BVG Day One Part ONE

Today.. mmm.. nice wake up before the alarm.. not too noisy for a dorm. I am thinking of the first day of school.. how I want to be prepared with just the right tools, the right attitude, the right jeans.. etc..
The food here is GREAT! Lots of healthy choices.. could get unhealthy though, if consumed in mass quantities. Bkst was a green chili-egg-cheese burrito, mandarin orange slices, and a stiff cup o’ Joe with a bit of cream. Mmm.. Next stop The Short Bus for tools.
As I approach the vehicle I see that someone I know from Tucson is at their car right next to mine. Nice to see a familiar face from the Tucson clay world. She seemed in a big hurry out of here and didn’t have time to chat. ;(
I take my load into the studio. I had walked through this perfectly empty studio late last nite. It was open and airy and full of emptiness that I knew would reveal some amazing work very soon. This is not the scary place I walked into this morning. There were SOOOOOO many people, I almost thought there would be no air. The organized chaos evolves into a quietly attentive amazingly diverse group of people. They seem to come from all over, and I think there are 30 of them. Plus 3 darling lab techs. There is an amazing woman, Sheri Leigh O'Conner, at the helm here and she seems to have this place under her thumb. Bill vanGilder tops out the bunch.. Talk about Darling!
I land on what I think is the very last open wheel. I have no idea if it works or what is up. NOTE TO SELF: Next time you walk into a throwing class the nite before it starts.. CLAIM YOUR WHEEL!!! I just so happened to land on a tight little Brent, she rocks. I have to think of a name for her.
As I look at the way this class is run, it is power teaching at its’ finest. The lab techs are teaching along side BVG. I get the pleasure of Carolyn to my left and Heather to my right. Heather has never centered clay before. She gets it by the end of the day. She is amazing. Makes me think of Leila(one of my students I call my prodigy). Carolyn, also from Tucson, has taken classes with one of my former students who is studying at Pima College. Both are Beginners. Across from me is Dori.. she figured out the rim of the platter, which I have crashed every single time (3) that I have tried it. Rule for the week, is that everything gets 3 tries, then it is time to move on. Further down to my left is Beth?. (some names I am not so good with yet) There are so many people.. I will be surprised if I get to know anyone very well. It is hard not to teach, and I remind myself that I am a student in this class. The gals next to me are getting so much help that I am learning from the lab techs also, there are so many ways to throw. I think of what Galen always told me.. “PUT YOUR BUTT IN THE CHAIR”. There is no way to even figure it out if you don’t try.
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OK… time out from this writing for a sec.. I don’t know how to write, I just dump words strung together out of my brain. I don’t claim to be a writer, but I do claim to want to document my world. I am not sure what this really means over all?!?! I feel like our memories are all we have, my memories are ONLY MY OWN. Yikes.. how sad.. I want everyone to see what it is like to live this awesome life I Iive. I want other people to live just as awesome of a life. Today is ALL we have… so I want to share my day.. be star of my own movie if I may?
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I finally get to greet Bill with a nice hello and a hug. He is very sweet. I do like the way he teaches and his philosophy. I do differ on a few things, but I want to try these new things I have seen him do. I want to give my students more options. I do wonder of I am spreading myself thin by trying to have too many tools in my bag.
He demos a cute little pitcher, a platter with a spring cut design on it's rim, and a squared up casserole …..
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LOVE, LOVE, LOVE,
Jada