God Directs Our Paths

I know that God guides and directs me, provides for me and loves me. Over the past couple of weeks this has been incredibly apparent. In the overwhelmingly large city of Raleigh, I had one job offer. I searched for over a week for a place to live. Over that week God gave me sign after sign that I needed to be in New Bern. The happy truth that I was afraid to hear. I didn't have a job offer in New Bern.

But I had a gallery that wanted my art. My dad called to say that my pastor had wanted me to be involved in the new Children's ministry. Cost of living was about half of what it was in Raleigh. Every door I knocked on in the huge city was slammed shut. Except two things: a friendship forged with a Christian over the course of the week, and the job offer at a bakery/sandwich shop.

I walked away from the job offer and went back to New Bern. The next week, a friend from Indiana came for a visit (and potential move) and we went job hunting all week. We filled out 30+ applications.

One evening I stopped in to my grocery store to pick up a couple of things and saw a car I recognized in the lot of a pizza chain. Timmy, a friend I met though my college friends at Craven, had just started working there as a driver. He explained that it was a great job and he enjoyed doing it. Encouraged, I popped into a similar pizza chain the next day and inquired if they were accepting applications.

I could tell immediately that I was at the right place at the right time. The manager was in need of drivers because of the upcoming football season and holidays. I knew my Indiana friend and I would get the job.

We did. Although He decided to continue his search, I jumped in right away and I was on my way to an orientation by the end of the week.

I also got a response from a shot in the dark job I had applied for at my local YMCA. I didn't know enough about the job at the time to be able to tell if I was qualified for it or not. But the interview went well and I was hired part time at both jobs.

I admit that trusting God is a conscious effort for me. But even as my savings dwindled away and fear of unemployment gnawed at me, I ran to the scriptures for comfort and encouragement. There is no greater comfort.

Its easy for someone who has worked as an art teacher for so many years to look at pizza delivery as being a kind of nuisance of a job. But I haven't felt that way about it. I have been really excited about this job, and I know that God can use it just as well as an art teacher job to bless people and minister to them. I have had a very positive experience there over the past couple of days.

As for pottery....I have been throwing more pots than I did when I was working at the studio. I am excited to say I am on number 125 and still shooting for 1000.  I'm done with mugs for a while and working on jars and bottles.  I will post pictures soon.

Nice day at the shop

It's really sunny and cool outside today so I set a table of pottery outside and propped opened the door of our studio. During our quiet season (no classes till january) I like to spend time creating inviting pottery displays. The typewriter boxes have generated a lot of attention.

Our studio is doing well, We have the spring schedule all planned out and the summer camps in the works! Our calendar is full of visiting artists and fun workshops.

I keep trying to list my work on my etsy shop but then I get sad. Its not that I don't want to sell my work, its just the thought of never seeing or talking to the people who buy it. I almost think that I make pottery so I can find people who like the same things that I do.

But I also find joy in knowing where my work is going. Right now I have work locally, in a gallery in Havelock, and under a Christmas tree in Washington DC.

I think I will try selling art at the farmers market instead for a while.

Skate shoe

I liked this piece before, but I love it now. The Temoku gives a much darker, deeper effect on the clay than the relic wash, which sometimes burns off in the kiln. I might be brave enough to fire my Zen tangle shoe using the same method.

I used teal underglaze on the greens are.

Temoku everything

Temoku  has definitely been a favorite of mine lately. But I have also been playing with removal of glazes from certain areas to create contrast and show off the naked clay. She skate shoe is a test, it has teal under glaze under the temoku and the clay is white. We will see if it turns out well enough for me to glaze my Zen tangle shoe with this technique.

Sushi plates

More Japanese inspired pottery. I used a fish pattern rolling stamp and green patina glaze. I like How it breaks brown, but I wish i had put it on thicker on the darkest one. These were dipped.

Hobbit Homes

Made three little tea light hobbit homes out of great white clay. I like to imagine lights glowing from inside. I used Rio wash and relic wash to get the aged look. My mom promptly stole my idea and used it in a kids class. We now have about twenty of these things.

Mermaids jewelry box

Yeah I know, another head box, but this one is different! I underglazed the whole thing black, vitrified it, and than did a post firing finish if rub'n buff...yeah, the picture frame stuff. Its decorative, obviously, but I think it would make a lovely jewelry box.

Personified teapot becomes personified!

So I used underglazes and some dry- brushing techniques to get the ancient kind of look on that teapot. I wasn't exactly sure how to tackle it because I didn't have a color in mind originally. But I'm satisfied with the result.

The first shoe

I find a lot of inspiration from converse, both in art and writing. I've been known to paint them, to write about them, to wear them, and to admire them in public places. Why? Why do we like anything? We just connect with it somehow on a deeper-than-average basis.

This is intended to be semi-functional. I really hope someone will plant flowers in it someday. And in case you were wondering, it's a size 8.5.

Origami cups

Used a rectangular slab to make a tube, and then folded the bottom of the tube to form feet and a base for the cup. I ended up making three or four of these, although I now intend to make more.

Zen Geisha yarn box

I made this in a workshop at my studio. I put holes in the back of her head and intend to mount balls of yarn onto her head as geisha hair. Something about yarn and the Japanese seems to inspire me.

Pumpkin teapot

Made of two pinch pots!

My Thousand Pots Mission

I heard somewhere that a potter must create one thousand bad pots before he can create one good pot. I think that there is some truth to that. I've started on my thousand pots.