Lord I have failed you

I have been told the best workshop leaders encourage you to find your own voice and signature. I have always felt inadequate in that dept because I show you what I do and ask you to imitate what I do. My philosophy is imitate and then innovate.
I read this last night and it made me feel a whole lot better about my approach.

This is the best advice I've had from NeinQuarterly:

!. Copy somebody’s style.

2. Fuck it up

3. Keep fucking it up 

4. Really, really fuck it up.

5. Look you’ve got your ownI 

I must admit that when I came back from Wales after studying with Mick Casson I made some of the worst pots of my career. They were weak and immature imitations of Mick's work. My work now is so far removed from his I think his skin would crawl. It is all about showing up in the studio, working thru happiness, sadness, sickness, and all life can throw at you. It is about being authentic mostly to yourself.

My daughter Robin who is one of my best friends wrote me a week or so ago and said she saw a picture of me in Georgia with a sparkle in my eye she hadn't seen in a long time. I'm happy here. I am with good people . 

Robin also sent me a Valentines note that read:

" I chose to love myself so radically that I was forced to remember that I am worth more than whatever I might lose. - Brittany Packett. 

Honey please don't shut the door on love. It is worth it's pain and sacrifice. I know my kiln has made me cry more than once.