An Artist Journey - The ups and downs of creation, and how to keep moving forward.

Life gives us scars, scratches, and cracks from our heartbreaks, trauma and losses. Many of us hide our cracks from most of the world - only showing them to a small select few or maybe to no one at all. We all smile through our social media pictures as to say “Look I’m OK, I’m not broken.” We cover up our gray hair with dye, wrinkles with makeup or Botox; we hide the events in our life if it is not Facebook worthy. Why? This seems like a type of self torture. Then in return our friends and family also...

What kind of potter are you? Are you a studio potter or a production potter? Why do we have these labels, and why do we have so many preconceived notions about them? Many potters have a stigma and an ill feeling around those who are categorized as production potters. Over and over again I hear phrases such as, "I am NOT a production potter, and I never have any desire to ever become one.” As if a production potter is like an artist STD, or a scarlet letter that you must then wear for the rest of your artisan life!...

What does your current playlist look like? Is it the same as it was 5, 10, or 15 years ago? Are all the songs the same or just a few? I love every now and then setting my iPod on shuffle and listening to where I have come from, and where I am now. Certain songs are always with me, while others are reserved to be enjoyed only as the memory they bring back. Life can be like your playlist, are you in the same place you were 5 years ago, doing the same things, having the same conversations, or...

I was sitting with and old friend one night talking a bit about our age. We are about to have our 20th high school reunion. There we were feeling 40 breathing down our backs, and she looked at me and said, “I just really thought I would have more answers at this age, I really thought I would have my shit to together by now.” My response was “No one ever really gets their shit together; you just start to handle it better.” We of course had a wonderful laugh over the truth of this. I have a wonderful step-mother,...

Lately I have been dragging ass on everything. I want things done, and want to accomplish my goals, but my energy levels are depleted. So here I go trudging along, I keep pushing forward…at a snails pace. So I decided to stop! Not stop pressuring my goals, but to stop fighting with myself. My body and my subconscious are screaming at me, and I kept acting as if I could not hear them. So I stopped and listened for once. It’s time to go about things differently. This doesn’t mean I was doing things wrong, not at all. Life is...