NCECA

Last week I spent a wonderful part of a busy week in Philadelphia attending the NCECA conference. I had the added pleasure of being part of a panel discussion on Friday morning. We were addressing the gap that exists between HS and College. Val Cushing was the moderator, Errol Willet, Maureen MIlls, Steven Branfman and myself were the panel. Two HS teachers, and two college professors and a ROOM full of people. My friend and mentor Jessica Dubin introduced us.
The thing about NCECA is this, you spend four days with as many ceramics artists as you can fit into a small city. You eat, drink and be merry. You look at work. You listen to lectures, panels, participate in talks all geared to advancing your education in MUD and then you look at more work. You eat. You meet new people. You dance. You smooze. You look, listen, touch, savor, think... with no studio time or space to create while there. You look at more work. Your head spins, you hit CERAMIC OVERLOAD, then you go for Chinese food. You dance some more. You see lots and lots of sexy pots, and sexy drawings, and even sexy potters and you long for your studio so that you can be making sexy pots of your own. You laugh, you walk until your feet want to fall off and you generally have such a good time you don't want it to end! You savor it by driving your friend home to New Jersey and discovering that there is a new place to add to your list of where you want to live. This was my NCECA!
I have been in the studio for many hours since Saturday. I can't wait for Tampa!
I have uploaded images of some of the pieces that I found interesting. Notable pieces are the work of Miaja Groetell, Nancy Selvin, Chris Gustin, Jennifer Martin and Val Cushing