Organization in my web life and Home

Pictured is my horse sculpture fired last weekend. The date on the piece is sept 04 . It was bisqued in a kiln that had residual salt in the shelves and used bricks, so I knew it wouldn't hold a glaze , so it sat five years until I just decided to fire it "naked" . The results were wonderful. The wood ash fell and melted and gave the horse an appaloosa look. This piece was just waiting for the right firing! I can now be satisfied that I finished that project. Now on to the next.

Organization is a word that has haunted me my whole life. The mere mention of the word brings out the defiant nine year old in me. I don't wanna be organized, I wanna go out and play! But really, why wouldn't a person want to have all their ducks in a row? I had thoughts of my computer being the ultimate place to be organized.The computer would do it all for me! I would have a little haven of columns and files that could be accessed by a push of the button. But no, my old computer reminds me of when we moved our of our mobile home into the new house. I left a lot of stuff behind, since both places are on the same property, and I didn't want to clutter up the new house.

So now I have my new computer, and I don't want it to get all clogged up either. I am slowly adding things like blogging and facebook, and have started a new shop in 1000 markets, but I am trying to be organized about it , and it's not easy!

Computer land is really hard on a person with ADD, there are so many ways to get distracted !

Others in my online community have said they need to spend less time on the computer and more time in the studio, and I am feeling that too. Morris Pottery's online presence has become my job , which I love, but one needs to be making the pottery too. As I write I am thinking of several unfinished projects I should be working on , and several packages that need to be shipped. And new ideas are always bubbling to the surface.

Discipline then, is the next word that the nine year old child in me recoils at, but then when the result is me ending up in the studio with my hands on cool wet clay, I will convince the nine year old it was worth it.

Also I want to thank those that chose to follow me!! I am adding to my following list, and continue to find great things from your blogs!

After firing Day

Firing weekend and we got to sleep in today! The firing was finished around 11 pm last night and we ended it with a pork chop dinner. Now the waiting! I suppose it will be Tuesday before we unload.

So I am so new to blogging, and I am cruising around here finding old friends among the new. Whenever I do anything web related, I feel like I am in a vast ocean of people , and I am just a tiny speck floating around . How cool it is then, to follow someone else, and find an old colleague in their list! So even with blogging I find the old problem of getting distracted and reading others and wishing I was more interesting.

The week has been so busy that I have almost missed the county fair. I mark this as a milestone after many years of active participation in the annual event that used to be known as Fair Week. We did have a float in the parade last night to promote our fall art event, "Sticks and Stones", but I entered no vegetables from my garden, and all of the rabbits stayed home. They did not mind.

I am in a state of transition in my life, and some things are let go easily, like the Fair, some things are harder to let go of.

It's the big firing weekend here, and I can't wait to have a new load of pottery to photgraph next week. Our firing days start with loading and a slow candle flame goes all night. We start cranking it up early Saturday, and it will finish off Saturday night.

There is a wood baking oven adjacent to the kiln area, and it will be fired up and in use for a variety of delicious foods during the firing. I am taking blueberry pies which I should be making right now. I plan on posting pictures over the weekend, and of course kiln opening will be on Wednesday. With my new computer, I am working on getting a live kiln opening set up so web viewers can get the feel of the excitement we have after all the work is done and the treasures emerge from the kiln. Later then, Denise

introduction

Well here I am getting settled into my new blog. I had one in yahoo which I did not maintain much, and now has been moved to my yahoo profile. I may still have that one in my website at http://www.paulmorrispottery.com/

I am reorganizing, and have always wanted my own little spot since most of my on line work involves the pottery and the marketing of same, which is a partnership with my husband Paul.

People have asked me over the years why it is called Paul Morris pottery and my name is not included somehow. Well Paul is the Potter , and my original plan was to have a sculpture site of my own within the website.

I can say what I want about Paul because he will never read this, since he prefers not to learn how to use the computer. ;-)

Paul is a rare breed of potter that has literally done his craft for his entire working career. He discovered wheel throwing in High School and has done it ever since. I on the other hand am a lot of things besides the decorator of Morris Pottery, and this blog might be the best start for me to share my individual thoughts and opinons that aren't necessarily the views of Morris Pottery as a whole.

Why Green Swamp? Well that is where we live, in east central Minnesota, surrounded on two sides by what has always been known as the Green Swamp, and our home and studio are on the unofficially named "Green Swamp Road." The wetlands surrounding us host a treasure of wildlife, and empty into a lake about half a mile down the road.

Well okay then, now I am blogging, this like all things web related is part of a learning curve for me so bear with me while i get to know the territory and continue post my ramblings. Denise