" Caught Up" Whatever that means

So I finally got "caught up" but I have a feeling that will be short lived. That is only counting making the bowls.... Fired my first batch. Now I have to glaze them all as well as continue to make more bowls.

I am beginning to rethink this 365 thing. I would still make face bowls, just not have the pressure of the 365 bowls.  The biggest struggle is I don't have time to work on anything else in my studio or in the rest of my life.  I still really want a massive number of bowls to represent the number of people in Portage County that go hungry throughout the year.  We'll see?

Playing catch up

One a day is a bit more difficult than I thought. Especially after pretty much taking the last year easy because of my shoulder. But I am at 24 now. The gap is closing. I can't wait until I have enough to fill the kiln. Why did I buy such a big kiln! Having fun still. Hope to get caught up tomorrow.

Work in Progress

So, I have been working on my new project... but a pinch-pot bowl with a face a day is a tall order.  But I am committed to doing this, so I will.  

Here are some bowls in process.

This is the one ( below) I am working on today.  

I really like how it is turning out.

 All of these will look much better when they are glazed.  I figure once a month I will bisque fire then glaze fire.  Only 20 more to go.

Paintings by Kristie Cecil

365 Challenge

The other half of this challenge is Kristie F Cecil.  It was actually Kristie's idea. We will curse her later! :-)  Just Kidding!

Kristie is doing 365 ( one a day) paintings of food. Our show will be next January. My face bowls and her bounty of food. Thus the name " Facing hunger in bounty".  This comes from the fact we live smack in the middle of farm country and there is plenty of food all around us. Yet there are still people in our community going to bed hungry at night.  So we want to do something about it. Please help us.

Follow our journey this year. And in January, when you come to the opening, bring a can of food.

I know... it's a year away.... so do something now, take some food to your local food pantry.

Enjoy the paintings! 

365 Challenge

Week 1 

5 Bowls down. Making a bowl a day is much harder than it sounds. Especially pinch pot bowls. Throwing bowls I can crank out 30-40 in a day. Bit these pinch pots, with faces, take some time.
I have discovered I will have to do more than one some days to allow for vacation time and days I just don't feel creative. Also the clay process takes a while. With paintings, once your done ... With the bowls  I can make it one day but it will be a few weeks before I can fire it. Then I have to glaze it, which takes a while, then fire it again. So I am definitely going to need to work ahead to get the 365 bowls done before January 2014.

Pam, Marcus, Jesse & Zoe

First 4 bowls.  I decided to do a few things to add to the challenge. Each bowl is numbered 1- 365. Each bowl will have a name. And for the blog I plan to come up with a "story" for some of the bowls.

More to come on that later.

Facing Hunger in Bounty Project

Time to make good use of my blog.

Facing Hunger in Bounty 

365 Day Challenge

Last year Kristie visited the River Gallery in Chelsea, Michigan and was inspired by some work by ceramic artist, Lisa Farris, who created a ceramic bowl each day for 365 days to bring awareness to the issue of hunger. Kristie returned to Wisconsin with one of the artist’s bowls in hand to excitedly show Jen. That bowl started us dreaming.

Every year more than a thousand children in Portage County go hungry. The sad part is that this is very common in communities all across Wisconsin. In some communities across the country, the student drop out rate is as high as 50%. Students are dropping out to get jobs to put food on the table.

Those children who are giving up their education to eat inspired this project.  Jen’s long-term goal for this project is to make 3,030 bowls. This represents the number of children who went hungry in 2011 in Portage County alone.  That is a lot of bowls! Our hope is that by the time she makes all 3,030 bowls, hunger in Portage County will be eradicated. 

For this exhibit, we challenged each other to bring awareness to hunger through our art.  The challenge begins on January 1, 2013.  Jen will create a bowl each day that has a face that represents someone in Portage County in need of food.

Based on the Painting a Day (PAD) movement, Kristie will make a small painting each day to bring awareness to the bounty that we have here in Wisconsin when it comes to food. All these food objects are readily available to us, but there are some people for whom getting access to this food is a struggle. These art objects symbolize the dream of putting food on the tables of those in need here in Portage County for 365 days a year. 

Hunger prevention has long been a passion of Jen’s.  So when she found Empty Bowls, it seemed like a natural fit.  Empty Bowls is a grassroots movement to end hunger that was started in 1990 by an art teacher in Michigan. Empty Bowls fundraising events are now held throughout the world.  In Portage County, Empty Bowls will be heading into its 13th year.  Empty bowls raises money to help organizations in our community that serve those in need of food.  Jen and Kristie will donate 20% of their profits to Empty Bowls of Portage County and other hunger prevention programs our community.

Empty Bowls

Being part of something that is bigger than you is aways a good feeling. This my second year being involved with the Empty Bowls committee and first year being Co-chair.  Combining two of my passions, pottery and hunger prevention it seemed like a natural fit.  This year is the 10th year for Empty Bowls in Portage County and is needed more than ever. Empty Bowls serves as a fundraiser for many of the Hunger Prevention programs as well as bring attention to the fact that we have a hunger issue here in Portage County. This year many of our friends, neighbors and co-workers have lost their jobs. The same people who were helping last year may be the ones we are helping this year. If you are able to help by making or painting a bowl, donating money or by volunteering please check out the Empty Bowls Portage County Webpage to see how.