Acceptance

I've been struggling with my schedule and overall energy level lately specifically when it comes to finding the time to fit in my pottery. I think I'm finally over feeling guilty that I don't get to the studio every day or even sometimes for days on end. And when the weekends have rolled around, I'm beginning to let go of the expectation that I will spend a solid 8 hour day working. It's times like these I have to remind myself that I work all day four days a week and that can often take a lot out of me. Add quitting coffee and making some other lifestyle changes.
So instead of feeling overwhelmed each time I enter my creative space to see pots that need glazing, others that need to be photographed, and much more smaller projects that are equally time consuming, I am going to take a deep breath and just work at a slower and much more reasonable pace. If I can only fill my kiln and fire every few months instead of planning on a kiln a month (my kiln is huge!) then so be it. I'm rediscovering the joy of the creative process and seeing I was still in the mindset of pushing through tons of work like I had to in college. It never was a method that particularly appealed to me, and it took years of pushing myself at an unreasonable pace at times to learn this. Starting this spring, I am going to pay more attention to my other interests such as gardening, yoga and traveling while trying to strike a healthy balance of day job work, making pottery, and enjoying more leisure time. Luckily I crossed off taking photos from my list and will be filling my etsy shop back up. And it seems as though my coffee addiction is wearing off a bit with the help of tea and chocolate.

Hibernation

The past two months have been a true time of hibernation for me. I have been making work at a very slow pace, but also catching up on other aspects of my life. Years ago in college, I had a talk with one of the visiting artists and she said her life was a constant balancing act between work, family, and resting time. When she noticed any one area was neglected, she focused on that. My very nature is not very good at resting for any length of time. So this winter, I've put some much needed energy into kicking back and hibernating a bit.

I was so surprised that my work on etsy is still making it's way into treasuries since I have not been actively listing new items for some time. This lovely treasury, thanks to Wren Willow highlights some locals in the Hudson Valley. And it is the first one I've seen that puts my work with my good friend's. Can you guess who that is? Hint, she is on an animal kick these days.