Re-entry is Rough
Roughly 3 weeks ago, I swung by the Colorado Potters Guild to pick up 25# of clay in anticipation of a clay reboot during my winter break between semesters. Alas…the clay is still sitting in the mudroom unopened, chastising me for being such a procrastinating wuss. The truth is, I feel rusty and a little intimidated by the fresh clay. It also doesn’t help that my work space in the garagio is a freezing mess and hasn’t really been organized since we moved here back in August 2009. (see below)
What a mess!
See – my wheel (far left) is barely recognizable underneath piles of stuff and while I wired our garage for my Skutt kiln, I have never fired it even once since moving here. I have two other kilns that are buried under other stuff somewhere else in the garage. sigh…. It also doesn’t help that the garage is not insulated – makes working in there pretty unbearable this time of the year.
So what’s a girl to do? I need a flexible warm space that’s convenient and works with my crazy school schedule – what if the clay mood strikes me at 1am in the morning? I could work at the shared studio at the guild when I have the time to drive cross town, or I could utilize part of my basement (if I can talk my husband into this) – though I don’t really like the idea of clay dust in the house. It’s a conundrum that I’m going to have to tackle this weekend because my last semester of school starts January 17th – a date that is rushing towards me at a lightning fast speed.
As an aside, we might be moving this summer – so I don’t really want to get too cozy. As for the clay – I know I just need to open it up and start by just touching it – the rest will hopefully follow.
Word for 2009
Forgive me blogging brethren, for it has been seven days since my last post. I have been on a mission to finish working on my website and the Colorado Potters Guild website. So much of the work has gone on behind the scenes and isn’t really visible (I’ll share later). I also haven’t posted because I’m following my New Year’s Resolution (of sorts).
In the past, I have made resolutions every new year that are long forgotten by February. Last year, I decided to banish the tradition and instead looked back on the previous year – mainly concentrating on my successes. After reading a post written by Christine Kane a several weeks ago about New Year’s Resolutions, I decided to think about the resolutions differently and look forward.
Christine Kane has a great idea – instead of making New Year’s resolutions, she advises her readers to think of a word that will act as a guide for the new year. As the image above suggests, I have selected the word, “focus” since I have a tendency to be a little scattered and am easily distracted. What does this word mean for me? It means I will finish tasks I start and I will concentrate on what I am doing whether it’s cooking dinner, writing a blog post or spending time in the studio.
That’s exactly what I’ve been doing the past week – focusing on my finishing the websites so that I can concentrate on other activities. Thanks to the folks who asked if I was okay – I’m perfectly fine, and have just taken a bit of a posting break over the past few weeks. I promise that regular blogging will resume now! 
Meanwhile, my daughter is back in school and we are getting reacquainted with following a routine which is good for all of us, including the dogs. I’ve walking the dogs in the park in the morning, have a ton of podcasts to catch up on, and am not at a loss for ideas for new work.
Do you make resolutions, do something else, or nothing at all?
~Cynthia
Happy New Year!
I don’t know about you, but I normally start the New Year off by assessing the previous year and making resolutions for the new one. This year is no different! Some people really think resolutions are useless, but I like to use them as a benchmark of where I am compared to the previous year.
I started keeping a journal this year…everything gets dumped into it, however trivial or earth shattering. I don’t normally re-read what I write, but this year I did note what I accomplished in 2006 and wrote down what I hope 2007 will shape up to be both personally and artistically. Next New Year’s Eve, I will take my journal out and re-read this year’s entry to see how I did.
I am starting this year off on an positive note and am very excited about what I hope to do this year. Artistically, I have been exploring working with fabric, paint and thread. I have learned a lot and am enjoying the process of learning a new medium. I have also been yearning to get muddy again. By mud, I mean I want to work with clay again. Truth be told, I don’t want it to be an either or proposition of working with either a 2-D or 3-D medium. I would like to find a way to incorporate clay, fabric, paint and thread into my art work.
Clay demands a specific work space, preferably away from one’s living quarters due to the toxic nature of some of the materials and let’s face it…I don’t really want my house heating up to an uncomfortable 2300 degrees fahrenheit whenever I fire up the kiln! Actually, the kiln is insulated, but it still gets very warm in whatever room it’s in. So, what’s new this year? My husband and I are going to retro-fit our garage into a studio where I can work with clay, paint and fabric. We hope to begin as soon as weather permits. We need to clear it out, insulate, dry wall, add lighting, windows etc. to make it cozy for all seasons. I plan to commit myself 100% to art and possibly branch out into teaching art. I hope to post photos of the studio building progress in the near future!
The photo I included is a repeat…I made this a few years ago and the reason I show it to you now is this: I have a stat counter on my blog that gives me information on how people find my blog. This photo has brought more people to my blog than any other piece of work I have made this year.
One last note, even though this is about resolutions, I would also like to say a bit of thanks to everyone I have met this past year through blogging! I wish everyone a very creative and prosperous 2007!
P.S. We did get more snow late last week, but only 7″. Denver was spared, but the plains and foot hills weren’t.
