Short Cuts

At a workshop lately a potter asked me if there were any short cuts. I said "no"! I then went home and slept on it to answer the entire group in the morning. I stand by my answer although it's not what the potter wanted to hear. He had travelled far to hear me pontificate and make work so I know he is a serious potter that wants to get better- fast! I don't believe it happens quite like that. I cited the story of famous Canadian author Margaret Atwood at a gala dinner. She was talking to a surgeon who said when he retired he was going to an authour and write a few books. She answered "when I retire I am going to be a surgeon!" A book that I just love is Cheryl Strayed 'Tiny Beautiful Things- Advice from Dear Sugar. Her answer to a woman who wrote because she had gone to the very best Ivy League Grad School and she wasn't a celebrated author. Her answer is priceless and would get me kicked outta school. Being a studio potter is not a 100 yard dash. It's a marathon and for some us an ultra marathon lasting our entire lives. Who thinks that after not training for race you could actually place on the pedestal. The pedestal for a potter is not the grand stage like those rock stars. It could be 13 munchkins and a throll that come to participate and listen. There are lots of short cuts out there in the pottery shops. Grips to short cut learning to trim on a chuck or chum. Glazes premade so you don't have to learn the materials. Clay vacuum pugged so you don't have to dig and mix. Extruders so you don't have to learn to pull a handle. Controllers on kilns so now almost everyone can do crystals. Books by the hundreds. U-tubes, TV shows the whole gammit. None of the above can equal time spent learning the craft from the basement up to the livingroom.

A couple of jugs made recently. There has not be a change that looks like a dragster taking off. It has been a slow turning. Always loved soft clay and a slow wheel. It's a metaphor for my career.