As The Wheel Turns: New Work without Working?

It's been almost a month since I've spent any real time at my wheel or in my studio, for that matter.  So, you'd think I'd have little to show for my creative avoidance but that's not the case.

Surprise...my studio shelves are filling up again.  It's time to bisque!

How did that happen?  Believe me, when I went back in there this week, I couldn't believe my eyes.  I have five full shelves of new work.  Plus 10 other pieces to the left that are waiting to be under glazed.  Some of it are hand built pieces I did a month or so ago.  Some are thrown pieces that were made two or so at a time over the last month.  Some I made yesterday.

I thought I was in a creative slump but maybe I've worked through it.  Literally.

Maybe pushing myself less and putting less pressure on production has actually produced more work.  I have big bowls with newly painted designs.  A bowl and a cup where I decided to use my old watercolor skills and try a wet into wet approach with the underglazes.  I have new sculptures and new jars waiting for the kiln.

Could working less actually produce more work?

This is so contrary to the way I've lived my life so far.  I've always prided myself on being a hard worker no matter what work was put before me.  From copywriting and broadcast producing to parenting and art making, I've worked hard, made lists, pushed and met deadlines.  

But maybe I'm tired of pushing myself and there was a creative rebellion happening. Underneath my creative slump, there was a new force gathering strength and sneaking into my studio to play instead of produce, create instead of construct and relax at the wheel.

Yesterday, I sat down and just felt the clay in my hands with no specific objects in mind.  

When I stopped, I had thrown 4 mugs and a bowl.  And discovered a new way to trim the mugs giving them a new curvier shape.

Voila! Maybe work doesn't have to be worked at so hard ever again.

 

Social Media: To Tweet or not To Tweet?

One of the first social media sites I opened was Twitter.  It sounded like a good idea at the time, especially since I love to write as much as I love to throw and paint.  

Twitter was originally billed as the wordy social media.  140 characters. All text and no pics.  As with most social media sites, Twitter has changed.  Some would say it has evolved with the times but I feel this evolution is just more of the same social media game.  Where every social media site must offer everything that every other social media site offers in order for it to be viable and competitive.  

This would be like all breakfast cereals changing to become like all other food  products in order to be competitive.  Picture filling your morning breakfast bowl with pasta, rice, meat, cheese, marshmallows, eggs, spinach and bananas and topping it all off with a mocha latte.  Too much, right?  That's why we eat separate meals each day.

And why different social media can be different and still be viable and competitive.

Anyway...I got a Twitter account.  And I tried, really I tried.

I've tweeted twice in 8 years. 

Oh, I've got followers and I did follow others but it was just more and more self help quotes and promotions for more self help books.  After awhile, I just forgot about it.

Here's my biggest clue: when I got my iPad, I didn't even think to put the Twitter app on it. 

Now, my husband and son love Twitter and use it to keep up on the latest news and sports.  And  I know others use it to keep up with celebrities. But, that's just not where my interest lies.

I repeat...I don't tweet. Since I don't have the app on my pad or phone, there's nothing to remove.  If I don't use the account, do I need to close it down?  I wonder, if I never use it will the little blue bird fly away on its own?

Jilly is as Silly as Ever!

I am so, so happy to report that my sweet, ten-year old yellow lab, Jilly is still living!  

In February,  the vets found a mass on her spleen.  They gave her 3-4 months with or without a tricky surgery and a few more months with chemo.  I wrote about it here.  

After much consideration, we decided to give Jilly the best quality of life with the life she had left.    

And she is living the life!  She still walks 2.5 miles to the park everyday, unless it's really hot.  She barks to play ball.  She forages for plums, strawberries, blueberries and tomatoes in our backyard and garden.  She snuggles next to me while I write and watches from her bed while I throw in the garage.   

But that's not all, of course.  Jilly deserves the very best and she gets it.  She gets chicken liver with every meal.  Peanut butter cookies (broken into small bits) every time she looks cute, which is most of the time.  She now has a cool pad for hot days and an air conditioned room to keep cool at night.  

Best of all, is Jilly is not only alive but living it up.  Silly and sweet and talkative and loving as ever.  We wouldn't want it any other way.

The Land of Don't Know.

I'd like to say, I'm burned out.  That would be easier do deal with, understand and get beyond.  But I'm not.  

I'm in that no-mans land of 'I don't know'. 

I do know that I've been dedicated and working hard for several years now on my clay.  I've been working hard to produce a consistent body of ceramics work. I worked to improve my techniques to make better pieces with brightly colored and black glazes.  Both types of glazes are some of the hardest effects to achieve consistently.  I worked to have more pieces so I could make more sales.  I worked on committees to gain more points to give my work a better placement in the shows.  I worked on gathering and figuring out all the details of labeling, pricing, packing and delivery.  

But it seems that the more I do, the less I know.

It was challenging, energizing and fun.  But after a recent round of shows, I learned that having more to sell doesn't equal more sales.  That better placement, more consistent work and fully stocked shelves didn't help, either.  

Where do I go from here?  Do I change what I make?  Choose different colors or shapes or items to make?  Give up on functional work and concentrate on sculptural? Do I lower my prices(which are already low, I'm told)? Or raise them to attract a different crowd?  

No wonder I'm on Netflix instead of in my studio.  

I'm in the Land of Don't Know and I don't like it.  But I've been here before and moved through and onward from this territory.  So I do know that this is part of the creative process ad I just need to be patient and trust it.

A Walk in the Wild Woods.

I wasn't working in the studio this week.  I was enjoying the life that lives outside it.  Now, there's a workaholic side of me that is very uncomfortable with taking time off.  The judge in my head bangs the gavel of shame and guilt sentencing me to do more time and work harder to make up for it.

I know the truth.  Playing inspires creativity. 

So, I took a walk on the Wildwood trail.  This beautiful 30 mile trail through Forest Park in the middle of Portland, Oregon, is home to 112 birds and 62 mammals.  The canopy is massive with trees reaching upwards like natural skyscrapers.  The only mammals I met had two feet and wore shorts and walking shoes.  But on a sunny day, the trail was shaded and cool and such a relief from the hot summer weather.

I only hiked a small portion of the trail.  I heard birds echoing above me.  I saw giant branches sway in the breeze.  I tilted my head upwards to see the sun beam in and around the fir boughs.  I stopped and admired the magic of birth as an old dead tree stump supported the 2-3 newly sprouting fir trees. 

Clearing the trail, cleared my mind.

Gone were the judges and critics and gossips.  My mind was blissfully rested and refreshed and empty of all the dramas of life.  I'd like to proudly claim that great new ideas were sprouted and new projects will begin.  But, I can't lie.

I walked and walked and walked in the wild woods. That's all.  And for now, that's more than enough.

Social Media: Linked In is Out.

I've been thinking and taking a long, hard look at social media.  I've been asking questions and searching for answers not online from social media mavens or marketing gurus but from within my own heart.  

I don't want to just be a follower, I want to choose what to follow.

LinkedIn is sold as a business-oriented, professional networking service.  Started in 2002, LinkedIn now has over 364 million 'acquired' users in 200 countries and territories.  Last I checked it still ranks in the top 10 social media sites but its rank has slipped from the #2 slot right behind Facebook to #5 or 6.

So what?

Here's the questions I've been asking myself about social media sites:

Do I like the site, its mission, audience, overall look despite its published demographics, etc?

Do I use the site...am I on it, reading, posting, following anyone or anything?

Is it relevant to me, my life, work and art?

When I think about it do I smile, cringe, or feel neutral?

Here's how LinkedIn stacks up to my criteria:

No. I don't like the site or its mission.  I'm not interested in business networking. 

No. I don't use the site. I have been on it for 4-5 years and never gone there.

No. It's not relevant to me, my life now or my art.  

Have I made a helpful contact or sold a piece of work there? No.

When I think about LinkedIn, I cringe.    

I don't like getting those pesky 'notifications' designed to drive me back to a site I don't like and never use, just to up their user numbers

I'd like to add here and now, that I will be the first to talk about the importance of marketing my work.  But after years of advertising experience with other clients, I know that choosing a few  right venues and media works.  Finding the right venues and media does take time and some trial and error.  

I started out using social media because it was 'in' to do it and to market my art but now I see social media as a way to make connections for myself and my art. So, if it doesn't do that for me, now, it's out.

Glad about the Blues.

This is my 4th year volunteering at the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival in the Empty Bowls booth for the Oregon Potter's Association.  I work with other artists for four days filling up, selling, wrapping up and taking down thousands of pieces of glass and clay work donated by hundreds of clay and glass artists. 

It's hot, dusty, loud and amazing.

Especially hot this year, when the temperatures in Portland ranged from 97-100 degrees with no rain in sight.  The usual damp, green grass is now brown, dry and dirty.  The music is always loud and wonderful.  

But here's what's made me so glad this year.

Money. 

I didn't realize that since 1993, the Oregon Potter's Association has raised over 300,000 dollars for the Oregon Food Bank.  With every piece I wrapped up or donated, I helped feed someone in my own home town.

Sharing.

As I filled the shelves with donated pots to sell, I worked alongside my co-workers in clay.  As a studio artist, my work days are usually surrounded by clay and me and my wheel.  I love what I do, but sometimes, it would be great to have a few coworkers who where there to problem solve and bounce around ideas.  I got to do that while sweating and working at the Blues Festival.  

We talked about the perils of porcelain with its cracks and attachment issues.  We shared favorite tools and tips. Traded Insider info on hunting down materials to make textures in clay. And that despite all our best efforts, some pieces just go sideways disappointing us in the end with glaze runs, unwanted color changes, cracks and breaks.

Laughing away the losses and getting past it.

As an artist, you do the work you love but sometimes, the bottom line means loss instead of profit.  You work hard, spending time and money to create your art, but sometimes, it just doesn't sell right away.  You worry and wonder and then, you lower your price or when the loss stings too much, you give your work away.  

But here, today, a veteran artist shared her story of loss and redemption.  She had a piece priced at $250 that she loved but after several shows and years of no sales, she decided she had to do something different.  So the next show, she raised the price of her  piece to $350.  And what do you know?  The piece sold.  Sometimes it's waiting for the right person, but sometimes it takes you valuing your own work enough that makes the connection to the right person who values your work too.

Leaving everyday glad.

Looking at the glass and clay all around me I'm inspired.  All the textures and colors and shapes and ideas from the whimsical to the functional lifted my spirit and give my heart some new art to love.  I always like working the Blues Festival, but this year, even in 100 degree heat, I leave everyday feeling glad.