Back to the wheel again.

This past weekend, I started some additional work on the pieces I threw the week before. 

I wasn't feeling all that hot and my mind was all over the place having been pulled in 5,000 directions working on everyone else's initiatives except my own. So when I'm like that, I find the best way to unravel my mind is carving and etching. 

It chewed up about 4 hours of my studio time, but when it was done I felt a lot better about some things and a lot clearer about everything else. 

Life has thrown me so many curve balls lately I've been struggling to regain a routine.  Once upon a time, I was in the studio on Sundays, plugged into my ear buds and focused on the meditation that clay afford me. I didn't put my head up until I was physically exhausted. It was cleansing, all that mud...and I was creatively sharper than I feel now. 

I think when you are living your life reactively (which I have been doing so heavily for the past year), it can be so hard to switch gears and get into the productive practice of creating. Other than the big turn I made in creating lidded pieces, I felt a bit stunted. 

It's time to start challenging myself again. Life should be moving back into a more steady existence in the next few months...at least, I really hope it is. I'm looking to ratchet up my skill level. I'm thinking tea pots, the aromatic diffusers my cousin suggested, some dish sets and finally some bigger better functional designs. 

So I've got 4 pieces with varying carved and chattered designs, drying on my shelf. We'll set them up for bisque fire and hopefully I'll be sharing the results with you soon. 

Aches and ooohs.

I spent my entire Sunday, as is custom, in the studio. I had the most productive day in a long while - four dishes of varying styles with lids. I might sneak into the studio this week to make the handles for the lids. One disadvantage to the season change is the effect dry heat (HVAC) has on leatherhard clay. I'm going from agonizing drying times in the humid summer to rapid fire greenware that comes with a crisp fall. I'm thinking if I push my luck and wait for next Sunday to trim lids and make handles, I might be making more dust than art. Cool weather brings on the heat.

...With more than just clay bodies, too. I caught up with the studio owner, talked about the recession and the impact on everyone - especially the small businesses in Austin. People are less inclined to take classes and while the gallery has seen good traffic, business here and everywhere is still slow. As we move into the speed bump holiday season and 2010...I think my biggest hope is that everyone takes a big deep breath, grabs a hold of their faith with a death lock grip and braces for something good. It's long overdue.

Productive studio days usually mean a tight, gimpy back on Mondays, but this morning I woke up with a pinch in my shoulder and my wrist. I've been curious about learning how to throw standing up. I've seen some of my favorite productions potters throw that way to preserve tender backs especially for long ceramic spells. So far, I've kept my wheel on bricks, I've removed it from the bricks and still no relief. Perhaps standing while throwing might be in my future. It's either that or a lifetime supply of Motrin.

For the ooooh category, after watching this video - I can't help but think some apple shaped pots might be in my not-too-distant future: