by: Michael Mccollough

September 2021

 

"The real significance of years of potting is found in the way one pot leads to the next. Slow progress comes into view in the development of the work in total, not in beauty of any one pot. There is no end."

-Michael Simon

 

I often find myself completely engulfed by numerous projects, tasks, or ideas. It’s easy for my head to get away from my body. Thinking I can do much more than I realistically, physically, and mentally can handle. Over the past few months, I found myself doing this within my studio practice.

​

Every day it felt like I had a new direction I wanted to take my work and everyday I found myself still making the same work I had been making the day before. I was stuck in validating myself based on the quantity of work I was making instead of the quality of each piece. This new work represents an exploration of change. Changing my studio practice to adopt more environmentally friendly practices and changing the way I view my work and the way I hope the user views my work.

​

I strive to make pots that engage the user. Through variations in the tactile and visual experience of each piece I hope to turn every day, routine, activities into meaningful rituals. By having our eyes continually moving around each pot and having our hands searching for the next change in surface texture I hope to keep our minds present in the moment. This work is the beginning of a new process that I am extraordinarily excited about. By offsetting the fuels I use to fire kilns and by sourcing as many materials as I can locally I hope to make my studio practice as close to carbon neutral as possible.

​