Time needed

This is the time of year when most potters have their heads down to their wheels.... due to the sales on the horizon, especially on the coming Holiday season.. the Summer is definitely the time for the tourist. If you're selling anywhere you have to get your pots out there now! Yet as most of us are exceptionally busy and working our asses off... I have learned from a number of people that hard work deserves hard play. In Montana the time to play is now... the snow level is well above 5,000 feet?? The people are shaking out their cold weather feathers... and are ready to... p-p-p-p-play!!!

Staring this Sunday I will be playing hard on the Smith River of Montana. The Smith river is one of the more renowned destinations for river floating enthusiasts. It's a permit only float area and the odds are something like 1 in 60 to aquire one..and every year my family (since they've been in Montana) apply..and this year we got it. We have an extended family from Washington, Oregon, California, and Michigan all converging here in Helena tonight. 12 people. We'll be spending 5 days out camping and floating along one of the most beautiful destinations this side of the Mississippi.

So remember my potter friends: if you work hard... don't forget the simple fact that you deserve to play, easy or hard. Making that thing called Art, as we all do in one way or another, requires a point of detachment and escape- without appreciation of that outside and natural world... (away from the studio) our work would succumb to a lifeless, numb state of being. Take the time to do something good for yourself ...and your work will benefit from it... bon voyage.