Snazzy Tricks and Inspiration

"Make your mistakes work for you"

That's what my elementary school art teach always told me.  Don't get torn up and defeated when things go a way you didn't expect- accept what happened and make it beautiful.

I've always loved that advice and try to refer back to it just about everyday as it can apply to a multitude of situations- and not just art.  And he always seemed right.  Once you continued to work with it, the mistake was simply a part of the piece, and it was beautiful.

One of my student's rims stretched a little too wide in class this week.  It was perhaps 11 inches wide and the base was only 9.  So,  we just gave it a wave curve and it was beautiful.  She inspired me to give the same treatment to one of my bowls this week and I loved how it turned out... until I realized I needed to trim it.  

Trimming takes place with your piece upside down on your wheel head.  This bowl needs some major trimming because it has a lot of clay in the bottom and will be placed on a small thrown foot so the base needs to come in a couple inches.  But, if I set it upside down on the wheel, it will sit crooked and damage my piece by placing too much stress on the raised lip.  What is a girl to do?

Here the raised lip hangs off the ware board.  Sitting upside down helps pieces dry evenly and the lip is undisturbed as it hangs off the edge.

Basically, I need to raise my bowl up so the curved rim can hang free.  So, I threw an 11 inch ring to fit my 11 in bowl.  The ring must be dried off to keep from sealing to your bowl and making a mess of the rim.  A rib works fine for this. Then, with my wire, I cut out a section of the ring the width of my waved section plus a little extra.  This clay is saved to be wedged back up for reuse as is the rest of the ring when I'm done with it.

Then my bowl fits right on top of this ring with space for my lip to rest unharmed.  I center it up on the ring and then give it a nice tap downwards to secure it.  

Then I go to town trimming!  Big difference, huh?!  It is not the same bowl after this magic. 

Then I came back the next day and added the foot.  The wave was a bit to work around but it adds so much interest to the piece that is balances out just fine.

The new kiln should be in today so watch closely for some actual finished pieces in the next week!

Love, 

Lisa

Unicorns, Magicians and Magical Clay

Magic.  Magic is something we believed in as a child.  It is mystifying, amazing, even captivating.  We love movies with magic, our dads that can do card tricks and performers that pull rabbits out of hats.  These performances are just so smart, cool and entertaining that magic is hard to not love.  It's alluring from the start.

Soon we learn magic is not as "magical" as we thought and those magicians are just grown up children in a clown suit.  It is fun to see, but somewhat cheapened since we watched with youthful eyes.  We now know a skilled sleight of hand or distraction is the true explanation for what we are seeing and have simply been outsmarted all these years. Sure, some tricks are much more elaborate than others, and many do deserve applause, but in the end, any "magic" that is left equates to trickery.

As adults, we still use the term "magic" with our original understanding of the word.  From magical romance to a magical vacation to a magical event, we revert to the childhood perception of the word- mystifying, amazing, captivating.  Something unexplainable- something touched by higher forces.  Trickery never even crosses our mind as a connotation of the word.

We love magic.

When I think about clay, I mean really think about it, not just sit down and go to work, but actually ponder what is happening as I shape forms at my wheel or fire them in the kiln, I'm baffled.  The process as a whole is ridiculously mind boggling (mud=gorgeous vessels) but even just the small steps of stretching clay with various pressures and positions of your hand, is crazy.  That all particles of one ball of clay are willing and able to be aligned just so in a symmetrical and beautiful form... is crazy.  Who sat down and discovered that we could take the earth and turn it into hollow, glossy and functional forms? (Way to go God, on that one!)

Before I ever sat down at a pottery wheel, I took a hand-building clay class at Berry college.

Our projects were so. slow. and. tedious.  I really have no patience in life.

As I waded through this class I watched the students in the clay throwing class (throwing=creating on the potter's wheel) I was immediately hooked.  I remember laying in my top bunk bed one night just thinking about throwing on the wheel and devising my plan as to how I would sneak in the classroom in the middle of the night and throw on the wheel for the first time and create tall, amazing, flowing pottery and stun all the students and our teacher.

Well, the magic of clay doesn't actually work exactly like that so my plan didn't play out just so... but when I did finally get to fit the class in my packed business marketing schedule two years later, it certainly was magic from the start.  My mugs didn't look beautiful the first night- they were lopsided and short and lumpy.  (I  got a B- ... not too bad for the first shot.)  But I was connected with something that mystified me, took me to another place and gave me simple peace.

Simple peace.  A restful soul.  A happy heart.  Those are the products of someone who has experienced the magic of clay.  The process is magical but the real magic is how clay touches our hearts and has us walk away a changed person every time we sit at the wheel.

I'm so blessed to have clay, Earthworks and my potter friends in my life.

Thank you God for my magical life.  I love it.

Love,
Lisa

New Life = Renovations!

One of my special talents is coping well under unusual circumstances.  Trains in my backyard, no big deal.  Mailbox close to falling over, just open and close the door very gingerly.  Dishwasher broken, wash them by hand (or just go out.) Kiln lid cracked, hold breath while closing it.

This is also a curse that makes me live with unpleasantries much longer than necessary.  I guess my lack of handiness leads to a good bit of this- but I compliment myself citing financial savings and being quite hearty.

Of course some things I cannot STAND such as icky smells, being hungry, bugs and bad lighting.  These items are battled daily and addressed immediately.  I'm not a total procrastinator.

But little things like basement junk and lack of plumbing are much easier to avoid dedicating proper attention to.

And just to give your some insight into a potter's world, everything we do requires 1) Water and 2) Cleaning.  So, as an essential tool for simply the creating of pottery as well as the clean up process, I need water access about every 20-30 minutes.  I've been addressing this by tromping up and down the stairs to the kitchen sink to fetch water in buckets OR going outside to the hose and soaking my grass-less lawn to clean up my tools.  In short, having a sink is akin to having air.

But luckily, my friend Gorg likes to pay attention to this kind of stuff.  Well, I did do the cleaning out piece of the pie.  100 paint cans, 15 boxes, 1 piece of dry wall and a 1/2 pitch fork later, I had space for a 5 x 3 work table. And then Gorg along with my precious husband spent three days adding a sink as well as some much appreciated lighting and electric.

So, while my studio is still a work in progress and not beautiful by any means, it is quite functional and I've truly loved my first two weeks as a studio potter. I have a couple more decor and rearranging ideas in the works so stay tuned for more!

For now, I leave you with this awesome video.

I Got a Sink

Starring: Daisy Duke

Co-Starring: Sink

Ordinary Beauty

One of my favorite forms to make is the colander.  It's a simple bowl with distinct alterations to add functionality but also beauty.

These are great for a variety of things- the smaller versions are berry bowls- for rinsing and displaying grapes, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, etc.  The medium to large ones are great for veggies, noodles, apples, anything really.  The bonus about a ceramic colander versus a plastic one is the noodles slide right off the smooth glazed surface rather than sticking and making a mess of a plastic one. (I mean really... who wants to do more dishes!  And yes, you can pop these in the dishwasher.)

I spent a good bit of my day yesterday making holes in my bowls.  There are so many designs you can make with just removing the small circles of clay.  From simple to very elaborate, the holes define the style and look of the piece.

The handles are the accent that finish off these pieces.  I do lots of different kinds of these for various looks and effects.  Handles can take any form really- they are functional but largely decorative.  I love these little additions because they take your piece to the next level from ordinary to beautiful.

These bowls will be dried, sanded, fired and glazed to turn into a piece similar to the one below.

I use mine all the time and look forward to these going into new homes where they can be enjoyed and depended upon day in and out.  And when you think about it, the beauty lining ordinary is what makes all the difference in the end.

Love, 

Lisa

Lest We Not Forget

Things I love about Redmond:


1. People.  Lots of people coming and going and the constant energy that people bring.
 
2. Constant Challenge.  You are sharpened everyday.  You have to get out of your comfort zone and do things that are annoying, scary, mundane and just plain uncomfortable.  But you get through it, survive and learn.

3. Impact.  I can see immediate impact from my press releases, event promotions, mailers, emails, social media posts and campaigns.  A packed schedule for a seminar, a fundraiser with excited faces and great proceeds and buzz about the latest hospital news just makes me glow.

4. Eggs.  My coworker brings homegrown eggs for $2/dozen.  They are wonderful.  Keeps me from grocery shopping an extra week.  We take care of each other at Redmond.

5. Words.  I love to write.  I love to play with words, dissect them and arrange them just right.  I get to play with words all the time.  It can drive me crazy but words are my baby.

6. Design.  I love it when the designer hits the nail on the head and creates a beautiful layout for the content I created.  It's art and business intersecting.

7. Teaching.  I've had three interns come through my department.  I adore helping people discover their future.  Showing them a segment of life at Redmond is a joy as they see how they will one day fit in to the business world.  And one of them is employed in town, doing fantastic.  The other two just finished and will have great futures.

8. My Girls.  The ones that know me inside out and have shown me love through death, marriage, crazy projects, home moves and everything else.  They are truly my Rome family members.

9. Being the Community Liaison.  Through United Way, the chamber, Heart of the Community, media channels and many other things, I get to bring the good news to the world.

10. It's Just Special.  I feel safe there.  Like someone will always take care of me, look out for me and want only good things for me.  Like I can walk in anytime I need to and be at home.  Shouldn't that be exactly what a hospital is?  The place where you are safe and cared for.

That is what Redmond is.

And that is why my  heart will always belong to Redmond.

Love, 

Lisa

Why I Quit My Job

I took the leap.  


I sold the mills. 


I quit my job. 


And I'm thrilled.


My life has been pretty straightforward so far.  Birth.  Potty Training. School.  College.  Work. Work.  Marry. Work.  


Then... it should continue to go something like:


Work. Baby. Work. Baby. House. Work. Work. Baby.


The last time I took a risk was in 2005.  I scored a commission only job at an art gallery in the artsy district of Atlanta.  I took it- you have to have an internship the summer after you junior year or its basically career suicide- and had no place to live, no other income, nothing.  My parents lived in south Georgia and I was basically independent from their support at this point.  My older sister lived in Atlanta but just acquired a new roommate leaving no room for sis (darn husbands) and the housing in Kennesaw I lived in the summer before was full.  But, I didn't care.  I was doing this- income or no income.  Home or homeless.  And with the help of my sister, we found a precious, furnished, one bedroom apartment to house-sit while the owners were in Africa all summer and with the help of my college, I found another internship that paid real steady money (after moving in the apartment mind you) and made it just fine working my dream gallery job.


Since then, I've been much more sensible, somehow landing my job before graduating school and have stayed there ever since with great commitment to my career.  My friends have bounced around the country and the world.  My sister has moved to Europe with her husband roommate, learned French and has more stamps in her passport than the president.  My younger sister has studied in Spain and worked in Costa Rica.  I've stay in Rome, GA.  Worked.  Learned.  And stood still.


This is not a bad thing- and I'm getting to that.  My job has been a home.  A family.  A school.  I've learned as much as or more than I did at college.  It has been exactly the life and career development experience I needed. My private college education is paid for.  I've been able to do what I love- pottery- as well as learn to teach pottery through the amazing people at Earthworks Pottery.  I've lived within miles of my baby sister all this time.  And for a family that spreads like seeds in the wind, that is amazing.  And of course, I found my sweet true love.  I've stayed still to learn, grow and enjoy exactly where I am in life.


But, this life was not my goal.  If you've read this blog at all, you know that my heart lies with the mud. It lies with spinning wheels, shiny glazes and new ideas for creations.  So, I quit my job to allow my heart to follow my dream- being a Godly woman that puts her husband above all the things of the world and makes beautiful art throughout her days.  I had to get past the voices in my head telling me this is crazy and that I shouldn't do it.  That I'm crazy to give up a well paying job in this day and time.  That change is just too scary to overcome.


The movie Up in the Air  struck a chord with me.  It shows dozens of faces that have just realized they are making a huge life change as George Clooney bears to them the news of their firing.  The movie talks about dreams a lot.  At one point he says "As a child, all you hear is 'Follow your dreams!  Always, follow your dreams.'  Yet as an adult, all you hear is why you can't follow your dreams."  I suppose we let our ideas of ideal income, society norms and our own fears of failure talk us into allowing dreams to fade away in the distance.  


So, I'm ready.  I'm set.  And I'm going out into this world with my dream on my sleeve.  Not starting my day by going into a 230 bed hospital with hundreds of people coming and going seems a little lonely to me (hospitals are wonderful support systems!) but I think that resembles the path to your dream.  So, I think we just need more people on the path.  Sell your mills if the time is right- or as right as it can be.  Or make a plan to do so. It's a beautiful life and I'm living it.


I'll leave you with a final quote from Up in the Air... 

Ryan Bingham: Your resume says you minored in French Culinary Arts. Most students work the frier at KFC. You busted tables at Il Picatorre to support yourself. Then you got out of college and started working here. How much did they pay you to give up on your dreams? Bob: Twenty seven thousand a year. Ryan Bingham: At what point were you going to stop and go back to what made you happy? 

Love, 

Lisa

The Kiln got Kilt

So, my handy old kiln died. I've had it for forever. Well- five years to be exact. It was a Craiglist purchase. $400 for the whole thing and man has it cranked out the pots over the years. Anyway, I did a little video-memoir on the kiln and am actually excited to get a nice new kiln that won't leave me wondering when it will fall apart. I could fix it- but I'm not that handy so I'm going for new!

So... if you are in the market for a kiln- I have one at a great price :)
Check out the Video Commemorating the Kiln