Time to Say Goodbye to the WInter Studio

No more dinners and wine on the deck till
spring now.  Lots of good memories though.

 Actually this year, my mountain studio was summer, fall, and almost winter.  I think this week is officially winter, but we have already had our first snow and the squirrels have started to fatten themselves on the corn I throw out ever morning to get them through a sparse winter spoils. I thought I would share a few pictures of this time and memories before the trek down to Florida today by way of South Carolina and family. 

Whitey Bolger Senior

This trip I discovered our squirrels had white ears and some have white paws.  So we decided to name them Whitey Bulger and family after the infamous international thief that dogged capture for almost a lifetime.  I don't think our squirrels ever intend to be captured either! 

On this trip I discovered some wonderful little art towns.  Marshall, Spruce Pine and Burnsville, North Carolina.  I also visited an art studio built on a trash dump that uses the gases generated from the trash for kilns and torches for blowing glass.  I went to Akira Satake's art opening, a wonderful potter who uses older Japanese glazing and firing techniques. I met many new craftsmen in the area.  And we bought a new tea bowl for our collection from Akira.  We have a large collection( well a beginning collection) of tea bowls. 

I learned to adapt to winter, by staying into the colder time of year and did much better than last year.  Vinci, the studio dog, did not shake nearly as much and was able to stay out longer without becoming a popsicle.  

We tried new restaurants and I will share those with you and our other new finds in case you plan to travel to Asheville, North Carolina and this area.

Snowy day vista with found object mobile

Enveloped in the clouds one day

Zafer, the studio cat, hard at work 

Enveloped in the clouds the second day

early morning on the mountain, pastel mountains poke through

The snows have melted for now, it is a week and a half before Christmas and more snow
is due next week.  The mosses on the mountain have thrived this year.   And now it is
time to say good bye for awhile, until the next time and more adventure and more creation.

Until the next time…….

Visual Diary Spruce Pine Artist's Date

 These are some of the other photo's I took the day of the Spruce Pine Pottery Market day.  I like to make a visual diary of details and things that catch my eye.  Some times it is color or texture, or something that evokes a feeling.  Other times it is dramatic contrast or an odd composition.  I think also it is an insight into how artists see the world around them, for we are constant observers of our environment and emotional world.  We are so highly trained to sense and to observe, that a long shadow, or the emotions on a strangers face, the slouch of the farmers shoulders, or the worn arrow on the wooden floor of an old school house engages our interest and attention.  Will any of these things find there way into a work of art or only be the pathway that leads to thought that builds a piece in ones mind...these are the things of artists mind, it is not always a straight path. It is more like being a sponge that absorbs and stores away, to be recalled at another time.  Some artists are so sensitive they find it difficult to turn this off, and that is when we read of artists who turn to self destructive habits as an escape to deaden what they feel. Most artists find a constructive way to use their senses and skill in a positive way to help others see or feel or just appreciate.  

an old depot left behind in time

images of a working railway now all commercial no passenger....the red and the words just jumped out at me.

There is something so appealing about worn big chunky strong
lived used massive industrial objects...the yellow the angle lines, the deep cuts
all say I have been here, I have contributed, I have made a difference