How often does a potter get the opportunity to talk almost nonstop for more than 25 minutes about their passion on TV?!
Well, it happened. A nice young man from Rogers Community TV (in French) dropped into my pottery studio last May (2015) with just the right questions to get me going! LOL
I have to say that, for those who know me AND for those fortunate or unfortunate souls who wander in my studio when I haven't spoken a word in hours as I'm totally involved in my work, it doesn't take much to get me
going. ?
For those of you who don't understand French, the interview covers how I discovered pottery at the NSCAD in Halifax in 1978-79 after thinking I was going to be a photographer.
Touching clay changed the direction of my life completely!!!
I had a studio in Tracadie NB for about ten years and at the same time so many other exciting projects were calling out to me that one day I decided to try them all. And I did. Never forgetting pottery. Every time I seriously thought about going back to my studio, life sent something new & exciting along and I felt compelled to do it.
Until four years ago, when I decided that I was going to stop moving around and really settle down. Because, if you have a pottery studio, you must BE there.
I bought all the equipment again (I had sold it all in 2004 thinking that I was never going back) and life found me the nicest place in the world to set up shop right on Shediac Bay.
So one day, in a totally brand new & empty studio on February 26th 2012, I tried to remember how to center a ball of clay.
Then came the much bigger questions: who am I now? What do I want to do now? How do I express what I have become? Techniques, shapes, colors, all added up to a million questions in my mind.
I had to learn to FOCUS, to create a frame so I could develop a body of work.
The pictures you see in the video are the result of these questions. I came to realize that I love simple shapes, utilitarian items, pieces that will enhance your decor while being useful. And color, I love color!
That was a discovery. Just that can lead me in so many directions that I have to constantly remind myself to focus for fear I'll lose myself. The process reminded me of how much I loved and still love repetition, it helps my mind slow down, like meditation. And at the same time, no two pieces are ever totally alike, I'm constantly listening and feeling what the ball of clay wants to become.
Touching and working with clay is a constant present moment and I'm so very thankful that I get to experience it on a daily basis.
Ginette