Original Vision

I don't know what to tell you about what direction I want my work to take, but this is getting closer to what I want for this particular manifestation of my vision.  This is a plate, my catfish plate, which was last seen post-bisque looking like this:

This is the first plate of this "series" that I've finished, brought all the way through to the final firing. I started with this plate because I liked it the least and wanted to experiment on it. I actually like the way it turned out, which is unusual for me--liking my work, I mean. I don't usually like my work.

As we were driving home from the studio tonight, I told Dave that I wanted for my glazing to be more complex. He asked if I thought that it wasn't already complex. Well, it is compared to others at the studio it is, but it isn't if I compare it to me. Does that make sense? What I want for my work has nothing to do with what others around me are doing. Sometimes, yes, I steal a beautiful glaze combination from someone else, but even when I do, it gets folded into my work in such a way that the origin is obscured and the individuality of my work is uncompromised by the theft.

One of my greatest sources of pride is the potential ability to produce work that is so close to my original vision.