Graduation, Summer Trips, and Studio Time

My husband got me a new desk chair for my birthday and it finally got here. It is so so so nice that it make me want to sit at my desk and type. So, I guess that's a good reason to blog after not having much interest in doing so for quite a while. My old chair has migrated to the studio where it joins a silly amount of seating options for different heights of focused work.

three "stacks" finished (left to right) last fall, this summer, last summer 

seating options in my studio (not visible here: a cushion on the ground)

This summer has already been pretty busy, and not just in the studio. My daughter graduated high school in June, so family and friends came to visit. 

proud parents of a new high school graduate

Since my brother's kids hadn't been to Yakima before, they decided to add a trip to Portland and Crater Lake in Oregon, and the Redwoods and California coast so my daughter and I tagged along with my folks for a week long trip. 

with my favorite red-headed nephew at Glacier Lake

my favorite brown haired nephew as a River Otter

The scenic highlight of which was probably the tidepooling in Northern California. We went looking for nudibranchs, which we didn't see, but we did see starfish, crabs, snails, sponges, anemones, and things I can't name. 

sea star heart

tide pooling near Crescent City

my favorite bit of the tidepool

Then we came back to Yakima for a week of getting stuff glazed and finished for the Yakima Art Festival in late June. I was most interested in creating some bells with jingly bits based on what I saw at NCECA in March.

at Yakima Art Festival

new bells this summer

Then my daughter and I took another trip to New York, where we spent 6 hours each at the Met and the American Museum of Natural History (and Hayden Planetarium), watched three Broadway shows, and also visited the Guggenheim, MOMA, the Museum of Art and Design, and the Museum of Broadway. We were in NYC for Alison's graduation present: Hamilton on Broaway, but our other shows were just as impressive! Six was great, Hamilton was amazing, and Hadestown knocked our socks off. It was a great (packed, exhausting, hot, fun, educational) week.

before Six on Broadway

After Hamilton on Broadway

We also got 30,000 steps one day (walking from our hotel through Central park to and from the Met. We had some really good food and got to experience Times Square during the World Cup (and Taylor Swift's wedding) and Hell's Kitchen in 101 degree heat. 

Our favorite thing about the Guggenheim

a very large cat near Rockefeller center

pretty sure this guy was in Harry Potter

we took the most picures at the American Natural History Museum

including these Mayan Bricks with drawings on them

and this bronze model of...one of my scuptures, I guess?

The Hall of Biodiversity was our favorite room at the AMNH

Loved (but didn't take many pictures of) the "Haas Brothers: Uncanny Valley" at the Museum of Art and Design

Last week we were back to Yakima, happy to be in only 86 degree weather, and ready to make some work. I dove into some studio building projects, while my daughter balanced her time between college preparations and helping me in the studio (mostly seiving glazes and cleaning, which are both much appreciated.

First underglaze layer done before Yakima Art Festival

second underglaze layer done before the NYC trip

Glazing done after NYC, but waiting on more work to fire the kiln

I usually come into the summer super excited to work on something in the studio. This year I have already been working on tall stacks. These are coil-built pieces that have been consistint of two or three sections stacked on top of each other. I want them to be taller than me, but I have kiln size limitations which mean that I can't fit anything taller than about 25" or wider than about 20" in my home kiln. What that means is that I have to figure out how to make them strong enough to stack and hold their wet weight while building, fire safely without cracks, and stack securly after firing. 

underglazing stacks, waiting on the last firing for the top section, then paper

I had some challenges last summer with stacks cracking, so during the academic year, I tested out some new approaches to strengthen the bottom edge and some new clay bodies. I cracked two of my tests, but the other two seem to be ok so far.

this clay cracked pretty badly in the firing

Currently, I am building two stacks. I have the base basically done on one, and have started the middle section.  To this, I've added the structural challenge of some side openings designed to hold some large bulbs. I've been working from a sketch, making adjustments as I turn a drawing into three-dimensions. I am hoping the additional challenge of adding these elements to the form won't result in cracks during firing.

one of the two stacks I'm working on now

sketched plans for the bulbs on this form

The second stack I am working on now has the added challenge of a twist. I feel very comfortable building twisting, turing, cantilevered coil forms in one go, but they are trickier to make work when the forms are segmented. In the past, I've used epoxy and wooden internal supports to keep the pieces together, but I want to get to the point where the pieces can hold themselves up without other media. I am starting small, with the plan to work my way up to more complex forms.

a bit of AMNH inspiration (after the fact) for some spiral sculptures

I have been working on these two forms for about 9 days and anticipate they may not be done building until at least late next week. I am excited about them and enjoying both what I am learning and the progress I am making. It's nice to spend some studio time just trying stuff without a tight deadline.

Eye Candy: Yellowstone

Last week I replaced my studio time with a trip to Yellowstone. I will resist sharing all 300 photos, but the place was so pretty I need to share some. If you've been to Yellowstone, sorry if I confuse the names of things. If you haven't I hope this post isn't too dull. 

Mammoth Hot Springs

I especially liked the sorts of structures and formations that are formed at Mammoth Hot Springs. This was our first stop on our trip around the park. I think it was the most beautiful and visually interesting single spot we visited.

Minerva Terrace (possibly)

neat shapes

neat curves juxtaposed with stalactites

or this might be Minerva Terrace

neat texture

curves 

spines? I'd like to read about why the different shapes happen

bright chartreuse

we thought we'd read about this guy falling in eventually

terrace levels

Norris
I'm pretty sure our next stop was Norris. The heat of the sun and the hot springs makes one a little less focused than one might be. We walked on a lot of boardwalks and saw a lot of hot springs.

check out that hot dry shadeless expanse (crossed by a boardwalk)

yellow

perfect setting for an apocalypse movie

green and orange

I like the yellow hole with the spiny burnt trees guarding it

Lamar Valley
On our way out of the park we saw lots of Bison. One guy was sitting right next to the road chewing his cud and soaking up the attention of the Yellowstone paparazzi.

publicity buffalo

Yellowstone Lake

The next day we drove through one of the wildfires and stopped at Yellowstone Lake. The pelicans were performing synchronized movements in a huddle. I assume they were either fishing or performing a type of water ballet. Later when I asked the Ranger why they bobbed into the water together like this, she said they don't. Apparently I photographed animatronic pelicans.

animatronic pelicans preparing for a dive

diving

jazz wings

did I mention the fire?

Old Faithful
We ended up at Old Faithful earlier than expected because of the fire. We asked if there were any cancellations and lucked into a cabin for the night (instead of camping in the Tetons). The best part of staying at Old Faithful was the walk on the boardwalks behind the eponymous geyser at sunset. These were my favorite thermal features, but possibly that's because we had plenty of time, no crowds and it wasn't hot.

we got to see this guy erupt 3 times during our stay

the boardwalk at sunset: highly recommended

burping, bubbling, chugging, wheezing holes everywhere

Castle Geyser, my favorite (though I didn't get up to watch it erupt between 4 and 6am)

this guy filled just to the edge with boiling water then settled without seeming to overflow

boiling at the edge

orange bacterial "lily pads"

don't you love those soft organic shapes at the edges

Castle Geyser as the sun sets

this splashy guy jumped and popped and sprayed us on an off for 15 minutes while we waited

blue, orange, green, yellow, red, pink

full moon

playing with tree reflection in the water

En Route to Madison

Our last day in Yellowstone we stopped a few times on our way from Old Faithful to West Yellowstone, though I'm not sure exactly where. We saw some beautiful thermal features and the colors were especially impressive. Unfortunately the entire the population of Montana, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming were lined up on the boardwalk that day. Several of them, I believe, attempted to push me into the water. I saw a kid drop her glasses off the boardwalk and another drop her hat. Later we counted at least 6 hats and a jacket at the edge of a large, deep spring. I wonder if the rangers have a special tool for removing them. At Kids' Castle in Yakima staff uses a long stick wrapped with backwards duct-tape to retrieve balloons from the ceiling. I imagine a similar tool could retrieve hats.

seriously, the colors!

a river; not a hot spring

Yellowstone Under Canvas
On our last night we camped outside the park in what my husband called a "tent city." I found the cot and set of sleeping bags quite cosy and enjoyed a wonderful night's sleep. I would highly recommend it. However my husband ended up sleeping in the car, so he might not. If you go, don't drive through the electric fence gate like it says (it will scratch your car). Instead get out and open the gate by holding the tennis balls, don't worry, they didn't electrocute us.

really quite peaceful and pretty, and you can watch the fish in the river while you drink your hot cocoa for breakfast