Dark Winter, Portland Maine

I would like to share some photos with you. I took these on a walk with two friends you may notice in the images. This is winter in Maine.

Ceramics Internship

During January-term I have been interning with a potter named Siem van der Ven at his studio up in northern Maine. It has been a lot of work, mostly pugging clay, making glaze, trimming, glaze testing, cleaning, throwing, sanding, and waxing. It has been a really serious internship that I have enjoyed a lot. Siem challenged almost everything I said which was both uncomfortable but fascinating as it usually resulted in expanding my understanding or definition of a concept.

One of my favorite cups by Siem:

I managed to meet up with Autumn Cipala, my teacher from last spring who introduced me to clay in a hand-building class. There are so many potters and artist in general on the northern part of the coast of Maine it's almost ridiculous  After much contemplation I believe it is because there is such interesting light and natural beauty, as well as some decent conditions for an artist community. I'm sure the flow of tourist in the spring and summer to boost sales does not hurt either. There really is an art scene going on in Maine, I wish to see it develop further and hope that I can contribute soon.

This is my current studio.

Early Winter in Camdena

The Camden Snow Bowl is a gem of Maine with a rather pleasing retro appearance. Unfortunately we are still waiting on getting a major snow storm on the coast, which should arrive tomorrow. 

Possibly my favorite aspect of the Maine aesthetic is the handcrafted machinery abandoned in the woods, rotting barns, or in a field with flaking paint and deeply rusted engines. The splashes of small lakes are colored an enticingly deep blue, which is so interesting against the white snow and stripes of the tree trunks as they steadily rising upwards into a green and grey forest. This is what I observed today when peering out the window during a joy ride, the trees are still flicker by in my eyes. 

There was only one hat.

Bits and Pieces of Vacation

This is the scarf Zoë made for me that Mabel decided to wear. Below is Oliver (my brother) wearing the yeti hands and holding pizza in his mouth.

On the last evening in Maine I got to play Settlers of Catan with David, Donald, Charlotte, Zoë, Jason, and others. I think Charlotte won.

My friend Yasir came from London and we taught him how to ski. 

Oliver gave out "Liquid Noise" -a soda whose recipe was based mostly in pineapple juice and liquid noise. Due to three batches of soda for twenty-four bottle and the use of dry ice to carbonate the flavors varied bottle to bottle.

This is the brewer of "Liquid Noise."

bayside bowling fun &

as a last thing to do with my friends before i left, we went bowling. bayside bowling is definitely a cool (kinda pricey) place.

little zoe scored!

awesome bowling style.

i'm going traveling with this person tomorrow!

oliver left me this "snow heart" on the front porch when we parted for this upcoming trip last night. i will miss oliver, my parents, mabel and the (affectionate) cat, and all my friends! i had an awesome 5 weeks. now it is time to go on the road again, and maybe even have the chance of seeing a familiar face along the way. i am also looking forward to making new friends.

winter kite flying

zoe and i flew a kite i got for christmas. i think it could use some maine air before its blowing in the indian wind. as much as i like this kite i would like to pass it on, along with other things i am bringing, to the indian children.

it was chilly, the wind would gust inconsistently, the sun was so bright, it was ideal maine kite flying conditions.

i like that a small, fragile, simple piece of fabric that lifts from the earth so easily, with only the assistance of the wind. we walk upon the earth, heavy, often stressed, and complex, we leave our mark.

and back to the earth everything goes.

the snow-thing

my friend doug and i went snowboarding on mt. abram, we have been going for years now. mt. abram is a small mountain but has a large variety of terrain. there was not quite enough snow yet, so our boards would clunk on a stump or rock every now and then. normally without clouds you can see mt. washington from this spot on the mountain.

dad, oliver, and i decided to make a snowman. our first efforts were towards creating a snow buddha, which then turn into jabba the hut, and finally turned into the "snow-thing".

and last here is another snow-thing from picnic.