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my nceca

updated thu 22 mar 07

 

=?iso-8859-1?q?Marilu=20Tejero?= on sat 27 mar 04


I left Miami full of anticipation, thrilled of having received my exchange from Ralph Naylor. Had a suitcase full of avocadoes, guava paste and more little vessels for more exchanges.

It was great to meet the Clayarters we were sharing a room with. That helped a lot.

Made a beeline to the Clayart room and finally put faces to names. It was just a matter of holding high the registration tag and see the warm smiles of recognition and welcome. I enjoyed so much spending time and chatting, you are such a great crowd. I was drawn back to the room
all the time. Took the shuttle tour with some, met other people as well. Found friends I made in Denver 2000. One is never alone.
It was interesting to see the work in all the exhibitions, so much talent and imagination and great craftmanship.

My little 15 minutes of fame were at the International Slide Forum, after Russel Fouts and before Greg Daly, we had a good crowd and enjoyed every slide shown.

I've always been amazed by the Australian inventivness, first the Schools of the Air, Ian Currie tought in this system, the Flying Doctors and now
the International Distance Ceramics Course, ANU, Canberra, for people in the bush who can not physically attend University. They've created sofware where a distance ceramic student has face to face on-screen contact with the supervisors and discuss on works at home, glaze tests, etc. They have a new Campus in Alberta, Canada. What a fab idea.

The lectures I attend were very inspirational. I missed a few in my "must" list. It is easy to get side tracked. Enjoyed browsing the exhibitors hall, meeting everybody I could, making contacts. The mug exchange was a blast and had more exchanges I dreamed for, pleasently surprised when approached by other Clayarters that wanted to trade, good I was prepared for it.

Again, without mentioning names 'couse I don't want to leave anybody out... I enjoyed inmensely meeting all of you, hopefully we'll spend more time in Baltimore.

Lost a few pounds ( good) because got really distracted and skiped meals. Next year must ask Vince for tips. It seems he went to all the good eateries.

My tips for Baltimore 2005 and Oregon 2006, get your airline tickets early via Expedia. Wear jeans and bring an empty suitcase for all the goodies to take back home.

Again, thanks my friends I felt so much at home in the Clayart room.
You all are so nice... God Bless you all..







http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/3051







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Liz Willoughby on wed 23 mar 05


Hello claybuds,

I might as well chime in here about my nceca experience and thoughts.

I was travelling with a friend, Judith, and we decided to spend the
first night in Annopolis. Very touristy, but a lovely charming
seaside town, with lots of galleries quaint pubs, old buildings. Saw
pots without the crowds of people. Bought a paddled jug (ewer?),
wood-fired, by Simon Levin.

Next stop the shino show on the way to our hotel the Radisson. A good
range of work, and a wide range of shino glazes. Bought a tea bowl
by the resident potter at Baltimore Clayworks (his name? he is
chinese), and a mug by Matt Hyleck.

Baltimore felt different. Being at a hotel 2 1/2 blocks away meant
that I did not get to the clayart room as much as I had wanted. I
did go there a few times and did visit with some clayarters then, but
did not go over in the evening, because frankly the numbers of
homeless on the streets were a bit intimidating. Since my roomy was
not a clayarter, I simply didn't want to venture there on my own in
the evening.

Had a wonderful breakfast with Bacia and Marta, lunch with Russel and
Carla, dinner with Tony and Sheila, lunch with Malcolm Davis and
Judith, lunch with Ron. . . and taken out with a group for dinner by
Ian from Tucker's. The party at Claytimes was great, and gave me an
opportunity to see more claybuds. The dance was good, but my body
wasn't, so I didn't stay long.

This is a mystery though. I kept looking for the red dots, couldn't
find one, and I kept complaining. Then Thursday night I looked down
at my name tag, and there was a red dot. Am I losing it? Who put it
there?

On Friday, Hank Murrow brought over some wonderful wine and other
goodies to share with myself, Tony and Sheila and Judith, then took
us to some wonderful shows, and that is why I missed the mug
exchange. I am wondering if an exchange might make more sense done at
noon rather than in the evening. Sorry David that I did not make it.

I went to hear the lecture/panel discussion on Apprenticeship. Went
not because I have ever apprenticed or used one, but because I
wanted to hear about the panel's experiences, see their slides and to
listen to Gerry Williams speak. That is a speech that I would like
to have in print. It was really excellent.

Ron Roy's lecture on his glazes and how he calculated them, and his
thoughts about his glazes was insightful. (Could that be a pun?)
The slides of his work, is always inspiring.

About NCECA. It will always have it's problems, but we are drawn to
it because of what it has to offer, and to see the friends that we
have made because of it. The reason there is a problem with the bus
tours is because there are simply too many shows to see and too many
people to cart around. Fewer shows, closer to the main site, and
quality shows at that might help. More quality shows in the
conference center itself would be a good idea.

Meticky Liz from Grafton, Ontario, Canada

did a mug trade with Connie, lucky me.

yes, I have the flu too. drat!

Dan Saultman on tue 20 mar 07


It was my first NCECA. After years of reading about it, after years of
being a Clayart member, I finally made the leap. It came together so
well that I'm still amazed as I think back on it. A week before the
trip I was able to make a sale that paid $250 of my expenses. After
registering I booked a room at the Galt House and sought a roomate to
share the expenses, posting on Clayart. I was contacted by David
Hendley. We shared quarters for the week. He was a whirlwind of
activity with meetings, lectures, music gigs and meeting friends. We
had a chance to talk about our work. He gave me a gentle critique and
some suggestions for sales. As the days moved along I was fortunate to
talk with or meet many of the heavy hitters of the clay art world. They
were all gracious. The Clay art room, it's programs and people were an
additional value to the convention. I finally met people I had known
through Clayart for years. The Clayart ambience was always friendly and
unthreatening. I received a beautiful small lidded vessel from Taylor
Hendrix in the mug exchange. I don't know who got mine.
One night while sitting at the hotel bar, I had a chance to strike up a
conversation with A. Reid Harvey. Reid teaches 3rd world villagers how
to purify water with a ceramic filter and how to make them. He has a
wealth of experiences and anecdotes...and a dedication to helping
people improve their lives in the most basic ways. I gave him a mug.
Even the tools were remarkable at the vendors display area. The Bison
trimming tools were artwork unto themselves. I picked up a weird sumi
brush and an oval tray mold. Robbin Hopper autographed a book of his
that I bought. (Stayin' Alive).

Thank you all for being so welcoming.

Thanks, Mel.


Dan Saultman

Taylor Hendrix on wed 21 mar 07


Dan,

My first NCECA too and I was lucky to find the money to attend because
I already spend my sales receipts on a Fluke + thermocouple (okay
Marsha had to float me a loan because I didn't sell that many pots).

David Hendley is my clay priest, so please don't tell me that he
snores or sleepwalks. It's crazy thay David only lives about 7 hours
away but we both had to get on planes and fly to Louisville to say
howdy. Even then I didn't get much face time with the singing potter.

Glad my pot has a good home.

Taylor, in Rockport TX

On 3/20/07, Dan Saultman wrote:
... I was contacted by David
> Hendley. We shared quarters for the week. He was a whirlwind of
> activity with meetings, lectures, music gigs and meeting friends. We
> had a chance to talk about our work.
...