What have you enjoyed this week?

Since I shared my word of the year for 2023: Enjoy, some new things have happened. They’re really just ordinary things. Like right now, there’s blue sky peeking around the gray rain clouds. A crow just flew past my window. And I hear my neighborhood crows chatting away in the trees behind my house. 

Like I said, it’s all just everyday stuff. Why does it feel new? Because I’m looking at it all through a different window not in my home but in my mind. I’m looking at everyday things through a window framed around my word of the year: enjoy. 

Bubble wrap and packing tape. Enjoy?

I sold one of my favorite pieces last week and shipped it out to its new owner. I enjoyed that my Leaf Platter sold! I love gathering the leaves in the fall and making plates and platters. Each one is so wonderfully unique in shape, size with its own individual set of veins, folds and edges. I enjoy bringing out each leaf’s qualities in clay, paint and glaze. 

But I’m not a professional packer, so shipping scares me. Especially with all the delicate edges, preparing and wrapping the leaf platter felt overwhelming. So I took it one step at a time. 

First: find the right box. It took two trips to different FedEx stores to get two different sized boxes. I used the bigger box than in the picture: 20x20x12. Each leaf point was bubble wrapped. The whole plater was bubble wrapped. The the box was stuffed with paper and bubble wrap to cushion the platter. Topping it with more bubble wrap, paper and bubble wrap. Seal. Tape. Weigh. And enjoy delivering it to the UPS store. 

Enjoying black, white and color. 

In the studio this week, I painted. I started using a wash technique years ago and I still love how it brings the textures I put into each piece. I did a black wash on my new Lily vases. Many of my new sculpture pieces got washed with black too. 

Then I decided to try something different. A few new leaves, vases and bowls got a bright red wash. Some new pieces got washed with turquoise. 

Will I like the new colors? I don’t know. 

What I do know: I enjoyed trying something new. Even with bubble wrap. 

I enjoyed knowing the Leaf Platter arrived safely and the customer loves it!

What have you enjoyed this week?