Thursday, January 14, 2010

Pinch, Pulled and stretched



Pinch, Pulled and stretched 3 days, 200 plus students and 600 pounds of clay

At the end of yesterday I looked at the Pottery teacher for Greensboro Day, Mr. Burroughs, and said, “Uncle.”
He chuckled and raised an eyebrow, “you have had enough?”
Yes, I thought, I have.
Teachers are special people.
Mark and I both come from teachers, my son married a teacher some of my best friends are teachers.
You have to have the right attitude to go in day and after day and teach.
I always come back with great admiration for and a whole bunch of respect for teachers after spending a few days at a school.
I always like the fact that I can go taste this profession, if only for a little while.
I know I am not cut out for teaching.
I enjoy my fast hit and then I am ready to head back home to the farm and our studio.

At the end of yesterday Mr. Burroughs figured we had been through 600 pounds of clay.
That is a whole lot of clay for mug making.
But with some “do overs” and handles, adding designs the clay was, should we say, rolling in the studio.
We finished up at the end of the day after much excitement since
A TV crew came in to film the students while they were finishing up their mugs.
They did a nice segment on how the kids were working to donate the proceeds of their cups to “Three cups of Tea.”
Mark and I managed to stay well out of the way of the camera so the would get great pictures of the kids.
All-in all- it was three days well spent.

The weather here is warming up.
The ice on the pond has started to thaw out and maybe some of the wildlife will come back.
We have not seen much this winter.
With our pond frozen it makes it a bit hard for them to hunt.

I am wrapping up the Clay and Blogs: Telling a Story show with what I think is the last name in the data base.
Check the side bar for a good list of who will be there.
We have 48 potters who will participate.
We are also working on having at least one work per potter online for sale through the gallery.
The online sale will open on October 3rd.
I’ll post up a link when we have that all pulled together.
I must say we are all excited and now the real work begins.
It is time to get back to my wheel.
I am getting there- but I have to go have a wee little surgery on a molar which has gone south on me.
Bleck!
Nothing like January for a Root Canal.
Sigh,
M






9 comments:

Shortstuff said...

I agree that it takes a special person to teach. It takes a saintly person to teach middle school in my humble opinion. That is the one group that I refused to sub for way back when. They're just too hormonal and sassy-mouthed for me at that age. I cannot believe that Libby has taught middle school history for nigh onto 3 decades. I'm nominating her for sainthood.
The potters and blogs thing sounds absolutely fabulous. I'm tailgating on your hospitality for this one. Just let me know if I need to book a room with Lee in Raleigh or if I need to bring a tent and camp on my land!

cindy shake said...

The sidebar looks GREAT! I will do that as well.

My husband is a high school teacher (150+ kids -5 classes, 3 different preps) I come home from just one field trip or volunteer day at our youngest's class and I tell my husband I'm EXHAUSTED and he always says "tell me about it!" I'm afraid if I were a teacher I'd be fired for using abusive or foul language!

Tracey Broome said...

I know what you mean, God Bless Teachers! I do a two week class every now and then and it just poops me out. In fact, I just backed out on a residency I was supposed to do in April, it's just too much right now. Looks like you guys got a lot done in a really short time. 600 lbs. of clay!! Whoa......

ang design said...

what a brilliant project, we have artists in schools program here that runs similar to what you have done you go in for a project and escape again..i think its fantastic, clay is such a tangible thing and kids love it...well done you..and well done on this massive show too, such a super idea, hope all the planning goes well..cheers ang

Linda Starr said...

What great pr from the TV crew for the students. So sorry about your root canal, ugh. Thanks for all your hard work on the show in October, once I get closer in a month or so I will be glad to help in any way I can.

Ben Stark said...

Yay for teachers! My wife teaches 2nd grade--something I could never do!

I feel your pain on the root canal--literally! I've got an appointment on the 20th to get all 4 wisdom teeth out--two severely impacted. Not looking forward to it at all.

Laurie said...

Good job on the teaching. Lots of pretty mugs, and going to a good cause too. Sorry to hear about the root canal, though.

cookingwithgas said...

Leslie- you are welcome to have a bed at our house for the show- we will figure something out. ( she is my sister!)
Cindy- tell your husband he is the best! And Ben your wife as well- Our son married a 5th grade teacher. We know how hard she works.
And Tracey- I have seen all the great stuff you have done with kids.
Hats off to the teachers and I'll deal with the tooth- what else can I do?
Ang and Linda I think the show will be great.
Ben- I'll be thinking about you!
Hi Laurie!

Barbara said...

Whew! What a project. The mugs look really creative and how great for the kids to get some recognition.

I can't imagine teaching middle school. It's really not my age group. Give me the little kids any day. (I taught second grade for a lot of years.) My hat is off to you for even setting foot in middle school.

Hope the root canal goes better than you imagine.