It's December

 Which  means it is time to start working on the plan for next year.
Many people ask if we are gearing up for Christmas. Truth be told we start gearing up in the spring for the fall business.

That wee sheep tile is something that is looking at us to go back to.
The variety of tiles I have been making are a consideration and a possibility to grow on.

  The new kiln is producing some new ideas, new designs, new paths to take.
The changes in the industry left us scrambling last year when we had fail, after fail, with a glaze combination we have used for 30 plus years.
It may never come back to us, but with all failure there are success. At first you are just throwing something in the mix to see if it has a place, then you begin to notice that it does and know you need to follow it to see where it is going.
A new path opens as the old one shuts down.
At the end of the day the need to create takes over. After all, isn't why we are here to begin with?

Many of us question why we are here, what we are doing, is this right for me. We all do it. I relish the days that I just work with no thought, no doubt, the zone, the zen.
The reality is we are a business, we are subject to change in the economy, changing trends, the up and downs of what people need or the desire of their want. Through all of this we continue to create.
Why create?
Why not?
Why not indeed.
 We need art in our life, we need the sense of wonder, the pleasure of looking, seeing, touching, holding. The art so simple that you can hold it in your hand and drink from it, eat from it, serve from it. I have always thought that a handmade mug or bowl is the most intimate object.
Instead of feeding your soul through a take out window with a throw away container you should be treating your whole being to what you are eating, drinking.......
My students look at me in confusion, awe, pleasure,maybe even amusement at my daily mug.
I always travel with a coffee mug and have done so for at least 35 years. Why would you not?
Why? Why not?

 I am teaching one day a week now.
 The teaching has become a thing of pleasure since the hired of the head of the department. My day goes fast and furious, and I have seen great growth in the work of the students. I am excited about the next semester, this one went so fast.
 So, bring on 2017, it will be a year of change for many of us, but people are resilient.
Never doubt that.
M