Getting Closer
The painting is complete with a blue stripe added. I’m now waiting for Rocky Mountain Power to upgrade the transformer so the kilns and wheels can be powered simultaneously. The kilns are scheduled to arrive this Saturday. I’m so excited to see this project come to fruition. I’m looking forward to sharing my 35-year love affair with ceramics with my community.
We’re going to have a great time, dropping into the flow of creativity, and the ceramics classes will be less expensive than therapy – and a lot more fun.
My First Ceramics Class
If my memory serves me right, I took my first ceramics class when I was 24, and now that I’ve just turned 60, I realize I’ve been at this ceramics thing for quite a while. That first class was in college, and it didn’t take long for me to get hooked. I spent every extra moment I had in the pottery studio, often at the expense of my other classes.
Eventually, I started making sculptures as well, but it was the wheel that truly captivated me. I would stay in the ceramics studio until security kicked me out, and even found ways to subvert the rules, staying past the allotted hours and sneaking in on Sundays when the campus was closed. I might have neglected my other classes, but I consistently earned A’s in ceramics.
After a long day in the studio, I’d ride a creative high. My favorite thing to do after a full day at the wheel was to come home to my tiny apartment, light a candle, turn on some mellow tunes, and reflect on what I had made. I’d lie there, basking in the dopamine rush from spending hours in the flow.
I still get really excited about working with clay, even though I no longer “vibe” with candles and music. But when I can immerse myself in clay for long stretches of time, that’s when I’m happiest.
The sense of creative well-being that I’ve experienced over the years is something I want to share with my Cedar City community.
