Chances

I'm settling back into home to my simple potting lifestyle in the quiet mountains after a great time in Florida for the firing symposium.  It was such an honor for Will and I to have been asked to present along such widely recognized ceramic artists such as Don Reitz, Chris Gustin, John Balistreri, Matt Long, Trevor Dunn, Adam Field and Steven Lee.  What was even better, was getting to know them after the workshop, spending time watching the sunset, enjoying good food, sharing stories and laughs, and realizing our common bonds through not only the medium of clay, but through our goals and passions for creating a lifestyle out of expressing ourselves.  What's always amazing to me is meeting such great people within our clay community and realizing how simple our quest really is.  While we each have led different paths in clay, our motivations are exactly the same.  Listening to the slide talks of Don, Chris, John and Matt, I kept thinking I needed to work on my slide talk!  But then I realized, theirs were so compelling because they had about 30-50 more years of experience on me, with lots of life packed in that influenced the choices they have made in their work.  So I left there feeling fully inspired, and excited for my chance at this life I have chosen as an artist and what it will continue to bring me for the rest of my life.  I'm truly blessed to have found what I love to do so early in life and am honored when such great opportunities keep unfolding for me. Thank you, St. Pete Clay and the Morean Arts Center for this great chance to share a bit of myself to the greater ceramic community.