A New Kind of Study

The studio is such a part of my daily life that it is almost an extension of my body. i walk in and start the clay rituals without thought. i swirl my hand through the clean water bucket to saturate the large cleaning sponge and wring it out. i wipe the canvas wedging table cover and breathe in deeply to imbibe the wet clay smell. i open the plastic sheet that covers the wet shelving and gently nudge the pots from yesterday to assess their stiffness. Each studio day starts the same way and leaves me open to spending time there, or these day, not spending time there.
My little man does enjoy his play-saucer in there with me but for short periods of time and then requires me to abandon the work at any time to see to his needs. The real learning lately has been how to balance my time among the garden, studio and baby. It goes without saying that the little dude comes first, followed shortly with my need for sleep as that enables me to be with him more fully and peacefully when we both wake up.
There are three bowl orders on the go right now, two for regular customers and one larger wholesale order for Hilary's Cheese Cafe in Cowichan Bay,BC. i am also working on a new line of knitting bowls that have swirly cutouts for the yarn to spool through. Some of the challenges with the cut rimmed bowls have been interesting in that it has pushed my throwing to concentrate on a slightly more substantial lip so it does't warp in the kiln with pieces of the lip missing.
Being a mom has changed my life in a lot of ways, it is cultivating patience and teaching me to operate on very little sleep. It has shown me what can be accomplished in the studio in little snipets of time if the plan is laid out and 'worker' dave is ready to take on the entire responsibility of the tot when i need more time. If there was one special thing i have learned that i didn't think i would it is how to take a bit more care of myself! I have finally learned how true the old saying is...."if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" and that the opposite is also true. When i get a sweet nap or sleep-in morning, the whole system ticks along like it was planned, fresh bread appears, dinners bubble in the crockpot and laundry marches up and down the stairs as though it was commanded by Mary Poppins herself--- long before CGI.
ps i did indeed just knit those little boot/socks...in my spare time :)