A potter’s life is all about cycles…I made pots like mad this winter, tucked away in my studio in the woods, and then 3 firings in a few short weeks before, as the last pots are cooling, loading up the van and putting in some miles to do the shows needed to pay the bills. I love it all! The quiet days of making coupled with intense bursts of human interaction suit me at this point in life. Since my return from Minnesota I have been putting things in order and finishing off the new studio that I began earlier this year. With nothing urgent on the calendar it’s good to slow the pace down (just a bit!) and take care of some of the projects that are too easily avoided when I’m in the middle of a throwing jag. I know I am not alone in this, but once I sit down on the wheel, most everything else slides from view and I become single minded…fill those boards, fill that kiln…it remains a compelling process for me after many years.
Slowing down does not mean that I am ‘bone idle’ as my British friends might say, but there is time to watch some of the great international soccer tournaments taking place! But, perhaps more importantly, I’ve been working with the folks at the Hill Center in D.C. as we plan the 5th year of “Pottery on the Hill”. The show has grown each year and this year’s will be bigger and better than ever. You can see Sam Taylor in the background of this photo doing his best Jack Benny impression. Sam and Haynes Bayless will be driving the P.O.W. Truck to our nation’s capital, bringing their unique mobile pottery education vehicle to add another layer to our modest ‘onion’ of a show. I am also writing an article about the show that we hope will find a publisher. Don’t forget to mark the last week-end of October to join us.
I have a plan to make a fountain in the next few weeks and then back to Buffalo for a family reunion before heading back to the Cotswolds. This is the “goof off and enjoy life” part of the cycle. Life is good!
