Clay and ash [ceramics, climate]
Jun. 7th, 2023 08:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeister1. If I had thought I'd left wildfire smoke behind when moving out of the west to the northeastern United States, I was gravely mistaken. As you may or may not be aware, numerous spots in Canada are currently ablaze, and the smoke from Quebec is reaching us here.
Yesterday morning on the river wasn't too terrible, although the sun was a small, ominous strawberry viewed through the haze.
You might recall that while I was living in California I discovered I was "Sensitive People," that category of people who experience side effects of poor air quality at lower particulate levels than the general population.
I actually felt fine yesterday morning, aside from a couple of sneezes. By yesterday afternoon, however, the cloud had descended further. I'd hoped the evening thunderstorm would wash the smoke away, but things still aren't looking great right now. At least this smoke doesn't smell as terrible as the conflagration that hit Santa Rosa and incinerated houses along with the vegetation.
Hard to photograph this stuff, but I think this picture helps to illustrate that this isn't the usual fall morning fog.
I am glad that I bought that Curve O2 mask early in the pandemic. I will be wearing it today.
2. Summer pottery class #2 was last night. In the grand scheme of things, the studio space at the Albany Art Room is pretty amazing. It is also incredibly convenient; I can walk over from home in less than 10 minutes. But it has its quirks, because the Albany Art Room started life as a house.
For instance, the throwing space is rather cozy, to use a real estate euphemism:
And different things are in different rooms: pieces and tools live in a handbuilding room, the cleanup sink is in its own room, the wedging table is in its own room, etc. Lots of back and forth up and down the hallway. And wood floors aren't really ideal for a ceramics studio.
Still. I'm so happy to be back throwing again. I do miss the big mirrors and glorious double studio at the Arts Center.
The instructor here was saying she's very much seeing the broader uptick in interest in ceramics. She is also well-connected with the people from Monroe Pottery and the Northeast Ceramic Supply, which closed in 2019, and said that the place that sprang up after the closure, Waterbrook Pottery, is very much full with a long waitlist for new members. So, probably for the best to not just wait around for an opening. It's like getting a spot to store a boat in almost every single boathouse in the USA. In any case, it's helpful to know more about the pottery community and landscape out here; a lot of this is why I'm in this particular beginners throwing class.
I may very well wind up setting up some form of home studio, especially if it's feasible to fire pieces at the Art Room.
But I should probably work on moving other projects along before starting too many other new things.
Yesterday morning on the river wasn't too terrible, although the sun was a small, ominous strawberry viewed through the haze.
You might recall that while I was living in California I discovered I was "Sensitive People," that category of people who experience side effects of poor air quality at lower particulate levels than the general population.
I actually felt fine yesterday morning, aside from a couple of sneezes. By yesterday afternoon, however, the cloud had descended further. I'd hoped the evening thunderstorm would wash the smoke away, but things still aren't looking great right now. At least this smoke doesn't smell as terrible as the conflagration that hit Santa Rosa and incinerated houses along with the vegetation.
Hard to photograph this stuff, but I think this picture helps to illustrate that this isn't the usual fall morning fog.
I am glad that I bought that Curve O2 mask early in the pandemic. I will be wearing it today.
2. Summer pottery class #2 was last night. In the grand scheme of things, the studio space at the Albany Art Room is pretty amazing. It is also incredibly convenient; I can walk over from home in less than 10 minutes. But it has its quirks, because the Albany Art Room started life as a house.
For instance, the throwing space is rather cozy, to use a real estate euphemism:
And different things are in different rooms: pieces and tools live in a handbuilding room, the cleanup sink is in its own room, the wedging table is in its own room, etc. Lots of back and forth up and down the hallway. And wood floors aren't really ideal for a ceramics studio.
Still. I'm so happy to be back throwing again. I do miss the big mirrors and glorious double studio at the Arts Center.
The instructor here was saying she's very much seeing the broader uptick in interest in ceramics. She is also well-connected with the people from Monroe Pottery and the Northeast Ceramic Supply, which closed in 2019, and said that the place that sprang up after the closure, Waterbrook Pottery, is very much full with a long waitlist for new members. So, probably for the best to not just wait around for an opening. It's like getting a spot to store a boat in almost every single boathouse in the USA. In any case, it's helpful to know more about the pottery community and landscape out here; a lot of this is why I'm in this particular beginners throwing class.
I may very well wind up setting up some form of home studio, especially if it's feasible to fire pieces at the Art Room.
But I should probably work on moving other projects along before starting too many other new things.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-07 01:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-07 02:57 pm (UTC)We're up in the 170-190 ppm range; I am so, so grateful that I started prepping for wildfire smoke towards the start of the pandemic.
California and Washington have been far worse than what we're experiencing right now.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-07 04:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-07 06:39 pm (UTC)