the 2024 studio tour recap
Sometimes many things happen all at once and all you can do is focus on those few things and because of this many of the other things that were happening in your life become smaller and smaller and very quiet, so quiet that you can barely hear them but can hear them just enough to know that they are there, and so in a really soft voice you tell those other things that you’ll be back soon. That you haven’t forgotten about them.
That’s a little bit of what happened these past few months: as the studio tour grew closer and closer, my focused on it intensified, making it difficult to stay on top of other creative projects and life things.
That said, I knew that this day would come when the initial winter tour was through and I’d be on the other side with energy and time to re-focus and tend to myself, catch up with friends, and explore everything I left (mostly) to fend for itself during the fall months.
So, the studio tour. The thing that took all my focus for many, many months. It was many things…and while I want to say unexpected, that doesn’t feel quite right because having gone into it with my own goals, my own reasons, I didn’t feel that my expectations were on the studio tour itself, more but the process of creating pottery, and why it felt so important to me to re-establish that relationship.
What I didn’t realize is that it would become a challenge in trust: can I trust myself enough to give this my all and make what brings me joy, no matter the outcome? No matter the number of pieces sold or whether or not I wanted to continue to make pottery after it was over—could I give it my all this one time and be ok with the possibility of never wanting to do it again?
It was sometime late summer, coming off of the death of our beloved dog and without any active work, that I had decided I would do the winter studio tour with my mom, hoping that in having something to focus on, I wouldn’t spend as much time anxiously spiraling while doing laps around my kitchen.
It didn’t feel planned or calculated, it just felt like something I could do. Something I could, for the most part, have control over (do these steps, have this general outcome). Of course, pottery is anything but predictable, however, at the time it felt like a lifeline. Something to pour myself into. To get better at. To make and do and distract and build upon.
Mostly, it felt like an opportunity to show myself that I was safe to create—that it’s not something I have to be so afraid of. That I can trust myself with it. If at all curious, I share the entire process (daily thoughts and photos spanning from September - December) within a home for creating.
For more, listen to the very long and very casual voice note at the top of this post, where I share with you my most honest thoughts on how it went, where I’d like to go from here, and more of the general feel of the studio tour space (which took place in a “barn”).
One of many sleeping fox dishes, a piece I felt especially proud of
Another one of my favorites—it felt bold and exciting and just right to try and create people on the pieces I made. Definitely one of my greatest challenges (and while I loved all the people I made, they didn’t sell as well…which is kind of (I’m realizing) just how things go: what you love might not be what other people love and that’s kind of what makes it so wonderful. Each of us get to choose!
One of my favorite things about the whole event, the whole process, was doing it with my mom (pictured above it both of our work, mingling together). Getting to co-collaborate on this hugely challenging event, sharing the experience, debriefing together, and marveling at the impossibleness of actually seeing it through to the end, was an essential part of it all and something I will look forward to in future events we do together. This feels like only the beginning
I was so proud of these bowls! Mostly the use of black glaze and how it creating this depth with the yellow flowers. Once again, while the animal designs were a favorite amongst those who came to the studio tour, it’s how I felt when makes these that make them some of my favorites
When beginning the process of making things, I started with tiles. To me, tiles feel accessible, especially when the tiles themselves are already made and “all you have to do” is design, wax, glaze, and fire them. Color is important to me, and texture, so piecing them all together is a mind-bogglingly wonderful puzzle
For a full gallery of the work I’ve created for the winter, 2024 studio tour, as well as from past projects, visit the pottery page, home to all pottery-related things.
Oh, and I know I already said this, but if you’d like the nitty gritty details of this event, be sure to listen to the voice-note at the top of this page—discussing where I’m at right now (pottery-making wise) and what events might be coming up this year, etc.,
Talk soon,
Chloe
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