Good morning! And yes, it's technically morning at 12:45 am on Tuesday. Currently, I am laying in bed with my legs up, my heating pad on my back turned on, listening to the clicking sounds of my kiln running. Today started out a little later than it probably should have..
For the last week, to be perfectly honest, I have felt like shit. I haven't been able to do a whole lot in the studio which has significantly set me back. I have my very first big event that I'm doing solo to get ready for. I have heard that "Hallowell Days" is a big deal, and the gift shop, Autumn Equinox, that I have some items at on consignment, invited me down to have a table during this event. So of course I'm going!! She gave me some suggestions about what she thought would go over really well... I had some ideas of my own floating around in my head...and then nothing... I was laid up in bed...and did I mention that the event is this weekend? On Saturday... I know what you're thinking... Plenty of time to run both a bisque and glaze kiln..right? NOPE. Has to be ready by Thursday morning for reasons that may get expanded on in a later post. So I've gotta get this kiln unloaded, hopefully early tomorrow night (it's a bisque load), glaze all the necessity items, load the kiln, and hopefully have it cooled by Wednesday night/Thursday morning. OY.
So my day.... I woke up at 11ish...snuggled with my punkerhead for a bit... got out of bed, made coffee...surfed around on FB and played my Smurf game (on my iPad... I love that game! hehe)..while my head cleared. Finally around 2pm, I went to "work". Rolled out some clay, finished off some pieces, worked on my sculpture some...which hind sight would tell me that I could have used that 1.5 hours making stuff and getting it outside in the hot sun to dry.. but oh well. Finally, at 2300 (11 pm), I got the kiln loaded as full as it was going to get, and started it. I do have some bisque ware already waiting to be glazed, so while the kiln is cooling, I can be doing something productive at least.
But my point to all this rambling...is I HURT. Sometimes "work" just isn't fun. Even though pottery is my passion, my therapy for a myriad of things, I also treat it as my job. I would love nothing more than to be able to support my family with my art. That would give me the greatest joy! This show means a lot to me. I REALLY want to do well, take down some quality pieces, network, connect..all that good stuff. So I pushed myself a helluva lot harder than I probably should have today. And I am definitely paying for it tonight. But it is worth it. "No pain, no gain", right? :) No matter what you have to push through, or mountain you may climb; when your business seems like a struggle and you just want to give up. Don't. Those are the times when you have to keep on pushing, reach the peak, and see the beauty you created, and would have missed had you quit/given up when things got tough.
Keep on keeping on! Every journey, no matter how big or small, starts with a single footstep.
Do you ever sit at your work table/wheel, WISHING you had a certain tool...but not having it?? Or needing a specific size/shape for sculptural work and there's NOTHING available that will work for your needs? Well...why not make it yourself?!? I've seen several different tutorials put together by other potters/ceramic artists and took ideas/suggestions from each one to create my OWN way of doing things. Keep in mind this is my FIRST attempt at making my own tools... Still a long ways to go before they look pretty...but I'm pretty sure they'll be functional. :)
