it finds you somewhere with your back to it

REAL LOVE.


Today I went to Slagelse, the closest big town to where I live. I was meeting some ladies from the church to use their sewing machine and fix some pants of mine. I ended up drawing a pattern for my backpack because one of the women wanted to make one just like it. So I measured all the pieces and showed her how I put it together. I still think that home-made backpack is a miracle.

After the sewing party, Christina and I went out to dinner at a Kebab restaurant downtown by the train station. She lives above the station so afterward she walked me there and we found out I had missed the bus by 3 minutes! If only we had left dinner a little sooner. Unfortunately, after 8pm the buses only run once an hour, so I had to wait for an hour to catch the next one. She waited with me and we talked about her future plans. She has dual citizenship, since her dad is American and I wondered if she would ever want to live in the US. I think she will apply to BYU for next year. Exciting!

Finally the bus came and we said our goodbyes (in English and Danish). The bus driver and this one guy were looking at us, but I just got on and moved to the middle of the bus. About 5 minutes later that guy came back and stood next to me and spoke to me in Danish. I said "what?" a few times and then he realized "You're not Danish." "No." He sat down beside me and we talked the entire way back to Skaelskor. He lives there with his family. He was flirting with me and wanting to know when he could see me again, etc, etc, but I never know how old guys are here (because the really young ones sometimes look really old!--I'm talking highschool teenagers looking like mid-twenties, no joke) I asked him his age and he said 22. Figures. Then he asked how old I was and he was shocked when I told him 28. He asked how old Christina was and I told him 20. He thought she was 16 and I was 19 or 20.
Thank you very much. I will take that as a compliment and start acting the age I look.

Here's a picture of my new found maturity.

recipes recipes recipes

Papa Was A Rodeo.
This week I have been glaze testing. I have mixed up a bunch of glaze recipes and seen one final product that I wasn't pleased with at all. I am used to certain results back in the states and my first test was a little disappointing. We have a few different materials and I had to do some substitutions. Those slight difference will change the mood of my work completely.
So I am tweaking my recipes and hoping for the best. We open the kiln tomorrow. Cross fingers.
Today I used a million more recipes in the kitchen. I wanted to make a cafe rio style taco salad, so I had to make the dressing! I found the recipe online, but didn't think I would be able to find ranch dressing anywhere, so I also found a recipe for that. I made buttermilk ranch dressing from scratch!!
Also for dessert I made a flan from scratch. I have never done that either. But I think I will do it more frequently now. I used this recipe and found it most delicious...so did everyone else!

I have been making bricks lately. Richard has a commission from the city of Copenhagen to make bricks to restore an old church in the city center. We have been moving clay to the mixer 80 kilos at a time, mixing more grog into it and then moving it back to the studio to wedge and form the bricks. Its a pretty arduous process and unfortunately last week I was sick for a couple of days. I had the stomach flu (or mild food poisoning) and stayed in bed for two whole days. Everyone told me I should go to the doctor, but I kept thinking it would be expensive, like in the states. Guess what? Its free...even for a non-citizen. Richard called the doctor and told them how I felt and then he put the doctor on the phone with me and we just talked over the phone. Then the doctor told me which medicine to get and that was it. Richard went and bought me the medicine, some yogurt and some apples. I was very grateful that he was around to take care of me.

I'm glad I finally feel better though. I hate not eating for days and feeling weak and tired all the time.

The three new artists that have come to the center this past week are Eva Funderburgh, Jody Greenman-Barber and Carol Grant. Carol and Jody both work in pottery and Eva makes hand built monsters. On Monday there is a throwing workshop with Takeshi Yasuda. He arrives tomorrow and the other participants will show up on Monday. I am excited to peak in on the workshop and learn a few things.






meal time is so nice time.

farvel

Dark Sedan.

I don't mind the transitory life style, making hello-s and saying goodbye-s. At Guldagergaard there are always artists coming and going. I have had a roommate, Claire from Ireland, since Aug 23rd, but she leaves tomorrow.
I will be sad to see her go. She is a great artist and she humored me when I wanted to listen to this song one-million times these past three weeks. TAK for that!

Three new artists came last week. Two from Cananda and one from the US. I'm sure they will have plenty to offer my studio practice and life in general. I love learning from everyone, hearing their stories and sharing meals together.
Tonight I cooked a Mediterranean style meal. There were 8 of us at dinner, but I think I made enough for 16. I have a lot to learn about food preparation. But too much is better than not enough, right? Now at least we have lunch for tomorrow.
All my pieces made it out of the bisque intact. Tomorrow I will mix up some glazes and do some tests. Then I have to prepare for my exhibition by glazing all my work.
Here is a flyer I made up for the show. Katrine translated it into Danish for me to print, but here is the English version.




soooo excited.

clay on your head!

For the Skaelskor Cultural Festival, the gallery asked us ceramic artists to participate in their annual "CLAY ON YOUR HEAD" project. I decided to go with an American surfer motif. It was a lot of laughs.