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1 day at nceca and the clayart room

updated sun 19 mar 06

 

Richard Mahaffey on wed 15 mar 06


I rolled into Portland on Friday at 11:15 am due to icy conditions on
I-5 in Southern Washington. I met friends at the conference and bought
my day pass ($90.00) (the last several NCECAs have been during the last
week or finals week of the CC where I teach. I wonder who schedules
these things?).

I tried to get into the clayart room at the Red Lion where I had a room
for $83.00 on Friday evening. No luck as the doors had just opened for
the Mug exchange (I did not bring a pot to contribute). There was a
sea of people trying to get down the hall to the door.

So I went back to my room and graded some really bad Art Appreciation
papers. After I could take no more I went to the clayart room and there
were bits of red boa on the floor in the hall and the room. Several
groups were talking but the action was clearly over. I was in there
for a few minutes and no one took notice of me - maybe it was the lack
of a dot? ;-) - so I went to the bar and sat down and asked for a
Tequila and Sangrita. Of course they did not know what Sangrita was so
I settled for a tomato juice with lime and some hot sauce in it. The
fellow next to me asked what I had ordered and we started to talk. His
name was Rog Coman from Colorado. We had a good time talking and so he
went to dinner with a group from my school in Tacoma.

I really enjoyed the vendors area, I had a couple of pots in the Clay
Art Center booth, and looking at all the things the vendors had for sale.
I did not buy anything, though I was looking for some trimming tools
like the ones I got in Japan 10 years ago with Carbide tool steel blades.

I got to talk to friends that I had not see for several years, some from
the US and some from abroad. I was able to talk to some people at the
institutional booths while looking for undergraduate schools for some of
my students. I saw some of the galleries in town and the K-12 show in
the convention center.

On Saturday I did get out to the shows in Hillsboro (although there were
no driving directions in the NCECA info. I guess that they thought
everyone would take the train out there.) While in Hillsboro we had a
truly great Mexican meal in a little taqueria where the corn tortillas
were hand made to order. Then it was back to I -5 and home.

I would have liked to been there for the whole thing but money and time
conspired against it this time.

I do recommend NCECA if you have never been to a conference although the
panels have little for studio potters (not much in the 7 or 8 NCECA
conferences that I have attended) the shows are wonderful and if you can
meet some friends there it is so much the better. With the Clayart room
you can make new friends for the next NCECA you visit.

Rick Mahaffey
Tacoma Community College
Tacoma, WA, USA

Rog Coman on sat 18 mar 06


----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Mahaffey"

To:
Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 11:38 PM
Subject: 1 day at NCECA and the Clayart room


Hi Rick,

Please contact me off list - need your e-mail
address. Thanks,

Rog Coman
Fish Hook Pottery
Montrose, CO
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