If way back in February, someone would have said to me guess what: there will be a pandemic, all your art fairs and in-person events will be canceled, you will start throwing on a potters wheel again, and with stoneware clay. I would have thought they had bumped their noggin!
I mean, first off, I started making mugs like this beautiful stoneware mug, but it was just for me. It is still my favorite. The speckles of the clay with the dots of color, it just makes me so dang happy! But I didn't have a clue how well it would resonate with others.
The one thing I have tried to embrace for 2020, since it is such a weird year, is no rules! (Now that doesn't mean not wearing a mask or standing close to people.) It is more about self-imposed rules I set for myself, to keep myself small. I asked customers what they wanted and they said planters! I had never made a planter a before, so what the heck. Planters it is and with confetti!
I have also been trying to take some time each day to play with clay, to rediscover why when I took my first class at 15, I was so obsessed. These magical orbs have come from giving myself the space to play.
Real talk time: I was also incredibly scared. I was scared about people getting sick and dying, having no income, no food, and so on. I was so scared that I asked my friend Megan Auman to recommend some finance and money books to me, because I felt incredibly unprepared for the pandemic.
But then as I read the books and had to slow down, for the first time in years, I started to feel calm. I would have never predicted that I would be ok with it all. There is so much unknown right now and I am usually the queen of freaking out about the unknown, but I have felt mostly calm during. There are days of overwhelm, but most days are ok.
I hope wherever you are, you are ok.