Or Never Underestimate the Resourcefulness of the Creative Mind.
Working primarily on small pinched vessels, I often am at
the point in the process where the clay is still malleable and not able to sit
on a flat surface without losing its lovely rounded bottom. So what to do? Well, often I can flip the piece, rest
it on its lip and wait until it becomes a bit harder before more pinching,
pressing, scraping can be done.
But recently, I found myself in a spot where I was working
on three pieces simultaneously and had them at the point where they were all a
bit too soft to rest on their lips so here’s what happened:
Two of these perfect supports were found in the “free box”
in our studio building and the other is a cup I made many years ago to hold my
tea while I’m working.
I think the two plus years I spent as an art teacher in
Uganda, East Africa helped expand my ability to be both inventive and a clever
scavenger. Thank you ever so much, US Peace Corps, St. Leo’s College, Ft.
Portal, Uganda and all the curious, open-minded, talented and respectful
students I had the privilege of guiding and encouraging back in the day.
Those years truly changed the course of my life. From that
point on, I realized just how much I not only loved teaching, but also how much
teaching would enrich my own creative process.
Ah, yes, the lessons one learns when given the opportunity.
