in two minds

I’ve been in two minds figuring out how I’m going to make this work.

On one hand I could make matching dinner sets and keep a collection of items consistently in stock online. Do something I don’t really enjoy, at least at the beginning, to cater to more people and get my name out there. But are those people going to stay interested when I start making the work I feel the strongest connection to? I’m talking tattered edges and uneven sides, mismatched glazes and one-off pieces, letting the clay make up it’s own mind of what it wants to become.

I work with my hands and three years in a production studio was certainly enough for me to realise I don’t enjoy feeling like a machine. 

What if these plates don’t look similar enough? What if someone buys two cups and gets upset that one’s slightly bigger than the other? What if no one likes the wobbly stuff? Minor things that sound silly saying aloud, but spin in circles in this anxious mind of mine. Things I’d rather not spend my time stressing over. 

So for now I’m going to move forward the only way I know how. By following my intuition and embracing the imperfections. Hands in the earth, let the clay do it’s thing, add a little fire and see what we come up with.

There’s a part of me in everything I create and no matter what the final piece looks like, I hope you’ll be able to feel a connection and the story within them. 

Pictured: A bowl I over-fired, causing the form to slump and glaze to bubble and fuse to the kiln shelf beneath it. An accident I can’t recreate, resulting in one of my favourite things I’ve made.