Sprung!

A week ago, we had freezing weather. This week, there's daffodils. Next weekend, it'll be in the 70s. Yesterday morning, it was pouring rain; by lunchtime, the sun was out. Come evening, the clouds were back. Tonight's overnight forecast: Rain, followed by showers.

Springtime in Oregon is weird.

Weather regardless, there's one constant of spring in Eugene: The return of Saturday Market! The first Saturday of April, we'll be down on the Park Blocks, rain or shine or, God forbid, snow. It's a tradition.

Meanwhile there's other work to consider. My show at Viterbo is still up through March 27. I need to reach out to folks wishing to buy things, to process sales and arrange for pick-up. I'll probably go back to Wisconsin the first week of April to pack up and ship home the rest of the show.

I'm also preparing for another Visiting Artist gig, closer to home. On March 22, I'll be setting up a mini-show in the Adele McMillan Gallery at the University of Oregon's Erb Memorial Union. The UO Craft Center is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and have invited me, a former Resident Potter there, back to give a talk and some workshops. So I'll be digging through deep storage for a historical cross-section of my work to display, and preparing a talk and a couple of presentations for the months of April and May.

All the while making pots to fill a couple of big wholesale orders, doing some publicity work for upcoming pottery shows, and dealing with taxes.

With so much happening this month, we've already taken advantage of a sunny Friday to sort and restock the van. All we need is a sack lunch, the sales pouch, and a couple of bears, and we're ready to go!


Encore Pattern of the Month:

Fox Paws

Once upon a time there was a children's story... I heard it on NPR, read by children's literature maven Daniel Pinkwater one Saturday morning. It was called Basho and the Fox, and was about a haiku legend Basho's conversation with a fox who claims to have written the most beautiful poetry in the world. His competitive spirit aroused, the poet produces progressively more elegant works, none of which impress his furry critic. Finally, at the end of the story, Basho produces a poem that is pronounced exceptional by the fox. Why is this haiku superior to all the others?

"Because," proclaims our bushy-tailed literateur, "it has a fox in it."

By these admittedly subjective standards, the most beautiful pots in the world include my pie dishes, dinner and dessert plates, soup bowls, stew mugs, painted and tall mugs, covered casseroles, serving bowls, cookie jars, creamers and tall mugs, all of which may be found with a Fox on them.

See other patterns...