Makin Glass and Pottery

I haven't been here for awhile, a lot of different reasons.

Dylan went to Washington DC with the Boys Scouts for the 100th Birthday of Scouting in America as well as the Jamboree.  He said it was "Amazing!", how often do you hear that from a 16 year old kid, true it was only one word, but what a great word.  We worked hard to get him there, I would also like to thank everyone that helped us make this life changing trip possible, without all of your donations we would have had a harder time getting him there.

Paul has been doing great at his job, he has asked for a promotion and he believes that he will receive it soon.

Grandma has had a few more travels, but she should be here for the rest of the month.

We were having financial difficulties, as many of you know, but we prayed for help.  I was specific in my prayers and we received what we needed to stay open for the next couple of months.  School starts in a few weeks and we have our clay orders in order, so our future is looking bright.  We have several collection accounts becoming paid in full and we are being very careful to pay for things as we need them, which is hard when everything is needed and it is all so expensive, so a little more patience with us and we should be on solid ground, finally.

Pauls Blazer broke down on his way home from Portland, OR.  The transmission went out, it took a week to get the unit back down to Anderson.  the mechanic told us that it had a 10% chance of survival, all of the transmission fluid had drained out, I was upset with Paul becuase we told him to check the fluids before we left, the Mechanic told us that it wasn't Paul, it happened in transit and there was nothing he could have done.  So I prayed some more, Mrs. Wallace let Paul borrow her truck so that he could get back and forth to work and the mechanic did his magic.  I am happy to report that the truck is up and running, it is a town truck, but it is healthy again, it goes in for another check up next week, just to be sure.  The mechanic, John Harris from Harris Automotive, he has truly helped my family out and I am grateful, beyond words grateful.

I feel wonderful, I have received so much help and support this summer that I feel wonderful.  To everyone out there, I hope that you will Live Long & Prosper
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Today I am going to vent, so if you do not want to hear my ranting please stop here.

I have been in business for 6 years 7 months, about 4 times a month someone tells me that I should improve this or that.  Recently I have been told that I do not have a passion for this area or that area of the store.  I have been questioning myself and my passion.  People do not think that I deserve to be successful because I do not share the same passion as they do in their particular art form.  So I have been asking myself, where is my passion, glass, beads, mosaics, clay, or teaching?  Today I woke up with the realization that the entire studio is my passion, not parts or pieces of it.  Yes, to those who love clay, there could be more glaze, beadmakers, there could be more glass rods, fusers could use more dichroic glass, stained glass artists want more glass colors, to each person I seem to lack passion.  Not one of them sees the entire picture, not one.  I am so worked up that my entire body is shaking, that is passion, I hope I make it through this without crying.  We started in a very small building with nothing more than tables, one crate of glass, and the belief that God wants this to happen.  Everyone told us we would fail, sometimes it seemed as though they wanted us too.  These people who accuse me of not having a passion for their particular art form, I say "POOH"  really people, you go to work everyday at a job that you are fairly safe in, earn your wage and go home to work on your "passion" for a few hours every night. You read about it, study it on the web page, take a class here or there, but you DO NOT live it.  You have not put your entire life on the line, have you  not had to apply for food stamps, have you not put your childrens futures on the line, no, nothing but a few hours of TV time, so please do not accuse me of not having enough passion.  Do not accuse me of not being worthy of success.  We have several different art forms in this studio, I have taken classes in almost everyone of them.  I know a little tiny bit about each one, but that does not mean I do not have passion for the studio.  My passion is growing this place to accomodate as many people as possible, so to you it looks like a half assed job, the reality is, I am doing a damn good job.  People come in all of the time and say "you are so lucky, you get to come in at 11:00, do what you love all day, you are so lucky"  Yes I am lucky, but my work day starts way before 11:00am and it ends after 5:00 pm.  I work 6 to 7 days a week, there is so much more that goes on here.  When you are at the lake enjoying the day, I am teaching someone, cleaning something, or catching up on paperwork, I work this hard becuase I am passionate about the success of each person that comes in here.  I had a young man come in here yesterday, he is trying to build a new form of energy and he needed COE 32 glass, I did not understand what he was saying to me and he wanted rubber gromets, I cut the glass for him, sold him some rubberbands, and advised him to go to ACE for the grommets, this morning I woke up and realized, I could teach him how to make his own grommets, but I do not have his name.  Is this a bad thing?  I do not think so, the little bit that I was able to help this man, may change the way the world uses energy, I do not need to understand his entire process, I only need to help with a very small part of it.  God sent him here.  I do not need to know how to throw pots, make beads, or create beautiful mosaics, it is my job to create a safe enviroment, get the inventory that I can, and forward people to another location if I can not.  My passion is that everyone else is successful with thier passion.  Part of art is having a place where you can come and touch the items, feel the enviroment, smell the air, have your heart race as the cash register rings up a total "did I spend to much? did I get everything I need?"  People come in needing glass rods and they see something else that inspires them to  try something a little differently, because there is another art form here in the studio, this studio and others like it are part of the purest form of art.  The internet, not the same, there is no rush, no textures, no smells, nothing to energize your imagination, nothing to ignite your passion. So sit there, make your orders, but do not accuse me of lacking passion.  There is a possibility that this studio, and others like it, will not make it through this summer.  Money is always the reason, for those of us that venture off the path to live out our passion money is our only really obstacle, money is the reason so many people do not live their passion, money kills everything or it can bring life.  If we have to close this studio, I will go to work in an office somewhere, doing a job I hate, but I will be grateful for it, I will have more respect for the person that I am working for, I will not have a passion for it, but at least now, today, I know what passion for life is.  Thank you God for this time, thank you for this lesson.

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We are open today, but if no one shows up by 2:00pm, I am going to close up, go home, and play with my kids.

I few things I have learned this week, not having a car is not a bad thing, but having a car is a great thing.  The freedom it gives you, the control over your life, the confidence, all of these things are taken for granted by everyone, everyday.  If you like your car, give it an oil change, wash it, and give it a hug, it really deserves it.

I love July, it is my favorite month of the year.  We have cherries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, plums, apricots, peaches, and bar b ques, so much abundance hanging within arms reach, it makes me want to sing "praise the Lord, oh praise the Lord I love July!"

The smell of summer is another awesome thing about July.

What is your favorite month, and why?

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Corina Tettingers bead class is filling up quickly, I expect to have a wonderful weekend with some wonderful people in Ocotber.

I have been riding my bike to work, today I actually made it without having to shift gears.  The other day a lady was walking in the opposite direction on the frontage road, when she saw me she screamed out "hey, you got a cigarette" really?, "no" I yelled back, then she starts running towards me, "I only need one, please, just one"  ok I said no, and dude, I am riding a bike what makes you think I smoke?  I just yelled back "I do not have any cigarettes"  she is still running after me, probably the most exercise she has had in weeks, "Do you have money so I can buy cigarettes?" ok, again, I am on a bike, if I had money I would probably be driving a car.  I just ignored her, she was so desperate for a cigarette the poor girl would have done anything, I felt bad for her.  This week I have noticed that people who are walking and riding bikes are actually friendlier than car drivers.  They say good morning and smile at you.  There are drawings in the dirt along the highway of smiling faces.  Today a car did not want to give me the room to get around the dead racoon, what is up with that.  I took the space, so they probably think I was being rude, but I wasn't about to ride through the guts of the poor thing that was odviously hit by a car.

I am waiting on UPS, where are they?  I need some stuff delivered.

I think I might take Dylan to the fireworks in Anderson this weekend.  I love the 4th of July.  I get to be with my family, enjoy a wonderful day, eat bar-b-que, swim, whatever I want, I am free, I am safe, I am alive.  I love love love the 4th of July.

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It is truly amazing how fast June came to an end.

I have filled out the paperwork for food stamps, there was a lot and I was already behind in paperwork, so that did not help anything.  I just need to borrow a car now and get it to the office before 5pm tonight. 

I picked up paperwork to apply for a loan from the bank, I feel sick.  I know that this will probably save us in the long run because it will payoff the collection items and consolidate my payment down by about $200.00 per month, it would also give us the opportunity to buy new equipment, but I am almost sure that they will turn me down and then what do I do?

Leahs class was great fun.  I am excited about Corrinas class in October, we have 6 people signed up but no-one has paid their deposit yet so I guess that means we have zero sign-ups.  I am sure that people will be paying for their deposits soon.

The pottery guild is going at a pretty good click, everyone always seems happy when they are playing in the mud.

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Leahs class has started, we have 7 students and everyone is happy.  The class seems to be moving quickly, everyone seems to be at the same level of experience.

I am considering going to a bank and asking for a loan.  I feel that if I could borrow $10,000.00 I could payoff all of my collections and by two wheels and a slab roller.  I hesitate because I need a payment of $100.00 plus the interest and I only want to borrow $10,000.00.  I find that banks do not like to loan less than $25,000.00 and they want payments of $300.00 to $400.00 per month.  I do not think that would help, I just want to finish up with payments without causing myself any more stress.  I do not know if this is a good idea, it looks good on paper, I am just not sure.

Dylan is at his last Jamboree Scout camp in Sacramento before he leaves for Washington DC.  He got his hair cut, about 6 inches, teeth whitneing mouth wash, and an acne cream.  What happened?  he even took his hoodie off.  Sigh....there must be a girl out there somewhere.

Paul is hoping that his hours will pick up this coming week.  I hope that they do also.  He broke his phone into a million pieces, he left it on the roof of the car and someone drove over it.  I gave him one of our old ones becuase he seems so lost without it.  He wants a newer one but he has to pay for his own phone and charges, now Verizon charges another $10.00 on most of thier phones and on thier new Droid phones it is $30.00 per month, so his bill will increase, you can see this decision is stressing him out.  I can not help him.  I told him to work a couple of months, use the crappy phone, and when he has four or five hundred dollars in his account, than get the phone.  I know that he wants it now, but I think he is considering this option.

We are going to the Sundial bridge tonight, Leah would like to see it.

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We are now using the swamp cooler to keep everything cool, it is truly amazing how well they work here.

The pottery studio is so cleaned up and nice looking now I almost hate to get it dirty, everything seems to be coming together and finding its place.

I told Mr. Stokes that we will not be doing the Marble Races this year, we will try to do something outside in the parking lot on a much smaller scale.  There just was not enough involvement and I went through a cycle of depression because of the car, but summer is here and I am ready to move forward.

I need to get started on a couple of repairs and I have some inventory to put away, it is amazing how quickly my mornings fly by me.

The Chamber Meeting was at CleanRite/BuildRite this morning, very nice breakfast.

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I have returned from my Lightweight Concrete Sculpture class in Oakland.  We had a great time and we learned a lot.  Before I left a friend came in to talk to me about how things were going down here.  I did appreciate his help, he spoke to me in a way that I did not feel threatened or stupid.  He feels that I may have too many irons in the fire and I am spread to thin.  I have thought a lot about this conversation, I beleive he is right.  I am going to do my best to increase the pottery studio by adding equipment and tools.  We also need a few more items for the glass.  It is hard to know when to stop, everytime you turn around there is something new and someone thinks they have to have it now.  This makes me feel like I am not keeping in tune to what is happening in my arts.  I need to seperate myself from Makin Glass & Pottery.  I take things that people say or do to personally.  Sometimes when people come in and tell me about thier great deals that they just got over the internet, it hurts me, on the other hand, when their great deal isn't so great when they finally recieve it, I feel better.  Stupid I know, but it is true all the same.  I want people to get great deals, heck, I want to get great deals, we can not offer these types of deals because of the volume of items that need to be sold to cover the "loss leader", so it really has nothing to do with "me".

Mom and I have decided to set up financial markers.  If we can not make these markers by the dates we have set, we will put this wonderful place up for sale.  If we can not sell it by the next set of markers, we will have a fire sale and close forever.  We have not yet set these dates, since we just decided to do this at our class in Oakland, but we will soon, I will try to keep you posted.  We feel confident that we will meet the markers, we didn't make them unreachable, the facts are what they are, maybe this wasn't meant to be, in any case, I need to take better care of my family, Makin Glass & Pottery has always come first, every penny reinvested, every day off spent improving something here, I want this to be a legacy for my children more than anything in the world, but I just can't let it affect my personal feelings any longer, it is a maniac/depressive way of life.

 I have to go stand out on the street and wave, someone is lost.

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I am at a concrete class in Oakland.  I am learning  a lot about the structure of the pieces from the outside inward, it is a real challenge.  We have also learned how to make our designs proportionately correct.

Auntie is still trying to figure out what to wear to Chloes wedding, I am definately not a fasionista.

I am happy to report that my turtle won Best of Show at the Shasta District Fair.  Paul won first for his giraffe, the cat won second, grandma won third, and the nursing home won a first place ribbon as well.  We did very well this year at the fair.

I have to many people talking to me at one time, but I wanted to update everyone on our progress.  I will try again tomorrow.

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Today mom and I are at the Institute of Mosaic Art taking classes with Sherri Warner.  We are learning more about concrete sculpture.  We are having a hard time because she is actually having us do math, which, for me, is not a fun thing.  She wants us to get the dimensions correct from a clay model.  Mom is trying to build a hippo it started looking like a pug so she changed it to a dog, now that we have internet access, it looks more like a hippo.  I am building a fish, I thought it was going to be easy, but soon found out that fish are made up of a lot of math, tons of math, does this mean that if I build a human type figure I will be doing 14 tons of math, uuggghh.  We still have four days left and I am already exhausted.  Mom has been driving us around, we hit the 5:00 traffic and we were flying, told her to becareful becuase the traffic will come to a complete stop for no apparent reason, she chilled a bit and no long after the traffic slowed way down, she says that there may be an accident up ahead, I tell her nope, it is 5:00 and it is what it is.  She is driving very well, it is kind of cool being a passenger for awhile, you get to see things.  I saw a giant shopping cart driving down the other side of the freeway, should have gotten a picture, a large mixer blade on the side of 880 today, different people, and yards, all sorts of yards.

Auntie has been very kind letting us stay at her home.  She is trying to help her grand daughter get ready for a wedding, they are leaving for Hawaii Sunday morning and she still doesn't have a dress, Auntie not Chloe, Chloe is ready.  Auntie will be getting married in October, she is so very happy, she is like a new person, it is beautiful.

I left the boys home to fend for themselves, I am a little worried about Pickle since he is only 16 and everyone keeps telling me to back off, he is 16 after all.  I do text him once a day to make sure he feeds my cat, so far so good.

I will try to write tomorrow, but it will be harder, we are going to try and help Auntie find the perfect dress, she is so pretty that I do not understand the problem, she could make a sack look nice.  It makes me feel good that I have so many great genes in my family.

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We are getting ready for Leah Fairbanks, she will be here June 25 and 26th to teach floral beads.  She will be coning down from Ashland Oregon, she has taught all over the country and we are excited that she has found time to be with us here at Makin Glass & Pottery.

We are also getting ready for Noam, he will be here this coming week, Wednesday June 16 at 5pm to teach a 5 week course on how to throw pottery.  We are extremely excited about this, all of the girls want to get muddy.

Also, mom and I are going to go to the Institute of Mosaic Art and learn more about Lightweight Concrete Sclupture this week, we will be leaving Tuesday afternoon and staying with my Auntie Rose in Pleasanton California.  We will be gone an entire week.  Paul and Linda will be in charge of the store, along with some help from our friends.  Mom wants to make a hippo, I am thinking about a fish, or maybe another cat, I guess we will wait and see, I may become the crazy cat lady after all.  It is pretty funny when you consider the fact that I really do not like cats, just one, and she is retarted, really retarted.

Dylan is helping out at the store this summer also.  He is fusing, it is awesome to see what he creates.

Paul has been selling his work at quite a quick pace, I think he is having some trouble keeping up.  He is at the Relay for Life this weekend, mom and Dylan will be walking tomorrow morning.

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Had a great day at Makin Glass today. 

Mom and I picked up our "special tools" for our concrete sculpture class next week, we are so excited.  I will try to Facebook and Tweet along the way.

Pauls starter went out today, had to fix it, I do not know what is left but I am sure the Blazer will think of something.

The sour milk smell is gone, baking soda is wonderful stuff.

Looking forward to next week, our watercolor classes start, our Summer Fun program for the kids starts, and we get to go to the bay, how awesome is that.

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We had a great time with Don Burton from KShasta today, Paul sounded wonderful on the radio.  Paul taught Don the fine art of Batik.  It was a wonderful day.

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I voted today.

We are expecting Don Burton from KShasta today from 2pm to 4pm, we are very excited about his visit.

We are going to teach Don how to do batik on cotton fabric today, maybe stain his nice shirt, he always wears nice clothes here, you would think he would have learned by now to wear grungies.

Mom is very upbeat today, she says that she feels that we will be successful this year and we will finally start to see an income, I believe she is right.  We are at our 6 1/2 years, we have got to make that first dollar soon.

I rode my bike into work today, it is amazing how long and boring hiway 273 is.  My ass was sore today, but my legs are stronger than last year, probably becuase I have been walking the dogs on a regular basis.  When I got to the store I realized that I forgot my shop key, so much for getting here early.

I love the sunshine.  The walls are rolled up, soon it will be to warm to roll them up because the sun will be streaming onto the concrete floors and once they heat up everything gets hot

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Thanks for the advice Linda, I know that you are right and I will keep praying for Gods help with this special challenge, we have had a couple of these in the past and it has always worked our for the best.

I feel very good today.  Pauls blazer is running very well.  the check engine light has not come on in almost a week.  the mechanic, John at Harris Motors in Anderson, has been a wonderful person to work with. 

The sun is shining today and there is a possibility that Dylan will be able to get into the pool tonight, for a short time, the water is still cold.  Yesterday was like being in Hawaii, the walls were rolled up and it was raining, the fresh smell of the rain floating inside the building is very relaxing.

Well, school is out for the summer, now it is time to catch up on paperwork and send out new proposals for next year, the schools are gearing up with their clay orders and we are trying to clean up and rebuild for the new year.

I still feel deaf and blind, I know that I can change my life if I change my attitude, but there are times that I feel, not well, then it is hard to believe that everything in my life is wonderful.  My children are very good people and my mother has been very helpful and supportive through these past few months, but I am ready for summer, the sun just makes me feel loved.  The sun brings hope and warmth.  I love Anderson and I am happy to be here.

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