Working Again, With a New Perspective...

I've been back in the studio for a little over a week now - and much to my relief, it's great to have my hands in clay.  To be honest, I was a little worried.  I felt no pangs for the studio while traveling this summer, no itching for something creative to throw myself into, no wandering thoughts of my idol workspace.  Okay, okay, to be fair I had plenty to keep me occupied (like 23 college students), but it was disconcerting to NOT miss the thing I spend a huge percentage of time either making or thinking about making.  And I think that's exactly what this summer showed me.  The amount of time I spent devoted to my ceramic practice was a little over the top last October - May.  So over the top, that I royally burned myself out and didn't even miss the studio ONCE while away for three months.  Lesson learned.  (I hope.)

And so the question looms large: now that I'm aware of overworking myself, how do I avoid a cronic cycle of burn-out such that I eventually end up hating the thing I was once so passionate about?  As the holidays rapidly approach, and the deadlines mount, I'm not entirely sure how to avoid working myself cross-eyed.  I do think it's important to acknowledge the regular cycles and rhythms of the retail world - this time of year is typically mayhem for anyone selling ANYTHING.  And after my extended time away, I'm refreshed, recharged and ready to have at that pile of fresh clay in my studio.  But I don't want to wake up next spring exhausted, drained and creatively sapped.  So, I'll put the question to the few of you who still have me in your blog feeds: How do you manage your time (especially around this time of year)?  What do you do to avoid burn out?  When you ARE burned out, how do you recover?

As I type, my first load of work is cooling back at the studio.  And while I'm not overly giddy with anticipation of cracking the door tomorrow afternoon, there IS a flutter of excitement.  It's there, I can feel it.  It's good to be back.

Tractor cup patiently waiting for corn sgraffito...

Anonymous Potter

Miss Anonymous...

The title of "Anonymous Potter" is fitting in a number of ways - I have certainly been anonymous from this blog, and even anonymous from the US for the past two and a half months (check out www.carletoncambridge2011.blogspot.com to see what I've been up to).  I just scrolled back through my posts on this blog and was shocked to realize that the last time I wrote anything here was well over a year ago.  While my own posting withered away in the spring of 2010, I have continued to be an avid blog reader (and know I'm not the only one who struggles for time to update a blog!).  But, I have a new reason to jump back into the game - I recently received the Anonymous Potter grant at the Northern Clay Center, which will provide me with studio space for the next year (yea!).  Below is a peek into my new studio space full of boxes waiting to be unpacked...

The Anonymous Potter studio space

 

This grant period seems like an ideal time frame to document, and I'll do my best to keep the momentum going this time.  I've been back in MN for just a few days now, but I managed to throw a few things today for an upcoming show at the Charlie Cummings Gallery - Cup: The Intimate Object VII.  

Cups patiently waiting for their surface treatments

I'm looking forward to recording the changes in my work over the next year and am excited to get some practice writing again.  So here's to my new role as the Anonymous Potter of NCC, and to my reemergence on the blogging scene!