tuesdays are my favorite

Tuesdays are my favorite!  At least, they have been since August.  I don't teach on Tuesdays, but instead cobble together an eclectic schedule that I think is fitting of an artist.  I get to do a lot of my favorite things in the city all in one day and I have time to create!

The first thing I do is ride my bike in the cold to my 7 am figure skating practice.  Okay, the first thing I do is drink a cup of coffee.  But then I ride my bike to my ice rink, which is strangely warm and inviting after my frigid ride!  Skating is my favorite way to start the day.  I don't post about skating much here, but I have been figure skating since I was ten years old and it is one of my absolute favorite things to do.

Today after skating, I biked home and showered, then headed to my studio/darkroom near downtown.  I usually ride my bike there but today I drove because we have a lot of slushy snow and ice patches along the sides of the streets.  I'm hoping everything will melt ASAP!  At my studio, I had a note from my studiomate Steve telling me that another artist in our building had bought 5 of these little photographic bees I have been producing for a project.  I sold them once at a market we have in our building, then left my stash of them on my desk with the sign saying $1/bee.  I didn't expect someone to come in and want to buy some randomly, so it was a fun surprise to walk in to.



Steve also sometimes leaves little things for me, like apples from the apple tree in his yard, or a book about 1990s crafts, or this "Got Coffee?" magnet, which was today's treat.  What can I say, after 3 years of sharing a studio, he knows my interests.



This is my corner of the studio:



I have an awesome desk, super comfy desk chair, and a sweet avocado green cabinet.  All were surplus from a medical center at the university.  I highly recommend buying office-type furniture through a university surplus!  I wouldn't have been able to afford the quality of furniture I have in my downtown studio or my home studio area without doing so.  Plus the 1970s office vibe is kind of my favorite.

While at my studio, I developed film in my darkroom.  Some of the film was from a recent night time photo shoot (left roll below, if you know a lot about film and are wondering why it looks so thin--it was very dark!) and one roll was engagement pictures of my friends Callie and Aaron.  I can't wait to make them a beautiful black and white print!

It was COLD in the darkroom.  Can you read that?  It reads 48 degrees F!  Cold!  It is usually that cold.  Luckily Steve keeps a space heater in the darkroom, BUT while I was developing my film, the electricity went off for 15 minutes! It was so strange.  Luckily I didn't need electricity (I used my phone as a timer) and I just opened the darkroom door to let natural light in (once the film is in the developing tank you can turn on the light).

After finishing up in the darkroom, it was time for my weekly ceramics class!  My ceramics class is about a half a mile from my studio, which is awesome because when I have to drive I can park for free at my studio and not pay for a meter.  The best thing about the walk is the view of the Columbus skyline.  It's probably my favorite view of the city!  The reflection of that bridge is so beautiful in person.

The bridge I was walking on had patchy spots of thin ice that just looked like water!  I almost slipped a few times.

My ceramics class ritual is to make a cup of chai tea and sip on it for the entire 3 hour class (reheating it from time to time, of course).  People in my class have remarked that I must be a serious tea drinker but that couldn't be further from the truth.  I normally drink coffee, but this is just easier to take to class since we have an array of ceramic mugs and a microwave handy!  I've done it so much that now I start craving chai tea as soon as I walk in the ceramics studio.

Now that my clay skills are back up to par, this term I am focusing on making matching sets!  It is an extra challenge because it's harder than it looks to make multiples of the same size and shape.  Today I started with four slab cups, about 5 inches tall each.  I think they will be decorated in a coordinating but not identical way, and they are going to have another coordinating component like a matching saucer, maybe.  I'm working on gathering inspiration for this term (8 weeks) and planning to make most if not all of my pots fit into a sort of design theme that I come up with.  This is more fulfilling than just showing up to class every week and making whatever I come up with off the top of my head.

After ceramics, I picked Corey up from work and we grabbed a beer at our favorite bar in the city.  I had a delicious chocolate stout!  Now I'm at home wrapping up my lesson plans for tomorrow's class.

And that's just a typical Tuesday.