Things Are Stacking Up!

Around 75 items will be available for purchase anytime after May 6th!  Mix and match, build a set, or pick out an individual piece, whatever you like, I don't have room for it all.  :)  Cups, mugs, bowls galore - in a variety of colors and sizes!

May and her Mother

Pairs of wide eyes in a couple'a precious faces! Justin, Trish, and May are in the middle of moving into a new house right now! Lots of work to be done for them; hopefully we get to see a shot of May wielding a hammer or something :)

Wood Kiln Firing

Last week there was a wood kiln firing in Lexington! Wood kilns are more rare than other methods of firing - they go on for about 4 days, during which someone must constantly feed wood into the kiln and monitor the temperature, 24/7. The result is unique, though; the ash from the fire creates a beautiful glaze on the clay, and you never quite know how the pieces are going to come out. The ceramics department here at UK built this kiln not that long ago, out on a farm where the university does agricultural work. I worked one 6 hour shift, hauling wood, throwing it into the kiln, and eating pizza and marshmallows cooked over the fire (yuummm). By the time I left, the kiln was up to about 1200 degrees, right on the brink of when you have to start wearing special clothing for the heat. It was wild getting up close to the door and experiencing such intense blasts while throwing in the wood, and I went up a couple times with my camera to try to get a view of the inside. A real inferno! The goal was to reach about 2200 degrees at it's peak. After the four day firing, it cools down for about a week, and we are unloading on Monday. I can't wait to see how everything looks!

The Many Expressions of May, part 1

                    

Are words necessary? :) 

~xomo

The Handmade Object

I've been taking ceramic courses this year at school and really enjoying it.  I always love working with my hands, but with ceramics, it is additionally exciting to imagine a physical object or particular shape, and then figure out how to make it a reality.  I'm not very advanced at this point, so everything I imagine is happening at a fairly simple level.  Still though, it is a surprisingly thrilling sensation to eat and drink out of a vessel, knowing that I created it!

My professor this semester is really hounding us to churn out a large number of items, more than I will ever be able to keep...so...I'm going to have a sale at the end of the semester! In person, here in Lexington, but also if out-of-towners really want a few handmade items, we could discuss shipping.  I'm letting you all know in advance because if anyone is interested in a personalized or specific type of object (but think within a cup/bowl framework for now), I would be happy to fill the order.  Leave a comment below or email me at mkelly210@gmail.com, and we can talk about it.

:)

xomo

Spring Fever

I've been feeling a little antsy lately, kind of wanting to travel or do something different, explore a new place, perhaps?  It's been raining and the smell of spring is in the air! but still it's a bit chilly and dreary out, so inside I stay this morning...here are a few cool things I've seen lately online:

At this site, you can watch how the wind is blowing across the entire planet in real time!

Great video of a teenage hyperpolyglot who speaks over 20 languages (makes you feel inspired and inadequate).

Bird's eye view around the world.

Taking stock of a relationship through yawns. 


Photos are of the famous tulip fields in Holland (have to see it in person one day) from this little article. If you squint they could be mistaken for a Rothko. :)

cheers
xomo

Me 'n May

Trish and May came to Kentucky this past week for a visit, and they just left this morning; I'm really missing them!  I am May's Godmother and this was my first time meeting her.  Ahhhhh, this baby is just....so AWESOME.  She has a huge repertoire of facial expressions, and goes between little, babbly conversations and an extremely thoughtful, focused stare that sees right in to your core.  I know everyone says this about their own baby, but she definitely is incredibly advanced.  I am so happy and grateful they came to visit, love them both so much!  Lots of baby photos to sort through now, stay tuned :)

~xomo

ps: An extremely clear resemblance to her parents, haha!

Birthday Week

Hooray! My last post already seems so far away because the sun has started shining, the breeze blowing, temperature rising, and now all the snow is gone and it feels springy! I hope it is here to stay. I was looking through some photos today that I took during my "Birthday Week." I had decided that the week before my birthday I would do one small, special thing each day to make the days feel a little out of the ordinary, and to put me in the mindset of transitioning into my next year. See, it's already starting to feel like time goes by so quickly, and I know it will just continue to race forward as I get older. I don't like the idea of my birthday flying by in one day and barely having time to realize I've reached a different number. I just need a little more time to process...plus I like celebrating birthdays! Well anyway, the week started off well, but then I caught some sort of flu-like virus, which was the pits. I was knocked off my feet for a couple days and birthday week seemed to be officially derailed. There were some bright moments though; Will came over to make soup multiple times, and Trish sent many funny texts to help me smile :) These photos are from the beginning of the week, a visit to a French bakery just 2 blocks from my apartment that recently opened - it is so good - with my friend Nicola. Everything is delicious (amazing croissants and quiche) and filling, and the atmosphere charming. If you order coffee or cafe au lait they serve it in a bowl, which is nice because, some days, mugs just don't seem large enough. Also, I started using a new bar of soap that I received as a gift from some friends when they were passing through, which doesn't sound like too big of a deal, but it's just a really nice bar of soap. It smells so clean! It's Swedish and it's so pretty, and in case you'd like to give it a scrub, here it is.

So you see, it was still a nice week despite getting sick. And now I am 26! (Does that sound old??)

Winter Doldrums

Kentucky is getting a lot more wintry weather than usual this year! It seems like every time it finally starts to melt, another icy, slushy mess falls from the sky. I've been feeling a little cooped up because my bike is really not made for winter riding - I spin on slim, currently very low tread tires. That means less activity day to day overall :( Today I made french toast to try and cheer up the grey morning - ricotta stuffed! Super good, maybe I should do another breakfast week :)

Little Mountain Cabins

Ok, I love Wisconsin, but have you seen this forecast?!  Good grief!  Everyone seems to be sitting inside, talking about where they might like to be instead.  It's been super cold for most of my break, and now it's just getting more ridiculous.  I miss walking outside the most; I started looking through some photos from a hiking trip I took with some friends in the Austrian Alps this summer.  Look at all these little mountain cabins we passed - some of them are so tiny!  The one in the last photo is a little speck.  We stayed for a couple nights in the one in the third photo, with the red and white shutters.  There is a huge network of huts in the Alps for hikers to stay in as they do long treks, and they're really nice and comfy.  And people live in those tiny ones seasonally, perched among the hills, tending flocks :)