Last weekend I had the pleasure of taking a workshop with Linda Christianson, who I’ve admired since I first started potting. Linda has to be one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, and her calming presence really helped me to hunker down and make some new work! Linda saddled up on the kick wheel and eased out a group of lovely pots - the group of 17 of us watched in amazement as she moved the clay up in two fluid pulls to finish each pot.
I stood at my electric wheel and felt like the tightly-wound, tight-ass potter I’ve come to be…wishing I could be so relaxed and loose! Once I got over my self-loathing I tackled a project I’ve been thinking about for some months now - the idea being a set of nesting jars based on the folk art of Russian nesting dolls (damn! I’ve forgotten the proper name for them…can anyone help me??). It seems like a kind of crazy idea, but what the heck - I gave it a try, along with my first attempt at Japanese Mish Ma decoration. Talk about crossing cultures! Soon I will work out a way to personalize this series with some type of contemporary American imagery…stay tuned. Here is a little sneak peak for you in the meantime!
November 9, 2007
Linda Christianson Workshop at Red Star Studios, KC
November 8, 2007
Searching For Beauty
I am very excited to announce that a wonderful, 5-year collaboration with Dr. Richard Jacobs has now reached fruition! Originally titled “Letters To a Young Potter”, the compilation of essays written to me by Dr. Jacobs has now been published by Kestrel Books (UK) as a scrumptious hard-cover with the new title, “Searching For Beauty.” This is a long-awaited treat, and I’m sure you will enjoy it, too! Below is an exerpt from the press release - please visit Kestrel Books’ website for full details at:
www.kestrel-books.co.uk/searching.shtm
In 2002, Christa Assad, now special instructor in the KCAI ceramics department, sold one of her works to California ceramics collector Richard Jacobs. This sale set Richard down a path that ultimately ended with the book “Searching for Beauty: Letters from a Collector to a Studio Potter.” The book was released last week by publishers Kestrel Books of the United Kingdom, and the book’s creation was described on the publisher’s Web site: “For whatever reasons, this single act, just one among many by a distinguished professor, educationist and ceramics collector, kindled a desire to set down in print the innumerable thoughts and questions of a tirelessly inquisitive and often heretical spirit. Taking his inspiration from Rainer Maria Rilke’s ‘Letters to a Young Poet,’ Richard Jacobs sets the tone of his letters to Christa Assad with his favorite quote from that classic work, ‘Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language … At present you need to live the question.”
Richard Jacobs
‘Searching for Beauty’
Letters from a Collector to a Studio Potter
Hardcover, 352 pages
ISBN 0-9548840-6-X
Available from 23rd October 2007
Retail price in UK £25.
Join the pre-publication mailing list here for a
20% discount on the hardcover edition to buy for just £20.00
For a limited period we are also offering postage costs to the UK and USA* of only £2.50
October 2, 2007
Jun Kaneko’s Mission Clay Project Opening
Last Saturday a bunch of us KCAI clay enthusiasts attended Jun Kaneko’s amazing kiln opening of a project he’s spent nearly 3 years completing. In collaboration with Mission Clay of Pittsburg, Kansas - a manufaturer of commercial sewage pipes - Kaneko and his team built large-scale Dangos and Heads that were fired on-site in these gigantic beehive kilns. All of these photos were taken by Gabriel Reed of Kansas City. 
The Heads were some of the largest of their kind, and part of the intensity was entering the kiln interior to mingle with these incredible creations. I really loved viewing them in their “natural habitat”, so to speak. 
Jun Kaneko was a very generous host, providing a gorgeous barbeque banquet, live classical music, libations, and a setting for it all that couldn’t be beat. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather actually, and the kiln yard bricks, pipes, and other industrial jewels provided an inspiring landscape. Here is a shot of some of my students from the Art Institute - I think it is fair to say we all had a fantastic time! 
Thanks, Jun, for a very memorable day…
July 15, 2007
Things on Wheels
Kansas City Studio is Up and Running
I’ve been here in Kansas City for about five weeks now, and happily I am making pots again! Nothing all that new and fabulous, just some warm-up work to get me back in the groove.
Setting up a working clay studio takes some time and many trips to the hardware store – the tools of our trade are simple enough, but it always seems that I’m lacking that five–gallon bucket or secret stash of cobalt right when I need it! 
Other news: last night I experienced my first roller derby bout! NO, I didn’t compete, although I am definitely tempted to dust off my 1970’s era rollerskates, skate covers, and present-day fishnets…but I do have to think about sparing my fingers and wrists from injury (kinda need them for this career). The KC all-female Roller Derby League championship consisted of smash-ups between four local teams: The Black-Eye Susans, The Victory Vixens, The Dreadnaught Dorothys, and The Knock-Outs. My favorite derby-girl was Lunatic Fringe, although it was tough not to root for Snot Rocket, obviously the most skilled skater in the rink. Princess Slay-ya was my choice blocker to watch – her hip-checks and facial expressions were the most threatening! Go teams!
Otherwise, not much else to report here, oh, except for an amazing gig at the Record Bar. Rasputina, hailing from Brooklyn, NY, rocked my Wednesday night with their scorching-hot cellos and eerie distortion. An imaginative, costumed three-piece, Rasputina’s cover of Barracuda (yes, Heart) flashed me back to a one of my favorite San Franciso-based bands, the now defunct Deadweight…R.I.P. Deadweight!
Apologies to you all, and especially my friend Whitney (www.whitneysmithpottery.com) for not having my camera with me for these fantabulous KC events…check out Whitney’s blog to see what amazing things she’s up to in Japan!!
p.s. did I mention that I’ve been throwing standing up for the past two years now? My wheel is rigged in the most primitive way, but it works like a charm! I was free-standing until this new studio allowed me a wall to lean against. I highly recommend trying this set-up if your back is giving you trouble…it has saved me! 
June 20, 2007
Setting Up Shop
Made it to Kansas City, thanks to the help of my fabulous pottery-pal, Whitney Smith (www.whitneysmithpottery.com) across Nevada, Utah, Wyoming (see pic - soooo beautiful!)
Nebraska, and maybe even a sliver of Iowa…but it’s all a blur to me now! There’s a link to her blog from her website that tells the tale in better detail than I am prepared to write - so check it out. My studio is coming together and I’ve even popped out a few pots along the way, so stay tuned for pics - for now, though, I’ll just say I am excited to be here, waiting patiently for the school year to begin at KCAI.
May 21, 2007
Moving to Kansas City!
The rumors are true - I’m headed to KC to teach at the Kansas City Art Institute. California and I are in total shock…San Francisco has been good to me these past eight years. For seven years I co-owned Verdigris Clay Studio + Gallery with Mary Mar Keenan and Rae Dunn. Now that chapter has come to a close, and we potter gals are all moving on to new adventures. Mine will surely involve the Missouri River!
