About The Artist

My photo
I am a jeweler, a potter...an artist I suppose. I have been creating hemp, glass bead and wire jewelry since 1996 but have only been throwing pottery since the Spring of 2008. I plan to open my own gallery and workshop within the next five years but for now I make my work out of my home and sell in galleries and online. I sell my work to feed my hobby and because I am running out of room for my creations in the house. My art, like this blog, is in it's beginning stages and I hope that as my reader you will join me in my journey as an artist and enjoy it as much as I know I will!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

I Am Not an Artist

I have been reading some really interesting pottery blogs recently. I found a lot of local potters who blog like I do and I have already learned so much from their writing! I will definitely continue to read and follow along on their journeys as artists.
I am finding a little discouragement in reading these blogs though. These potters really have their work together, they are so well established and really know their trade. I feel so far from that its depressing. I don't even know how to load and fire a kiln, let alone mix glazes. Sometimes I feel like I could really do this for a living and other times I feel like I would never make it. I also feel like I'm only good enough right now to make the cutesy stuff, the turtle mugs and bowls and frog jars and stuff that people will like but not consider art. But do I even really want to be an artist? Sometimes I'm not so sure. The pottery scene here in WNC is amazing and is a perfect place for me if I want to continue to be a potter, but I don't know if I care to be apart of that scene. Honestly I think I just want to keep having fun with my work, the hell with how its viewed by others. I don't need to be known as one of the great potters of the area, I really just want to make what I make and enjoy making it. Does that make sense to anyone but me?
I really think my work will fit well in the galleries I have spoken with and on Etsy so maybe I will just stick with those venues for now. Making money off of my work is really just to feed my hobby at this point anyway, I'm not trying to make a living like the area potters I've been reading about. Maybe when I get to that point I will start to care about being well known and being considered an artist, but not right now.

And to answer your question, where are the photos of you throwing last night? Well I don't like to make excuses but yesterday when I posted my blog my back was hurting a little bit and it got worse as the day progressed (sitting at my desk all day did not help). So by the time I got home I didn't think my back could take leaning over a pottery wheel for several hours. Its all my fault, I went to softball practice Sunday and it was the first time I'd pitched in two weeks and of course I over-did it and my muscles were just letting me know that. A good night's rest did help though, so I should be ready to throw tomorrow.

My plans for this evening have fallen through. I'm really disappointed, I've been looking forward to glazing for days! I'm still making the trip to Waynesville to pick up my finished pieces though, so there will still be pictures Wednesday. I can't wait any longer to see those pieces!

And in other news: Last night my wonderful roommate David helped me to design some business cards. I have not priced anything yet but I think I have decided on his design of putting a picture of one of my necklaces on the left of the card and one of my bowls on the right. My name will be at the top of the cards with SilverWear beneath it on the left and ClayWorks on the right. Here's the picture, sorry its not very clear:


No comments: