well heres pictures of my 4 matching pots i made,, im so happy they all turned out [its a pottery miracle!] for spring theres an indian mother and child w/ a birds nest,, for summer theres kids playing by the lake,, autum is a man hunting deer and winter is the tribe gathered around the camp fire,,,
scroll down to see the other sides of the pots,, and theres even a third picture today of my new business idea,, and i think theres a new picture of  the ''florida faience pottery lounge'' on the main page, so keep reading

 heres the other sides of the pots,, orange blossoms for spring,, ghost orchid for summer, painted feather for autum and [of course] poinsettias for winter,,

heres a picture of me as im launching my new way of selling pots,, thats right i have new mobile pottery selling unit,,, i just ride up around and yell,, ''pots for sale'' w/ an english accent [ i don't know why but it sounds better]  and as you can see it works!! my pal barbara couldn't help but be enchanted by my new endaveor and had me pull over to shop,,,
unforunately the battery died on my new mobile pottery selling unit and that is the end of that project,,, besides people made fun of me

IN POTTERY NEWS,,,
my big kiln still is waiting on parts,, clint made me a frame for my new tile triptych [big word] we will see how they fire up and if they fit in the frame,, and ive started work on a new umbrella stand,, i made three attempts  in 2007 for a commission and none of them turned out [ one was actually destroyed by a tornado] im sure the man that commision the umbrella stand has long ago given up [ i did give him one of the ruined ones] but i havent made anything big in ages so i figured id give it another shot, its going to be carved w/ branch handles and spanish moss dripping from the rim,, its all thrown and covered waiting for inspiration,, im also going to the pottery supply store to get clay and chemicals,, im ascaird of driving in the big city so it will be fun, providing im not killed in a car crash,,

well im done for the week,, now its time to pack the pots to go to market,,, my octopus vase turned out most cool,, i glazed the net that the octopuses were tangled in , in a new gold glaze i have,, tres chic,, if i do say so myself,,
the 4  indian vases are fring right now,, i know all 4 wont turn out,, and the whole thing will snowball into a big mess before i get them finished,,,
i found a vase that i really hated stashed in the kiln house,, its of ''bird of paradise flowers and it kept having to be refired and refired and finally the glaze stuck the pot to the brick and i was so fututzed w/ it that i just sat it in the corner,, now i can't remember why i hated it so much,, i ground the glaze off of the bottom and its really nice,, now i feel bad that i left him discarded and dusty,,
i also bought a great pot at the big lots,, i big sorta planter thing,,, so i went and bought a palm tree to put in it and stick it in the living room,, but the palm is kinda puny,, and now it all just looks goofy,, so much for ''decorating''

after my last post i recieved a ''loving'' email from a pal telling me im a whiney little ungrateful bitch,, pointing out that god has blessed me w/ a gift and i sit around all day turning bags of dirt into treasures that folks are crazy about,, while the rest of the world has to get up and go to jobs that they hate,,,

gee youd think i could get a bit of sympathy,, its a tough crowd out there on the world wide web!

as it turned out the emailer did watch my potteries while i went and helped mandy in the kitchen, as the new resturant was slapdamn busy

i sent my matel clock to a great new home,, my potter friend, Mike Hanning and his wife linda,,, hes a ''good-ole-boy'' redneck as they come artist,,, he does traditional southern style pottery, with a twist,, i have a killer face jug of the devil by him done in a flaming flame colored runny glaze, that kicks ass and a great face jug/candleabra that is actually scarey as hell when its lit up w/ the candles rising from his grinning head,,  i like knowing where my favorite pots end up at

i got a great comission this weekend,, the deal was for 4, 7 in pots that match but not too matchy, for a wall display,,, with no boundries as to what i could make,, [ i love this kinda stuff] i just now finished up the carving of them,,, i started w/ a ''four seasons'' concept  and went from there,, so what i ended up with was the 4 seasons of seminole indian life [ i know im still in my indian phase]  as in babies and birds nests for spring and hunting deer in the fall,,,,,,BUT the other side of the pots are 4 seasons of florida flowers,,, like orange blossoms for spring and poinsettias for winter,,,
so you can turn the pots around for a completley different pot, but still have the four seasons idea intact,,, im so proud of myself! so far they arent finished yet
i did [actually clint did] got the small kiln going, so im back in business

of course im out of clay so when i ordered the new kiln parts i also ordered clay to pick up and OF COURSE they are out of my clay until next week,,,at risk of being called a whiney bitch again, i won't complain about it,, after all its just ''dirt''

my leg is feeling pretty sturdy so i planted some tomato plants and pepper plants that clint gave me,, who knows what they really are and moved my fig tree to a sunny spot and planted and moved other stuff till the mess got too big .. its so nice to be outside in the garden,, w/ the orange blossoms stinking up everything and azalias blooming,, thank god spring is here and winter is over!

well ive busted ass all week making great pots for the show this weekend and BOTH OF THE MOTHERFRICKING KILNS DIED!!! last night,, one is the relay switch [which was just replaced] and then the breaker switch up and kicked the bucket,,

i give up this is just too hard,,  all the pots are just sitting there in broken kilns,, all i have to show [and sell] for a weeks work is a lamp finial that i lost a month ago and just found today,,, its killing me,,

i just want to go back and work and pizza hut and get a paycheck every week and eat pizza and drink beer from the tap and not be sitting here writing on a computer about what a miserable pottery life

you know if i was an asshole i might expect bad stuff to happen,, but im really a nice guy,, it really takes a lot to piss me off and then i don't hold a grudge,,
so much for karma

by the way at the last second i decided to glaze pants on the indian as when you stood back  and looked at the pot,,,,it looked like maybe he was having sex w/ the gator, and not just wrestling,,, i made a similar mistake when i did a gator riding another gator,,,

mandy is making barbeque and fancy oxtails something this weekend,, i suggested cupcakes too,, we will see if she listens to her dad,,, also grandma is working/visiting to see if she can help out,,,
no pictures as im sure if i try to take a picture, the camera will break,,im surprized the computer hasnt broken too!

well as you can see  from the picture my mantel clock made it thru the fire, i was a little [ok a lot] confused about assembling the clock and fitting it in,, but DAMN i was happy when i  set it on my mantel to see it all put together,, the only mistake i made ws forgetting to fire the legs of the male indian,, i left his legs unglazed sitting in the kiln, so by next week he won't be leggless,, in the picture he looks puny

one friend had good things to say about it calling a ''landmark'',, another said it looked like a ''nativity scene''  ouch

mandy is  doing good at the resturant,, her newly fixed  fryer still doesnt work,, she cooked corned beef and cabbage for st. ptaricks day,, one lady said it reminded her of her russian mothers cooking,,, mandy boiled the cabbage in the kitchen,, i was afraid of the smell, but you couldnt tell,,, also her curry chicken salad was great,, i ate 2 sandwiches,, and bob cleaned up and  mulched the picnic area,, [the smoking section as he calls it]

i have a dozen pots in the studio to finish by the fair this weekend,, my favorite is one w/ sculpted octopuses tangled up in fishnets,, i saw an old rookwood vase done simularly,, i use real fishnet soaked in clay and then glaze it gold,, i hope it looks good and im still on my seminole indian kick,, im doing a big one of indians wrestling alligators,, im debating about the one indian wrestling the gator in the water,, did indians wear bathing suits??? should he be nekid?  a thong like tarzan?? that might be funny in the wrong way,, well i have till tomorrow to decide

ok its cocktail time,, my relatives are in town and they all want to go to the VFW for ''taco in a bag night'' i made excuses about my leg aching too much to go,,
wasn't the shuttle launch great,,, most colorful,, we were standing in the street watching it while the neighbor ladies 3 great danes [on leashes straining to attack] barked at me,, fun and danger!! just like the astronuts

well i know ya'll are dying to hear about my speech at the museum,, i wasnt nervous about it at all till a half hour before and then i got cleaned up and changed clothes afew times, and started sweating like a pig,

 and it was fun!

at first i was all tongued tied and i kept burping [must be the pineapple juice and donut they gave me]  but the folks there were really interested and asked enough questions to keep me going well past my 15 minutes, so it was a piece of cake, and i told them to invite me back anytime

my career all began when i did my first show at their museum and the ladies there recalled how i sold everything and what fun it was, Mary Ziegeniest  was the boss back then and she was there today,, i owe her big time! she is now teaching art to juvenile delinquents, so hats off to her,, shes a true hero in my book

the big pot i gave them is still on display there on the piano,, and its really a cool pot,
its sculpted and unglazed

all of this reminds me of the time   way back when,,,,i was invited to a ladies church group luncheon to give a talk and show my pots, i thought what the hell i might sell something and besides i get a free church ladys lunch ,, you know them gals can cook and only bring their best grub to show off to the other gals

so off i went all dressed up churchy and my box of pots,,, what i didnt know was there was another guest speaker,,, and this guy was a makeup-makeover expert,,
you can imagine this fancy big ole queen [with a headset microphone] dazzling the girls with his makeup-makeover song and dance, giving them all beauty tips and makeovers,, the girls were enthralled!!! i knew i was screwed,, so i went outside and smoked cigarettes  while he was talking[ knowing full well its a sin to smoke on church grounds] then they decided since they spent so much time getting  their makeup makeovers that i could do my little  wingding while they were eating lunch [which meant i was talking not eating!] they were SO SO not interested in  me ,, they all sat there eating AND by then i was hungry and knew i wasnt getting fed anything but leftovers,, and the big ole queen was still  in the back talking and selling during my sad little speech,,,
it was so so awful,,, i did get a plate of leftovers to take home [mostly pineapple and cottage cheese]and nobody bought anything or could even give shit that i showed up,, they were still crowded around the makeup queen while i sulked away,,,

i thought god liked potters and even put something in the bible about being nice to us,,, not this church!!    for them its all about the makeup!!!

which is why i never go anywhere or do anything !!! i was afraid this museum lecture today might make be go back to smoking,, but it was good times ,, so maybe i will do it again

well the girls worked all friday night to get the resturant open, and they were off and running all weekend,, they had a simple menu [the fryer doesnt work] but they made good food and all the renningers crowd loved them,, it was hard to me to stay out of the way and not jump in and start cooking,, so i kept a watch on them from out of sight,,,AND i got free food!! thank god i have elastic waist jeans

saturday night was big fun at the moose  lodge for my dad's 75th party,, steak dinners and free drinks,, that makes any party a blast,,, and my favorite cousin Paige was there,, shes my age but she still looks like a teenager,, [she says her secret is using ''dorian gray'' cosmetics, ive never heard of them]  my dad was completly surprized and thought we forgot about him, due to the relatives coming to visit and the girls opening the resturant,, he wasnt expecting anything

as for pottery,, tomorrow im giving a pottery lecture to the friend os the lake eustis art museum at 10 am,, i can't imagine how its going to go,, i have to talk for 15 minutes and sound like an artist and be entertaining and all,, im taking pots for show and tell [would it be crass to try and sell them after the lecture??] im not dressing up, i figure that way i will look more ''jackson pollack'' artistical,,,

but the big project of the week is the mantel clock im making,, i will post pictures of it as soon as it starts looking like a clock, and not a alligator clusterfuck

special congradulations to my artist buddy Anne Matheson,, her quilt won best of show in the world wide quilt exposition this last week,, the quilt is impossible to describe except to say that its an amazing combination of craftsmanship and dazzling colors and fabrics,, i hope i can get a picture of it to post of it

AND even more fun this weekend my mentor Suzy Vey spent saturday w/ me at the market,, we had so much fun [while eric was fixing my kiln]  i introduced her to all my pottery friends and we ate lunch and told tales all day,, and she said she actually learned something from me,, that made me feel good as most everything i know i learned from her

so in conclusion,, ALL the drama is over,, my gallery is moved, my broken leg is healed mostly,, both the the kilns are up and running,, the resturant is open, and the weather had finally turned warm,,, so all i have to do is make pots, and  plant a vegatable garden,[ im doing my part for the new depression, and i can probably sell them as im not a vegetable eater]

well my big news of the week is my daughter Mandy is taking over the resturant at the market,, and all week long we've been leaping hurdle after hurdle to get the dang thing up and running,, even today we were still cleaning and good old dad was trying to plumb the coffee machine [didnt work, but i tried]  this weekend shes just serving dogs and burgers, wer'e not sure what equipment we have  will work,, so its keep it simple,
i got on a seminole indian motif kick and did manage to make a few pots this week,, theyre just getting fired now,,

a new friend linda was nice enough to send me some great articles on florida natives, so now inspired,,  so im sure i'll be doing more im thinking an indian mantel clock?

my pottery teacher suzy vey is coming to visit me at the market tomorrowwhile her husband fixes my kiln [please jesus let my kiln work!]  and i'll be getting free food from mandy so it will be a fun day,, and then my pop's birthday party at night,, so sunday i should late for work

i got an email asking me  how much to do a self portrait? it must be a joke,,