Clay and Blogs: Telling A Story

Can a person be the oldest and the youngest at the same time? I think I might be (but maybe not) the oldest potter in age and the youngest working with clay who's been invited to participate in the most wondrous ceramic show of this year. I am so proud and honored to be included in the upcoming Clay and Blogs: Telling A Story show. Here are the dates and location.

Clay and Blogs: Telling A Story
October 1 thru October 29, 2010
Arts Council of Moore County
Campbell House
432 East Connecticut Avenue
Southern Pines, NC 28388

Opening Reception Oct 1st from 6-8 pm

Clay and Blogs: Telling A Story is the brainchild of my blog friend Meredith Heywood of Whynot Pottery. Meredith has conceived of a way to further unite blogging potters from faraway places with a show of their work in one place. I met Meredith through her blog almost two years ago. I say met but we haven't actually met in person only through our blogs. And yet Meredith has been so generous with her time, supporting and encouraging me in my ceramic pursuits. Thank you so much, Meredith, for your encouragement and for including me in the show.

The line up of artists in the show is amazing. Blogging artists from Australia, England, New Zealand, Spain, United States and other locations from around the globe will display their work in the upcoming show. The show will be a great opportunity to see the work of so many artist's all in one location, so please plan to attend.

Although the artists are from faraway places, we've been united by sharing with each other about clay through our blogs. We've shared the ups and downs and the successes and challenges of working with clay. I've asked questions and advice on other blogs and artists have been very generous sharing their knowledge. My blogroll on the right side of this blog has a list of artists and blogs who have inspired, critiqued, encouraged, or mentored me. Thanks to all of you for being there.

I have a lot of ideas for the show; the challenge for me will be how to accomplish what I want to do while living and traveling in my RV, looking for a new place to live and set up my studio. But where there is a will there is a way. As time goes by I'll be posting more information about Clay and Blogs: Telling A Story, so stay tuned. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Mooney Grove Park

A pond, geese, and trees Mooney Grove Park, ahhhh...

...sending warm thoughts to all dealing with cold weather

Farik

This morning I heard the name of a food which peaked my curiosity. It was farik or freekeh. At first I was thinking freak from the hippy days. Then I was thinking of clay freak. (What else would a clay freak like me think). Then I heard the spelling and realized it was something else. I'm still learning something new every day.

What is farik, freekeh, or frikeh? Have you heard of it? Have you eaten it. The grain is an Arab or Middle Eastern dish, can be eaten as a cereal or a side dish, and was mentioned as early as the 13th century in cooking from Baghdad. The farik is harvested when the seeds are soft and not quite ripe. The seeds are piled up and sun dried. Then a fire is built around the perimeter. Since the seeds contain a lot of moisture they don't catch fire. The straw or chaff is burned while the farik is thrashed or turned and thus takes on it's characteristic smokey flavor.

Two months ago we finally sold our house and now we're living in our RV full time and are searching for a new place to live and set up a studio. Last week I ran out of clay and yesterday I took the last of my greenware to be fired. Last night I was wondering what will I do now? I read another book and did some more sketches in my journal but was still having a hard time falling asleep.

This morning I took Gary to work at 5 am, came back to our RV, turned on my computer and the TV. We get a few local television channels free via our RV antenna. This morning a woman was telling Dr. Oz about the type of foods she ate while loosing weight. Farik was one of the foods she mentioned. Apparently farik is not only tasty, but nutritionally good too. Compared to rice or pasta, farik has more calcium, potassium, iron, and zinc.

Over the past several years my life was rather stressful and, hey, stress causes weight gain. With the new year upon me I've decided to start on a second journey. Besides looking for a new home, I plan to improve my nutrition and loose some weight. I already have good nutrition, but there is always room for improvement in anything.

The TV show this morning also said Smaller plates encourage eating smaller portions. Not only that, but a study showed using smaller serving utensils also encourages eating smaller portions. Many dinner or supper plates are 12 inches which encourages placing larger portions on the plate to fill the plate. Using an 8 or 9 inch plate encourages placing smaller portions to fill the plate. Since I make ceramics, I plan to look at my functional ceramics and make a conscious effort to reduce their size to encourage smaller portions.

My local health food store said they never heard of farik or freekeh. I'll check at Trader Joe's the end of the week where I'm told freekeh is carried. Please come back to hear more about my journey in clay, search for a new home, and more about recipes hopefully using farik and other nutritional foods. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Still Alice

Gary's father, George, left his home early one morning for a dental appointment. The dentist's office called to say he never showed up. Eight hours later George arrived back home and couldn't remember where he had been all day. George said he knew he was supposed to be somewhere but couldn't remember where. George voluntarily gave up driving that day, he was 87 years of age.

My grandmother's memory started to fail her when she was 98, but a memory loss at that age was expected. She was still able to take care of herself and if she tried real hard she would eventually remember what she had temporarily forgotten. Gary's grandmother never forgot a thing, the day she died at 97 she was sharp as a tack as they say.

The first time I was confronted with Alzheimer's I was only 20. My boyfriend and I were visiting his grandfather. While my boyfriend was in the restroom, his grandfather leaned over to me and said, "That's a nice young man you're with, what's his name?" At first I thought he was kidding, then I realized he wasn't. He didn't remember who his own grandson was. Later I told my boyfriend what happened and he said his mother was trying to get his grandfather to stop driving to no avail.

After the missed dental appointment, Gary and I became closely involved in George's life. A short time later, George came to live with us and we cared for him till he passed away at 94. George had Dementia from small strokes in his brain. With a diagnosis of Dementia George's mind did not deteriorate as quickly as those with Alzheimer's, but this disease is just as challenging.

Having run out of clay and library books, quite by accident I picked up Still Alice at the grocery store yesterday. One way or the other Alzheimer's or Dementia will touch your life in some way if it hasn't already. Jeff Martin talks a little about this disease in his blog post today. Jeff's heading in a new clay direction and has some wonderful surfaces on his platters. Anyway, I highly recommend reading this book, even in retrospect, it has helped me. Comments and questions are welcome.