Hi there
Thanks for popping in. Today I want to discuss Obsession. What’s yours? Do you have one? Do you have more than one? Healthy or unhealthy? Let’s look up the dictionary definition of Obsession, shall we?
noun
- the state of being obsessed with someone or something.
- an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind.
My latest obsession – and possibly the greatest of all time – is surely Pottery! I say latest, because my life is just one long string of obsessions actually! Both healthy and unhealthy obsessions have underpinned my life all along. Do you get me? Having a very addictive personality, it’s quite normal to obsess about things, to get involved, get in deep – not just skim the surface.
At 5am this morning, when I was padding across the garden in my dressing gown and slippers, from the house to the garage, to see if the kiln was cool enough to open, it occurred to me that this was the physical manifestation of obsession – albeit a healthy one! I mean, I’m not climbing over the garden hedge or burrowing in the rockery, looking for the bottle of gin I hid a month ago! Different obsession. But I opened my eyes and immediately had to check. Couldn’t wait. Couldn’t get dressed and have a cuppa first. Nope. Dressing gown, slippers, out the back door.
And guess who was right behind me in his dressing gown ?!? Wonderful. A match made in heaven.
This was the experimental kiln firing, remember? Where I was testing different glazes and ideas to see whether they had worked or not. Mmmm… hardly a hit & hope attitude, hey?! She’s definitely obsessed!
Well, happy – VERY HAPPY – to report that most of the pieces and experiments worked really well. Lookie Lookie…
A couple bombed, but nothing terminal, and certainly nothing that can’t be reglazed and refired. Even if they were for the bin, that’s still okay, because I waved goodbye to them when I shut the door on the kiln 2 days ago. Detached with love, as it were.
Now. Check out the cataloguing, and then tell me I am not obsessed!
Thing is, if I don’t catalogue what I have done, if I don’t write down how I got (or didn’t get) a particular result, I will never remember later on, when I want to use that technique again. The glazing side of pottery is a real science! And it is a science which I really want to learn.
So, in a nutshell, this is my homespun Pottery University Course. If only I had been as invested and motivated the first time round, when I actually was lucky enough to attend University!
But it’s back to work now. I have loads to do, so pottery will have to wait till this evening. Have I got a favourite? No. I do like the stamped tiles…
…and I think the black iron oxide on the little plaques is pretty special too. Needs refining, but I love the feel of these.
Obsession is often defined as a negative emotion, a disorder. That depends. My obsession with art – and pottery in particular – is also a wonderful creative distraction, which has been very powerful therapy during this past year. I guess you have to sort the positive obsessive thinking from the negative, eh?
Have a great day!
Love and Hugs
Barb xxx