POTTERY IS FOR embracing the mess.
Last week I was deep in my flow: pinching and smoothing and attaching small rock-like formations to rolled out clay - wedge, pinch, score, smooth, dance a little to my music. Abruptly, my pup let out a woof, alerting me of the neighbor passing by our door. Snapped from my flow, I glanced at the dirty mess of my workspace, feeling an urge to scrub away the earthy mud smeared and speckled across my table, collect the scraps that had fallen and begun to dry on the cowhide below, scrape the dried clay from my tools. I took a slow breath, letting the feeling sit. I padded to the kitchen for a cup of water, and dove back into the mess.
Pottery is inherently a messy, dirty process. When I finish a day’s work in the studio, pieces of earth are strewn about, mud is smeared on my headphones and across my cheek, my Blundstones are splattered with drips of glaze. Depending on the stage of the pieces, they themselves look like piles of dirt. It’s impossible to get to the sleek finished mug you slowly sip your morning coffee from without first muddling through a mess.
Now, whenever I find I’m in a messy situation, I put myself back into that dirty pottery studio. When my rescue pup was still learning not to whine and bark in the hardware store and I got irked glances with every visit. When I knew it was time to leave a relationship, and had to let go. When I shifted careers in my twenties and started down a winding, unknown path. I’m just working through the muck of life’s messy moments - the clay won’t be smeared on my cheek forever.
I hope the pottery in your home reminds you that it’s okay (essential, really!) to embrace your mess. I hope it reminds you to be a little more patient with others while they embrace their own. I hope it reminds you we’re all just wading through our tangles, covered in clay with splattered boots.
My pieces for March Grounding Clay Club are inspired by a river I visited in Vermont mid-summer of last year. It involves water and rocks and flowers and I’m hoping to keep one for myself :) If you’re not already a member, you can learn more and sign up here - newsletter subscribers get 10% off with the code CLAYCLUBLOVE.
You heard it here first: I’m finally going to make my Desert Collection live next week! Sweet prickly pear bud vases and textured jugs that I made in my great-grandparents desert home. Stay tuned for a newsletter subscriber code.
I’m spending much of this week away from my studio doing other types of creative work (I’m grateful to spend part of the week doing some styling work here). It helps me appreciate clay in my hands, because I miss it when I’m away.
Cooking is my place to unwind and create for just myself (and jack :)) without feeling tied to the outcome. I’ve been lacking time and feeling a little uninspired, so I was thrilled to find these easy recipes for the burnt out.
Thank you for being here on this messy ride with me. x