Hi everyone, I have not been active on this platform at all sorry, I am finding social media so overwhelming. In fact I am finding life a little overwhelming at the moment. I haven't been able to talk myself into my studio for the last three days, and I have to get back i to it. I have medieval events coming up that I really have to get things done for. I love pottery and feel extremely privileged that it is my full-time, but lately I walk in to my studio look around and just don't know where to go next and end up walking out again. I also have several videos waiting to be edited to go up on my Shoebox Studio Ceramics YT channel, but I can't seem to talk myself into completing them either. It's so frustrating, having so much to do, but feeling unable to do any of it. Do you fellow potters ever get like this, especially those that are full-time potters? How do you get yourselves out of the darkness and back into the joy of pottery? I didn't know you have to select a category for your post, couldn't decide what this should of gone under, Fails, General, Question? I went with Question, I hope that is ok? Much love to you all x

This month, we’re diving into glazes.🫟 Inspired by Sarah from Three Little Potters, this challenge is all about testing, exploring, and rethinking what we already have. We all have those glazes. The ones we rarely reach for. The ones we tend to avoid… because they never quite turned out the way we hoped. Colors that feel off. Results that disappoint. Tests that didn’t go as planned. So this month, we’re choosing one of them. ✨ Pick one glaze you don’t like (or don’t trust yet) ✨ Combine it with 5 different glazes you already know and trust ✨ Test them layered, top & bottom, side by side — get curious ✨ Share your results How you do it? Completely up to you. Test tiles, small dishes, a cup, a plate… everything on one piece or separate tests — there’s no right or wrong way. This is about experimentation.🧪🔬 Try unusual combinations. 🤪 Push it further than you normally would. Be bold with it. At the end, take a moment to reflect: What worked? What didn’t? What surprised you? The goal isn’t perfection. It’s discovery.💡 And maybe, just maybe, the glaze you’ve been avoiding comes back to life. ✨ Share your process, your tests, your results ✨ Let’s learn from each other ✨ And turn “unloved” glazes into something unexpected

After watching Diana and Shane’s YouTube video today on color, I thought these pictures fit their discussion perfectly. The first two were Natalie Warren’s’ booth at the ceramic show over the weekend. And another whose name I don’t know. The picture at the end was a lady with a basket of snacks for all of us. What I saw were the red packets and couldn’t figure out why she had packets of catsup! They weren’t 😵‍💫

Many of you already know Alaina from here in our group. She has been a faithful follower of my channel since the beginning. She always comments. She does the most exquisite low fire pieces❤️. She has been struggling to get a high fire kiln up and running but it looks like that will take a while longer and I know this is frustrating and discouraging for her. I know that she currently has 721 subscribers so it would be wonderful if we could help her feel loved and appreciated. If you haven’t subscribed, please subscribe. If you have, she just had a kiln opening a day ago. Let’s flood her channel with many positive comments. We need to remember to nourish one another. https://youtube.com/@laneyscraftingcreations431?si=Yj5BaLY10Bw2Zcs6

Hi everyone! I haven’t been on Skool the last few weeks. Being on holidays, then jet lag and life have kept me away as time was limited. And I’ve been missing you all and your news! So I thought maybe you could tell me one interesting thing you have been doing/making in the last few weeks, PLUS mention another pottery person who has done something you found interesting! Links welcome! That way I can get a quick overview of what all you lovely people have been doing! 😃