Adventures in Organic Meat

I have to come to terms with the fact I get worked up over pork products. I recently met Kim Snyder who is raising her own organic free-range meat. That she is less than an hour away from me means that I am now making "meat" road trips. I was struck by seeing cows, chickens and turkeys living happily together. The cows laid comfortably on a huge pile of hay in a shelter that reminded uncannily of every nativity creche I have ever seen. Evidently cows that aren't all hopped up on hormones like to sleep all day and chickens bond with the cows. Even as the cows move around and graze the chickens stay close to them.
The pigs live in a wheat field that had become stubble as they grew from piglets into full sized three hundred hound pound hogs. I wish I could say I felt bad about taking home half of a pig that grew up here, I don 't. I love delicious happy pigs. I like knowing that I am getting great meat raised in the best possibly way. I can't wait to put in my order for heirloom variety turkeys and chickens for next year.

More work!

I like to glaze my peices with calculated pours. I have limmited my pallet to black, white and clear glazes.

Finished Pottery!

Unexpected Delays

What happens when everything is going great and your working like crazy making pottery and everything comes to a creaching halt. My incident started off with a fun Thanksgiving Holiday weekend winding down. Midway through making breakfast I decided to clean off my hand blender after smoothing the lumps out of my pancake batter. I then accidently turned on the blender as I wiped it off and did some serious damage to my middle right finger. An ER visit and five stiches later I realized I would be taking a break from throwing for a while.

Also, I quickly discovered the injured finger was responsible for the letter "e" when typing and so I laid off the typing a bit. So what can you do when your are on a forced art break? Finish a insanely complicated house for your children of course! I feel great pride in it's completion and I am posting a photo.

Fancy Skulls

Halloween Decorations are taken very seriously around this barn. Friends and family made brightly decorated skulls for a day of the Dead themed Halloween party.

Vases

These are some vases I threw waiting for the first bisque firing.

Getting Dirty, Thank God

Everyone should get dirty as much as possible. It may seem inconvenient, but getting dirty may be the most important part of life. I am committing to myself that I will throw 200 pounds of clay per week. That is really dirty, creative and productive. I recently planted (late) many sale bulbs of flowers and garlic. That was really dirty work in this warm November, but I am so excited about what I will find next spring and summer. I just cooked my first twelve month age county ham for the last six hours and that was messy but delicious. I can't possibly imagine a life that didn't involve getting up to your ears in goo. Get really dirty today, make a mess, then take a shower and clean up.

I have been throwing with real conviction in the last week and realized I haven't lost it in my maternity break. Throwing requires complete confidence and I would say being completely aggressive is a plus. That clay spinning on the wheel needs taming and decisive handling. Throwing fast is a must. Beauty comes fast from direct knowledge. Over worked thrown pieces look bad. It is really simple.

Picture Fun!

I went to take a picture of my barn and ended up taking about thirty. The joys of a digital camera. This photo includes a portion of my fenced in garden. I have to get brave and attempt photos of art work.

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originally uploaded by melissamonroe71@sbcglobal.net.

This is where the magic happens.

Pictures Are Coming

I know that I want pictures on my blog and I have set out to record what should pop up on this site. I took many pictures of my barn today. I am going to take pictures of my art as well. I hope it looks great on screen.

Ready To Go!

Moving from a condo to a new home with land, a barn and enormous garden has been a exciting life change. There has been so much to learn. I have been working toward the goal of having my own studio space for my pottery. I have finally completed the build-out of my 100+ year old barn. This will be my first winter since our move that I will be able to work in the barn.

With a new heating system in place I should be ready to go for the winter. Clay and glazes have arrived and a new (used) kiln is in place. My biggest challenge for work will be keeping up with my two children and finding the time and energy to work in my space. I have not figured out how it will work.

I am actually relieved to be closing down the garden for the season. I am glad to have the reprieve from weeding, and watering. The tomato season was terrible this year. I am gardening without chemicals. As novice gardener I let the slugs, flies and beetles take over to my great irritation. It will be my winter research project to figure out how to fight these pest organically.

I am throwing again at my kick wheel which is something I haven't done since college. I am so glad that is all coming back. I just need to remember not to over work the peice as I throw them. I am attaching photos of my low fire work I made last year. I hoping to have stoneware complated in the next few weeks.