Playing in clay again...: )

I have been struggling with my lack of creative motivation these last few months.

Between Owen's arrival and all of my trips, getting back to work has been difficult at best.

But yesterday I forced myself to go down to my studio and get back to work!!

With the holiday season approaching, I need to begin creating my inventory for the local store/gallery that carries my pieces exclusively. My pottery website is in need of some new and updated work also. More importantly, I am needing to bring in the much needed additional income! These three things finally gave me the impetus to get going.

In today's world of manufactured art work, the hand-made craftsman sometimes has to struggle to keep up. It is hard to compete when much of it is produced inexpensively in other countries. I am a sole proprietor, still designing and painting all of my work by hand which can be a very time-consuming process. Instead of using a wheel to 'throw' the clay, all of my work is hand-built.

I start out with a bag of white earthenware clay and cut pieces to put through my slab roller. From these slabs I then form various types of items....bowls, boxes, plates, platters, etc. Right now I am working on a few boxes as shown in the picture above. The clay looks grey when it is in the wet form, but will become white after it is fired.

I carefully score the sides of the clay with my knife, apply a mixture of dry clay and water (slip) and then begin to build my piece section by section. Being the perfectionist that I am, this can be quite painstaking as I try to smooth all of the mitered edges and clean up the piece.

Today I will take these forms and cut lids, add handles and/or other decorations, and finally put on some type of footing to give the piece lift.

I also have a variety of stamps that I use to add interesting texture to my pieces...and this is done at this stage. I will take you through my progress with these boxes in future blogs....

As I begin to work, I smile with satisfaction knowing how lucky I am to be able to create something out of this clay that will, hopefully, bring pleasure to someone else.

I am so grateful for the God-given talent that has allowed me to follow my passion in this way...As soon as I get my hands on the smooth, cool, pliable clay, I know that I am doing what I love... : )