new studio...

i am headed up to the hills this weekend.  i have a couple of things on my to do list: 

1. get me a breath of some sweet mountain fresh air, 

2. continue in the process of squaring away a home for us, 

and 3. SEE MY NEW STUDIO!!!

more details once i get home, but for now, here's your next hint...its located next to the

http://www.philmechanicstudios.com/home.html located in the asheville river arts district. 

apparently, it going to be cold this weekend! its 87 degrees here in BFT...i better pack some sweaters.

wishing you well and thanks for reading.

~trista

horizons...

new and exciting things are on the horizon!
i love beaufort. this place has been so wonderful to me right from the second i got here. when i left the mountains, my life was good, but parts of it were in a funny kind of rut.  driving down 70 east that august day, i had no idea what was ahead of me. bft was like some secret superpower... it was just what i needed it. i  have felt more alive than i have in a long time. 
the last two years have taught me a lot, as a person and as a potter.  i have stumbled, for sure, but i have grown so much on this path. i feel blessed and unworthy of the wonderful life that fell into my hands when i moved here.
BUT...
in the back of my head laid a sweet little mountain town. driving into those mountains is like driving into a hug. climbing that hill, to be closer to the clouds, where the stars shine brighter, it always makes my eyes burn with tears. i push the pedal closer to the floorboard. sweet mountain air curls in through my car window. i reach the top and snuggle into the resting place of my mountain town. i am home.
its beauty, its nature and its wildness is uncomparable. its full of old timers, with their wisdom and tradition that i can only hope to someday understand.  the streets are flooded with the hipsters, in their way too tight jeans, the musicians making songs that sing to my heart. the artists leave a piece of themselves on every place they touch: the store windows, the sidewalks, bridges, cars, whatever. the extreme conservatives, the extreme liberals, the extreme treehuggers, in this town you are free to be exactly who the "eff" you are. its a strange cultural paradox. its beautiful.
i once saw people protesting outside of taco bell to save the tomato farmers. on the other side of the street were protesters, protesting the protesters. i was so moved, i wept. (yeah, whatever, everything makes me cry!except the stuff that should...). iknew this town was part of me forever.
we knew our days in BFT would be numbered.  we have taken time enjoy every single second of it. but now, the call of the hills is so loud, it is starting to hurt my ears. and so we go. back to asheville.
come november, we will settle into our mountain town once again. i have a new studio to move into (more details later!). i am so excited!!!  it will be a community space, a community space!!!!!  hurray. its what i need, right now, what i have needed, for awhile. i cannot wait.....another crazy blessing that i cant even fathom! your first clue: http://www.riverartsdistrict.com/.
for now, dear beaufort you will always, have a giagantically huge piece of my heart (yes there will also be another blog entry about that, at some point in time).  thank you for taking me under your wing. i will be back. the ocean will always call my name.
maybe someday we ll be back to stay....(probably to move back to asheville again. and then back to beaufort again. rinse. and repeat). but in the meantime, please stay close to me...

thank you for reading.
and wishing you well.
trista

rumor has it!

there is a rumor flying around that THR pottery might have some big changes in store...

oh, the mystery! oh, the suspense!

(did i stir your curiosity?)

stay tuned for updates!

as always, wishing you well and thanks for reading

~trista

things that make my heart melt...

it is pretty much a known fact that i love dogs.  i mean looooooove dogs. and most of the people who are close to me would probably tell you, maybe a little too much.  

once, when ophelia was sick and i was playing "at home vet diagnosis via the internet " (ps... NEVER a good idea!!!), i came across the story of a beaufort couple whose dog had suffered from a heat stroke. it was a beautiful summer day and they took "rover" on a walk, like they had probably hundreds of times before.  i will skip the details but  their plea to make sure your dog drinks enough water while taking even the shortest of walks really struck a chord with me. BFT is a super dog friendly town. i can't count the number of dogs that walk by my studio every day. the day i read of that couple's sad story (even though it was december), i promptly put two water bowls outside of the studio door. 

since then, part of my morning routine is to refill and change the doggie water bowls. i never really knew if anyone necessarily used them or cared. but one day i came to the studio and found a picture slid in the crack of the door. this picture actually brought tears to my eyes. this was the picture:

there are two morals to this story. the first being: make sure your dog is well hydrated. but you knew i was going to say that. the second moral is about doing things for people. its the little things that we go out of our way to do, that make someone else's day. you might do them, and think no one notices. trust me, someone out there does.  keep doing it. and let me throw in a third moral. this small token of my neighbor's appreciation, has meant so much to me!!! and inspired me to want to be more thoughtful, and take time to thank people for the little things they do. so today if someone is doing something that you really appreciate: your family, a friend, a stranger, the mailman, whoever...take a second to thank them. write them a note or bake them some cookies or just stop them and tell them how much their actions mean to you. whatever it may be, you will never know how much that means to someone, until someone has done something nice for you. so....

 do something nice today :).

anyway, as always thanks for reading...
and wishing you well.
~trista

preview

this is a sneak preview...
these pretty little beauties have been sitting in the studio too long!
my kiln is moved way too frequently i'm sure.
its first home was in jackson county, r2d2 became mine in 2006 and has since lived in asheville, then in storage for a bit, in fines creek, and now in beaufort.  since we moved to the coast, we bring r2d2 from the lean-to, to inside my concrete block studio every time the threat of a hurricane is eminant. of course, she came in when irene threatened. since then, we have had a constant storm lying south of us out there in the sea. we are suffering from paranoia, i know. but within a day or two we will know whether or not katia will make her way to NC. keep your fingers crossed. i have a lot of pots that need some heat.

in progress...

well, i evacuated bft due to irene's impending doom. around 11 a.m. on friday, after  i sought council from a life time native, i decided to hit the road and high tail it up to take refuge with my folks in asheville. in less than 30 minutes, i had myself, several of our dogs and my little prius packed, just in time for the first rain band of irene to push its way in.

photo in carteret news times. by dylan ray.

the next 36 hours were insanely scarely. leaving my hubby, our kitties, a dog and the rest of our life behind was tough. nick lost power around 1 a.m. friday night/saturday morning. i woke up in asheville at 5 a.m. i sent nick a text message. he was already without power and had no idea what was going on.  i spent the next 12 hours back and forth between the tv (every news channel was camped out at atlantic beach) and the computer, trying to keep him updated and trying to keep me sane. irene made landfall in north carolina with the eye passing directly over beaufort.

photo from carteret news times. by dylan ray.

thank goodness for text messages. i stayed updated with my friends here in bft. and say what you want about facebook, but it was a huge resource for everyone to check in and let their friends and family know they were ok. one of the best uses was the way in which the towns used facebook to communicate. emergency officials could actually go check on people's property and ease their worries as the entire bogue banks was under mandatory evacuation.

taylors creek
this photo was taken by my friend becky bartel

photo by becky bartel

now, i am back in beaufort. we were lucky here. other places both near and far were not as lucky as we were. my heart goes out to all the people who lost not only in carteret county, but eastern nc and all of the east coast.
for now, the clean up process is time consuming. i am working on getting the studio back in place. i have a lot of pieces that i am thoroughly excited to finish.

crazy video of the bridge at atlantic beach during the storm:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OflsIydqs5A&feature=share

for now, thank you for reading. i hope everyone is safe.
wishing you well.