Thanksgiving is over – I hope everyone had a good one- and now the holiday shopping season is upon us.  I’m a bit of a minimalist which is hard on me as someone who creates things to share with others.  Of course it’s easy to justify functional pottery, it has at least two uses, one is its intended function, and the other is its beauty or interest to the user.  But how do I watch The Story of Stuff and then make stuff?  For me the justification comes from how art makes us feel and think.  Flowers are beautiful to look at, often their fragrance is a delight but they also tend to make me think about the world and how I want to care for my habitat, our planet.  I hope my pottery has a similar effect.  I’d like to hope that once in a while someone will look at one of my pots and remember that it was once a lump of dirt.  The piece of art before them was created by someone’s hands, imagination, technical ability, and passion.  It is my desire that people will consider giving more handmade items this holiday season.  Giving a one of a kind, artfully crafted gift often shows more thought and caring for the receiver, the local economy, the environment and/or the soul of the giver.

As much as I would love for everyone to buy my pottery, the more important seed that I would like to plant is for people to really take time to consider the gift they are giving.  Consider whether grandma really wants a new sweater from a department store or would she rather have a nice, relaxed dinner with you.  Maybe she really does need a sweater, would she like one that was handmade with care or one that was mass produced in a dusty factory?  Which one shows your feelings about her more?  I know it’s not always convenient or even possible to buy hand made or socially conscious products but each time we make the effort we are doing good in so many ways.