updates people

well for those who do check in from time to time, here is a update. i recently fired western piedmonts gas kiln with my students work, we unloaded today, and everyone was happy with there pots, good for me. been makin pots at night, but very slowly. i will drag my sorry ass out again tonight and actally take images of my latest pots. i moved onto gays rock work to combat the evil beaver population that is eroding her driveway, 10 tons of rocks to go peeps! wanna help? other than the usual i am knee deep in my search for the elusive 1991 geo metro convertable, well the convertable part is needed but would assure me spruce pine montessori schools car of the year since the evil klineanators awesome honda has finally passed on. seriously, the 1991 metro was rated at 43 mpg! and every year after that it got lower until it reached somewhere in the low thirties! and some believe the oil tycoons are not evil, HA! so if you know of anyone sitting on a nice 1991 five speed 1.o litre fire red convertable geo metro give them my info! well back to teh web to search

aftermath

well, i posted that the tour was bad on saturday, and it was even worse on sunday, i have never done that poorly on the tour! it left me in a lurch financially and i am back to the grind of early mornig work -teaching-after teaching work, and maybe i can even get into the studio! i have taken the etsy plunge and we will see how it goes. been asking for tips from other sellers, looks like i need alot of items up and alot of relisting to do! we are getting ready to fire the reduction kiln down at western piedmont community college, i am so excited! cant wait to see how it goes. Well gotta get out to the studio and handle some pitchers, trim some pilsners, and maybe throw some pots too. have fun out there. shane

tour day one

well, ran back down to ashvegas to get patio furniture, went fine got back around 11:30/ lunchish hoped for some traffic. It started off ok, but man the sky let loose around 1pm. next thing theres flash flood warnings, man. so no more visitors the rest of the day. glad i wasnt counting on this tour,(wipes tears from eyes) bye bye. bobo

week in a life

well, its funny, i thought i was keepin up but now a week has almost gone by! so what has shane been up to, well as you know teaching is taking up a good chunk of each day and four days days a week, and the gas is killing me! over 300 dollars in two and half weeks! ouch. so a typical day latley has been as follows, up at 6am and out the door by seven to go do some handyman/ construction jobs, leave for western peidmont comm college by 11:30. teach from 1-4:30, then head home, the drive to school or from school to home is averaging around and hour and 20 mins. once home i do some things around the house, dishes, laundry, cut grass, dinner whatever, then if i can scrape myself off the couch i go to the studio to work usually around 8 or 9. i usually work till my eyes feel really tired, you know that feeling? sure you do. so no ohhhs or oh poor him, its a potters life, not a vetern potters life, a potters life, remember i have been making pots for over 15 years, but only six to seven years full time, so when the economy goes to shit and sales slow down i gotta reach down deep into that bag of tricks and find a way to make the benjimans roll in. not ashamed of admiting that one! after i start pulling long days like these i really start to feel better about myself, i believe i was meant to work long and hard, my father (rest in peace pops!) was a millright and let me tell you, those bastards work very hard and long hours too. i actualy wanted to join the local union he was involved in when i graduated high school, but he would have non of that, he wanted his children to go to college, i did so, but the first two years were a joke! when i had to transfer to a real college i landed at frostburg state university in western md. kickaround and eventually found the art dept. when i declard that major (second or third one!) my dad wished he had let me join the union then baby, he was pissed off. its funny though, he worked with his hand in what my opinion was a craft, as they say "engineers design it, millrights build it." think about that for a minute, when you start something out that you design to build it never goes together quite right? no extrapolate that out to a large power house turbin, or other large scale something or other. yep thats about right. lisa is upstairs waking evan up so we can run to asheville and look at patio furniture! so better run, and end this ramble. s

busy,busy busy

sorry its been so long, wheww! fired of the bowls and platters last night, been running like crazy. i think i may be pushing to hard but oh well, gotta keep up with the smiths, or johnsons, whatever. no pics, but i will get some up some time, maybe after i unload the kiln. i am headng to philly buyers market so i need to start getting ready for that even though its in august, pots to make, kiln to rebuild or make fireable whichever is easier. wel just a quick post, more later