QotW: What is the feeling of your family as related to your studio addiction?

[Pres]

Hi folks, I have been putting off on a QotW; couldn't think of one. However their was a recent strand discussing the venting of a kiln where the potter said the significant other was not shelling anymore money out to vent the kiln.  Min made reference to me that it would be a good  QotW.  I tried to set up a question that would be related to all members of one family, and how they feel about the time, the money, the dirt or other factors we deal with when working with clay. So this weeks question  is. .. . (drum roll, hear it!)  QotW: What is the feeling of your family as related to your studio addiction?

My situation over the years has been mainly positive when it comes to playing in the clay.  I took it in school, I taught it, I did shows for years that helped to fund meager Summer vacations for a family of four camping. I put together my own studio, and worked most of the Summers making pots, and some of the Fall and Spring. How does my wife feel about it? She encourages/forces me to get out in the shop, as she knows that when I'm a bear or restless, the clay will settle me down. She also benefits by some nice pieces, and some rejects in the house. When the children were young, they were not interested in getting dirty, or working with the clay, nor even interested in watching. My granddaughter is the same way, but she is into art and getting to be quite an acrylic artist doing 2-3 paintings a month. . . hope she keeps it up. My wife took classes in college, probably to be with me, but she knows enough about it we talk about what I am doing and suggests other possibilities.  So in the end, I would say there are very little negatives, other than the fact that for a few years the water pump in the washing machine would go out more often, which I would replace.

 

best,

Pres

[liambesaw]

Let's see, these are the things that I hear about the most:

There's too many pots in the house

Too many orange buckets outside

Driveway is full of clay

Tracking clay in the house

Can't have the windows to the carport open when firing

When are you gonna sell all these things?

 

For the most part I try to do everything once the kids and wife to go sleep, that gives me 4 hours of solid me time either in the shed making pots, or editing videos, designing, silk screening, etc etc etc. But since they're asleep, they don't ever complain about the time I spend out there... Unless it's the weekend lol, because I try to be out there every weekend all weekend.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

Wayne and I got together when I was halfway through art school for pottery, so he knew it was part of the package. He tried one afternoon to center a bit of clay on the wheel and decided it was NOT his thing, but that it didn’t need to be. 
 

He has been my biggest source of emotional support the whole time. He made sure I got my pottery wheel at a time it wasn’t the most financially sound move ever and I told him not to. When we moved into our current house, my birthday present was him stripping the carpet out of a basement bedroom and scraping the floor so I could have a studio space. He gets me out of my head when I’m overthinking myself into anxiety. I truly have one of the best ones. 

[Bill Kielb]

Marcia and I are similar. We like to see folks excell and innovate  so as long as it’s not bizarre we have fun with learning new things or watching each other try new ideas or just create something that ends up suitable when finished. (Both are severely critical of our own work) For the most part when either of us are in a slump we like to see that excitement and enthusiasm again when engaged in a successful project. In Marcias defense, I like to fix everything and make Mechanical / electrical things better so I am sure she gets tired of me never buyIng something new. Besides that  old Admiral refrigerator has lots of life left in it!

[Mark C.]

My wife married a potter-I was a potter for over 20 +years at that point. She knew what this was about. Over time I think she learned that customers have no clue (they call on weekends whatever). They never return work at a show on booth where they find it -Thney leave trash on the the shelves-the usual leaning curve that the public is clueless .

She wishes now that I would only be driving 2 horses over the 6- I normally drive.I am starting to slow it down and this pandemic has done that for me as well-only working clay every other week now.

The extended family-sister and  here kids really do not get what this is about or how it works at all. They live a long ways away and have strange ideas on the whole thing.

Seems like magic I think they think?

They do get the passion for diving  or fishing tuna more I think as thats a more normal deal.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

The extended family is another story entirely! When I was speaking to some of my sister's in-laws at a gathering one time, one of them expressed horror and disgust that you coud get a degree in Ceramics. He thought because his mom did some scratch and bake gnomes in the 70's I was doing the same thing.