2009 in review

bridgman pottery 2009
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

2009 has been huge, and in so many ways. It has been a year of a lot of growth. We've definitely felt both the thrills of accomplishment and hurt with those growing pains. Professionally, the year has been incredible. Since I quit my part-time art education job at a wonderful museum, my time for pottery has expanded exponentially. So did my sales. I haven't started the grand tally, but I more than met my 2008 sales in November and December. To have sales like that during such hard economic times is nothing short of miraculous. This year I've tried new forms and new colors- egg forms, more lidded vessels, buttery bells, buttons, pomegranates- and turquoise! red! Still working on getting that green to cooperate. And if last year was the year of the berry bowl, I'm not sure what this year has been, because I've made and sold well over 100 of them. Etsy sales have been wonderful, and my facebook page has surprised me with its activity.

I've taken some wonderful trips this year and met some wonderful friends- Dana of House of Roux in the early spring, a girls' weekend to New Orleans and a train ride with the Bundren family, and a fall trip to visit some very good friends. Not to mention the wonderful friends I've met through this blog and flickr. And seeing the Dalai Lama! Live! In person! A new school filled with old and new friends for my boy. New babies for dear friends and a brand new nephew.

There's been loss- dear friends and family have moved away. Permanent losses of my mother in law, a very dear friend who had been struggling for years. We've joined the ranks of the downsized and are looking, hopefully, in new directions (and in light of that downsizing, so so thankful for our joint capacity for freelancing and those aforementioned pottery sales).

I'm hopeful for what 2010 will bring. I've signed up for a late-summer workshop with my mentor and will take the opportunity to visit with some college friends I haven't seen in a dozen years while I'm in the area. I'm adding dates to the Memphis Farmers Market and St. Jude's monthly-to-quarterly market. I'm already thinking about new forms I want to play with and techniques to refine (namely, how to make the speckled egg glaze work in fewer firings). I'd like to work bigger and better. And I'd like to have enough work made from January-May that I can take the summer "off" from production and firing- both for the sake of my air conditioning (old house=old wiring) and time with my child.

So here's to learning from our past and anticipating the future. And here's to living in the present. Happy New Year's, everyone.