My Tummy and My Heart Are Full

We had the first Annual A Griffin Pottery Pre-Holiday Party today at the studio and it was WONDERFUL!  Allen would have loved being there. I like to think that he was in some way.  None of those people would have even known each other if not for Allen and his willingness to teach us all pottery. 

This was originally Ronnie Blackburn's idea. He gets all the credit.  I was talking to him a week or two ago about when I planned to put the Christmas decorations up at the studio and he suggested the informal party.  FYI, my Christmas decorations are up now.  The weekend before Thanksgiving.  I have broken my hard and fast rule of one holiday at a time please.  The way the calendar worked out this year, it was necessary if we were going to be decorated for SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY on Nov 30, so I am forgiven, right? 

Everyone brought something to share and we had a feast and wonderful time together. 

Vicki, Gail, Ronnie, and Lisa were there of course.  Lisa brought her sister Karen who is visiting from Georgia.  Karen was nice enough to take the group picture.

That's Karen in the light blue.  I must have caught Ronnie in mid-chew.  Sorry Ronnie.

Gail's husband Jamie stopped by for a bit.  He's in the black pullover.

We managed to get some work done in addition to the eating and socializing.

My new student Nikki was there too!  I am so happy that she was able to work in out to be here with us today. She got to meet everyone, have some food, and then we took care of her lesson.  

Trimming a foot.

Making a serving plate.

The cool thing about our studio is that we all learn from each other.  I learn from Vicki (have been for the 12 years I've been making pots) and from Gail and from Lisa and from Ronnie.  When Nikki comes for a lesson, she's got me (Lord help her) and everyone else who happens to be there to teach her. I'm sure that it is overwhelming at times, but today she wanted to try something that Gail does more often than I do, so Gail helped her a bit.  

From time to time, someone will say to me, "Allen would be proud," and it makes me so happy.  Most recently that was when I introduced Nikki to Vicki for the first time.  Allen would be proud that you have a student learning here.  Today, Nikki got labeled "Allen's Grand Potter."  I absolutely love it!! And Nikki got a glimpse of how important Allen Griffin was to all of us.  

Even Dixie doggie (#Dixiethefosterdog) was part of the action.

She had to stay in her crate when we had the food out, but she was a good girl about it.  She was very happy to check out the floor for dropped bits once we let her out.

Our studio was a happy, busy, crazy place today will all the people there and all the different things going on at once.  Allen would have LOVED it!  I miss him so.

FEET

It's been a busy time in the pottery studio these last few weeks.  I had really good sales at the Carolina Pottery Festival the first Saturday in November and have been working hard ever since to restock so that there are lots of things to choose from for folks who will be Christmas shopping with me in the coming weeks. 

Longer hours in the studio take their toll on me.  I'm not as tired as I was when I was working a full time job and making as many pots as I could, but my feet are definitely sore and tired after 5 or 6 hours standing on the cement floor in my studio.  Have you noticed that when your feet hurt, everything hurts?  Your entire body balances on your feet, so a problem in that foundation can lead to problems in other parts of your body.  

Feet are also important on pots.  A nice foot on a bowl can make a bowl lighter and more graceful.  

Notice the bowl in the background that has not yet been trimmed.

Before trimming.

After trimming.

Trimming a foot on a piece can be a very scary process for a new potter.  I have been working with a new student this month.  Yes, you read that correctly, I have a student.  She's doing pretty well for someone who has no prior experience working in clay.  Centering is a challenge - as it is for EVERY potter.  I remember how it feels.  You know the clay is not centered, but you have no idea what to do differently to get it centered.  When it finally clicked for me was on a Saturday afternoon.  I think Vicki suggested that I try making some shot glasses.  (You can think toothpick holder if shot glass bothers you.  Same thing.  Small cylinders.)  Repeatedly centering a small amount of clay helped me learn what it felt like.  I also found that if I shut my eyes I could feel the clay move to the center of the wheel even though I had trouble seeing it. 

I've gotten side tracked. This is a post about feet.  This is not a post about centering or other challenges for the new student.  

This week's lesson included glazing, centering, and finishing up a couple of leather hard pieces from last week.  I had her trim a foot on the two bowls that she threw last week.  Holding the tool steady with the appropriate amount of pressure takes lots of practice. For the first time, she did well. She removed some extra clay from the bottom of her bowls and did not cut the bottom out of anything.  I have explained that at some point she will do this.  It will be sad when it happens, but life will go on.  In my case, a short hissy fit is necessary before life goes on, but it does eventually go on.  This is true for many fatal mistakes with clay.  I generally feel a lot better after throwing it across the room.  

Feet are important.  They are important on pots and important on people.  I've said a bunch of times to others how important it is to wear good shoes, and I have meant it every time. I meant it and continued to wear my old shoes to the studio. And my feet hurt.  A lot.  It is possible that my worn out shoes are the root of many of my most recent ailments.  So last week, I sucked it up and took my own advice.  I bought shoes for the studio.  

Brand new Dansko XP 2.0 clogs.

I spent more money than I am comfortable with on shoes that are already covered in clay drips and glaze splashes, but my feet do feel better at the end of the day.  I think I'm glad that I did.