Self-indulgence

"Self-indulgent" is one of the most common criticisms I've read about blogs, both individual styles and the blog phenomenon itself and let's make no mistake that Self-indulgence in all contexts is generally perceived as a Bad Thing.  In less formal circles it's sometimes known as Splurging.  One rarely reads any praise of Splurging either. 

I've also noticed a recent trend in criticism of psychotherapy and counselling because they encourage people to be Self-centred.  Being self-centred can be lumped together with some other, possibly unspoken, epithets such as Self-pitying, Wallowing, Self-aggrandisement, Showing off etc, all of which, if they are levelled at you and your blog, you can safely take as criticism.  Apparently, it's not good to consider yourself very much at all.

This poses some difficulties for the blog writer since it's what many of us are doing much of the time and it's been exercising my mind particularly over the last week or so as I have been pondering whether or not to post a particular poem on my blog.  The pondering has led me to think about self-indulgence generally and to realise that we don't always consider it to be a bad thing.

Since the death of my husband people keep telling me to be kind to myself.  I'm not sure this differs much from indulging myself and therefore from Self-indulgence.  If it does, it's a fine line.  They're right about being kind to oneself, of course.  Guilt (which can be about anything at all) is one of the stages of grieving and it's a good idea to recognise that and not give oneself too hard a time if possible.  Bereavement takes its toll physically, too, and recovery will be speedier if one is gentle on oneself with rest and good food.  (This last is tricky if, like me, you need to avoid Over-indulgence in order not to put on weight.  But it can be done, with balance.)

An argument explaining the benefits of therapy or counselling and the need for considering oneself is for another time, but you can safely take it that I am in favour of them.  Briefly, though, it does seem to be somewhat accepted that you can't love others properly unless or until you can love yourself.  Understanding yourself puts you in a good position of being open, honest and available to another person, all bases for a good relationship.

So I'm hoping I may be building up some agreement that self-indulgence can often be a very good thing.  My final argument should be the clincher.  I am currently making more earrings, including some new designs.  One pair in particular is probably my favourite pair that I've ever made.  I've decided to keep them for myself.  I can make the same design again (though not yet as I haven't any more of one of the colours I've used) but every pair is different and this pair is mine.  I don't expect any argument with that.

I checked with H, and she said that in spite of the fact that I normally can't wear green against my skin, on this scale there was no problem, so it's a done deal.  I just love these earrings. 

And ....  just when I have (I hope) encouraged you all to agree that self-indulgence can be a wonderful thing, we come back to my original dilemma.  Should I post very personal, sometimes painful poetry on my blog?  Why would I want to?  The answer to the second question is that I don't see much difference between my creative writing and my other creative work.  I like to put my work where it is appreciated and I think some people might appreciate more personal writing.  The answer to the first question is ...  well, I don't know.  I think some people might not appreciate more personal writing.  Some people might not like reading painful things.  I don't want to upset anyone unduly.

The jury's still out.

Melting frost

Small pleasures

My tastes tend to be fairly eclectic and I guess my resulting style is unique.  When I gave my study/dining room a new look in 1998 I remember most people being very sceptical about the finished results when I told them my plan of dark red walls, ochre yellow curtains and very red carpet.  When the room was finished, I held a "big dinner" for about 12 people, my then closest local friends, I guess, and the room was unveiled with some ceremony.  Everyone liked it.  Since then everyone else has seemed to like to too, often to their own surprise.  The red really isn't overpowering. 

The overall decor, furniture and function of the room, including shelves full of books, CDs and clutter, haven't changed, though from time to time little bits and pieces get added.  The latest of these, two new small pleasures, are these Indian wedding garlands which I've hung either side of the mirror over the fireplace.  They're made from a card base, I think, with much gold thread embroidery and sequins.  My maternal grandparents brought them back from India in 1935 and since then they've been used mostly as Christmas decorations by my mum, who recently offered them to me because "they're just your sort of thing."  They certainly are.  I'm so pleased with them hanging up, now permanently, in my study. 

In the centre of the mantelpiece you can also see a miniature chest of drawers, another recent addition.  This chest of drawers was made by my paternal grandfather, in the style of Gordon Russell.  Gordon Russell started out as an Arts and Crafts furniture maker in Gloucestershire and the bedroom where I slept in my grandparents' house, also in Gloucestershire, was furnished throughout with Gordon Russell furniture, though I didn't know it as such back then.  I just always liked it.  As an adult, though, the Arts and Crafts Movement has certainly been one of my influences as an artist and my love of things miniature and the link to my grandfather are the icing on the cake.

Small pleasures.

Back to work

In a world where we depend on people working 24/7 in many service industries, where increasing numbers of people work from home at least part of the time, where we expect customer services to answer the phone any day of the week and where you can find a shop open somewhere most of the time - still the concept of 'the working week' is alive and well.  I spend so much of my time in or connecting with areas where conventional working hours and weeks no longer apply that I sometimes forget how many types of work still do occur in roughly conventional working week blocks.  And yet, 25 years since I inhabited that world full time, the working week is still something I measure my life in.

This week has been the first full working week of the year and of the new term if you think in the academic calendar (which I also still do to some extent)  so there is much talk about going back to work.  It might have been the first week of work of the year for me too but I have I sustained a subluxation of a cartilage or two.   Subluxation is a new word to me (meaning partial dislocation) but the event isn't.  I've damaged rib cartilages before, so I know this means two or three weeks allowing it to heal and that includes no work in the pottery.  I don't know anyone else who damages cartilages around their ribs but my GP tells me it's quite common, especially in people who work in confined or awkward spaces, like plumbers.  I was in the totally unconfined, straightforward space of my garden, pulling up a raspberry cane, trying to get as much of its root as I could, when I felt a ping or a snap or what my GP describes as a pop. 

Then, there have been a few other things in my life which are affecting my working week.  In my mind, life is not only measured out in working weeks but also marked out into sections by significant events.  Two such are destined to shape what my life will become over the next months.

Last March I turned 60 and began receiving a small pension from the teaching I did for the first part of my working life.  This income means in theory that I could now work part-time because I don't need to earn quite so much money.  In practice, so far, I have had to work when I could to try to catch up with falling stock levels.

Then November brought a much more fundamental life-changing event, the death of my lovely husband Mike.  I've been widowed before so I had some idea what to expect and one thing I knew to expect is that some things will be unexpected. 

The most unexpected thing that has happened to me in the last two months is that I don't know where I am with my work.  My head is making plans for returning to the pottery, what I'm going to make, where I'm going to sell ...  but my heart has been glad that I have been too busy doing other things.  I am really not sure that when it comes to returning to work, I shall know what it is that I want to make.

What's in a Blog?

I've been aware that this blog has been gradually shifting and the emphasis in the decreasing number of posts has become almost entirely on my work as an artist.  I'm not sure how this happened but I think it's been a bit of a circular thing - if I'm not writing so much I need to make sure that when I do write, at least people can keep up with what work I'm doing but much of my working life is spent doing tasks which don't change very much so there isn't anything to write about so often.  So it's time to break out and return to the original flavour of the blog.

I'm not writing for any particular audience.  I hope people will read this blog but I have no idea who they are - friends, possibly some of my customers, but also people I don't know who happen on the blog by one accidental route or another.  Whatever I put here has to be what I'm happy for the whole world to know.  Trying to balance that with what the whole world might want to know is, I think, something that's been in my mind lately and has led to the whole thing becoming a little stultified.  If I'm writing something you don't want to know, feel free to stop reading and come back another day when there's something more to your taste.

I hope to post more blogs which contain just photographs.
I may include more creative writing - if I do any!
There will be mentions of work.
I mustn't forget about food (writing about it, that is, not eating it!)
I hope to return to writing about ideas.
I'm going to write about more personal things too.



Today I went outside with my camera and the garden was not particularly promising.  However, the rosemary is looking splendid, so that's what I photographed.  Over the last ten years or so I have used herbs in cooking much more than I used to and I think I use rosemary more than any.  It may be my favourite herb.

All that glisters is not gold

 ... though some of it is.  The rest may be platinum, copper, bronze or coloured lustres.

For the second year, I've produced a limited edition range of lustred mugs.  Last year's mugs had multicoloured spots and this year I've divided the lustres up so there are two colourways - blues, greys and silver (platinum) and reds, oranges and gold.  There are two sizes of mug, extra large and small.  The mugs are available directly from me at my studio or on my stall at Stroud Farmers' Market and will be available in Arcade Artisans at the beginning of December.  I hope you like them.

I've also made more small lustred mugs in the leaf design.  Each mug is unique but you can see a common design.  Here is a small selection of them.

As a postscript, I'd like to draw your attention to the title of this post.  We don't use the word 'glisters' any more as a rule, but I still love what many see as archaic language.  It often has a beauty to it and for my money subtle but important differences in meaning which are often hard to explain.  There is a difference between 'glisters' and 'glistens', the word now usually substituted in the well-known saying.  I prefer the original.

Shakespeare, natch.

Exhibition news

Once again I'm exhibiting at The Cotswold Craftsmen Gallery, in an exhibition called, imaginatively, "CLOTH and CLAY".  It's a smallish exhibition space - what you see here is most of my exhibition - but it really suits my work.  I can display the complete mixture of what I make in a way which allows all the component elements of my artwork - ceramics, pictures, scarves, accessories and cards - to come together in a single whole.

Life is a bit difficult and stressful at the moment (hence even less blogging than usual, apologies) so I'm particularly pleased to have put together an exhibition I'm proud of.  I know most people reading this blog live too far away to visit, but don't forget you can always contact me if you want to know more about anything you see in these photos.