Happy New Year!

Ok, so it is May.  Not January.  What does that say about me?  I've been busy in my new studio  It is insulated and has a heating/cooling unit.  There was electric out there and so hubby ran a few outlets for me so I could plug in the wheel or the pugmill as needed. 

It has a 'modern' feel to it. It's not big, only 10 x 12.  I have everything on wheels (except for the wheel) and if I am working on handbuilding, I can move everything over to one side or the other fairly easy.

I put in an air filtering machine that runs 24 hours a day and at the end of each session I put away scraps, clean off the wheel or table, and right before closing the door, I fill up my Scooba's tank with water and set it loose. 

In the morning when I go back out to the studio, the floor is dust free, the air is dust free and I'm ready to go again.

I've always been relatively clean in my home studio because ceramic dust is very dangerous.   I joke that this is my 3rd studio. Studio 1.0 was the corner of my hallway. No kidding.  I had my wheel shoved there and kept my clay and tools underneath.  I would clear off the dining room table to set things and couldn't make much at one time.

Then my son moved away to college and I took over his room (Studio 2.0) and I've been happy there, mostly.  But I got into metal work and soon the space really dwindled.  Between the tools for that and the pottery clay, it was hard to keep certain things dry when other certain things needed to be wet.

Now I actually have two studios. Studio 2.0 is now used exclusively for shipping, storage, photography, and metal work.  All the pottery stuff is in the (as my hubby calls it) "She Shed".

Wanna see the inside?  It's girly... Girly Whirly.  I love avocado/peridot green.  And I adore turquoise blue.  And I couldn't decide.  So I painted each color on opposite walls. I have since moved the pottery wheel around and the arrangement is completely different.  I used a brick red as an accent color.  I will have to find a picture of that later.

So .... about the time we started this project my mother suffered a major stroke.  That's the sad part.  She's never probably going to walk again because she lost use of her right arm and leg. Her speech is spotty. Every so often she can say a few words.   

Here's where I proselytize about stokes. They are 85% preventable.  Take the baby aspirin at night with 8 ounces of water.  This thins the blood so that clots don't form.  Exercise a few times each week at least 20 minutes to get the heart rate up.  And here's the most important thing: STOP SMOKING!

Okay. I'm done.

Thanks for stopping by!
Natalie