Tennis Trip Easter Egg Dying!

Thursday through Saturday the Kohawk men's and women's tennis teams travelled to Kalamazoo and Grandville, Michigan to play Kalamazoo College and Grand Valley State University.  The women's team beat Kalamazoo 6-3 and lost to the undefeated Grand Valley State team.  Before the trip we were discussing how it was going to be strange to be on a tennis trip Easter weekend.  The women's team decided to have bring a little Easter to the weekend by dying hard boiled eggs during one of the men's team's matches.  Siblings of players who were there to watch joined in as we decorated two dozen eggs in the lobby of Ramblewood Tennis and Health Club in Grandville, MI.

A special thank you to one of the parents on the trip, Mr. Damisch, for buying us eggs and a coloring kit while he was on a gatorade run!  Below are pictures of the egg dying process!

Senior Thesis Exhibition

Friday night was my Senior Art Show in ceramics.  My parents, family, friends and Coe staff and faculty attended.  It was a great learning experience setting up for the show, doing PR and having the opening reception.  At Coe, art majors get to share a gallery with one or two other people to have a show at the end of their senior year.  This is a one of a kind experience for an art major.  I was able to show 10 pieces because of the extensive gallery space Coe has!  The reception went very fast!  It definitely didn't seem like two hours.  I talked to a lot of different people and answered their questions about my work and future.  It was neat to show people outside of the art world another side of me.

The gallery is open 3-6 pm every day until April 24th if you want to check it out!  You can also see more of my work at http://nataliebordignonceramics.blogspot.com/?zx=6c24773824497a6e.   

Me with one of my pieces,
Tiles From Architecture and Nature 1, 2011, at the opening. 

Nature and Architecture:  Form 6, 2011

Nature and Architecture:  Form 5, 2011

Sara and I at the Opening. 

Events of the Weekend: ASA Spring Retreat, Men's Tennis & Art Show Set Up

Here are a few quick updates from my busy weekend...

This past Saturday my sorority, ASA, spent the night at Camp Hitaga in Walker, IA for our Annual Spring Retreat.  We made a fire, roasted hot dogs, made s'mores and designed and spray painted our own t-shirts using stencils.  We stayed up talking pretty late but a lot of fun was had by all!  Earlier in the day we were a little worried about spending the night at the camp ground because the weather was supposed to be bad but luckily it only rained a little bit!  

Yesterday, the Coe men's tennis team defeated defending conference champion Luther at Coe (5-4).  Congrats to the men's tennis team!  

Last night, I started setting up for my Senior Art Show which opens Friday and runs through April 24th.  There is a lot of setting up left to do but we're ahead of schedule! 

Work in Progress

Below are some pieces I've been finishing up for my senior show next week.  Today, I started my last glaze kilns.  They should be done sometime tonight and cool enough to unload tomorrow night.  Monday, I start hanging and arranging in the gallery for my Senior Thesis Exhibition Friday, April 15th.  It will be a very busy week getting ready for the show but equally rewarding.  I can't wait!

Day 2 at NCECA

Today at NCECA was just as busy as yesterday.  I attended a demonstration and panel discussion in the morning.  John, Mitch, David, one of David's former students (who now teaches college ceramics in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver) and two residents from Cub Creek Foundation in Appomattox, VA went to a sushi restaurant for lunch.  In the afternoon we attended two more panel discussions and did a little shopping for t-shirts and ceramics tools in the vendor hall.  For dinner Mitch and I went to a Vietnamese cafe called Bamboozled Cafe.  On our way back to the hotel we stumbled upon a busy park with live music and hung out for awhile.

Through attending NCECA I've learned a lot about what's right for me and what's not in terms of furthering myself as an artist.  I've encountered a lot of people here who make art as a hobby and because they love it, not to make a living.  They have completely different careers or are retired.  My absolute favorite part of this experience has been seeing so many ceramic artists who all have a different story and a different level of involvement in the field but still love it.

Below are some pictures of things I've seen in the past few days.  Tomorrow we head back to Cedar Rapids!

Demonstration by Brian Kakas and Deborah Schwartzkopf.
They both did two day demonstrations of their work, talked about
their work and answered questions from the audience.  

A Margaret Bohls tea pot in an exhibition set up by Santa Fe Clay.
I've studied the work of Margaret Bohls and looked to her surface
design for inspiration over the past year.
 It was very neat to see it in person.  

A dinner set by Ursula Hargens from the
Santa Fe Clay exhibition.  Her surface design also interests me.    

This is the park we came across on our walk home.
It was surprising to see this much green in the downtown area of a large city.  

Day 1 at NCECA

Yesterday was our first full day at NCECA. We started the day at 7:15 AM and finished around 8:00 PM. It was a very busy day but very exciting as well.  In the morning we attended a wood firing workshop. Then we attended a simultaneous demonstration where two artists were on stage and worked on their own work and took turns talking about what they were doing. There were cameras from all angles so you could see everything they were doing. After that we went through exhibits of work by tons of current big names in the ceramics world. I've studied and/or looked to a lot of their work as inspiration over the last four years. Then Mitch and I had lunch with John and his friend from graduate school. In the afternoon we visited some of the many booths set up by non-profit art organizations and companies selling tools. We also attended a K-12 Exhibit and the Annual Cup Sale.

It was fascinating to see the work of other ceramic artists around the country and world. My main observation yesterday was that ALL kinds of people are at NCECA. There are high school students, undergrad and grad students, professors, resident artists, elementary through high school teachers, and people who are anywhere from in their 40s to 70s who have taken up ceramics as a hobby recently. Some people know a lot and some people know hardly anything at all. Its pretty cool to see so many people who share an interest in clay.

Last night, John, Mitch, John's friend David, and I went to a tapas restaurant in downtown Tampa. At a tapas restaurant you order lots of dishes that come in small amounts and everyone tries them all. We tried 8 different dishes and 4 desserts. Main courses ranged from calamari and crab cakes to stuffed peppers and salad. For dessert my favorite was the white chocolate tart with fresh fruit but they were all good.

We're headed to the convention center now for another full day!