WOW! about that hand post... and some pottery stuff too.

I would like to thank all of the people who responded to my post about hands, here, on my facebook, and by private message, across the driveway...
I was a little more than afraid to put all this out there. Those who know me best, know that it is something that I very rarely talk about in any real way. Sure I'll answer questions, or mention things that happen, but as a whole the topic rarely gets any in depth treatment. Now that the intro is out there, and the ball is rolling I feel a little more confident in persuing it as a project.
Kasey- you are correct, I make things because that was what I was born to do. It really isn't a choice for me, so much as it is a calling. There is a lot more to be said on this particular point, but you nailed it. I don't just want to be a maker, I have to be one, it is a very important part of who I am.
Nancy- you have been there literally from day one. There are no words to describe what your friendship means to me. BUT there are lots and lots of incriminating photos... Mwahahahahaha!

Liz M- there is most certainly an art project in this, I just need to find it. Wrestling this topic into submission is about as easy as nailing Jello to a tree. But I will prevail and something will come of it. The outward part is the easy one, its the parts that don't show that give me trouble.
Kerry- you are correct, the other parts of us get to work thier mojo when something is askew. The brain is a mysterious thing. It is that very aspect of differing abilities that I think drives me to be a maker. I think the intense focus on my hands, and on figuring out how to use my hands to accomplish everyday tasks has made me really develop the creative aspect of my brain. I am pretty sure that my brain has rewired itself to see things differently, and to hone my visual problem solving skills.
Every task that I learn, I do so by observing how other people do it, and translating the movements they make into movements I am capable of. There is no mimic action happening here. I do everything differently. I see everything differently. I am an intense observer and analyst of movement, and of dexterity . I have become intimately aware of the limits of my body, and have consistantly pushed the boundaries of what my muscles and joints can handle. This is the only way I know how to get things done.
This need for intense observation is coupled with what I call my 3D curse. When I look at a flat pattern, I see the finished three dimensional form. Conversely I can break down a three dimensional form, to its basic componants in my mind. I really don't have a way to switch this off and I must say, that sometimes it makes me a little crazy. I am sure that most artists have this ability to some extent. For me it is both a blessing and a curse.
I managed a bit of time in the studio today, getting a platter and some tumblers and yarn bowls underway, I am feeling a bit like a slacker these days, and need to beef up production a bit. There are so many things stuck inside my brain trying to get out.

And On The Other Hand, Part One.

From the moment I came in to this world my hands have been a hot topic. I was born with a rare (apparently one in 30 000) birth anomalie known as Symbrachydactyly . Please don't ask me to pronounce it, I am not sure I can. The definition is pretty vague, and covers a lot of related finger and hand deformities. In my case, I was born with a shortened left forearm, tiny fingers with no bones, and a partially formed thumb. The muscles, tendons, bones and nerves are all messed up in that hand. All in all a pretty short and oversimplefied definition of a very complex problem. The gist of it is, the experts don't know why, it just is what it is.

I have spent a great deal of my life consciously not thinking about hands and a great deal of it being forced to think about hands. But now I am choosing to think about, and talk about hands. My Hands. This is a pretty big leap for me, having spent most of my life wishing people would shut the hell up about them, and move on to something or someone more interesting. I would much rather talk about my work, not about how many hands it took to make it.
My outlook on the hand discussion changed rather abruptly Several months ago when a friend posted a link to this video of Renate Hiller "On Handwork" to her facebook page.



 

 
 This video was the catalyst to my journey of looking really hard inside myself to uncover what exactly hands meant to me. As an artist, as a human, as a person with a disability. I watched it over and over again, her words sinking in to my mind and making my head spin.

"The use of the hands is vital to the human being. For having flexibility, dexterity.  In a way, the entire human being is in the hands."-Renate Hiller, on handwork.

This absolutely blew my mind. As an artist I agreed with it all, the feeling you get from working with your hands, from being a maker. That empathetic connection with the world when you create something for use by people. A beautiful,  tactile object made by the hands. But for me, it was a bit more than that. It was that eureka moment when I realised just what it was that made people want to know why, and how a person with one hand could possibly do what I do. It made me realize that I could no longer seperate what I do, from how I do it. This really pissed me off. Now suddenly I wanted to know how, and why I did things the way I do. My pat answer .."I don't know, I just do it." wasn't going to suffice any longer. I was going to have to join the discussion, find the answers, and share them. I was not looking forward to this process at all.

Looking inward is never easy, but is sometimes vital to discovering what makes us the person we are. When I decided to write a blogpost about having one hand, and making pots, it was going to be just that, Some "how I do it" photos, and a short blurb about how you can do anything you want even with one hand. It wasn't that easy, and I never got to the "how I do it" stage; or for that matter, the "anything you want to do" stage. It is a much larger and more complex problem than I initially thought. and so dear blog readers, there will be more.

Good Morning!

Just a quick post to say I am still alive and Kicken'  The Nova Scotia Designer Craft Council Show was absolutely wonderful. My new Confetti line was a smash hit, I made some new contacts in different locales and have some new opportunities to persue farther afield. There is not much time to post amazing details of my trip to Halifax, since I have to be in town for the last day of the Christmas Loft at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design. Suffice it to say, there were pots sold, there were snazzy new shoes purchased, there was a bit of red wine consumed and there was a great meal shared with old friends, followed by a great evening of wine and giggles with my cousins. I leave you with some photos from the Halifax show

And now some shots from the show I am currently doing. The Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design Christmas Loft

Blog Slacking....

Things have been really hectic around here... and thus my poor blog has been neglected.. I am going to make a concerted effort to change that.
Classes are well underway at my studio, I am running two classes at the moment, but will be adding a few workshop Saturdays in the next month or so, and an afterschool class for kids. I must say I am thoroughly enjoying teaching at home. And my students are making some pretty fantastic stuff.
I have been playing around with soem new glazes, and new forms over the past couple of weeks, I am pretty happy with the new pendants I have come up with, as well as my new little plate shapes. Check em Out...

I think They are pretty snazzy, and I have pretty much sold most of the first run of these little ladies. Now the plates are a different story, I am loving the shapes, but stalling on the glazing. I want Vibrant pretty glazes in nice clear colours. I tried the Commercial glaze route with some success, some failure.. and a whole lotta, brushing of three coats of glaze.

This is the big problem, I discovered that I hate the three coats of brushing. I am a dipper, a pourer, and a quick painted design kinda gal. So now I have a gazillion plates to dip and pour and paint. But can't decide on a glaze. I may have to just start blindly dipping in all buckets til I find something that works.

It was a crazy week last week round here, one minor disaster after another, ending with a broken camera yesterday, just as I was wanting to post stuff to etsy. This week will be better, I decree it to be so. we are starting Monday off with some good ole, punk rock music and random glaze dipping. Wish me luck!

oh, and check out the new stuff posted on etsy, buy some! you know you wanna!

BAMF! fall Show and sale

wellits that Time of year.... Fall BAMF show.... currently the service to allow me to post the entire thing is playing tricks on me...... so for now, I post a link, later, you can view the whole thing, right here in all its fabulous, creepy, gory, wonder . its a fabulous selection of eeiier treats for your viewing, and buying pleasure.

New Stuff

My Pottery Classes officially start on Wednesday night. There was a little gathering of sorts last Wednesday, it involved some Red Wine, and some clay, but it was not so much a class as a Hey the studio's done! gathering. This week will be more class like, with ya know, learning and stuff, and all three of my evening students. I think I am going to like teaching at home. 

I fired my first glaze load in the new kiln yesterday, everything came out looking like it should. I did have one s cracked mug, first time that has happened in years, but all in all a very successfull firing.I took some quick snaps of the pots, but will have to do a more professional job later this evening. It was not really a full load, but I was impatient and needed to fire so I could see the results. Tomorrow, we load up another bisque, if all goes well.

Change is Good Partt Deux.....