Thursday, February 16, 2012

young inspiration

I've invited my nephew into my studio for once a week clay classes, and I love having that little bit of one on one time with him. He is such a neat kid.

I'm starting off with loose instruction, and letting him get a feel for the rhythm of the studio. On the first day I gave him a hunk of clay, and told him to just start playing and see what happened. After a few minutes he exclaimed, "I am going to make a spoon!"  I laughed to myself, seemed like a funny choice for a 7 year old boy, but on second thought, I decided it was a GREAT idea and joined in on the fun. His spoon ended up turning into a volcano. My spoons ended up looking like this.

They aren't finished yet, I will be glazing them this weekend and they should be in my shop next week. I plan on pairing them with my salt cellars, and will make a few honey pots and sugar bowls to go with them.

At the end of the lesson, my nephew said "I had no idea jobs could be so much fun!" Yes, kiddo, some days they can!

4 comments:

melissa said...

Love this story!

Caroline Hatton said...

Hi -
I'm the Asian woman who bought a small blue pot from you yesterday (Sat Apr 28, 2012) at the Madison Farmers' Market. Thanks so much for putting your business card in my bag! I just spent a really enjoyable moment visiting your Etsy pottery and antiques shops, and reading about how you lived in a silo. I, too, value and experiment with extremely minimalistic approaches to life. This is something relatively uncommon to share, I would think, so it amazes me that my strong attraction to your pottery at the market reflected common values that deep. That said, it shows how much a pot can convey, a strong and intense expression like a poem.

Anyway, I started writing a comment on this particular blog post because it reminds me of the day I put out Sculpey (craft clay) after a family dinner. My sister-in-law who is a dentist made a life-size model of a molar. My young nephew made a basket from many little balls pressed flat, then pressed together.

Thanks for making my experience so much more fun than I expected!

JDWolfe said...

Hi Caroline! So nice to see you here, and at the market this past Saturday. I appreciate your support on that cold and rainy day! I am grateful we could make that connection through my work.

I love your idea of setting out clay after dinner for others to create with. What a fun experience! Thanks for sharing!

Jen

Silly Little Sheep said...

It is nice that you have a job that you love and that is fun :) You are a happy person :))