BISHOC pt.II

It's been a good summer. Except for a couple weeks when the schedule just wouldn't allow it, I've been able to get my 'butt in studio' and keep my schedule.  It feels good to make a schedule and keep it. It's taken a while, but the skills and speed are slowly returning. Not that I'm a fast, production potter anyway, but man was I SLOW when I first started back!

Blogging regularly, however, has been more of a challenge.  I've been working on some things behind the scenes, but my posting has suffered for it.

One of my next projects is to put together a photo setup so I can get some new photos of my work posted and out there.

Back to it

I finally made it back to the studio this week.  I've had a few false starts over the months, but I'm hopeful this time it will stick.

Truth be told, I've been more than a little nerved out, basically starting over after so long away. But the art center is a great place, with great people, and all that crap in my head soon melted away.

One of my friends saw me there and welcomed me back. I told him I wasn't sure what I'd accomplish, but I had to start somewhere. He said, 'ahh, don't worry about it, it's just like riding a bicycle.' I said I just didn't want to fall off and skin my knee!

I started with 2 one pound bowl/dishes that have a domed lid.  I wanted to make some forms for tests I want to do with the terra sig fermenting in the garage....(gotta go deal with that this weekend). I'm wanting to try something 'different' (is there such a thing?) and want to minimize the risk to other work in the kiln, hence the lid/cover. I figure theres only about a 2% chance of something bad happening, but I don't want my work to end up on the 'Wall of Shame' and be branded one of 'those people'.

I still had some time, so I made the jump to 4lbs. I tried a tall bottle form, and it wasn't half bad. My clay was ok, but a bit stiff, so it wasn't pulling up very easily. Probably a pound carved off in my fingers trying to get it to raise.  Whatever.  I'll get new clay soon, but this is good enough for now. I want to use up the rest of the bag and it won't take long. You can see an aforementioned wall of shame piece sitting in the background, welded to the kiln shelf with glaze when the bottom cracked out and glaze ran under the piece.

BISHOC !

What's that you say?
Well, I've taken the liberty of modifying the acronym BICHOK that some writers use - Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard - or sometimes simply 'BIC' to something more alligned to my goals, thus:

Butt In Studio, Hands On Clay.

More to come . . .

Goodbye 2009!

In the spirit of New Years, new beginnings and all that, I'll be making a fresh start here on the blog and in the studio.
After a particularly frustrating 2009, not being able to do what I WANTED to do, or felt I SHOULD be doing or COULD do, I'll be focusing on what I CAN do. Until my recovery and PT and various other procedures are done with, I can still make work. I may not be as fast as I was, or be able to throw for hours and hours, but I can make work. Pain or not, working with clay helps me stay sane through it all.

Pricing in a bad economy

Just read a blog post about the temptation to lower your prices when things aren't selling.
Assuming your prices are set correctly (whatever that is) in the first place, it makes a lot of sense.

Looking around, I sure haven't noticed many other sectors slashing prices. Sure, there are the department stores that have huge retail markup having 50% of sales, but you can be sure they are not selling below, or anywhere near, cost. If they are, they're making it up elsewhere (loss leader to get you in the store) or they're teetering on bankruptcy.

I thought this really fit in with a common theme I've been seeing out in the pottery blogosphere about how people are doing in the down economy. The thinking that makes the most sense for me is that, yes, the big expensive pieces might not be selling right now, so you might want to offer smaller, less complicated, time consuming pieces if you don't already. But offer them in addition to your other pieces, because you just don't know what will sell on any given day.

Check out Molly Gordon's blog here:
Why lowering your prices doesn’t work and how to resist the urge

Seasons and Cycles

I just read a fantastic piece about business cycles and how to look at slowdowns over at Molly Gordon's blog here:  Seasons of Success

I lke her point about if you spend your energy resisting the slow times in 'autumn' you'll be too spent to enjoy the 'spring' when it returns.

Back to work!

It's been a while.

It was 7 weeks last Friday since the accident put me out of the studio. Countless doctor visits, pills, hot soaks, and ice packs later I'm slowly approaching functional.

I finally made it back to the studio yesterday to see what I could do. I'd signed up for a class that starts this week, and wanted to find out if I could do it, or have to cancel. I'm happy to report that I was able to handle the 25# block of clay, wedge, center and throw a couple 2# 'test pots', a bottle and a vase form. Today I'm a bit sore, but no worse than general pottery soreness from not throwing for two months on top of the lingering soreness, if that makes any sense.  I'm hoping the extra activity at this point helps work the knots and cramps out.

It's also been 3 months for the Brian Fields Pottery blog.

I've had nearly 400 unique visitors from 20 countries and 42 states. I have to say, I'm happliy surprized. 

Getting back on track

It's been a week tomorrow since the big wreck, and I've been at a bit of a loss as to what to post. It's pretty clear that I won't be back in the studio any time soon. One of the more painful injuries is a very bruised, very sore sternum. I don't even like to think about trying to wedge or center clay.

I do have some pieces from my failed attempt to re-familiarize myself with the old #112 claybody that are coming through the bisque firings at the center, so I'll be able to glaze them soon. I did take the remainder and wedged it up on the tables and sprayed it down. Hopefully it got a good dose of microbes to help it age. It should be good and ready by the time I'm ready for it again.

I never got a chance to say anything in all last weeks excitement, but I'd thrown in the towel, raised the white flag and went back to my old familiar white stoneware. I'd been trying and trying to get the 112 to work for me, and was just being frustrated. My clay time is precious to me, and I just decided I didn't want to spend my fun time being frustrated and pissed. I threw a 12" vase on the first try.

I'm also spending some time going through old notes I've collected, ideas, sketches, etc. (when I'm not sleeping... I'm doing a LOT of sleeping). Maybe I can get them more organized and possibly share some. And there's been some interest in more details of the naked raku and aluminum foil saggar techniques, so I hope to post more stuff about all that too.

The blog has been up for a little over a month now and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'm enjoying the community, and have made new acquaintances from around the world.

Getting Things Done

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the 'stuff' that needs to be done? I know I do. Sometimes the stress of it all leaves me drained and not able to access the inspired, creative side when I finally get some studio time.
Do you ever have all these fantastic ideas and new things to try streaming through your brain.... when you're in the middle of something else, headed out the door, or otherwise occupied? Then when you get to the studio sit there trying to figure out what they were? Me too.
Do you own a day planning calendar, and use it (or not), but still have the feeling of 'there's GOT to be a better way?'

Since I have a full-time job and do pottery in between, it's a challenge both finding the time and making the most of it when I do. But time management isn't the end of it, otherwise we'd all have a calendar and everything would be perfect.

About a year ago I found a different way of looking at the problem, called Getting Things Done, or GTD. Pioneered by David Allen, it picks up where Stephen Covey's 7 Habits and the Franklin Planner leave off.

One of the principles is that every task/idea has a Context. This filters your todo's and projects so that when you're near a computer, you look at your @Computer list, and don't have to sift through a big list of unrelated tasks. Or if you're in the mood to do some phone calls, you look at @Phone. A few of my contexts are @home, @work, @studio and @PC.

Other principles address the need for a 100% idea-capture system, a simple fast filing system for all those ideas, and a reliable follow-up system. He contends that keeping all your thoughts and ideas in your head leads to stress and forgetfulness. If you can capture them into a system where you know you'll find them when you need to, it frees you to give your' full attention to whatever you're doing.

I've been using GTD for a while now, and although I fall off the wagon for periods of time, it really does help better manage my time. And when I'm not, it doesn't take very long to notice and get back on track.