life lately

My life is pretty nondescript for the most part. Whenever people ask me how life is my answer is almost always "same ol', same ol'" because I don't do much outside my routine which is why this blog isn't about the various exploits of my life, haha. There are a few things that have been refreshingly new lately, though.

Last week the ceramics class I registered for started. It's been a load of fun so far. We're spending most of our time throwing which is brand new to me and, frankly, I'm impressed that I can make something resembling a cup. The semester could honestly end now and I'd still be pleased. Our first project is "drinking vessels" which is a fancy way of saying "mugs." I'll share some pictures once I get passed the awkward handle stage [they have to have handles to fit the assignment but I rarely pick up mugs by the handle during regular use so the process of attaching handles, already challenging, feels even more frustrating, personally]. It's been a long time since I've had an official excuse to make something with my hands and I've missed it about as much as I expected. I grew up with almost an entire wood shop in my basement so I find a lot of happiness in crafting things.

My professor has a big emphasis on creating items for functionality as well as visual aesthetics, at least with the mugs. "Don't make dust collectors" is a phrase I've heard a lot this week, along with "don't glaze the professor's pots." The choices some people make in an attempt to cheat baffle the mind. With the idea of functionality being thrown around, and knowing that at some point we will be making jars [with lids!], I'm trying to think of a use for a jar in my house. Cookie jar is obvious but we don't have a constant supply of cookies [because we eat them] so I was thinking rice. Does anyone know if rice absolutely, positively, no buts about it must be kept in a completely air-tight container? Other suggestions for practical jar-usage in the home would also be appreciated.

My only grumbles are that the class is before my shift so I'm getting up at 7am every day and I know, I know, I'm a total pansy, but I am not a morning person. I've shifted my sleep schedule to compensate for the earlier rising but I'm perpetually drowsy regardless. Also, nails. Fingernails are the arch nemesis of potters. If they extend at all past the tips of your fingers your clay will slice to ribbons on the wheel. At the very least you'll end up with nicks and lines in your pieces [I speak from experience]. So the first thing I did for class was to file my nails down with took ages [I keep them at a pretty good length generally] and proves to be a process that I will need to repeat at least once every two weeks. Also, I've never realized before how much I depend on my nails to protect my hyponychium [that edge of skin underneath your nail]. I've been stabbing myself there constantly on various things! I don't want lines in my pots but I will be glad to let my nails grow again when the class ends.

It's been almost a month since my birthday so this next bit is older news but I wanted to wait until a friend's birthday and then mother's day passed before sharing. My mother in law, ages ago, gifted me with a wonderful set of watercolor brushes that she used to use, as well as a large pallet and a few books on watercolor. I've been wanting to explore the medium but all I had was a super cheap set of paints that weren't really great to work with. So, for my birthday, my mom sent me a great starter set of liquid paints as well as some good heavy watercolor paper. I was stoked about the paints but knew that if I didn't find a reason to use them right away there was a danger of them being left to collect dust in the closet since the fear of ruining new and beautiful things has resulted in similar hording in the past. Luckily, one of the packages my mom sent also had a set of watercolor cards, with envelopes, which provided my excuse since I come from a family that believes in writing 'thank you's for almost everything.

The last time I really used watercolors was in elementary school and I have no prior experience with liquid paints so there's definitely a learning curve going on, the start of which I will not be sharing, haha. After a few fun experiments I ended up with this, which was actually used as a mother's day card.

ah, fingernail, the clay hates you but I miss you so

 Watercolor functions very differently from acrylic and I'm still trying to orient my brain in that regard but there are ways to accomplish certain things, like silhouettes, if you're overconfident enough. This was a birthday card for a friend who's probably as homesick for New York City as I am for New York.

I love giving gifts to people but deciding what to give is not my strength so I'm often left grasping for ideas. Mother's day is the worst because I was not good at honoring this holiday growing up [I know, and I'm duly ashamed of myself] and I'm now trying to make up for it. But I don't know my mother as a frivolous person so I needed something that wouldn't just be clutter. Painting something for her seemed like the perfect option. In the interest of doing something potentially more meaningful than, say, a random flower, I went looking for a landscape in Scotland to paint. My mom served a two year mission for the LDS church in Scotland when she was 21 and hasn't been back since so, you know, sentiment. I settled on Buachaille Etive Mor, a mountain more commonly known as "The Shepherd of Glencoe." If you google pictures of it you might recognize the view as that valley was used in filming Skyfall.

It looks better from a distance, haha, and I'm certainly not going to show you the shot I used as a reference. All in all, though, I'm rather pleased with it as a first attempt at a landscape in this medium and I think it was a pleasant surprise for my mom. Maybe someday I'll be able to take her back to see it in person.

eclectic updates

It's been a bit of an unusual week. I'm working what I call the "middle" shift, covering both the morning and afternoon positions while my coworker and her husband are traipsing across Pennsylvania and Chicago looking at grad schools. I've got a good bit of experience with this shift since it's the one I work whenever we're in the process of hiring a new morning person, and it's got its benefits but getting up at 7am is killing me. I know, total baby, but as much as I love how sweet the world is in the morning, getting myself out of bed earlier than 8:30 is torturous and always leaves me feeling drained for the rest of the day regardless of when I went to bed the night before. Ah well. Practice, I suppose.

Today will be the thrilling saga of The Plumber: Is Emily Just Seeing Things or is that Black Crap Coming Out of the Faucet Real? followed up by Book Group: This Month it's at My House - stay tuned to see if I can get the place cleaned up in time/treats baked/if anyone shows up. The last is a ridiculous fear [I know I can count on at least three people coming] but I'm super paranoid that no one will come :/

This Sunday is Mother's Day [as most of you probably know] which is great, because my mom is great and all moms are great, but last year and this year this holiday is doubly great because it's one of two holidays in the year when we can talk to my brother who is serving an LDS mission in Brazil right now. He's coming home sometime in October or early November so this is the last time we'll be able to skype with him until he's back in person. The fact that I have to calculate a three hour time difference for this call reminds me that my mental map of the world is super skewed. I always thing South America is more directly under North America. NOPE.

The trees around here all seem to have exploded into leaf over the last week or two which always takes me by surprise in the best way. The green here is so faded compared to what I grew up with in New York but, that being said, green is green and I will take what I can get for the limited amount of time I can get it here in the desert. I really need to spend more time outside to enjoy it. Maybe if this lingering storm will ever move itself out of here I can start taking walks.

Writing updates will hopefully make their way back into existence sometime this month. A friend directed me to a plotting/timeline tutorial that I'm hoping to work my way through in the next week or so. The fact that I haven't really written in almost two months is probably one of the things I'm most ashamed of right now [yes, I have a list] but I was reminded this week that it doesn't matter so much how quickly the book gets written, just that it does. So I'm not abandoning the project, it's just taking a different schedule that I planned at the start of the year. Best laid plans and all, right?