Ahh time. There is never enough, and it goes so fast.
It struck me today that I have been in a state of withdrawal again. Many that now me are aware of this, and have seen it before. I am in need of getting my hands dirty. In the last 2.5 years I have picked up one hobby after another to try and help with the need for a fix. I even would drive an hour once a week for a while I could afford it to get a hit.
That is right, I man clay. Ever sense I moved from Charlotte I have not REALLY worked in clay. I did pay for some studio time in Salt Lake for a few months just before we had to move again. Though it was so far to drive I could only go for a few hours a week. Just enough to make me feel more guilt to be honest. I have been sketching, and stocking up on new clay and gaze recipes though I have not really gotten back to what my heart desires. We now have a house with a basement that will be converted to a studio soon (I hope).
We have to do some work on the walls before I can do anything, but I do hope to have it up an running by the end of the year. However until then I am really having a hard time with the feeling of lack of accomplishment. I feel my skills slipping away from me, and I wish with all of my heart that I could just get my hands on a good ball of clay.
Until then i keep my hands busy with fiber art, (always been my fallback media) though I never feel the same joy of bringing something to life. While I can clean and spin what was just a bunch of dirty fiber into a fine thread or yarn. Then dye it to be vibrant and lovely, and even knit it into a final product it never seems alive.
Clay has a mind of it's own. Each ball tells me as I center it what it wishes to become. I am only the tool to make it into it's fated form. It has a memory, it remembers when you make a mistake, it learns your strengths and weaknesses. It starts as the most humble of elements, and becomes a piece of art that can service centuries. We use shards of it to learn about people that died away thousands of years ago. Yet we use it to go into space and look for ways to make mankind travel into the future.
While all of the things I do now keep me busy I miss with all of my heart my one true love, that magical clay body.
