realist too and can't risk taking out a loan and having the whole thing crash and owe a bank that much plus interest. The other long shot would be to look for some investors, but there is the commitment and obligation thing again. About the only thing that I can do, is really crank out some work, try to show and sell it and maybe rent out some space for anyone who might not mind coming into the house to use the bathroom. If anyone actually reads this, I am open for suggestions.

Update on my mom: I did get to see my folks yesterday and my mom was having a hard time getting around. She had the official hospital band on her wrist already too. Just gave me a reality check. Surgery is still schedule and my dad is pretty nervous. He wondered if this was necessary.

I have been able to switch my mental state a little now that the pressure is off having to open up shop. I have been kicking back a little and taking things in stride a little more. It feels good to do that.

Here is a video by Ani DiFranco I've always liked. I know she is all about the "power to the woman", but I still like here anyway. I remember starting my grad program at Edinboro and hearing her for the first time and being impressed with all that she can do and has done. Hearing her reminds me of that time.

Major Set Back!

The plumber came today to look at the leak in the basement wall and to give an estimate on a bathroom in the studio. The leak turned out to be a pin hole in a pipe spraying the wall. Cheap and easy. The studio is a different story however. The pipe in the cement floor that goes to the septic for the toilet doesn't actually go the existing septic. It just goes into the ground. I would need to install a seperate septic system which could run between $7,000 and $10,000 to have installed then I could install the bathroom for another dollar amount. Crap.
So it doesn't look like classes will happen this summer. I can't have class without a place to do your business and I don't want to send people in the house. I know there are other possibilities, but I don't want to run a hack studio. There are plenty of those around already. So I'll take my time and get the long list of things to do ready for next year.
I have always believed that things happen for a reason. Even if I don't know what the reason is just yet. This was meant to be. I know that there are reasons to be stalled/set back. I have faith that better things are on the horizon.
Please keep checking back from time to time to see how things progress. I hope to have the good looking, detailed, fun stuff done over the summer and plans for classes and workshops up over winter.

Here's another update on a personal note. My mother is going to Pittsburgh on June 5th to have an operation. There are removing all kinds of stuff including a mass that is attached to her pelvis. They will do a biopsy after to determine if it is cancerous or not. I plan to go up Monday and stay the night and be with my dad. Who knows what will come of this. I may be back and fourth a lot to Pittsburgh next week.

What's up

I have spent the last six days cutting and splitting up wood from the tree that came down. I should be done in 3 or four more days. It's a lot of wood! I have managed to move some things around in the barn and I hope to have a plumber over by the end of the week or early next to give me a price on installing a toilet and sinks. Once the tree is done, I hope to start cranking out the rest of the studio. There is a long list of what I want but a short one of what is needed to be functioning. If all goes well, then I should still be able to do a "quiet opening" in August.

I did just get a phone call from my brother letting me know my mom is going in for surgery on Tuesday for a hysterectomy and to remove a "unknown mass" too. Hmmm. Always something.