primalmommy on sun 17 mar 02
do it do it do it do it... Dannon and mel taught me to throw at the
Appalachian Center for Crafts a few years back and it changed my life. I
had taught myself (badly) to throw (with the wrong hand) on a home made
(wobbledy-hop) wheel I built 10 years ago.. had been given an electric
wheel but only succeeded in throwing badly faster ;0)
Then I did it, first time I had been away from my kids-- a whole week!
You stay in these little cabins that look like they grew out of the
hillside, in this lush green bit of Tennessee surrounded by reservoir
and woods and winding roads... you room with a potter, or a weaver, or
glassblower, or woodworker, or blacksmith, or jewelrymaker, or
whatever... and in the evening folks gather on the porches or in the
shared kitchen-areas to talk and make friends...
Imagine this: up in the morning and a lovely stroll to a good restaurant
to be waited on and fed healthy, delicious food... then wander over to
the studio for demos and throwing til lunch time (back to Mama Lea's
cafe...) then back to the studio... then dinner... then if you like back
to the studio all night long... or wander through the other studios and
see what other folks are doing...
I put in more hours that week of focused attention than I had in the
years before, and learned, learned, learned. I made pots and chucked
them one after another into the scrap barrel and kept making more. I
went back the next year for Vince's "ancient clay" and am going back
this year for the Clennels...
I can't spare the time or the money for adventures like this bit it's
worth it and I make it happen. Besides it keeps me from having to report
a profit to the IRS ;0) For me, a mom with a houseful of little ones and
endless stuff to do, the uninterrupted week is like a form of
meditation... no tv, no phone, no noise, wondeful hiking trails, a
library full of art books, big awesome kilns, and everyone you meet is
on that high of mastering a craft...
Oh... and if you get stiff at the wheel, last summer a woman had a
massage chair set up in the cafe, pay by the minute...
do it do it do it do it....
(do you get the feeling I like the idea?)
Yours, Kelly in Ohio
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