Summer... blessed summer… this lady who mostly grew up in Florida becomes seriously depressed if jailed in a computer during the fleeting Oregon summer months. That’s what happened in late July this year, but never again!! Summer is a time for outdoor projects, potlucks, bbq’s, Allison’s wedding, thighs sore from bicycling miles to see friends, languishing, table surfaces taken over by drying calendula and nigella seeds … summer belongs to the forest, the mountain lake or the abandoned lot, sock hops on freshly waxed hardwood, and occasionally coming home to a mess in the kitchen sink because it is the place where studio, garden, and dishes are all washed, and nothing is more important in summer than doing everything other than keeping the place ship-shape!

But I can’t do everything, hard as I try. I am focused on continuing to make my home as flexible and efficient as can be. (read: endless construction/repair). These photos are the exterior paint before and after, and then I had opportune moment to paint a mop-able (and yes, orange) interior floor.

I am also focused on constructing something else: a plan to increase visibility of my work through collaboration with chefs, small cafes, and “pop-up” dinner parties. Is there scarcity in the economy? What if I value social entrepreneurship instead? I make objects, yes, but for the purpose of nourishment and social gathering. Surely I can find a way in this town that loves to eat, drink, and make merry…

On the daily, I scrounge. A walnut comes down six houses away- I rally and make sure the branches are in my pickup. A friend and fellow ceramicist plans a long trip to Brazil- the shade-loving rare plants of her garden find home here and the tables of her studio become my newly created spaces for students. I am preparing spaces in my studio and garden where an assistant could work, or I could host private instruction. Next year should be fairly full-tilt: my internship doing PR for Portland Open Studios is phasing out and my focus can return to my work. I feel that I have done well by them, and they by me. I have truly assisted in their growth, and they in mine. And I look forward to assimilating that knowledge into my bigger picture. I didn't realize how much of a freight train I had moving in the studio until I had to stop it to do this service.

Speaking of Portland Open Studios, its coming up Oct 8,9, 15,16- all ye in Portlandia who may want a ticket, do get in touch. This is the best time to visit with me in my studio and watch me make pots. I will as usual have a table set up outside with seconds at $5/ pound. They go pretty fast, so come early. If you’d like to visit with just me, awesome- no ticket necessary. But if you’d like to meet 98 more interesting people and watch them do their thing, pick up a color tour guide ($15) from any new seasons market, or a $5 map from any artist (ns too,later). Tix are good for two all four days.. portlandopenstudios.com for more info: I was in charge of overhauling the website this year, so its pretty legible now. go check it out. i-Phone app tix too.

To close, I also have a kind of “best of recent large work” show at a sweet community workspace called Collective Agency through November. In the vein of Research Club but more in the conference/ social geek direction, it is in a great old town location (in an old brothel!.. how appropriate for the Cathouse’s productivity).

Tigridia: blooms in semi-shade or a vase: thanks Jacey!!

Chopin’s Nocturnes drift up from the studio as I sit at a desk below one of two big skylights in the attic. About one of the past five years has been consumed in the piecemeal construction of the space above my carriage house studio into a bedroom and living space. I finished the last chapter on Sunday (and, sigh, must promptly tend to other urgent tasks, as usual). The space is as wide as the footprint below (380 sq feet), with a 6 foot peak: a worthy amount of space. But was it ever a back-breaker of a project!- constantly hunched or jammed into a tight corner with a hundred year old layer of dirt and nails poking through the shingles. Hooray for torque-drive framing screws! And much of the materials were reclaimed: ship-lap flooring, cabinet doors, fir panels, insulation, dumpster dimensional lumber, an octagonal window... But what one does not pay for in clean materials, one must pay for in labor. Someone tell me why I undertook this project on property that isn’t mine…. Well, I do know, somewhat… the awkward girl has grown into a capable woman. But toughness alone will not answer the human urge for stability. My landlady and I may have shockingly different approaches to yard care, but we are perfectly aligned on the subject of a safe space. She appreciates me as I am, she extends an angel’s wing over me as a person and over the ceramics operation that’s probably bigger than she ever imagined. I am sheltered under these trees, and we all feel the coming storm.

There will always be maintenance, but with that done, a kitchen, shed, garden, and awesome kiln constructed, I am now FINISHED with the material investment stage of establishing myself in Portland. Now for the hard part: becoming a unicorn: an autonomous potter actually making a living wage off her work. The internship doing PR work for Portland Open Studios is also coming to a close now: about 1200 hours over the past two years. I have sort of learned a more gentle language and some more computer skills, I’ve interviewed some great artists, learned how I can use but don't love facebook, and gotten a sense of how to deal with the media. I’ve learned that even though I can actually fake it at the business suit meetings (thanks to pieces of my mother’s wardrobe!), I’m still miles more comfortable in torn shirts with my potters. And this last point is very significant for me: spending this much time essentially volunteering will likely silence the monkeys in my head telling me that I’m selfish for chasing this dream of indy studio ceramics when it is so clearly not economically viable. What did Simon Levin quip?: "Woodfire: work harder, not smarter!"

Well, teamwork has always been key to solving the impossible. Not a month had passed between when I had created a space for an assistant to when I was very loosely interviewing Mandy Stigant. She is a recent grad of the same program I attended, and we found an instant kinship in many surprising ways. She spends some evenings and days here making pots in exchange for the promise of her help with art fairs next year. My goal is four firings and four shows. NCECA will be one of them: look for the Tin Man and his crew represented at a show across from Pots Gallery called Woodfire Kilns of the Northwest. I will also finally get my applications out to places like Akar and the Signature Shop. I think my work has matured enough to try.

But I’m still focused locally. This coming weekend and the next, all you Portlanders who love clay, please swing by Mudshark Studios’ new location near Sandy and 20th. Twenty one ceramics professionals are exhibiting in a holiday sale. I’m talking about sweet little pots, slip-cast growlers, and gnarly big sculpture. The likes of Katy McFadden, Richard Brandt, Brad Mildrexler, yours truly (and Mandy’s puzzles too!) … or at least come join us for live music and a keg of Widmer Bro’s brew on the Friday nights… check out canowoop.com for details. We’re on the OPA map as Christy Lombard. See you there!

Have a warm and friend-filled holiday!

Careen