summer at the studio
This year summer feels sweeter than usual now that restrictions have been lifted and social gatherings are seemingly normal again. I am trying my best to be mindful, methodical and leisurely about how I am re-entering life in the post-pandemic world. I have no urgency to return to “normal”. After my Open Studio at the end of April, my husband and I booked a weekend away in Savannah, our first true time away from home in over a year. We were celebrating my birthday and the prospect of the country opening back up after such a long time of limitations. Having the pleasure to take in another city as well as spend some time on the beach was incredibly rejuvenating. This break from work continued for me as a week after returning home, two old friends came to visit me in Athens and shortly after that my parents arrived, staying with us for a few days.
I wasn't planning to be so out of my studio practice for the month of May but I did my best to embrace the downtime and step back and see how I wanted to move forward through the rest of this year. This pause also gave me the time to focus on a couple of commissions I haven’t had the time to get to. One of these orders is for custom dinnerware. Plates are something I have always avoided as, in my opinion, they are problematic and are so much more prone to warping, cracking, etc. than other forms. Taking on this order is just what I needed to embrace this style and work on perfecting my touch.
In this time of reflection away from the wheel I have come to realize some things that I need in my craft and my business and what isn’t working for me anymore. I need challenges like honing my plate skills. I am growing less interested in making “production” pottery, meaning replicas of the same thing over and over again. I am cutting back on wholesale orders dramatically because the time I spend creating pieces for other people’s shops is too valuable to make 50% less on. And more than anything else, I need play and fun in my studio practice above all else.
The rest of the summer will look like… logging off of social media to refocus myself on work, people and the tangible things in life, a quick escape to New Orleans - a town I love and miss - to visit friends who just moved there, a long overdue trip to Philadelphia & New Jersey to see my family and oldest friends, and more time in the studio creating new wares and coming up with a system to offer custom dinnerware sets later in the year.
Enjoy your summer!