Ah, the South Jersey Clayathon. I would say there are four highly-anticipated weekends for me every year: Ocean City in May, the Boston area in July, Rhinebeck in October, and the Clayathon in February.
This event has been going on since 2006, and I’ve been to all of them except two. (Scheduling conflicts in 2014 and 2015. Sigh.)
What started out as 20-30 local-ish people hanging out in a cramped Days Inn conference room has grown to a gathering of 100+ from all over the place! And we are no longer cramped. Everyone has a spacious table to work at, and plenty of room to spread out.
I had awesome table-mates this year. If you’re not familiar with the polymer world, you really need to check out Terri’s, Libby’s, and Julie’s amazing work. In fact, go do it now.
Wasn’t that worth the little detour?
So, while my table-mates were socializing and making their art, I was quietly cranking out pen after pen after pen… I don’t want to call myself a machine or anything, but I will say my reputation for Clayathon productivity is still intact after this weekend 😁
Aside from all of that making, I caught up with old friends over lunch, and met a few people I only ever knew online before. I met a whole lot more people that I never knew at all before, which is always nice. And I got a chance to chat with Cynthia Tinapple, who I met once before in 2008, but haven’t seen since then.
Speaking of people I last saw a decade ago, I ran into Donna Kato in the ladies room when I wasn’t wearing my name tag, and she said “Oh, hi, Lisa!” Donna was one of the biggest influences on me in my formative polymer years. So in addition to her mind-boggling talent, she has an amazing memory for faces and names. I can’t remember the names of people I met last week, nevermind ten years ago.
It’s always such fun to get away and hobnob with polymer clay people. And the pile of finished goodies I come back with is a nice bonus, too!
Of course, I can’t possibly use all of this stuff by myself. Maybe it’s time to re-open the Handmades section of the ol’ Polka Dot Cottage Shop…
Psst! Wanna buy a pen?
[…] was writing with one of the pens I made at the Clayathon. This one is a beauty, if I do say so myself. It’s got some of those olive greens and […]