“Less is more.” Ludwig Mies van der Rohe quotes (German born American Architect. 1886-1969). ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kkqA5Up9rTNNn3Sa7W35SgAljhbL7RstvwFrtxzItZXLlgVSKYFkSMn_vbqZ9vMtimDNRRvDoyTBMJa9QT87btCRA2TskP6Q_QSwWSLUELITLtnwV3t4HjFZ7bfC2Jn5PJVL/s320/dolls.jpg)
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"
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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? " ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9q6bVJt8Tw9VdS3teSn-QgEnaEJIHp4Nqc16raMjR-3XZqCYkw0eUtkEBpn7Fchmx27gfOtxD9vu7BluQG-dSlrn8ZVpnSHR48femq_nBonm60jqPNfTPO1KHywrx8LBnVV4/s320/weddress.jpg)
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.