More or less
Jan. 15th, 2021 08:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrOur Book Arts group started the year off with a discussion of goals. Not resolutions--things that, if you break or miss one, you've failed for the year--but things you want to try to do better at in the coming months.
Not surprisingly, most everybody wanted more: more time in the studio, more space to work, more projects to try. I was the only one who wanted less.
I've been a full-time potter for 28 years, longer if you include my time working for another shop. Before the pandemic, I averaged 6-8 road shows a year, in addition to doing Saturday Market weekly between April and October. Plus the big sprint to Christmas Eve with Holiday Market.
It's exhausting, even with Denise's help. I love a lot of it, travel, meeting other artists, and all the customers who love my work, seeing them, year after year. But when 2020 brought everything to a screeching halt, it gave me some time to reconsider.
Oh, I'm not quitting clay or anything. Don't think I could, pottery is too much part of my identity. But I'd like to scale back on some commitments.
I took the first step last Tuesday, at the Zoom meeting of the Ceramic Showcase Steering Committee, where I announced I was stepping down as Poster Chair, and in fact would no longer be selling at Showcase. I'm starting to get Calls for Entries from other shows, which seem premature to me--this pandemic isn't going to be magically better by June, or even August.
Right now, I'm only committing to Saturday Market, in April. Everything else is on the table. We'll see where we go from here.
Not surprisingly, most everybody wanted more: more time in the studio, more space to work, more projects to try. I was the only one who wanted less.
I've been a full-time potter for 28 years, longer if you include my time working for another shop. Before the pandemic, I averaged 6-8 road shows a year, in addition to doing Saturday Market weekly between April and October. Plus the big sprint to Christmas Eve with Holiday Market.
It's exhausting, even with Denise's help. I love a lot of it, travel, meeting other artists, and all the customers who love my work, seeing them, year after year. But when 2020 brought everything to a screeching halt, it gave me some time to reconsider.
Oh, I'm not quitting clay or anything. Don't think I could, pottery is too much part of my identity. But I'd like to scale back on some commitments.
I took the first step last Tuesday, at the Zoom meeting of the Ceramic Showcase Steering Committee, where I announced I was stepping down as Poster Chair, and in fact would no longer be selling at Showcase. I'm starting to get Calls for Entries from other shows, which seem premature to me--this pandemic isn't going to be magically better by June, or even August.
Right now, I'm only committing to Saturday Market, in April. Everything else is on the table. We'll see where we go from here.