Turning Back the Clock
Last weekend I went to a party that was mostly made up of college kids and I had a blast. Their enthusiasm and energy took me back 40 years to a time when life felt wide open and full of possibility. It made me realize that, while much of my life has settled down and I’m no longer wondering what I will be when I grow up, my life in the studio still has that excitement of my early years. There is a sense of wonder and adventure every time I set out on a new project or experiment. It wasn’t until I got home that night that it dawned on me that I was actually the oldest person at the party. That was kind of a surprise as I never feel ‘old’ even though my age number continues to climb.
This week I started working on a new project with the blind enthusiasm of looking forward into the unknown. I decided to try creating a virtual workshop about ‘Building Ceramic Totems’ that I hope to someday be able to offer as an on-line course. Maybe because of the party, or maybe just because, I realized that I have accumulated 40 years of ceramic experience. Tips, tricks, lessons learned from mistakes, etc. and I’d like a way to pass that legacy of knowledge along to other people on their pottery journey.
So, I’m learning a new skill set of teaching without any students in the room. It’s a little different than having an audience. For one thing, I won’t be able to look out and see if my audience is engaged or dozing off. My goal is to make the on-line course be very similar to what a person would experience at an in-person workshop with me. We’ll see how that goes. I don’t want to be like that teacher in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ who was a hoot to watch for his dullness.
Bonny Blue Bunny came out of the kiln last week so she is acting as my audience of one. She looks so alert and attentive that I must be doing a good job with my lectures!
I set out to make a jack rabbit but this bunny has softer curves and doesn’t quite have that quick-off-the-starting-block look that I think of with jack rabbits. That’s ok, I think she’s quite sweet and she makes an excellent student. She was calling out to be blue when it came time to glaze her so that’s how she got her name of Bonny Blue.
Have you taken an interesting class lately? Any tips for me?
