This weekend I am taking a pottery workshop. Apparently there was a day when the potter was literally king in Nelson. So much so that the local art museum had a recent exhibition chronicling the potters hay day which was from the early 70s until the late 80s. Our instructor was part of that movement. He said that there was a time where he sold every piece of clay he threw – he brought it by the car load and galleries just paid cash for his inventory. No commissions, no consignments. Can you imagine?

I utterly failed at my last attempt to throw clay many years ago. So, I took the class to meet some artsy types and try my hand at clay one more time. Not to any major degree, I’ve managed both. I successfully centered and threw a pot, YEH!! And, I was surrounded by diverse and unique people. One woman was from Sweden. Her husband is an anthropologist and in the early 90s they came to the Nelson area to study the still existing hippie culture, particularly in Golden Bay. Clay was integral to that counter culture scene.

I liked the local pottery guild. For $60 a year I can join and come and work as I please. Every Thursday they get together. There is informal mentoring, but if you just want to play, it’s okay. You supply your own materials and they’ll fire all your work for a minimal fee. I just may join

……..once I get the Cherry Creek Art Festival behind me. Right now ALL my creative energy is being taxed on that end. You may laugh, but it’s not always easy being an artist!