Colanders based on the pancheon form with the addition of 3 feet on the bottom to help it drain and some holes punched in them. these started out as 4 but I waited too long to make the holes and one of them cracked and got a large quarter sized hole in it. The other one survived the hole making only to have some bone head who will remain nameless pic it up by the rim one handed. Bone Head!
Square baking dishes. These also started out as a family of 4 but someone forgot to cover them with plastic before he left for the night and cam in the next morning to find one of them curled up like a dead bug, the one on the right was past leather hard and I had to resort to attaching the handle using a couple of dabs of vinegar, It has since left us. The one on the far left is the one that I suspect that I should toss into recycle. It has what is possibly a crack running most of the way around the outside edge. I can't tell if it is just a line from where it was joined or if its an actual crack. Sometimes it is hard letting go even when you know that it is the right thing to do.
I think I wrote before that I had been having trouble finding the motivation to make pots. If I didn't well don't worry I am gonna fill you in, if I have then I apologize for going over it again. Anyway, I continue to have trouble finding motivation to make pots. I think that the reasons for this are many, some of them I won't go into, some of them I am not sure what they are, and some of them kinda relate to pottery( in much the same way that chickens are related to T-rexes I suspect but there you go).
Part of it I suspect is that I have not been feeling well physically, or possibly I have not been feeling well physically because I have been a bit down, who knows. I know for at least a portion of that time I was running a fever, but I have also been fairly sore for no reason. I try to limit my exposure to the public when I am running a fever, and as my wheel is currently across town I was unable to spend any time with it. This was most likely for the best but dam inconvenient as I am supposed to be using the winter time to build up stock.
I also suspect that the weather and its inability to make up its mind has something to do with my funk. I do know that I will feel better at least a little bit when I have the wheel and studio supplies back at the house when it warms up. I do love being able to work outside when its nice, and I am definitely more productive when it is here. However I think that this might be a symptom of a larger issue and what has most likely been causing me fits of nonproductive behavior.
At heart I am not a city mouse. I really never have been. As I may have mentioned before, my ultimate goal is to be a rural country potter. My dream is to live in a house that I built myself, near a town(?), village(?), hamlet(?) with a population less than 150. I want to be able to walk to work in a studio, which I also built myself, near the house and make traditional country pottery in traditional ways, and eat food that I produce myself. None of these things are even close to life in the big city. Winter is the worst time for me in the city. It smells of heating oil, it is really not attractive even when it snows, and driving in the city during bad weather is enough to make me want to pull my hair out.
Add to all of this the simple fact that sales for the past half a year have been abysmal. I suspect that it has been that way for a lot of people, but seriously I keep asking myself when I am gonna catch a break. I have moments when I so know that I can do this and to Hades with the knuckleheads that don't know quality. Then there are times when I can't for the life of me understand why any sane person would want to go buy something from one of the ___mart stores, fill in the blank with the one of your choice and I am including you in that group giant red bulls-eye store. Why would someone want something that millions of other people have, and that you are going to have to replace in no more than 18 months. I really don't understand it. Yes it is cheaper until you think about the fact that you are gonna have to replace it over and over and over again. If I had a product turnover like that I would probably change careers to septic tank cleaner or something. I know that the economy is depressed and possibly suicidal but seriously, how is shopping at soulless-mart gonna fix that for anyone other than 12 people on the board and the major shareholders overseas.
Don't get me wrong I am not failing.. I just am not able to build up any savings at this point. All of my income becomes outgoing to cover surviving expenses. Which just pushes back the whole getting out of the city plan even more. I have hopes that it will get better once the weather warms up as I will be able to fire at a more regular rate, and I know I have at least one place that is wanting to get stuff from me. I also have a line on a couple of other venues that I am gonna try out this summer.
I have been looking at kickstarter a decent amount lately, I haven't made a decision yet and I think that it is gonna take a good bit of thought on my part, and possibly someone to write the thing for me as I can sometimes fall short when trying to sell myself.
I also finally have an Etsy account. I don't know what I expected, I am sane enough to know that I wasn't going to sell out as soon as it was open but something would be nice. I mean really.... the best way to tell an artist or a crafts person that you like there work is to purchase it and bring it into your heart or give it to a loved one. Clicking a little button says, "I like your work just not enough to buy it" and I have enough places that you can do that I don't need another one.
Anyway I suspect that this post could go on and on, and I suspect we will see more on it later. I will end the whine for now, sorry if you thought you were gonna see some pottery, what do you think this is a pottery blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment