A New Perspective

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As Fall rolls in with the reinvigorating energy of the change of season, it’s back to school, back to regular work, and the last big push to get things done before the end of the year.

Autumn Pods

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the American Craft Council show in San Francisco for the first time. Now, this is a pretty prestigious and well respected show, so naturally I was very excited about it but it turned out rather differently than I hoped. People have been asking ‘How was your show?’ and I don’t have an easy answer to that.

During the show, I kept telling people that it was my first year being there and I had no expectations, and it would be whatever it would be, but actually, I expected a lot–I thought it would somehow be a turning point in my ceramics career.

What a lot of pressure to put on one situation.

It hasn’t changed where I am now: in the same place as before the show only with more experience.
It hasn’t changed where I want to be: having a bigger career in ceramics.
It might change the way I work to get there, and it’s definitely changed me a little.
So, maybe it will prove to be a turning point in my clay career.

Purple Sea Urchin
It’s given me a new perspective on what I make and how I evaluate it.
It’s made me ask ‘what is quality, and how do you measure it? Is every piece the best it can possibly be? What will happen if I concentrate on quality and not worry about quantity?’
All of this questioning threw me into a bit of a tailspin, but I know that after a big push you sometimes need to take a little time to reflect. So, I was trying to be patient with the process, and yet I felt time passing and no real exciting inspiration. In fact, I didn’t even know what to write about in this newsletter.
Then I happened to re-read the newsletter from January about new beginnings and it hit a chord.

So I’m taking a bit of my own advice:
If you’re feeling discouraged with your progress, in whatever realm, give yourself a moment to look objectively at your progress. Then, bring some of that excitement for learning and willingness to experiment to the forefront, work hard and just stick with it!
That is my immediate plan: concentrate on quality, explore more sculptural ideas, bring the excitement, and have more chutzpah!

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