I'm usually a pretty private person. However, I feel like I'm among friends here, and among people who can understand my trepidation. You see, I'm about to have ACDF surgery. For the last couple of months I've been having pain, tingling and cramping in my hands and arms. Turns out I've got a couple of discs in my neck pressing on the spinal cord. So they are going to operate on the 16th. I've pretty much stopped doing pottery for the last couple of months because of this, and will not be able to lift or bend for a couple months after. I'm told that this surgery is over 90% effective permanently, but there's always some risk, so I'm a bit nervous. Anyway, I kind of wanted just to vent to someone other than those who live with me every day, and to people who understand what it would be like to not be able to make mud into art. I'm not looking for sympathy, just some encouragement to help me feel just a little braver about what lies ahead. Thanks to all of you for understanding!

The Stuff No One Tells You about before starting your small Pottery Business 🤣 • You don’t actually spend most of your time making pottery. A surprising chunk of your week becomes admin, cleaning, photographing, filming, editing, preparing for markets or packing if you sell online. • Pricing will make you question everything. Balancing time, materials, overhead, and your own worth is tougher than any throwing skill. It’s supposed to get easier with practice 😳 • You’ll need a backup plan for your backup plan. Kiln issues, clay & glaze shortages, surprise cracks — flexibility becomes your best tool. • But also: the wins feel huge. The first repeat customer, the first glaze that comes out exactly right, someone cherishing a piece you made with your hands… it makes all the chaos worth it. • Finally…….. KilnGods have Moods 😳🤣🥴 Anyway, that’s my list of “unknowns” nobody warned me about… What about you? What’s something YOU wish someone had told you before diving into pottery chaos? 👇😅

I have been away from YouTube for a little bit because I have been struggling very much recently and couldn't bring myself to experience joy through YouTube, but today I found my way to Sally Roper's channel, and then Suza's, and then Sarah Hallam, and then Jeanette Stevens, and then Therese, and then Lori B... and I am reminding myself of the joy there is and how I should make time to watch. There are SO MANY beautiful potters that I love to watch on YouTube, I have a long list that I plan to keep adding to my video descriptions. As some of you know, I teach art to kids. My best friend and I started a business together almost three years ago. We have been slowly growing, and in September, we took a leap of faith and decided to sign a lease to share a large space with another friend. We didn't realize this friend would turn toxic. We were very open up front about how we teach children, we don't force them to sit quietly, we encourage fun and giggles and music and art. We encourage free exploration. She said she loved that and thought that was so wonderful. We had many meetings to make sure we would be able to work together before signing the lease. Two weeks after we signed it, she began complaining. She began poisoning the neighbors about us. Instead of lifting us up when we were not around, she complained to everyone around us, that the kids are too loud, too messy, taking up too much space. We paid our half of the rent on time every month, we cleaned up very well behind ourselves, we offered her to use our space to teach her workshops. But she wanted us to pay half the rent and only be there two hours a week. She didn't want us adding classes, and we could only pay the rent if we added more than one class a week. It became a situation where I dreaded entering our space. It finally escalated a few days ago and she said that she wanted us out. She said she plans to pay the full rent, and I believe she has found someone else to share with--someone who doesn't teach children. And I have to add that our students are not destructive. They're not shouting. They're just playing, painting, dancing, giggling. They have fun but are not rude. They are amazing kids.

My first glaze fire is underway. I’m a nervous wreck! I set it to a slow cone 6 so it’s taking forever. Anyway, keep in mind that my kiln lives outside, so it’s not vented. I’ve heard that it’s best practice to leave out the top peephole plug during the firing. I just noticed smoke coming out of the peephole. I’m assuming that’s normal as stuff is burning off. It’s at 450°F right now so I’m hoping as it burns off the smoke will stop. I might need some Xanax before this is over! 😬😉

Hi friends, such an exciting week. I got my kiln 2 days ago. L&L e18s-3 I did my first test fire yesterday, it is exactly 25 hours later and it’s only down to 130°. Is it normal for them to take so long? The firing took 9.5 hours. I can’t wait to load it up with my greenware and get my first bisque fire underway.