Clayathon, Not Clayptomania

Yes, it's that time of the year again... Time for the 12th annual South Jersey Clayathon, at the Jersey shore! Each year, the event has grown. We started way back in the small conference room at the Days Inn; now we're in the ballroom at the Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf Club. Eighty clay artists, for up to 5 days (I only stay for 4); 1 guest artist, color expert Lindly Haunani; raffles; cocktails; laughter; cocktails; sharing; cocktails; creating; cocktails. Are you sensing a theme?

I started off slow, and spent most of Friday mixing colors, just getting prepped for the weekend. Look, Ma – more than just gray and green!

The pace picked up as the weekend went on. I try to use this event for dedicated production time in preparation for my spring shows. This year, there were a number of intangible things achieved: learning how to watermark images from Martha, chatting about setting up online shopping with Eileen, reviewing shawl pin construction with Lily and Lisa, and admiring the contributions for the upcoming "Into the Forest" event. For production of items, the final total was: 15 bracelets, 3 pendants, 5 earring pairs, 1 random bead, 1 fiddlehead fern prototype for Into the Forest, plus the bracelet set that I donated to the raffle. Most need some further finishing (sanding, carving, etc.), but not too shabby, right?