Picking strawberries...

I've been in a funk this week.  I think it's because I've been pushing myself to produce the same thing over and over again with no freedom to explore the thoughts that are currently floating around in my head or the emotions that I am experiencing (aka the UncommonGoods commission). While it seems lucrative financially, when I reevaluate, it may not be so after all because of how much time it's taking out of my regular schedule.  When I started making these sets, it was new and interesting.  Now, I'm getting disinterested in the whole process.  There are times when I get excited, for instance when I pull the pieces out of the glaze kiln and they are flawless (see below).

I have a shipment to be delivered next week, and I am more than ready to have that out of the way.  After that, I am half way there.  UG contacted me last week wanting me to be part of their Fall Catalog as well.  That would mean they would want 185 more pieces.  At first I was very excited when I considered the financial benefits.  I shared this with a few other people and they seemed impressed.  I was on the verge of taking it, when I went home and spoke with my husband.  I realized that I disregard his opinion when it comes to things ceramic (i.e. the indoor studio...although I think that situation has worked out perfectly :P).  On this particular issue though, I realized that he was right and I don't think I could continue this another 7 months (I've already promised myself 3 more months.).  It's very stressful and time consuming, and I need the freedom in my life to just play and be careless.  It's hard for me not to throw in the towel right now, but I would suffer such a large deficit, that I need to press through it.

Onward to better things... I got my cup in the mail yesterday!  I've been eating the Quaker Oatmeal Express, that comes in these convenient microwavable cups with a water line.  I realized that my new cup from Chris Pickett is around the same size!  I definitely ate my oatmeal in my new little cup.  The only downside is that it doesn't conveniently fit into my car cup holder, but that's okay.

The final thing to mention is that I have been tossing around an idea for a body of work for almost a year now.  I could not figure out how I wanted to treat the surface of part of the form.  I mentioned not having a lot of time lately just to play and relax.  It's in those moments when I am high-spirited and careless, that I have a lot of creative things bouncing around in my head.  I've realized if I can grab a sketchbook, focus on my pots, and have a bit of quite time, I can come up with some really great ideas.  I've been trying to remind myself of my childhood, and I stumbled upon two different children's videos that I used to watch constantly.  They were both on VHS and I'm pretty sure my Mom doesn't have them anymore.  I actually found the video of one on youtube (Know the Alphabet)! I really wish I could watch the Aesop's Fables again.  I started incorporating them into my work at one point and I would like to remember what captivated me so much about that video.  I don't know if I could use any of this in my work or particularly how to incorporate it, but it was exciting nonetheless.

Today, I was in a meeting and the mood struck me to doodle, and after much thought, I finally found the direction of what I want to add to the pieces.  We will see where this heads, but I hope it's in the right way!  Just in case this doesn't work out, I will be enjoying myself with Ms. Melissa Meyers this weekend picking some strawberries.  Growing up, we always had a garden or bought our vegetables locally, so I'm really excited to do this.  Let's hope the weather is nice.