Kathy McDonald on mon 19 feb 07
Mel said:
-
"i am at one of those points in life:
i cannot stand my glaze buckets.
all works fine...but i need an idea.
so.
one of you brilliant folks out there is going
to jerk my chain."
_________________________________________
Mel,
I can identify with you. This story may help ..or not..
I was doing my taxes and it hit me.... I've spent 3000
dollars
and a whole year looking for something to "move" me.
I actually counted the batches of new glazes I've tried,
not to mention the bags and bottles of stains and new
gidgets and gadgets
I've bought to try to get myself sparked, (or get my chain
jerked)
and back into making some decent stuff.
There are now about 22 pails with new glazes sitting there
all tested,,,,,, some at c6, most at c 10 , and huge
containers of
tried and true glazes mixed in 20,000 g batches frozen out
in
the garage.
I have boxes of bisque stacked in the basement and a bunch
of fired pots
on the shelves.
I've got about 100- 200 pots that are thrown, culled, and
need to be bisqued.
I'm stuck.....not sure exactly why...
This all may sound like ridiculous whining...but it's really
not.
I've had to apply for disability from my school job due to a
serious neurological problem.
One cannot make income from other sources while on the type
of disability pension
I receive, so I've not had any pottery sales at all this
year.
I've been pretty honest with myself
and with others about some of the struggles I've had with
my epilepsy this past year.
Took 8 months and 5 different med combinations to get the
seizures controlled.
I
I can now make some decent forms again and the glazes I've
made are just fine,
but everything looks like crap to me. I suspect that this
has absolutely nothing
to do with either the pots or the glazes..but rather with
me, and the fact that
I am grieving a number of losses all at once. The loss of a
career I liked, ..the loss
of my ability to have a driver's license, the loss of
interaction with my peers and students
on a regular basis. My pots are just existing in the
basement with no one but me
to interact with them.
You are a talented potter Mel, and, as you said, you value
the opinions of those
you think are worthy to judge your pots. Maybe NCECA will
be the place
that jerks your chain back into the pursuit of something
good. We all have a
need to "bump up" against someone ....peers and also our
own egos.
I hate being stuck, and yes there has to be something to
jumpstart a new phase.
I now count on the internet more than ever for inspiration
evaluation and feedback.
It's also February, there's been the wild weather so maybe
it's just cabin fever....
I'I hope I did not read something into your post that wasn't
there, and if I missed the mark badly
and you just want a few glazes to try email me and I can
share a really neet blue chun
that show's some wonderful possibilities.
Kathy
i
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LindaC on thu 1 mar 07
On 2/19/07 3:24 PM, "Kathy McDonald" wrote:
> Dear Kathy MacDonald, Mel, stuck people.....I am there with you and have
called February the "longest, shortest month of the year". I use a special
light to get the stimulation it gives in the long dark winter months. Dog walks
are therapeutic physically and emotionally. Isolation as a home mom potter has
been a reality for eighteen years with another couple before my last is through
high school. I am so grateful for discovering the outlet the Clayart offers
this past year. Am so looking forward to meeting some of you at NCECA and am
also taking in the Richard Aerni workshop as well. We need to get out with
like-minded people who are generous and hard-working and good-natured. Hope
you'll emerge from the doldrums when the conference rolls around.....just twelve
days and counting. This is not to presume that I understand what you may be
going through....only to say that I care. Kathy, I'll never forget the
uncertainty when my younger sister developed epilepsy and they were fine tuning
the meds. She went on to have a very successful marriage and five great kids.
Well, best wishes to you all and hope to meet a lot of you at NCECA. Linda
Haibara in Mentor, Ohio
Kathy MacDonald said:
> I hate being stuck, and yes there has to be something to
> jumpstart a new phase.
> I now count on the internet more than ever for inspiration
> evaluation and feedback.
>
> It's also February, there's been the wild weather so maybe
> it's just cabin fever....
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