Well what a fantastic week it was! On arrival Saturday we had a tour of the facilities - ground floor dormitory with kitchen facilities, the fully equipped studio and then the first floor gallery (first and second pictures) and dining room and kitchen - all decorated with ceramics not only made by Stephen but by many of America's best potters. Stephen had just finished several extra large platters (last pic). We had a great supper of blackened BBQ salmon served on great pottery!
Sunday morning was spent on discussing our respective backgrounds, what our interests are and that was followed by individual interviews with Stephen. We had been asked to bring along any sketches, pictures and pots that particularly interested us and we were asked what our goals were. My goal was to make great pots that truly satisfy me.
The studio was open as early and late as we wanted and we were free to work on what we wanted. Stephen felt that I should work on unifying my work more and that was one of the goals that I had identified as well. I decided to start with my slab pots with the clay appliques as these were something that I had always been interested in.
Each day we were assigned several chapters from Robert Piepenberg's book "Treasures of the Creative Spirit" and they formed the focus of our discussions most afternoons - discussions on what constitutes our spirit, our creativity and how we can express our creative self. Later in the week we played a game designed to give you insight into your creativity. I learnt that I was very literal and tight in my creative thoughts, unlike the other workshop participants who were much more loose and "far out" in their associations. Perhaps that is reflected in my pottery which tends to be rather tight.
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