Take Two, Week Four

Hello Everyone,

Spring is here! There are daffodils and crocuses everywhere. Although there have still been frosts and it is chilly I can smell that distictive scent which is the change of seasons. It is a bit different than at home becaue here it is more of a farm smell- like damp hay. It is a pleasant smell to be greeted by. Today was an exciting week. I made press molded bottles at the beginning of the week while Phil worked on making pots for the salt chamber of his wood kiln. On Wednesday we went to Aberystwyth, a bustling seaside town. Phil is on the planning board of the Aberystwyth Ceramics Festival which is held biannually. He had a meeting about the festival and asked if I wanted to wander about the town. It was a very sunny lovely day. I walked around the shops for a bit and did some shopping. I finally was able to find some really nice organic welsh knitting wool in a little natural foods store. I am going to try making a sweater with it...I've tried to make sweaters before unsuccessfully so hopefully it will be easier this time. Phil told me of a few places I should look at including the Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru (The National Library of Wales) (http://www.llgc.org.uk/). After having to ask directions several times I trudged up a huge hill. I would like to think I am a fairly active, healthy person but that hill really was a killer. I thought I was going to have an asthma attack by the time I conquered it!
The library was this huge stately building. Phil told me they have some great art shows there. There was a permanent gallery that had mostly paintings by Welsh Artists. Kyffin Williams is one of Phil's favorite painters and also a personal friend of his. Phil has some of Kyffin's work on his walls so I was quite familiar with it. Its interesting because almost all of the paintings were dark in color. Greens had a lot of blacks and brown in them. Its interesting because the Wales I see is not dark at all but vibrant and bright. There was even two JMW Turner paintings who is a famous British impressionist painter. They were some of his earlier paintings and did not posess any of the trademark qualities of his bright ethereal later works. Since the library was on a hill there was an absolutely beautiful view of the sea. It looked interesting because you could hardly tell where the water ended and sky began. It was just this sort of misy, blue-grey canvas of landscape. From the library I went to the Aberystwyth Arts Center. It is a university building. I noticed many of the people spoke Welsh. They have a great little ceramics collection on display including work by Leach, Hamada, Cardew and other influential artists. I did some sketching of the pots and observed. I saw Lucie Rie and Hans Coper pots there for the first time. I met up with Phil a few hours later and we rushed home because Lynne and I had a girly evening planned.
Lynne's good friend Pauline had got tickets for us to go see the Soweto Gospel Choir (http://www.sowetogospelchoir.com/) in a place called Brecon. We went out for dinner first then headed into a smallish theatre. While the lights were still dim a male voice started singing in African and was slowly joined by the other choir members. When the lights went up there were about 20 Africans dressed in exquisite, brightly colored clothing. I can't even describe the singing. It was so beautiful it just made me cry. I did not know what they were saying but their joy, energy and life just burst through the auditorium. Most of the songs they performed were Christian worship songs although they did sing some Bob Marley and a few other contemporary ones. They danced as well as sang. They took turns doing the solos, vocal and dance. Each member had such an amazing voice; they could easily have recorded solo albums. They had percussionists, a pianist and several guitarists.You could tell they were all having such a great time performing. They were smiling so big and high fiving each other. They were such beautiful people with amazing voices and spirits. All the money from their performances went to an aids charity that helps African children affected by the disease. I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt so blessed and touched by the experience. On the way home Lynne told me about two trips her and Phil took to Africa. The first time they went it was for Phil to teach a workshop to locals after the apartheid. The British government sent artists to South Africa to help the people there become self sufficient. The second time they went to Ethiopia with a charity to set up a pottery in a village. Lynne said that it was one of those trips that just changes your life. The African ladies thought Phil was like a god because he had come from so far, could make good pots and was very tall. They were always giving him little gifts and things. Lynne said one day during luch all the ladies just started singing, much like the gospel choir. She said that for such a poverty and war stricken nation there is still so much hope among the people there. Seeing the Soweto Gospel Choir was such a great experience; I would highly recommend it if any of you have the chance to see them. They even won a Grammy award in 2007.
The next day Lynne and I had to haul a HUGE pile of wood out of the barn so it could be cut up for the wood kiln. It took us two days to accomplish that task. We had a good time and got our exercise too! On Friday, Phil had to make the five hour drive to St. Ives England to drop off about 80 pots for a solo show he is having there in March. While he was gone, Di the Rogers' gardener came by with a chainsaw and sawhorse and the three of us cut and stacked all the wood. It took the better part of a day but we got it done. We will be using all of it when we fire the wood kiln on March 23. I think I am having some kiln firing anxieties as I had a dream last night that I was firing the Bailey kiln at college and forgot to put the cone packs in. Cone packs are these special things that indicate what temperature it is inside the kiln because they melt. If you don't have them its still possible to fire the kiln; its just more difficult, especially if you are not very experienced like me.
Over the weekend, Lynne and I hung out while Phil was gone. We had to go to Llandrindod to pick up some sedatives for Libby. Our furry grey canine friend has now been deemed "Lumpy Libby" as she has a little lump on her ear. The vet came by and said she should have it out. So tomorrow Libby will go in for a surgery and will also have her teeth cleaned. Poor girl...I also made quite a few pots in Phil's absense, tumblers, cups, baskets and teapots. When he came home today he said, "When did you make all that? We will certainly have enough pots to fill the kiln!" He came home from St. Ives with gifts for his girls. He got Lynne a special cookbook and a wood fired mug for me made by Svend Bayer, a potter who lives in a place called Sheepwash, England (giggle). Phil got to see Svend unload his wood kiln over the weekend. It was very nice of him to get me a souvenier. It has little feldspar bits and is a reddish gold color with carbon trapping on the outside and a blue-green nuka liner glaze. It is a lovely little pot. Well, it is nearly time for the Antiques Roadshow to come on. Last week this guy brought in a pot that I though was wretchedly gaudy but the appraiser said it was worth 100,000 pounds (200,000 dollars)! What a lucky fellow. I hope you all have a great week!

Take care,

Kari

www.kariinwales.blogspot.com
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