April is here, the town has embraced the sun and warmer temperatures, restaurants have chairs and table outside and the locals seem to be relaxing a little. People however are still hesitant, even cautious about changing their clothing to lighter dress and to look at them you might think it was still winter. My bare toes garnered looks last week when it was just too warm to wear shoes and socks, but it was evident I was alone in this sentiment. In the evening, it is still chilly and I resort to my cold weather garb as we are in the middle of the plains and the winds blow cold. The heat is still blasting the interior of our studio rooms and for the most part, we are glad of it.

It’s Easter weekend and most of the staff  are away.  Before leaving, ICS director Janos Probstner went

delicious wrap at one of the local stalls

around to residents in our studios giving Easter wishes and  leaving behind chocolate treats saying that his family loves chocolate and that as long as we are staying at ICS, we are part of his family. This gesture is appreciated because I am suffering some homesickness about now and miss family and friends. For the stragglers remaining at ICS, Deb and I are cooking two chickens (the last ones in the supermarket and some divine spirit led Deb to the meat counter upon entry into the store to scoop them up) our American friend Margaret is roasting some veg, and the new Turkish resident, Betul, will appropriately provide some Turkish Delight (a secret she says) and we have invited some Turkish and Israeli students as well. And of course some Hungarian wine and beer will flow as we think of you at home.

young people enjoying the bash

It was suggested we  go to the town square in the afternoon – the same town square that held the solemn ceremony for the Hungarian Uprising, to see what amounted to a huge pillow fight. It was organized by the local teenagers and the square looked like it was covered in dirty snow in what appeared to be some kind of Spring mating ritual where girls and boys ran after eachother shrieking and screaming as young ones do, playing tag, all in an excuse to draw attention to oneself and touch each other essentially saying, “Notice me, I’m here!” while the adults looked on in bored envy. We also noticed the town market had expanded to out of doors – another sign of Spring, and the cherry and plum blossom trees are finally out and green shoots appearing on trees. A reminder that my plum tree blossoms were falling four weeks ago and Vancouver was awash in pink the beginning of March – we get to do it all over again here! Not to mention that we’ll have a chance to taste the Hungarian cherry and plum brandies or “palinkas” which are supposed to be excellent.

And what of Clay?

sponged clay around design in shellac resist

We completed another bisque firing this week and I am making larger porcelain bowls and and am pleased with the improvement in my throwing and trimming. The salt glaze firing is yet to come and will most likely be delayed due to the need to thorougly dry some large pieces – this is not a problem. I think that the preferred method of firing for me will be gas and I have been doing a series of tests. I have also been working on some incised porcelain tiles and want to do some silkscreening witih emulsions as soon as I can get the materials and formulas– I think that the most important things I learn here will be with me for quite a while after I leave and I will need to take some time to work through the ideas. Our Mr. Imre Schrammel is leaving for five weeks and I shall miss him and his very helpful assistant Rosita being here. It has been good to have such established artists working here as we’ve been beginning our stay…