Who do you want to be?

At our firing this weekend at a nice dinner at Dr. Yi's there were two pottery items that were discussed. A very nice wine ewer by long time friend Jim Etzkorn. of Medicine Hat, Alberta.  I knew it was Jim's by the spout and the knob that looks like a finial on a lamp shade. A very nice pot, indee

d! The other was a generic cup with an extruded handle. Guess whose pot the potters loved and guess who is the money maker? Yes, sadly your answer is the right one. The wrong one actually but the right one in the market place.
I wanted to come home and make Jim's ewer but make it mine. I have always taught imitate and then innovate. Mine would have to have a handle. Mine would have to have less fuss since putting things together accurately is not in my DNA.
 I am the chair of a mentor ship group. I want this group to pay their bills. I want them to be able to afford good food. I want them be able to afford a holiday and to stay in love with the process of making pots. I want them to love their lives.  God, I think they chose the wrong mentor. I wouldn't even put that generic cup to my lips.