I’m not sure why it is that I wake up every January 1st with some renewed optimism about how things might be if I could just get myself better organized and focused. “This will be the year I finally accomplish…. (fill in the blank with a number of personal and professional goals)”. What about the beginning of a year seems to clean the slate, make us start fresh?
Realistically I still have a massive amount of leftover work from last year that gets dragged into this fresh new year like a dirty sock no one wants to deal with, so it’s not like the option to start fresh exists. But yet here I am, all optimistic. Trying to sort out what my goals should be, trying to act like a grown up in control of things rather than just bobbing along in the waves letting the current take me where it pleases.
I’ve been really lucky in my professional life that great opportunities have come along and that I have had such generous support from this creative community that I love and advocate for. I’m always feverish for the next project, the next collaboration and new possibilities for growth and learning. I lie awake at night wondering how to make musing about mud better, how to build a better presence for make and do ceramics, and how to find the time to dream up more projects like National Clay Week’s The Crafted Dish. But I also often wonder if my visions are really what the community out there (yes I’m talking about you!) are needing and looking for. I’m realistic about how limited my time is, how stretched thin things can be, but I don’t begrudge that – I just want to be as efficient and effective as possible. So I’m curious what you as makers, as organizations, as creative partners in our lovely Clay world see as a void that needs to be addressed; something you wish there was more of, something you crave in your corner of the world. How can we all work together to address those needs? How might I as editor of Musing help contribute to that?
This year marks the 11th year of Musing About Mud. Eleven years is a long time. I’m in the mood to celebrate. I’m also in the mood to bring new energy into this blog. I’m not sure how to stop bobbing along with the tide. Perhaps you have some ideas you might want to share….
Hugs and love to all my friends.
May 2018 bring you happiness, health, peace, and safety, wherever you are in the world.
I think you fill such an amazing niche…if there is one thing the community needed this past year it was for the world to be smaller and amateurs and professionals from all corners to be able to communicate and become aware of one another’s work and techniques. Your blog certainly helped facilitate that. I have personally loved Musing About Mud as a tool to share about exhibition and internship opportunities.
If there were a wishlist for me for 2018, it would be a curated forum for real criticism of work. I think our community is very positive and helps to bolster to motives of even the most inexperienced artists…I think what we lack is a critical dialogue of work and trends in the field. I’m not talking about being unnecessarily negative, but I would love to see a curated group of luminaries in our field offer unrestrained opinions on the new works of both leaders and emerging artists. When Dirk Staschke started his still life work (which I LOVE), many of my closest friends and I had some amazing, unguarded conversations about his switch from figuration, and our respective thoughts on why it did or didn’t matter. These are conversations we rarely see on any forum because social media is so overwhelmingly positive. And that is a real shame, because I think that conversations like that can offer some real insight into the current state and trends in our community. We need more unguarded opinions without the fear of being branded a pariah.
I agree with Jamie. I would love to see a group of critical viewers communicate their take on the directions in which contemporary clay is moving. I would be proud to part of a community that isn’t scared to ask tough questions about work being presented within and outside of the ceramic family.
I too am filled with optimism every new year and this one has been the toughest. I aim to better educate people about the LGBT community through work and conversation. It’s great to know I have allies and support as well. Keep doing what you do. I appreciate all of your insight and time spent on emerging artist work and it is only getting better. Much love and happy new year!
Happy 11th birthday! Thank you for all you do!
I’ve been mulling over this post periodically since you put it up. I check your site Monday through Friday (I figure you usually take a break weekends – you have a family and your own life!). First, thank you for this resource. It’s great knowing I can find out a lot of what’s going on in ceramics in more real time, whether shows, jobs, workshops, and the like. I don’t know of anyone else doing similar. A curated forum may be interesting, but that would be a lot of work – membership, moderator(s), perhaps real time response – while taking away from the straight information you provide. Here, I see what’s happening not just in the U.S., but Canada, Australia, England. Perhaps if you’re feeling a need to expand, get more input from more makers throughout the world: Africa, Central and South America, the Caribbean – Antarctica you can probably ignore. Thank you for this great resource, and putting up this post giving me the opportunity to express how much I appreciate your ongoing, daily work.