A Watershed
My, do I ever have a lot to catch you all up on! The ongoings up here for me have been non-stop since my last post and many apologies for the extended delay. I am certainly going to get back on the blog train from here on out.
Last time I wrote (or blogged, if you will), I was working towards a second kiln load of work for a very close show deadline. Folks, it was down to minutes. The kiln cooled, was unloaded with some new gems, pieces cleaned up & placed on display within 40 minutes of the gallery reception start time. There were a few losses to the same problem this kiln load, but certainly not as many and not as daunting.
The gallery reception was lovely as always at the Bascom. This event was to celebrate all of the new opening exhibits including Greenville's own beloved Alice Ballard with "A conversation with nature...a walk remembered". Somehow, I was graciously invited to show my work in the atrium of the gallery space. One of the longest standing employees mentioned that there are only two other residents who have ever been invited to show their work in the atrium. This entire stream of events is such an amazing honor. My new work was warmly received by many present & half of the show sold that night. This partly was due to the supportive ceramics open studio member presence from the Bascom's Dave Drake Ceramic Studio Barn.
Since then I have replaced sold work with other pieces, which have continued to sell, and I am receiving commissions to make more of the same. At this point it seems I just can't work fast enough. On top of that, we had our last workshop for the season with Steven Hill last week -- who is a fantastic master potter. I've admired his work for a long time and was an experience I'll never forget. Another honor -- not only meet him, but to semi-assist him during the workshop. Steven, who saw my work in the atrium, approached me and asked if I wanted him to critique my work. I was floored. YES! What a gift. He was so kind & encouraging - giving constructive views on what I could improve. He even stated that this was a body of work he didn't expect to see from a resident, but was pleasantly surprised.
Above is a Steven Hill tea bowl gifted to those who assisted. I only wish I had better light to show off all the glaze subtleties. It's surface is just so decadent.
With all this, THANK YOU to all of you who have sent encouragement & prayers for the show -- your prayers were certainly heard and felt. Now for the final stretch...
The Gift of Gravity
by Wendell Berry
All that passes descends,
and ascends again unseen
into the light; the river
coming down from the sky to
to hills, from hills to sea,
and carving as it moves,
to rise invisible,
gathered to light, to return
again. "The river's injury
is its shape." I've learned no more.
We are what we are given
and what is taken away;
blessed by the name
of the giver and taker.
For everything that comes
is a gift, the meaning always
carried out of sight
to renew our whereabouts,
always a starting place.
And every gift is perfect
in its beginning, for it
is "from above, and cometh down
from the Father of lights."
Gravity is grace.
All that has come to us
has come as the river comes,
given in passing away.
And if our wickedness
destroys the watershed,
dissolves the beautiful field,
then I must grieve and learn
that I posses by loss
the earth I live upon
and stand in and am. The dark
and then the light will have it.
I am newborn of pain
to love the new-shaped shore
where young cottonwoods
take hold and thrive in the wound,
kingfishers already nesting
in a hole in the sheared bank.
"What is left is what is" --
have learned no more. The shore
turns green under the songs
of the fires of the world's end,
and what is there to do?
Imagine what exists
so that it may shine
in thought light and day light,
lifted up in the mind.
The dark returns to light
in the kingfisher's blue and white
richly laid together.
He falls into flight
from the broken ground,
with strident outcry gathers
air under his wings.
In work of love, the body
forgets its weight. And once
again with love and singing
in my mind, I come to what
must come to me, carried
as a dancer by a song.
This grace is gravity.
#keramic #ceramics #clay #pottery #creechpottery #carriecreech #stevenhillpottery #aliceballard #sculpture #WendellBerry #TheBascom #Highlands #NorthCarolina