Off for the weekend

I just was finishing up some berry bowls in my studio this evening. I needed to get things to a stopping point because we are going away this weekend. I always, in the back of my head feel guilty about being away from my studio even though I know we all need a break. Sometimes I think that if I didn't have a family I would spend an enormous amount of time in there and be more obsessed about it than I can be these days. I know when I was in school I was at the art building all the time. I wonder where in my upbringing did this need to keep going and going happen. ( I'm sure a family member or a shrink could answer this one for me).

Anyways, we are going to Raleigh for a show that I'm in at NC State. I use to work at Cedar Creek gallery in Durham NC and the man who owned the gallery, Sid Oakley was also a potter. ( If you want to know more about that place get on line and read about how they started it from nothing......Good story.) Anyways, Sid passed away a few years ago and the gallery at NC State is doing a retrospective of his work. The name of the show is Sid Oakley, Artist, Mentor and Friend. Everyone who is in the show fits this description. In a way I sort of feel like I'm not as worthy as some of the other folks to be in this show but at the last minute Sid's daughter told me I needed to be in it. I was not potting at the time I knew Sid. I was just his employee at the shop. But Sid did take a lot of interest in my artistic back ground and gave me money and a reference letter to go to Penland one summer. Once I got hooked on throwing and decided to go back to school he did take an interest in how I was doing and would ask to see my pots. Finally at a show in Charleston Sc he did get a chance to look at my work and decided it was good enough to put in the shop. This was a huge deal to me since I use to help Sid and Lisa buy work for the gallery and I knew there high standards. So, I'm looking forward to going this weekend and seeing many people I use to work with that I feel very comfortable around and feel like I've known for years. It will also be wonderful for the kids to have a little vacation and see there grandmother and cousins. I'm sure by Sunday morning I'll be bugging Joey to get back home so I can get back to my studio.