I Like My New Pottery Studio, It is cozy.

"No heat, no air but it has running water and a toilet and I love a creative challenge." That is my normal response when people ask, "Well, how do you like your new space?"

So far, so good. I want to stay as long as the rent does not go up and until the bulldozer pulls up in the name of progress. No, there is no official plan to bulldoze but that is probably what will happen. "Up to code." What if Italy had so many ordinances? Would there be more new and fabricated buildings? Would it save lives? I don't know.

The studio feels like a studio. And, yes there is still more organizing to do. I had to decide between being a lovely and perfect studio v.s. my typical jump over that and "sorry about the mess" kind of place with new pots. Clean and neat and nothing to sell or arty chaos with new pots. Artful but Messy, that is was the headline in a story in a newspaper about me 25 years ago in Meadowview Virginia.

I have wonderful and generous friends who want to help. Thank you! Some will help this Saturday and we should have fun nesting and making pots too. Maybe I a can find us a nice sherry to sip while we work.

I do like the creative challenge. Creative thinking is part of my art. Do I give customers hats and gloves when they come in, with the fingers cut out to feel pots? Does steam from a coffee pot make the room warmer? Can I bounce heat off metal and keep it warmer? Does concrete warmed by a heat light help and is it cheaper than a space heater? Maybe we will just drink more sherry and laugh and wait till spring again to be warm. The kilns really help warm the shop and there are several more options. All in all, it is a fun challenge and the shop is certainly not boring. It continues to be a meeting place for like minded and not so like minded souls. It is fun.

Better go make some more pots to fire and warm the place up for the weekend.