2016 - A Year of Pottery in Preview

The new year kicked off with a bang, beginning with the expansion of my studio.

Until then, I had shared studio space at the artist co-op with my husband and sculptor, Mark Schlicher. Now we both have full studios in which to work and store our stuff. They're right next to each other, too. One does need room to dance every now and then.

Peg board for tools and test tiles was hung. More space allowed for more storage for glazes, clay, tools and such.

Shelving went up so that all of those ideas have a destination once they've hardened into something the world can put its hands on. Inspiration's gotta go somewhere.

Totes and buckets of clay & glaze weigh a lot. Before 2016, they didn't get moved around very much for mopping and cleaning, unfortunately. The remedy?

Wheels! Yes, now I know why the wheel was invented! So totes of old clay and heavy slurry buckets can easily be rolled around for mopping and just because it's fun. Thanks to Harbor Freights's big New Year Blow Out Sale for that ride.

Another January accomplishment - WildhairPottery.com went live with a fancy new web site. If you're reading this, there's a good chance you already knew about that.

I've gotten my first order of the year. Huzzah and three cheers!

So now...foundation down, what am I "fixin' to make" in 2016 for Wildhair Pottery?

Here are just some of the text messages I've received from the muse (so far) for the year ahead.

• Spoons - "Fun. Functional. Decorative. Remember? Spoons could be a trifecta." I've seen some pretty cool ceramic ones on Pinterest and elsewhere in the virtual world. They do look cool.

• Clocks - "Those could be fun, funky and artistic, too."

• Occarina's - "<giggle> Yeah, those little flutes. <giggle>"

• More juicers & Different juicers! - Done a bunch of these. ("Different" to be explained later.)

• Pickling crocks - You know. For sauerkraut? "How many have asked you if you make those?" Enough. "Then make them."

• French butter crocks - Again...I love making these and, judging by sales, there are those that love that I love making them. "Keep going."

• Coffee pourovers - "Give those another go. No, the first ones were teachers. The big coffee pot and pourover combo worked beautifully. You're ready now. Get back to those, maybe even another coffee pot!"

• Cannisters - "Just do them."

...And I could go on. (My muse is patient(ish) but she doesn't sleep.)

The challenge will be to keep these ideas in front of me. Perhaps a bulletin board in my new studio or actually using my sketch book would be in order. Discipline, action and dreams are kind of the magic cocktail for results.

In addition to my muse's gentle tappings on the shoulder every 30 seconds or so, I will have to navigate new input from workshops. I've signed up for 3 so far this year. They could open the door to other rooms to play in. I'm ready!

I'll keep you posted on what's up and what's next.

Got any tips on how to handle the work load lovingly assigned by a muse who knows how to use an inspiration firehose? Please leave them in your comments below.

.

#inspiration #muse