Happy New Year!

I guess I can still say that, right? I would like to report that writing has been going well, that I have made awesome progress and that I will have the book done next week. But I can't . This has been a difficult book to write. I would think I am about 1oo pages into it. I would be going faster, but I have been distracted by work in the studio and a flaring case of ADD that usually hits me this time of year as I think about shows and pottery and all the crazy things that life is. I have tried to make pottery in the mornings and write in the afternoons, but that has not worked well because just as I am getting into the groove, the kids come home. I have also been working through a series of self-doubts. Nothing serious, just the same old thing where I find myself wondering what in the world I am going to be when I grow up. And maybe it doesn't matter. That is a long way off. I guess I just feel like a slacker, which is really weird because I am working my tail off, staying up late, getting up and to work early, but I can never seem to accomplish all that I need to, no matter how hard I try. I have a hard time sleeping during episodes like this because the crazy dreams come, and so I wake up having not really slept and the madness become deeper. The weather has left me gloomy and the pottery has been a distraction--there is always something.

At this time, I am still hoping to have my next book out in May, though this is subject to change depending on how the next few weeks go. Most days are over before I can turn around and take notice and it is always depressing for me to realize that it takes me a month to write what you can read in an afternoon. Maybe I need to narrow down my distractions. Maybe I need to get some noise canceling headphones. Maybe I need to lock the door to my studio and forget that I just bought two tons of fresh clay that is begging to be turned into something amazing. Maybe I should run away to a cabin somewhere where I can concentrate and stop being distracted by emails and kiln firings and kids making ramen noodles. Maybe I won't be done with the book by May, and if I'm not, maybe I'll have come up with a really original excuse for my lack of accomplishment. Wish me luck. This is going to be a good year, I can feel it.

Cheers to 2012

Last Open House of 2011--This Saturday!

So, I am a bit hesitant to even say anything about this Saturday because the last two Saturdays have been so busy, but many of you have emailed me to ask, and so yes, this Saturday will conclude the open house for the year.

The first Saturday of my sale is traditionally my biggest, but after people toured the house on the 3rd, they must have gone home and told all their friends and then brought them back on the 10th because last Saturday was by far the biggest Studio Sale I have ever had. It is likely we will do this again in the Spring at our Mother's Day open house and I hope there will be even more tile and happiness to share by then.

Last week at this time, I found myself looking forward to a week without any firings after firing my kiln fourteen times in the past three weeks, but alas, I sold so many pots on Saturday that I had to get busy yesterday and make a bunch more. I am not a morning person, but I was in the studio by 7:30 and didn't go to bed until 1:30 am. I got a lot done, so there will be forget-me-not mugs and lots of bowls coming out of the kiln in the next few days. Normally, it takes two weeks to finish a pot from start to finish. This includes making it, letting it dry for several days, bisque firing, glazing and high firing, with appropriate cool downs in between the firings. My new kiln is amazing. It is firing quickly, can, when forced, cool down quickly, and it produces some really fabulous colors. It will be pushing it, but I think I can get two high fires done in the next few days so we can have fresh pots on Saturday.

The Sale and Home Tour will run from 9-5 on Saturday. 1150 East 800 South in Salt Lake City. The pottery sale will continue through December, but Lynnette wants her house back so this will be the last chance to see our cool, new addition in 2011.

Just to let you know--I am writing again on the funeral book and I am very excited. I can't wait to be able to devote more time to it. Cheers, Ben

Studio Sale Continues Dec 10 and 17th

Wow, this past weekend was the biggest turnout I have ever had at my studio sale. I think it must have had something to do with the home tour. Apparently people like our crazy house. If you missed last Saturday, you still have two more chances at the home tour on the next two Saturdays from 9-5. The studio sale continues everyday except Sundays until Christmas (and maybe after if you say the magic word.) I still have a few copies of the new Forget-me-notes available, too. Come and see. I have two more firings to do before Saturday so there will be lots of fresh pots. I hope to see you soon. Cheers, Ben

Forget-me-notes From Niederbipp With Love to be released Dec 3

I have put off this announcement because I was not sure I would be able to get it done in time, but my printer promised me last Thursday that they would be delivered in time for the open house on Saturday. The idea for this book came to me slowly over the past year or so as I have heard from so many readers who were interested in a quote book from the Niederbipp Trilogy. I have always been a collector of quotes and the last two books gave me an opportunity to share some of those with you. This new book, Forget-me-notes, is a collection of quotes from both the text of the the books as well as some of the chapter heads. Like the other books in the series, this one is also full of funky art that begs for interaction and is hopefully done in a way that will inspire thought and reflection. These books will likely never be available in bookstores as I am only printing a limited quantity for readers who come to my studio or invite me to speak at book clubs. I will likely make them available on Amazon as well. I will be selling these for $10 at the studio open house throughout December and likely over the course of the next several months.

Needing a break from the construction mess in October, I took my family to Moab for a quick getaway over UEA weekend. I asked Lynnette to drive so I could play with some ideas for this book. Instead of going to bed at night, I stayed up very late, sketching and planning and laying things out. When we got back home, I continued staying up late for a couple of weeks, trying to make this happen. Bert Compton, my good friend and the graphic designer of my books, was willing to put things together. It took a lot longer than either of us imagined, but we pulled it off in the time frame we needed to do it and you all will get to see it next weekend.

I am really excited about this book. It is beautiful, both inside and out, and the messages within its pages are thought-provoking and meaningful. I look forward to sharing it with all of you. Just a reminder, the studio sale and home tour will begin this next weekend and run through Dec 17.

Wild Rooster Studio Sale and Home Tour

December 3, 10, 17

9am-5pm

1150 East 800 South

Salt Lake City, Utah

I also wanted to mention the Remembering Isaac is now available as an ebook from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Apple Store.The other books in the series should be available soon.

Studio Sale and Home Tour, December 3, 10, & 17

That's right. We are finally back in our house after more than six months. There have been so many times that I've wished I could update my blog, but in the past six months, I have not had even one day, except Sundays, that I have not worked less than 14 hours, and usually fell into my bed, exhausted. But the work has finally paid off and I want to show you all. So, come to one of the open houses. Consider this your invitation. But if you would like to receive the newsletter, just click on my email and drop me a line, just letting me know you would like to be added to the email list.

So, here's the deal.

Wild Rooster Studio Sale and Home Tour

December 3, 10, 17

9am-5pm

1150 East 800 South

Salt Lake City, Utah

For the past ten years, I have been holding an annual studio sale here at my studio.

This year, we decided to try something we have never done before and open our home to those

who come to look at the pots. One of the coolest new features in our home is the 500 square feet

of handmade tile that I have just installed. It includes tiles made over the past ten year--quite

literally thousands of pieces. It took me nearly a month to lay all the tile in our home. Why, you

might ask would I do such a thing? Well, I'm an artist. I'm crazy and I really love it when people

spend a little extra time making the otherwise mundane, beautiful. The picture above is one of the

back splashes in the kitchen, but I have also made tile for the fireplace and hearth, the showers

the floors, the stairs, an entire bathroom we call the "Potter's Potty", the laundry, etc, etc. There

are lots of people who live with art, but not many people get to live in the middle of art. Taking

my inspiration from artists like Hundertwasser, Gaudi, and Rodier, and such places as Watts Towers

and Gilgal Gardens, I have turned my home into a living piece of art that I hope will inspire creative

children.

Since we have never done such an open house before, we don't know how it will go and don't

know if this is a good idea or not, so we are going to go for it and see if we need to change plans

in the future. Our purpose for doing this is to try to inspire people to be a bit more creative and

imaginative. You may not be able to do what we have done, but we are all capable of doing

something that will add charm to this old world. I feel that the creation of beauty is one of the

most important things we can do in this life.

Our project has taken six months of labor, several years of planning and a decent amount

of money, and though it took us longer than we thought it would, we are still under budget.

This would definitely not be the case had I not done much of the work myself. The project is still

not complete. Some of this will take place in the next week. Much more of it will have to take

place in the next year, but the house is livable and we have been living here for just over a week.

I am falling asleep and will finish this tomorrow, which is really today, just later. Remind me

about the big announcement I've been dying to make.

Napoleon Dynamite, here I come.

Some people are big in Hollywood. I am not an actor and never will be, but I might just be big in Preston, Idaho. I will be speaking at the Oakwood School in Preston on Wednesday night at 7 if any of you care to attend. Preston is, of course, the setting for the cult film, Napoleon Dynamite, so while you're there, you can also say hi the Tina, Napoleon's fat lard llama. Or you might be lucky enough to run into Uncle Rico. I am thinking about wearing my Vote for Pedro t-shirt.

All kidding aside, the nice folks in Preston have invited me to come and tell my story because, as they say, probably half the county has read my books. One woman, whom I affectionately call the "the bookrunner of Preston", has purchased close to 200 books for people in her community. Thanks, Candy. A few months ago when I went to Panguitch to speak to the high school and then the larger community that evening, I had several people tell me they felt I had written about their town. I get the feeling many people in Preston feel the same way about Niederbipp. It makes me feel like I might just bump into Mayor Jim or Sam the baker while I am up there. I hope I do. To the nice people in Preston, thanks for spreading Niederbipp. I look forward to meeting you.

Just an update on the house...I am tiling, the painter is painting...when he shows up. The trim is mostly done, the hardwood has been installed, the cabinets are a month late, we are slightly ahead of schedule and still under budget. The stone mason showed up today and began his work on the rock veneer. We should have electricity this week. I fired the last of my tiles, I think, today. Within a couple of weeks, I ought to have something to show you and I am very anxious to get back to my writing. I can't wait. See you in Preston!

The Last of the Concrete

Today was a glorious day! It was the last concrete pour for our remodel in which we created the front steps and walks. It was also the last day of drywall work. The project-the last four months- has kicked my butt. I have lost 20 lbs and spent every night in my dreams either pounding nails or walking the aisles of Home Depot looking for lumber, tools, etc. I am hoping to be done soon. I actually spent a significant amount of time in the studio this week and it was awesome to have my hands back in the mud. I feel like I am centered again.

This house project has been a great learning experience for me, one that I should never like to repeat...at least not for a long, long time. I have gained a great deal of respect for those who work construction. I have really missed the autonomy I have enjoyed in working alone over the past 10+ years. Having to rely on others to get things done has been a real bear. I am at least a month behind where I could have been because I have had to wait on inspectors, contractors and friends to do their part so I could move forward with mine. The fun part is yet to come--the mosaics and tiles I have been planning for years. I can hardly wait. Their will be tile throughout our home, about 500 square feet of tile that I have been making over the past ten years. I am very excited about putting it all together in a meaningful way. I am excited to be able to share it with all of you at my open house in December. I am excited to get this project done so I can sleep better and so I can get back to my writing. I am anxious to continue my writing. My mind has been filled with great stories as I have worked and I am anxious to share them with all of you.

So, the house still looks like it might be a ghetto house and there are still a million and one things to do before we're finished, but today was a good day. I never have to build another concrete form for my house. I can start cleaning up the drywall mess. I can start the finish work and paint and the house might start looking like a home again. I can't wait!

Confessions of a tired potter

I can't sleep. That is unusual considering that I have been spending far too many hours at work on the house. It is taking shape. The shake siding is up, I finished most of the electrical tonight, the plumbing should be done tomorrow and the HVAC will be done by the weekend. Oh, and the insulation begins tomorrow as soon as the inspection is taken care of. A lot has happened in the past few weeks, considering that my house was flooded on Father's Day due to my lack of any roof. I am excited to have it done so I can get back to my clay work.

I'm pretty sure this is a project I will never do again, at least not the way I am doing it. It may not be so bad if I subbed out more of the work or if it wasn't my house, or if I wasn't living with my awesome in-laws. But as it is, I am beat. I am tired. I have lost 20 pounds. I dream about pulling electrical wires, nailing stubborn nails, framing the houses, etc, etc. I would rather be dreaming about other things. So, after this is done, I plan to hang up the tool belt and get working again on that next book and spend more time with my kids and just make pots. I have a lot to do, but it is great to have something to look forward to. The chaos is decreasing and you are always welcome to stop by. I still have visitors everyday. I will look forward to seeing you. Cheers.

Ode to Fire!

The virgin firing of the new kiln took place ten days ago. It was a bisque firing. That was followed two days later with another bisque firing. Today, I completed my sixth firing and my fourth glaze firings and to my great relief, it is firing amazingly well. The glazes look great. The pots are turning out beautifully. I have fire again, and it is wonderful.

I went a whole 6 weeks without electricity in the studio. It has made me appreciate the little things in life. This remodel thing has been anything but convenient, but I have enjoyed nearly every aspect of it. It has been a long time since I have worked less than 14 hours in a day, except Sundays, which are always a welcome relief from the week's work. The house is really beginning to take shape. I was promised shingles would be on the roof by Friday. We won't make it. But we do have 3 walls on the third floor and it is beginning to be a little easier to imagine what this is going to look like when it is all done. Already I am a bit in shock by how tall it is, but the finishes and the roofing will hopefully make it look a little squattier. is that a word?

Normally, this week every year, I am stressed out of my mind, frantically trying to get ready for the Utah Arts Festival. This year, I decided to do the best I could and let things happen. I just returned from setting up for this years show and I am feeling calm, easy and peaceful. I have done my best and I can't stress over what I don't have. This house project has forced me to find times of meditation among the chaos, and it has been good medicine. Who knew that sweeping the floor could be such great meditation? I have sought and found a spiritual aspect of all my daily activities and that feels good.

This Sunday, we stopped by the house after church to check on the house and were shocked to find our basement full of water and the the ceiling leaking badly from all the rain. We had covered the floors with tarps, but that doesn't mean much when you receive a months worth of rain in 16 hours. We made a couple of calls and within a half hours had nearly two dozen people come to help clean up the mess and throw a makeshift roof on our house. So the drywall ceiling was a total loss, but we got most of our stuff out of harms way and all was well. And now we have easier access to the stuff in the ceiling. This has been a blessing in many ways and all is well.

So, the Arts Festival runs all weekend downtown Salt Lake City at Library Square. I am in booth 126. Hours are from noon to 11pm, starting tomorrow. Hope to see you this weekend. Keep your chin up-- above the clouds, the sun is always shining.

Living on reds, vitamin C and Rogaine

The title of this blog is kind of a twist on some lyrics from a Grateful Dead song. The reds, in this case would refer to my gatorade, which I really prefer lemon lime. The vitamin C is self explanatory and the Rogaine is necessary for all the hair I've been pulling out.

Have you ever pulled off the roof of your house and then wondered if you might be stupid. I have. Tuesday, my roof came off and the last of it left for the city dump yesterday--all 4 layers of shingles (2 wooden shake layers and 2 layers of asphalt shingles). Needless to say, the load was very heavy. It took 3 dump trucks loaded to the gills to haul it all off. The dump said it weighed in at 11 tons! Its crazy how much stuff weighs. I don't think my addition will weigh anything close to that--at least not anything above the concrete.

I have learned to enjoy the meditation of hard, physical labor. Pottery is hard work too, but these past 4 1/2 weeks have really been the hardest I have ever worked in my life. I have bruises and scratches over my whole body to prove it. A friend of mine is out of work and so I have hired him to help me with this project. We have spent the last three weeks building concrete forms, moving dirt, digging holes, grading dirt, ripping the roof off, making lots of mistakes, working on basic plumbing, etc, etc. I'm glad he has come to help me because I have been able to have someone to blame for most of my mistakes. Things are moving along. Framing begins Monday if all goes as planned. Tomorrow will be consumed with finishing the kiln, stripping concrete forms and making new ones for the bond beam on top of our walls. As it turns out, this project is kicking my butt. Today was the first day that I wondered what the heck I was thinking. I'm sure tomorrow will be better.

Throughout all of this chaos, people have continued to drop by and visit the studio. It has been nice to have so many visitors that have both questioned my sanity and insured me that the worst is over. I'm not entirely sure that is true. A portion of the roof fell off on Tuesday and hit the gas meter, breaking the pipes in a couple of locations. But a nice, unemployed plumber came over today and put it all back together, better than before. It only cost money, right. Over all, we are still under budget, which is exciting, but I find myself bracing for disaster. Rains yesterday were a little scary. This morning found me trying to avoid the puddles on top of the blue tarps we nailed to the hardwood floors. It will get better. Hopefully we will have some better cover by the time the the rains come again. The art festival starts in less than two weeks and I am freaking out. Pickins this year may be slim, depending on how this weekends firing goes. This is the fourth Kiln I have built, but the first on with these configurations. I worked on the floor tonight until I could not longer see my tools in the darkness. Tomorrow I will organize the chimney stack. Saturday I hope to do a bisque fire. I have said a lot of very earnest and sincere prayers and hope all will be well. Wish me luck.