The First Day of 2017

Happy New Year to all. I spent the first day of 2017 in my studio, I threw mugs while looking out at the snow while this fellow watched me. A great day to be a potter!
 
I thought a great deal about artistic integrity today. I don’t think personal integrity and artistic integrity are separate things but one in the same. Words like “well, someone will buy it...” or “good enough” just don’t cut it with me. I make the best piece I can make why bother otherwise. Not everything that comes out of my kiln is good enough to sell. Broken or cracked pieces or vessels with glaze imperfections do not make it to the sale....a hammer is sometimes just as useful a tool as a fettling knife. As a lovely potter once told me ..... “Momma does not let the ugly ones live.”