Practice, practice, practice!

The good news is that with all this practice I’m getting, I don’t really think about Patrick Swayze when I’m doing pottery anymore. Sure, when my pots are  flopping, he sort of pats me on the back and says “Bon courage!”—and I think, “Man! He also speaks French?”

Flashback…..

Kidding aside, I’d like to announce that although my pots still double as paperweights, they are more or less round (or artistically askew) and functional. After three wheel-throwing, one handing building and one surface decoration class, I’m starting to feel like one day I will be able to make really nice Christmas gifts! I’m pretty sure the friend requests will come piling in on FaceBook now.

Pottery and Poetry

Of course, I will make parallels with writing. That’s just my way to trick you into reading about what’s going on in my literary world. (Disclaimer—I don’t actually write a lot of poetry, but I like to amuse myself—try saying the title of this post 5 times really fast. Nothing like a good tongue twister now and then! This is why I don’t need vacations—I am that easily amused!)

1.Practise makes perfect

—Take clay and words, a potter’s wheel and a laptop and add a dash of imagination… Voila! The possibilities are limitless.

I’ve been trying to fix up some of my old stories and poems. I thought they were so promising when I wrote them a few years ago, but now I realize how far I’ve come. Does that mean all of those stories are wasted?

Look at the progression of pots (starting from my first class a year ago to the latest class a month ago). Some of them are so small they can’t even be used for more than my garage key holder.

Bowls are getting bigger

None of this is wasted. It’s all part of the process. Remember that even Picasso was a little boy who scratched images in the dirt. Look what he became.

2. Surface decoration

for pottery (and more poetic writing)

Surface Decorating Tiles

There’s a lot to be said for those little extra touches. Every once in a while, I write a line that I fall in love with. Usually I post it on Twitter because I just can’t help wanting to share it—and it takes so darn long to hear back when I submit…and so much of my stuff is not submission-ready. But I know I’ve written it, and I know someday those beautiful lines will light up someone’s world.

Since taking my surface decorating class, I can see the link to spending the time perfecting a line of prose or poetry. The extra time spent sweating over a carving, or exacerbating my tendonitis over mishima fish—it’s worth it in the end. And it will get easier as I test out the techniques and learn from my mistakes.

Mishima fish

3. Find the centre. Now hold it….

Whether it’s the centre of the pot or the centre of the plot, once you figure out how to get straight to it, there will be less flops. With stories and with cups, a little experimentation on uncentred pieces can actually work quite well. Check out this story—notice the timeline. And look at these adorable mugs.

Over-collared cup

Tea cup–comes with a tea bag string holder 😉

4. Trimming away that excess.

We all know I’m a believer in minimalism.
These days, as I mentioned in last week’s post, I am taking a class by Rachel Thompson called Polish Your Prose and Poetry. Although I’ve only been at it a week and a half, the techniques I am learning are really helping me to trim away at the excess in my writing. I’m not just talking about getting rid of adverbs and abstract words. I’m excited to see what techniques I will be learning for the duration of the class. If you are in need of polishing your writing, consider Rachel’s class. Here’s the link. You’re welcome 😉

I will be binge-watching pot trimming videos in preparation for my next pottery class. I have all of the paperweights my heart has ever desired.

5. Forgive yourself for the flaws.

Look at all you’ve accomplished.
Sometimes the endless rejection letters get me down. Sometimes seeing my pots next to my classmates’ pots makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry. But the important thing is that I continue to pick myself up off the clay-dusty floor, I continue to submit my writing and trust that every once in a while I will have a break-through. Each break-through takes me further down the path towards my potential.

And that potential, my friends, is what we need to aim for. We should only compare what we are putting forth now compared to what we were creating a year or two (or ten) ago.

Check out these past posts:

Pottery and Patrick Swayze

Pottery: Slabs are my Thing

and if you need a kick in the buttinski to get going….

Carving Out Your Dream 101