Spinning My Wheel

Yesterday, I had way too much fun getting messy, squishing around in and making a mess at Mudfire, an Open Studio in nearby Decatur.

It was more or less an Artist's Date, though I don't follow a regular schedule for those anymore. (since completing the 12-weeks)

I can usually tell when I have the need to do something silly, playful, or utterly unexpected.... and playing with pottery is definitely outside my comfort zone.

It's strange, trying to work in the 3-D world of soft clay. It seems so forgiving and easy to do when you're a little kid with play-doh figures that eventually just get smooshed back into little plastic jars for later. Even in the 8th grade, when we'd handbuild sculptures to take home (my koala bear and his oh-so phallic tree...) it had seemed.... like I couldn't possibly mess it up.

Maybe it was the wheel, and learning the intricate techniques, the new vocabulary. Maybe it was my own shaking hands, or hit and miss foot on the pedal. I'm not sure. But I felt like I was completely out of my milieu. The fear of failure kicked in, that's for sure.

I can't wait to go back on Monday....