Before I begin…here’s today’s video

DAY 13

When I first started working with clay, I was not a healthy person. Physically and mentally speaking, I needed to just learn to relax through each moment, heal and take each day at a time. My Dr. recommended I learn a hobby, RIIIIIGHT, starting new projects and working WAS my hobby! But he suggested to ease things up I needed to find a relaxing hobby. Something new that I thought I’d enjoy and here I am 3 years later working on pottery.

I had someone say to me, “How can you do that? I could never put myself online so people could watch me make mistakes and then criticize me?” . I guess I don’t think of it quite like that. My mindset is that I need to learn something important to me and with my schedule there isn’t time to do it the traditional way, with class and teacher.  My brain stuffed with ceramic & pottery info from videos and books…that’s all well and good, but being an island hasn’t helped me improve…so something had to change.

If having a teacher watching your technique and critiquing it are what you get when you go to a class,  I had to somehow find a way to simulate that experience. So I told my friend it’s more important to me to get that experience than to worry about looking foolish 🙂

I should also add I wanted to keep track of my progress throughout and follow through for a year. What better way to do that than to put myself in a position where I MUST do it! Thus, I created a little more incentive to learn and grow.

So, here I sit at Day 16/ Cup 16 (Upload date Cup 13).  I’ve finished up some business work, gearing up to  to drive a couple of the kids to school and then work with my youngest son on his home education schoolwork. Pottery, cups & my goal firmly set for this afternoon… I’m ready to rock & roll!

~ Tammy Jo