Be the ride not the passenger. I like being the driver. I love to drive. Drove down here to Seagrove from Aylmer, Ontario door to door in 13 hours.
I think this could also be a metaphor for doing your own work( Be the ride not the passenger). There is a similarity between these two ideas.
In the beginning- no this isn't going to be Biblical. In the beginning, of course you have to be the passenger because you have lots to learn.
Some drivers are rubber neckers. They can't keep their eyes off what's happening around them so they slow down progress. They also can't keep their eyes off other peoples work so they never really do their own work. Progress is keeping your eyes on the road- your road.
I'm poking and prodding my pots and having a helluva great time of it. I get to do this until I start teaching my Intensive Course in March. Then it may come as a surprise to many of you but I am a very how to kind of teacher mixed in with a lot of irreverence about rules about pottery making.
I had 35 years of production pottery and now that I am of a certain age (pensioner) I have this little voice inside my head telling me to focus on things that are challenging, rather than little things that are a snap. After 35 years of being able to fill a room with pots in a day this is not an easy task. I still do repetiton throwing. It is really the mark making, trimming and handling that is where my voice is heard.
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| I've often said referenced work is the strongest. |
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| General purpose bowls for the Intensive course welcome supper. |
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| Making Marks- good title for a book! |
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| getting ready for bisque |
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| I always start a making cycle with 13 cups. |
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| My reference- candle sticks by Vernon Owens of Jugtown |
My work respects tradition but has ricocheted off it. If you wanted a collectible piece of Seagrove pottery you could do no better than to get yourself a pair of candle holders from Jugtown. A pair from the patriarch Vernon Owens is what I have been staring at for the past three weeks. The bullet ricocheted off my helmet a couple of times and I came up with the ones above.
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