Lot's of Looking!

show announcement from the old days

when I went by the alias of O.K.R.A.

Just wanted to thank everyone who's visited this month! Over 10, 000 page views so far! WOW! I guess the firing and the Ferrin Show were interesting to folks out there. It was a busy month and it doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. I am gearing up for a visit to Seagrove and my "cousins in clay" next weekend and then we are having our annual Spring Studio Tour the following weekend. Then it's time to fire the kiln again for the July show in Asheville NC.

Phew!

Hope you all will come along for the fun!

Retro Postcard vol. 2

Another nod to our friend from GA, here's one from the old studio wall that has a nice example of an eroding bank of red clay, probably GA, but it could be anywhere in the Southeastern US or, ironically, Southeastern China. To take a "field trip" through the clays of the NC Piedmont, here is a very well researched and written article by Dr. Dirk Frankenberg, well worth perusing!
Thanks so much for stopping by to read what I find to be interesting.

Hawk's View

Our friends, Cynthia and Alex Stone built a beautiful cabin after Cynthia completed her residence at Penland with me. They live in Florida, now, but come up when they can. Alex is an architect and Cynthia a jeweler. They have a daughter who is the same age as our Evelyn, so when they're up from Florida we all get together up at their wonderful cabin up on Ashland Mtn., a short drive from our house. They have a web site with beautiful images of the cabin and from the porch looking out on the Black Mountains. They rent the cabin out to folks who want off campus housing at Penland as well as folks who want the retreat that it affords. They were kind enough to give us a listing in their links page and I thought I would give a shout out of thanks with a link to their site.

Stacey and her gal pal's are having a get together up there this weekend and I'm always in awe when I see the view. Here is a slide show of the cabin and and the views, as well as the hawk from which they took the name!

Retro Postcard / New Pots @ AKAR

Ron Meyers @ AKAR

Robert Brady @ AKAR

Since the show at AKAR of Ron Meyers and Bob Brady opened this morning, I thought I would post another retro postcard. This one from Ron and Michael's sales in Athens, GA. from 1995. I have a whole stack of the these cards from through the years. Maybe I'll have another opportunity to post them in future "retro-postcards". Here's some pots I "lifted" from the online AKAR show. Have a good weekend.

Making Cups

Back Home: NC <3's Pots

Platter, 2009, 12 1/2 " diam.

This piece just got back from an unsuccessful tour of duty at the POTR (potters of the roan) show at Mudfire. It's too bad it didn't go to someone's home down GA way, but I'm glad to have it back. I know someone will appreciate it at the Asheville Art Museum! I'm sending it for a special event they are hosting soon.

Just Do It

This was waiting for me in the mailbox this morning.
We may have to start a new feature here.

quit bloggin

and start joggin

to the brand new studio.

no more twitter

clean out the litter

and be a wheel sitter

no more myspace

cause your place

is at the wheel

and don't do utube

you big boob

get on the wheel

--anonymous

Green?

I know what you're saying? Is there no filter on this guy's brain? Can he ever just keep quiet? I know what Stacey is thinking as she sees this, "I'm gonna kick his buttocks into the studio and throw away that damn eMac!"

The answer, of course is, no, to both queries. My answer to Stacey? That's private. Some things gotta be!

Well, being a visually oriented person, [critically minded, negative, take your pick] sometimes things that are so commonplace and usually overlooked, snap out, and bite my eyes. As I began to clean up the mess of this postal mailing for the Cousins in Clay™ studio sale/kiln opening, I wondered where I should put all of this self stick backing paper. Is it really paper? Then I see that the brand I used for mailing labels, Avery, has this logo

that is clever in its design to look a lot like the recycling logo,
wouldn't you say? Notice the red color, red, not green? Is this stuff recyclable? Would someone with the knowledge of such things PLEASE answer this question before I get my bigg butt kicked, by you know who, so that I can get on with some pottery making? Maybe someone from Avery, (not their lawyer)? Get back to me.

Ready2Mail

the cards that didn't slide off
the table and onto the floor, AAGGGGHHHHH!

Oh the satisfaction from hand sticking this many cards....NOT. All I have to do is buy some stamps (self stick) this morning and apply those and I'm done! Oh, the joys of being a potter.
The cards are going out to announce the "Cousins in Clay" show that is happening next week over Seagrove way.

If you're not on my postal mail list, just drop me a line at michaeljkline [at] gmail [dot] com! What's a few more cards and stamps? Go ahead, make my day...

:-0

Penland Friends

Summers at the Penland School are a lot of fun. But that place can suck the time-spent-in-your-own-studio right out! Sometimes when friends teach at the school, I wander over there and get sucked into the vortex. Oh, but it's great fun, and always inspiring to see what everybody's up to. The summer has started and I've got a bunch of friends teaching. Hopefully I'll bring my camera and try to ramble and rove a bit. Here's a link to the summer class schedule at Penland. Maybe I'll see YOU there, too! If you're around, why not stroll on over to my place which is just a few minutes down Conley Ridge and visit!?!

P.S. There's a great way to see what's happening every week at the school. It's the "Photo of the Week" Check it weekly!

Back to the st-st-studio!