Finally Getting to Try Stuff

This morning I went out to the studio, and got seriously depressed. What I wanted to do was make pots. I have been wanting to make pots since getting out of the hospital. Despite a quick foray back in January, the studio has been quiet. Every time I try to throw, I am reminded (painfully) about what I can and cannot do. This herniation at the ostomy site wont simple vanish overnight. It needs to be dealt with, and that's the plan now. I miss making pots in the worst way.

I feel very lucky to have had Hannah here through March. She kept me working in the studio most weeks even if I couldn't throw pots. I could be glazing work she had thrown, or helping her get ready to load a kiln, or maybe start working on a new glaze. Now the studio is pretty quiet.

I decided today to take advantage of that quiet. I have wanted to PLAY in the studio since before my surgery. After buying all that flash photography gear, I had mountains of ideas to try. Here's the thing with flash photography... if you're doing it right, no one knows that flash was used. Some of my favorite flash images look like they were shot with daylight peeking through a window. That's what I have been craving. Gentle light, directional... but I think by starting with two lights I was more than confused about how to proceed.

Today, with just one light on a stand, shooting through a white umbrella, I took a few snapshots for a customer far-far-away. After looking at them, I thought, HEY! Why not shoot some samples from around the gallery so people can see what we have on our shelves. Not to boast, but for the first time ever, we have stockpiles of some forms. Mugs we have LOTS of. Plates we have by the bushel. We have more pots on the shelves now than we normally do before July. Not bad considering I can't make more right now! Here's hoping that we learn a lot at the Cleveland Clinic this week!!!