Thinking Back on What I Got Done - 2019

I had a very busy second half of 2019. I challenged myself to kick my pottery production into gear. The use of Instagram and my hashtag #100daysofvases really did help me to keep connected to my studio practice and making something almost every day. Making ceramics is a long process and posting something every day.... a photo that I found visually interesting and pleasing to my eye.... was honestly quite difficult. There were days when I was plain covered in mud/clay trying to make as many vases as I could fit into my day. They were all a pale gray color and not very interesting to photograph. And then there were days when I was decorating lots of them and there was too much to document. I balanced it all out - sometimes taking photos to use another day to keep my sanity. 

The #100daysofvases project was a good one and I'm glad I did it in 2019.

For years I dreamed of becoming a fabric designer and having a line of fabric. Several years ago I learned how to design fabric using Adobe Illustrator. It was a good exercise and I'm glad I learned it. I uploaded many of these designs onto my Spoonflower store and hoped for the sales to come. They didn't and I felt like a failure. In retrospect, I am a very small fish in a very large sea of surface designers trying to sell their designs on Spoonflower. For non-computer savvy people, Spoonflower is a difficult website to use. It is overwhelming with the number of designs available and it's hard to decide on a design much less a fabric (there are more than 25 different fabrics to choose from). 

I decided to give up on my fabric designer dream and use those fabric designs to make my own product - my very own tea towels that I order my own fabric designs printed on fabric and then cut and sew them. You can see them for sale over on my website HERE.

It's hard for me (and maybe for you) to give up on dreams. It is healthy though to admit defeat and move on and explore other things. 

In 2019, I decided not to do any Creative Retreats here at our farm. I missed having the students come and I missed the sharing with them and seeing them excited about learning something new. I didn't miss the cleaning up of the studio and house though. That was a relief. I had much more time for me being creative and making pottery and other things. My garden was a success too. I'm not sure if I will be doing the retreats this year. Time will tell. 

I've got 4 huge vases similar to the one below that I'm going to be decorating this winter. Thinking on ideas now. 

Over the next few days, I will be sharing random thoughts about the year that was and plans for 2020. Do you have any plans? Anything you would like to learn or do?