Coutts AB is a village of about 250 people. Last week a customer wanted to mail me a cheque to pay for a bowl and she asked for my address. I sent her the address, but what I didn’t tell her was that she could just send it to ” Pottery Cindy, Coutts AB” and I would get it. There are only two Cindy’s living in Coutts. I am Cindy-Lee and the other is Cindy-Lou. We are both friends with the lady in the Post Office and Tracey, the post office lady, would know which one is Pottery Cindy. If for some reason Cindy-Lou got mail for Cindy-Lee, she would walk over to my house and give it me. There are only about 15 streets and avenues in total in Coutts, so walking all the way across town to deliver a letter is not a problem. Being new town, everyone knows where the new people live.
We have been busy in the studio making pots and making videos. Here are the next two episodes in the saga of Studio Life in Coutts.
Winter has returned. Last week we were out walking in our shirtsleeves and this morning I woke to -18C with a nasty wind. Dang….. I am looking forward to spring. I am hoping for a cloudy start to the day tomorrow and that little smelly groundhog does not see his shadow. Fingers crossed! No more winter.
The video blog is so much easier and quicker than writing a blog. When I write the blog, I will write, and then go back and read, change a few things, and then think about it a bit more and maybe do a rewrite. It can take me long time to get to the point where I hit “Publish”. The video blog is completely off the cuff. After I am done, I often forget what I have said. It is fun, fast and then finished.
Here is Episode 9.
Yesterday we were in Lethbridge selling raffle tickets for a shiny red Corvette. It is a local fund raiser organized by the Milk River Kinsmen Club. Towns that participate get a portion of the money the car raises. Coutts will use their share for community events. We like to do our part.
Today was a beautiful day. The sunrise has moved along the horizon so can see it again from my living-room window. This morning I watched the sun come up on a day that warmed up to fourteen glorious degrees Celsius, or about 60 Fahrenheit. We live in Coutts, as far south in Alberta as you can get ad still be in Alberta. However it is Alberta and it is January, and temps in the teens is wonderful gift. I left the studio early this afternoon so Jim and could go for a walk. A walk without cold, wind, ice, coats, hat or a scarf. Just a lovely walk in the warm sun in our shirtsleeves. It felt good to be out and about.
This morning we shot the next in our blog series, Episode Nine, and how to throw a casserole. Yesterday we shot Episode Eight.
We have been creating videos and them putting up on YouTube for a few years. It is a little odd and uncomfortable to see yourself up there. Over the years I have gained, lost and gained weight, aged and have gotten better at speaking. I have often said that I am much taller, thinner and younger than I am in real life. This next venture or adventure is exciting. Recording my day to day life in the studio will be something that I, if no one else, will find fun to follow. To be able to look back a week, month or in time, years, and see what I was making and how I made it, will be, again, for me at least, interesting. To be able see how much work I do, or don’t do. We will include town people, friends, and anyone else who will let us aim a camera at them and talk. The interview with Sharon the Librarian was only the start.
How does it feel to be shot? I guess the best word I can think of is flattering. I am always sensitive to how I look, not being tall, thin or young, but we get new subscribers daily. People must like what we are doing and what I have to say. We all want to be liked. “They” seem to like the videos. It feels good to be shot.
Here is Episode 7.
Friday afternoon the kids came and we made Garden Gnomes. It’s not quite spring or gardening time, but we will be ready with Gnomes when it is.
They made wonderful gnomes! It was a fun afternoon.
Brook’s train
Brook
Mr. Clay
Abby
Jordan
Kieran
Autumn
Chase
Sample for the students to follow.
It was a good weekend. Winter left with temperatures in the teens and high winds to blow all the snow away. I am glad to see it go. I am sure it will be back, but tomorrow is to be another day of temps in the teens. I will enjoy the warm days while they are here.
Jim posted the first few videos we shot and I have let a few days slip by and I a few videos behind. Here are episodes 5 and 6. Please keep in mind, I am much taller, slimmer and younger than I am in real life.
For more information about the library, here is a link. We have episode 7 waiting in the wings. I will post that soon with pictures of the gnomes the kids made Friday afternoon.
It’s Friday which is kid’s day at the studio. Wow were they wound up today! After a couple of weeks of cold weather it has warmed up a bit and they all found a new well of enthusiasm to tap. We made polar bears and I’ll add some pictures later. Here is today’s video blog which shows a little bit about reclaiming clay.
Hope you are finding these interesting! The next one will be Sunday.
Bye for Now
Yesterday I was playing with a face vase and I didn’t like his eyes. Today I ripped off his eyebrows and rearranged his brow bones. I then added some ears, but they looked too low. I sliced off his ears and put them back on a little higher.
Front view of Face Vase
Better eyes but low ears.
SlicingSliced…. that’s gotta hurt.After slicing and reattached.
I had fun playing with the vase, but I am not sure you can really tell the difference in the higher or lower ears.
Ears a little higher.
We are going to Medicine Hat for clay tomorrow. Work is picking up and I won’t have a lot of time for funny faces, ripping off eyebrows or slicing off ears. But it is fun when I do.
Last week we had planned a clay run to Medicine Hat, but the weather was so miserable we stayed home. It has been around minus 20 with a lot of wind making it a good time to stay home. I have pots I should be making, but I am almost out of clay, so I took some time to play.
Face Vase profile.Front view of Face Vase
His eyes still need a little work.
I will rip his eyebrows off in the morning, I don’t like them. I will give him his pupils and add a bit more “meat” to the area. It is good to see a picture of what you are doing and get a different perspective. I don’t like his eyes, but I think the changes will help. I enjoyed playing with his face and it doesn’t matter, at this point, if I like his eyes or not. I like playing with them. It was a nice day of working with face while talking to my daughter on the phone.
Friday was the first day back for the kids class. We had a good turnout and they made some Arctic Scenes. They did a wonderful job, even the little ones. I thought we might as well celebrate the winter as we certainly have been having our share.
Inuktitut
One little boy thought that if a few extras on the piece were nice, more had to be better. We are still working on, less is more.
I got the few pots trimmed that I made last week,
Trimmed and ready for the drying shelf.
But then I had to clean all over again.
So much for tidy.
Tuesday we are planning the clay run. We have to drive to Medicine Hat, about 2 hours away. We will make it pay trip with a Costco shop, a stop at Super Store and a few more stops. After a couple of stores, I am more than ready to head back home. The longer we live in this small town, the more I prefer it to the city, even a small city like Medicine Hat or Lethbridge.
Jim and I have been am trying to get more people using the school. Here in Coutts, there is this wonderful old school that is no longer a public school but an Arts and Rec Centre. It houses my studio, the local library, a massage therapist, and a storage/ practice room for the local country/ rock band. There is some use of the facilities, but for the most part, it is underutilized. Monday was to be the start of the Senior’s Walk. The school has a gym and weight room that are almost always empty. Since I am at the school and in my studio weekdays, I opened the doors to the local seniors. The idea was to get people out of the house and have a safe and warm place to get a little exercise. However Mother Nature had plans of her own.
Minus 20 Celsius and 70 Kilometer winds is not a good way to start the week, or to get seniors, or anyone else for that matter, out of the their house. The school was quiet this morning, so I cranked the music and cleaned the studio. She looks good, a great way to start the New Year. Clean and tidy. It won’t last, but ….. so
The studio after a morning of cleaning.Looking the other way.
I should have had before pictures to go with the after shots, but trust me, it was an unorganized mess. I had the ladies clay classes with a Christmas party and then the kids class and party. There were orders to get out, a couple of little trade shows and the Galleria in Calgary. Last year, when I was done, I walked out and shut the door. It was on its way to Hell in a hand cart, but it got refused at the door for being too messy.
Last year I was playing with what I thought was to be a new blue glaze, but it’s not what I had hoped for. I plan on working on some new glazes later this month, but I have never really liked experimenting with glazes. We will see how it goes and how much I get done. My next blue has to be better than this syrupy sweet, baby powder blue. The test looked interesting.
Little blue test bowl.
But as it got onto larger pieces, it reminded me of eating chocolate. The first little taste is good, but once it gets big, it is just too much. Candy Blue will not be seen again.
Yucky blue platter with bland washed out iron splash.First pots in 2015.
It felt good to back at work today and in such a tidy work space. I use a blend of two clays, and I have to pug to blend all the clay I use. Before the Christmas break, I pugged a couple of bags or so, and today I threw what was mixed. When I ran out of clay, I had the option of pugging more, or walking laps in the school. Jim came down and we walked in the school. Fourteen times around, the inside, is one mile, a bit boring and a lot safer than walking outside on the ice.
