Some of the highs and lows for a year in the studio and hopes for the upcoming year.

Two of my four works that were on display won the peoples choice awards for the exhibits. Both Flora and Fernando took home awards, Flora is now accepted and scheduled to move to another show in January in Sunrise, Florida. So there is the start to 2025 with work going out for public installation. Finally Delphine was finished last month and I hope for her to be scheduled to go out for exhibit in February.

We made it through the storms , I was notified that Duet did have damage and sadly it was from storm debris .As many of you know debris takes a long time to get cleared after a storm and apparently Duet was struck with airborne debris as limbs and other debris were stacked and stored in the park where the sculptures were exhibited. From what I understand there was at least one other artist with work effected. The pick up dates were temporarily postponed they had so much debris in the entry walkways to the park. Duet is officially retired and will only be in my private garden going forward. It's heartbreaking when so much work, love and time are damaged.

I am so grateful that our home and pets were unharmed . Many people lost their homes and everything they owned; I can't imagine that all being gone in a heartbeat.

Moving forward I was very excited for winter break and had so many big plans for welding , for crete chae clay experiments and time in the studio off from teaching. In three weeks that in reality amounted to recycling a few hundred pounds of clay and doing a lot of clean up inside and outside. We still have piles of tree branches in the back garden and it took nearly three months for all of storm piles to be picked up as it lined the streets of the neighborhood . Now that everything is clear and ready to go - Ha back to school we go as break is nearing an end . Still , the cleaning and prepping are important habits and make the start of the new year feel fresh and hopeful for new work to begin. Truly hope my next post will be full to the brim with new work , techniques and getting back into a regular studio and teaching schedule. At the moment I am writing new ceramic projects and making video demonstrations. If you follow me for ceramics there will be a new wheel throwing project uploaded soon on you tube .

Time seems to be ever increasing in the speed at which it passes and juggling multiple hats keeps me on the move. I am looking forward to new students and projects with classes starting on Jan 6th and hope to dive into a new larger piece over spring break in March for my studio work. I wish you all happy studio time in the new year. . . Be well , Lee