Brain fog
It's been a little while since I wrote my last blog post hasn't it?
I'm struggling.
A lot of upheaval and change is afoot in my life. I'm a creature of habit, like many human beings are and I'm not coping well. I have a tendency to overthink just about anything you can imagine, down to how I might feel at any given moment ahead of time. I thought this was normal for everyone, it definitely is not.
It's all of these thoughts and feelings that go into my work. I find it strange knowing that each piece could see many highs and lows by the time I've finished making it and it does make it difficult to accept pieces as finished works. The finality of a piece is the hardest part, there's no going back.
I've been thinking a lot about the direction I'm headed too. I feel as if I'm finally getting somewhere in terms of 'finding my voice' and ultimately making pieces that are truly from the heart.
Since I've been struggling a lot lately with carpal tunnel syndrome, it's really forced me to slow down in my making (well, I was never that quick anyway but you know what I mean). I've found myself enjoying spending time on pieces, which is unusual for me because I panic and worry about pieces drying out before I've finished them.
Ultimately I'm preferring to work on a larger scale slowly and thoughtfully, continually influenced by my love of nature.
Lead by the heart, this is the direction that feels right. It's not to say I won't make any more mugs or little bowls, it just means that when I do there's only likely to be one of each and they'll continue to get a little more strange.
I've always been a huge fan of Dadaism too, an acceptance of imperfection and generally just challenging traditional definitions of what art can be. Shortly after beginning my degree I realised just how important that concept is to me, I didn't want to be spending hours upon hours creating accurate representations of French bulldogs and lemons (separately that is) in pencil anymore and that's ultimately the same reason I don't sit and make more than one of the same thing.
Maybe I've been putting it off because I know I'm not thick enough skinned for the fact my pieces are about to get a little more 'weird', but truth is I'm tired of making restrictive forms and worrying too much about whether my pieces will be liked. As long as I enjoy the process of making and stay true to my beliefs, that's all that matters.
Obviously I'm grateful for those of you who do connect with some of my work, it's a total bonus. I love nothing more than seeing pictures of pieces in your homes, please continue to share these with me.
But really, I'm going all out weird from here on in. Expect vessels with heaps of character about them.
A tiny little snippet of what's to come, feel free to let me know what you think.
P.s you totally rock for reading all of that waffle, sometimes I treat blog posts as diary entries. As a treat use the code 'WAFFLE10' for 10% of your order (excludes sale items and ends 9/10/22).