POTTERY
Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something. [Kurt Vonnegut]

I started making pottery in March of 2014 at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago. At first it was just a fun activity, something to do weekly with friends in the most casual way. In our ten week class I went through a wide range of feelings, with desperation and frustration being at the forefront of my early weeks as I continued to lack the form displayed by every other student. Then one day a fellow classmate spoke some words that rang clear through the fog of my crushed spirit and shaped my mind space for the remainder of my practice: “The only thing you have to get over is yourself. Once you do that, the clay will respond.” And so, with a full acceptance of these words I carried on, week by week improving.

Two and a half years later, I am consumed with pottery. Not only am I surrounded by so many handmade vessels, I’m fascinated by the idea of a future that allows this practice to continue. In the short term, I’m going to be selling some of my work. See the SHOP page for more information and a listing of current offerings available through Etsy.

The thing about creating is that it allows you to enter into the tiny world of your creation and live in it, just briefly: in the glaze colors and the lines and the way it makes you feel, in the warmth of purpose and accomplishment, in the small feeling of wonder at your new companion. Hello, new friends. Mind if I stay awhile?

Click here to see my ETSY shop.

 

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