I just stopped into Terry Gess' studio for a chat and saw all the pots he's getting ready for a firing. I must admit I was extremely envious of all the pottery he's made! I'm very ready to have this moving/construction behind me. Also, it's been a real blessing to teach this last week, I've enjoyed meeting everyone, adding to the cash flow, but now I have to get down and make some pots! For one, that's my job, my livelyhood. For two, it's difficult to find material for the blog when I'm NOT making.
;-)
It's also been tricky to do demo's when I haven't really worked in the studio in earnest for a few months now. September? Making pots, for me, is all about momentum, repetition and hope that the next pot off the wheel will be the best yet. This can only happen if I darken the doorstep and go straight for the clay. Unfortunately as many potter/bloggers report on a regular basis, life gets in the way. All of this life stuff is good, though. It all goes into the "pot". Is that what people mean when they use that very annoying phrase, "It's all good?" I've always felt that phrase to be a "cop out" but maybe it's just a way to say that some things are beyond our control and that in the end things find a way of either working themselves out or not. Maybe it just means "that's cool." Maybe I should go look it up on Wikipedia!
;-)
Teaching is a great way for me to "test" half baked ideas and share what may be perceived of as wisdom. Sometimes the thoughts are clear and helpful, other times clumsy and misguided. But , ha, "it's all good!" When I walked into the clay studio at Haywood the other morning, Bob Dylan was sounding from the stereo and I liked that. The song, "Idiot Wind" was playing and I hoped that it was a bit of advice and that I would keep the verbiage to a minimum. Well, I guess I talked a lot. Oh well. I did manage to get almost all of the pots made and finished, which was a good thing.
;-)
Stacey's in Raleigh til tomorrow so I'm the alpha parent for a couple of days. That's fine. The girls and I had fun making the Fatoush last night in preparation for Evelyn's first grade "Egyptian Festival". Unfortunately she melted down this morning as she realized there wasn't enough time to finish her 'tunic' and we had to go. I tried to explain to her that it wasn't the end of the world. That it was a lot to ask a first grader to make their costume all by themselves, without help from their parents. As the tears streamed and her eyes became redder than 2 tomatoes in a glass of buttermilk, I completely related to her, but when I said that it was "all good" her crying became louder and the trickery of that phrase was loud and clear. We made it to the truck and loaded up with her handmade sandals, which were awesome, and a big piece of fancy fabric that I was tried to convince her that it looked very "egyptian". I grabbed a safety pin and off we went. I sang a few nonsensical rhyming songs about applesauce perfume or something like that, and gradually the smile came and the laughter began.
;-)
It's all good.
