Quotes that haunt us....

“Less is more.” Ludwig Mies van der Rohe quotes (German born American Architect. 1886-1969). This quotes pops in and out of my head on a non-stop basis. It haunts me really, which I know is a funny thing to say. I first heard it from a design professor I had back at Virginia Commonwealth University. At that time I was in school for commercial interior design and Mies van der Rohe was his favorite architect of all time. "Less is More" he'd tell us over and over again. I of course really didn't understand this. All I knew is that everything I looked at by this architect was very modern and not really to my taste but since it was design..I was suppose to like it.

"Less is More".

Than when I went back to school to become a potter and all I wanted to do was glaze all my pots in everything single color combination I could find, my critiques would come back with quotes like....

" The surface doesn't match the form"

" The glaze application competes with the handle and the foot"

" The form is good but the surface is to busy"

Out in my studio on my own..... thinking thoughts about my work and looking and looking some more.......

Once again the Quote comes to mind "Less is More".

I than answer my own thoughts " Is less REALLY more? Or can more be exciting, fun, playful, beauty, a visual cornucopia? "

Well, more is me, its what I love to look at. Its what draws me into something. Color, chaos, jazzy, layered surface and whimsy!

Who's knows where 2011 will take me and my work but I think its taken 10 years to get here, where every HERE is. I feel like I've had two years sliced into one. The beginning of 2010 was me still trying to compete with myself and feeling like I was leaving the one's I loved behind in my path to do more, more, more. The second part of 2010 was me being ok with what I was doing and wanting to put my drive on hold and give back my time to the one's I loved. So I guess really LESS IS MORE for me in some sense. I think I succeeded. I feel like I'm in a good place at the moment.

What a wonderful Christmas gift of have my little studio between the pages of Ceramics Monthly as well as be in a new book called "Introducting Pottery". I had great ceramic students this year and good sales. What else could a potter ask for!

Happy 2011 everyone-hope its another thought-provoking New Year.

Happy Holidays to one and All!

A Christmas post is a good of time as any to get back into blogging. So, hello to all my blogging friends and wishing you guys a very Happy Holiday and Wonderful, productive New Year!

In my view over the last 3 months that I've been away, I sort of took care of my New Years resolution and few months early. Taking time away from blogging and writing was a good thing for me and my family. From October to December I've had more time to focus on my kids, my responsibilities as a instructor and studio artists as well as not feeling the pressure to have one more thing on my plate. The time that I have been away from my blog has allowed me to think about a new format ( lack of a better word) for this great outlet we use to connect and educate folks about what we do in the ceramic world. While I've been away I've spent alot of time on my Facebook Fan page. It has worked well for me in connecting with other potters and selling my work and keeping everyone up to date on what I'm working on in the studio. It is amazing to me what a powerful tool the Internet is these days for folks like myself who are self employed and trying to market their project to a wide audience.

So...for those folks who are familiar with my blog, in the new year I plan on taking a more professional approach to my blogging and perhaps not posting as much. I have missed my blog but have really enjoyed the time away to just think about how I've used my blog in the past to purge my thoughts and how I would like to use it to inform the public more about what I am working on and not so much what my family is up to. I'm sure I'll still post a few shots of the kids and there will be an occasional moan and groan about how busy I am but hopefully you'll find a more "refined" blog of my thoughts and weekly or monthly posts about my pots.

Its nice to be back. Hope Everyone is enjoying some rest this week. I look forward to chatching up a bit with everyone!
Jen