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Ms. Bockle:

My two main projects that give me joy, release and therapy are Gardening and Art. Besides the weeds being an ever invasive nuisance, especially in the Spring, the years’ long drought in California has given me a ‘come what may’ attitude towards the dead and dying in my garden. Loads of my plants are in containers, so I can move them out of the hot sun, or transplant them to bigger pots if they seem stunted. In spite of the dry heat, spiders and weeds, I’m amazed at how so many of the plants have thrived and keep on producing—either flowers or babies.

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I had a lovely frangipani—transplanted all the way from Hawaii—and it didn’t look like it was going to make it this year. So I thought I’d give its pot to some lavender. However, on close inspection, the root system seemed to be thriving, so I thought: what the hell, dig a hole and see what happens. Lo and behold—I’ve still got a frangipani.

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My newest addition is my cacti/succulent garden. I found all sorts of great rocks, driftwood and metal birds and moved them round to create a home for these ‘new to me’ plants that I acquired from friends and nurseries.

Just a bit about Art…

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This year was the third time I’ve entered paintings in the Alameda County Faire—and the first time one of them sold. Since I’ve gotten more involved with my art in the last year or so, that’s a pretty motivational boost!

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Mizzfit:

This year I’ve been experimenting with different styles of collage, and have grown quite attached to using linen as a base material. I’ve also discovered that I quite like the mess and hard work of using a patterned stamp.

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As part of my 100-day endeavour I’ve been drawing something everyday, and along the way have found myself becoming fixated with line-making and cross-hatching in particular!

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LaFitterina:

In the 1st part of 2015, while my house was being remodeled, I virtually lived in my ceramics studio — I moved my kitchen table & chairs, refrigerator, microwave, computer, etc. into the Studio. The Studio is where I did all my cooking, ablutions/make-up, paperwork, etc. At the end of each day, I went back into my torn-up house to watch TV and sleep. This routine was not very conducive to making ceramics. But, I did manage to create a Legalize Pottery Shop on Etsy.

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I also started a Facebook Page for Legalize Pottery Shop.

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By April, some pieces made it into the kiln and came out fairly decent.

lafitterina_ceramics2015

For a Pop-Up Sale in early June, I got the idea to make a batch of Plant Stakes for Weeds — how appropriate for Legalize Pottery.

lafitterina_plantstakes2015

Then, I took a detour into Sculpture — and this is the result so far:

lafitterina_sculptural_clay

Along the way, I’ve been making updates to the Legalize Pottery Website  — please visit my site for more information, updates, and blog posts.

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