things are changing

I wanted to check in with my blog readers and let you know a few things.
For starters, I am fine and my family and loved ones are healthy and well. I hope you can say the same. I would love to hear from you in the comment section. Let me know how you are adjusting to this new reality.

Life has changed for all of us and we haven't yet grasped what that means or how it will impact our lives for the long term. I do know that for me, the frame for my writing has really shifted, slowly for a long time, and now all at once.

I still believe that blogging is a great form of communication despite what I hear people saying that "no one reads blogs anymore". I think no one reads boring blogs anymore, and the word "blog" feels a little dated to me, but blogs are alive and well.

For those of you who have been reading this blog for years, you already know I don't write in it the way I used to. It's not because I've run out of things to say or topics I want to write about-- not at all. It's that I feel like I've created a collection, this archive of blog posts, and I don't need to keep adding to it. I think the blogger-branded platform helped me start something that I wanted to do, and now I'm done with using it.  This collection, for better or worse, is complete.

Now, stop crying. I'm still going to write and I'm still going to write for you. Just not here. I will be writing on my own website. The new blog will be very similar to what I send out in my newsletter. Wait, you haven't subscribed to my newsletter yet?? Now is the time my dears. I will also be writing more about what I'm working on in the studio, and how things are changing there.

Thank you for reading what I write, for showing up here, and for being interested in what I have to say. I appreciate it so much. Stick with me, there is more good stuff to come. 

the return

I've been back from a monthlong trip to South Africa for almost two weeks now, and I am reminded once again that travel is amazing, coming home always feels good, and getting back to work sucks. For me, I always come back from travel a slightly different person, subtly transformed by all the new things I was exposed to, so approaching my work in the exact same way I was before I left just feels wrong. Before I left I made a batch of ramen bowls that almost immediately sold out on my website, so the first thing on my list is... more ramen bowls. But I want NEW and DIFFERENT ramen bowls! To express my new and different self. But what is that exactly? I don't know yet. And that is the beauty of it all-- not knowing. The only way to figure it out is to start.

Starting is always hard. It's the hardest thing in the world, actually.  I texted a friend who also teaches pottery and asked him for an assignment just so there would be some level of accountability in getting going. Because once I start I can begin to forget the struggle, and just be immersed in the work. But dragging me to the starting line can be difficult with all of the kicking and screaming and thrashing around.

There are two things in a long list of things that I have been wanting to make for years, but for reasons that will take another post to explain, I haven't. I've been wanting to make lighting-- mostly hanging shades-- and wall art installations. After I was done completing my assignment (three small bowls) I just decided that putting off making the thing you really want to make is about as dumb as putting off the travel you really want to do. I've been wanting to go to Africa for over 20 years and I just now finally did it. I don't have forever to travel to the places I want to go, or to make the things I want to make. So I started making that stuff, accepting that it may suck a bit and I'll have to refine my approach and keep trying.

Here are a few images from my travels:

Giraffes in Kruger National Park

Who knew South Africa had PENGUINS???

Protea in Kirstenbosch Garden in Cape Town

Lonely stretch of beach near Stillbai on the Western Cape 

Camphor trees that look like a painting in the magical light.

A view of Camp's Bay and Table Mountain from the top of Lion's Head in Cape Town.