I am embarrassed to say that I have not been very productive pottery wise. August is always a bad time to get time to work in the studio. But I have to admit that I have had an extraordinarily busy summer. And since I don't have any pots and studio pics to show you, I am going to give you the "how I spent my summer vacation" spiel. Actually, there are a few pics of pots toward the end of this tardy update.
Early in the summer, my wife, Kathy, and son, Chris, took a two week trip to Italy. There were six of us taking the trip, all friends and interested in art and food. One of us knows Italy well and planned the entire trip. It was what they call "slow travel." The trip was about taking it easy, staying in small towns rather than the cities, and focusing on art, food, drink and really expierencing rural Tuscany. This first picture is really a magical view of an old Tuscan city, the name escapes me at the moment.
We stayed three nights in the Veranzano Vineyard. We stayed in various locals for three or four days and took day trips out in various directions.
Food. Food is what Italy is about.
We stayed five nights in Montesi. What a wonderful town. Here we are walking to the other end of town down the main street to go to dinner...
at Roberto's. We had two three hour, seven course dinners at Roberto's. And what a great guy Roberto (standing) was!
We took a day trip to Deruta which is the majolica capital of Italy. Majolica is a particularly colorful ceramic process. Pictured are tiles in one of Deruta's churches.
Here is the view from the wall of Montesi. The city was built on the top of a hill as a simple means of defense.
On to Positano on the Almalfi coast south of Naples. It is a beautiful coastal cliff town. It is high dollar destination. Incredible views from the rooms, incredible food. It is kind of James Bond territory. Want to see a movie that was filmed partially in Positano? See "Under the Tuscan Sun."
We visited Paestum where some of the best Greek temples still stand.
More food. A seafood plate at a restaurant on the beach at Positano. Heaven!
Finally we visited Rome, but just for a day. Pictured is the Pantheon, considered the best surviving piece of Imperial Roman architecture.
As soon as I was back from Italy, it was down to scout camp for a week. This again was heaven. It is great fun being a scout leader. I happen to be the fishing merit badge counselor. It is great fun hearing, "Mr. Eberhardt, can we go fishing?" And I heard it constantly.
There is constant activity at scout camp. The days are filled with required events as well as something exciting happening every night. Pictured here is the night we made hand churned ice cream- chocolate AND vanilla- and hot fruit cobblers over the fire.
The results were extraordinary.
After scout camp. It was up to Zanesville for "Pottery Lovers."
Another big scout event was my son, Chris, attending the World Scout Jamboree in England. It was a two week event where 40,000 scout gather from around the world.
I also spent a few days pickling tomatoes, peppers and mixed veggies. I did it in the dead of summer rather than waiting for the fall.
I did list a group of pots for sale about a month ago. Most sold quickly and I boxed them up and shipped them out.
And I am in the process of getting back into glazing.
I even reglazed some "old" pots- the tall blue one is from 2001. I actually sold it on the web in '01, the buyer had regrets, and even though I had two buyers immediately after the first, I let the "SOLD" notice stand on my "for sale" page. I ended up keeping it. It was very nice before but I just reglazed it and pushed from "wonderful" to "great."
I tried to find a "before" picture so you could see the difference, but I couldn't. There is one on my site somewhere.
Finally, I spent a few days restoring an old Cleveland Neon Aztec clock. I have one on my studio wall and I restored this one as a gift to my brother. I bought this one right out of a store front window about 10 or 12 years ago. Better to get it on the wall rather than letting it sit in the basement.
Sorry I don't have much to report pottery-wise. Hope my vacation pictures didn't bore you. Next update, pottery stuff!