Potzophrenic...

New word for the dictionary . I have been flitting from one thing to the next this week in the studio.

I was on hearts for a bit, then made some vase type pots, then saw a magazine at my Mom's house with a cool quilt ad which inspired a whole other day of heart making... then had a midnight wakeful moment that sparked a wall hanging... then saw one of my old pots that I really liked which had me remembering the pitchers I made a while back and I made this nice large pitcher... then another heart or two just to balance my pot karma.

Potzophrenic for sure.

I'm excited about the pitcher. I think I'm going to spend a week doing some more. Then I have to get serious and do some glazing.

I have a few shows on the horizon so need to settle in and think "sales" for a few days a week if I can. I'm finding that my higher end pieces aren't selling as quickly as they have in the past at shows, but as always, people will buy the lower end just to satisfy that "hafta have my art" fix... so I must, I must, try to focus on paying the electric bills.

Most in the art business have their quickly made staple that gets them through most shows. The $10 - $40 piece that they pop out without breaking a sweat. It's uniquely theirs, but it's easy to make, easy to glaze and easy to sell.

Being the kind of person who can't stay on any one thing for long I haven't found the discipline to make those little pieces that fill in the gaps between the big sales. Even when I find something that's fairly quick & easy it has to be perfect... and so sometimes I'll fire a $15 item 2 or 3 times just to get the glaze right. Of course, then the $15 item becomes worth three times the cost and I'm losing money when I sell it, defeating the purpose.

Or I am so entranced with making something new, following an idea, that I never quite get around to making those business card holders or the thing-a-majig to hand on the wall. Boring. Work. Yuk. No fun when ideas are bubbling.

So, I make my hearts, then my vases, then my wall hanging... A

h well, someday some huge famous gallery is going to just hafta carry my art and Ceramics mag will feature me on the front page and my work will be in huge demand throughout the world and... and... Ya know, that'd all be nice, but I don't spend my time dreaming about things like that, I spend my dreaming moments thinking about what I'm going to do with that pile of clay waiting for me in the studio.

I think any artist will tell you creating is all that really matters. Appreciation is wonderful. Recognition feels very, very good. But taking your ideas and turning it into something concrete is an addiction, a compulsion and all the rest of it is just super nice icing on our home-made cake.