As the first of many Michigan snowflakes began to fall today, I was reminded of my blogging delinquency. At the end of July, I packed up my stationwagon and headed to Farmington Hills, Michigan to begin a year+ long artist residency at Plum Tree Pottery. The last four months have been a great adventure… I have included a few of the best captured snippets below.

(above: Weko Beach in Bridgman, Michigan… one of the last sunsets spent at the beach after spending two weeks at home in the southwest corner of Michigan pretending to be on vacation visiting with friends and family.)

(The entrance to my new nesting grounds in Farmington Hills… the Flamingo Motor Home Court. The rent is cheap, neighbors are friendly, laundry room is close to my trailer, and the park is nice and quiet.)

(My new nest! My very own trailer to call home… it is spacious enough without letting me collect too much junk! It came with my very own mailbox and astro-turfed porch.)

(At work during the first month at the studio… attaching a handle to cup to practice “pulling” handles. I am finally in the 100 handle club, I can’t believe it took me this long!)

(Soldner power wheel which has been modified to accommodate throwing while standing up. Learning to throw while standing seemed awkward at first, but now it seems normal. I don’t understand why I didn’t take the hint and start sooner… it makes so much sense.)

(A detail shot of ware shelves and bisqued ware for the first few glaze firings at the studio. John added the “Big Bird” sign for my arrival after a tip off about a nick-name. Thanks a lot Steve.)

On the third Saturday in August we ventured to the Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise. It was, by far, the biggest car show I have ever seen. In true Motor City style, there were reports of more than 40,000 muscle cars, street rods, custom, collector and special interest vehicles. The street was lined with people for miles and I have never seen so many cars in one place! The week before the huge event I saw many eye catching rides just cruising around the area.

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(This guy was cruising on his tricycle down the sidewalk at the Dream Cruise.)

(We saw all sorts of vehicles… Some parked in small car shows in random parking lots and others cruising up and down Woodward Avene. You name the make and model, and we probably saw it that day. From huge modified monster trucks to tiny cars with one seat and three wheels.)

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Peeking in our first soda/salt kiln firing. The atmospheric kiln was a treat to fire after two gas reduction kilns. The results were amazing and unlike any other kiln I have ever unloaded!

The fired stack…

A group of my porcelain tumblers from the soda and salt firing…

More of my tumblers from the firing. John’s collection of glazes are as amazing in the soda/salt kiln as the reduction kiln!)

On September 28th we ventured to downtown Detroit to see Barack Obama and Joe Biden speak! It was amazing to see them in person…the energy in the crowd was wonderful and inspiring.

Back to a wet working phase in the studio… I started to focus on cups, mugs, bowls, and plates for an upcoming studio event, scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving.

…lots of bowls of all different sizes for all different uses

…a set of ten square-ish plates waiting to be trimmed. These plates have now been bisqued and glazed and are ready to load into a gas reduction firing tomorrow morning!