the FIRST day

I stayed the night with my good friend (and great painter) Gerald Schwartz in Goodyear, AZ on the way out from Santa Ana, CA to Phoenix, AZ (thank you Gerry and Gloria for the hospitality!) and he helped me set this blog up! Also saw Michael and Norma Cummingham, two other great art people!

OK so this is my first day at the NCECA (National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts) Conference 2009. It is centered at the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix, Arizona with a ton of shows in the downtown as well as Scottsdale, Tempe, and Mesa.

I went and looked at some of the shows in Scottsdale before I got to the Convention Center. Some of them were nice (I liked the Cervini Haas Gallery on Fifth Ave., small and intimate. Didn't like the show of teapots stuck in and around jewelry at a Jewelry gallery.)

Downtown Phoenix reminds me of downtown Los Angeles. Beautiful corporate buildings a few blocks from dirty car mechanics, liquor stores and broken down motels. I am staying in one of the motels about 3 miles from the Convention Center closer to the airport and just one block down from the Arizona State Hospital (yea that kind of hospital! Lots and lots of high fencing!) The room is pleasant and clean, the airconditioner and toilet work and I have a coffee pot, iron and ironing board, TV and free Internet! I just hope no one breaks into my car at night.

The one great thing about Arizona is the cheap ( everything being relative) gas. I found a place with $1.79 for unleaded! I also found a cheap Chinese food place up the street (dinner for under $5!) I am all about the cheap except when it comes to Art!

Why is this all important, because I am spending way to much money at the Conference.

I donated two of my bell pepper cups to the cup exhibit and sale and saw way to many cups I wanted. I understand that the sale opens on Friday at 8am and people go crazy stupid over the cups (I probably will be one of them!)

In the manufactures/suppliers and nonprofit exhibits; the new tools alone were making me crazy! not to mention the new and different equiptment, glazes, etc. Also picked up some information about Anderson Ranch for a possible workshop I want to take in the summer.

So I picked up enough posters to paper over my school room at OCHSA (Orange County High School of the Arts, Santa Ana); took some pictures of work from the 12th Annual National K-12 ceramic exhibition.

I am planning to go to the openning reception at the Marjon Ceramics Inc. Legendary Ceramics curated by David Armstrong of the AMOCA (America Museum Of Ceramic Art) in Pomona, CA.

I plan to spend all day at the Convention Center going to art demonstrations and panel discussions and trying not to spend any more money (than the $70 on batik wood stamps from a company in Ontario, Canada!).

I will try to post some of the pictures I took, but that might have to wait till I get back home!