How I Work

This is a detail of one of my bowls. I love the texture of this piece. Each time I strike or punch or touch the clay, the clay records that. It tells the story of its own creation. Each event in our lives adds to the story of who we are, who we were and who we are becoming. Each time the clay worked, the story of its creation is told, but the story changes until the creator says this is what I am talking about, this is the word I am trying to say, this is the end of this story. As artist, we often work in series, working on concepts we wish to express until we know that we are done saying this story, writing this poem, and singing the song we want to sing. I suppose it's like a writer writing in drafts, until it is done. Sometimes writers work in series because what they want to say is so large and long that it takes awhile to say it. I think we work that way in our own lives, creating our own story, reworking it until we want to move on to the next story. Each morning we wake up as a new person, having a new thing to express, having taken with us what ever experience we choose to take with us to the next part of our story. We can let go of things and hold on to others just as I keep or remove a mark in my piece until I know it is what I want to say.