Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Connect The Dots

This New Year's banquet and celebration was the best yet for many reasons, but one in particular because I had a deeper connection with the event. I knew the candidates from being both with them in class and being team mates and it was very exciting to watch their journey closeup. Being on the dragon dance team was a thrill all of its own and setting up and helping with the silent auction made it more personal as well. As great as those instances were, what's to come next had even a bigger and more profound impact on me.

As proud as I was with my dragons I wasn't going to put them into the auction as I could make better ones with practice. When we were setting up Sifus Lindstrom and Kichko asked where the dragon was and I said that I wasn't going to put it in the auction. That started the why???? Then my "wonderful" husband blabbed that they were in the car and as a result off he went to get them.  I unpacked my dragons and  I was "peer-pressured" into putting the dragons in the auction. All through the night I kept getting blasted with "what do you mean you weren't going to put those in the auction??!!" and "you're your own worst critic you know". I must say that it was extremely humbling to see what the dragons sold for and that they both sold to the same person who was thrilled to own them both. It was made very clear to me that I, even though proud of my dragons, was looking at them through my list of improvements whereas everyone else saw the dragons for what they were. Two very different sets of pictures. While it's good to note the improvements, the improvements shouldn't be the focal point and that was the mistake I was making. Oh gee, guess which set of "glasses" I was looking at my forms through? No wonder I wasn't wild about doing them and yes I changed that picture as well.

On Sunday my husband, during conversation about the banquet events, looked at me and said "why don't you bite the bullet and get the kiln you want (and need)?" The kiln I want is a Skutt Scarab (a Cadillac unit), made by a torch hound for a torch hound, is much bigger and costs more than some of the cars on the road. Translation: a sizable investment. Then it hit me: I had been asked numerous times if I make such and such and my response was no because I was limited to the size of my kiln. Whew boy!! Talk about keeping myself in little league with that one! Am I serious about being all I can be as a glass artist or not? So I now have a call in to see what the local Skutt distributor can do for me to get the kiln up here so yes I am serious. Besides, I have a bunch more dragons to make among other things like a Turkish coffee pot and someone has been pestering me for wine glasses.

Oh yes, I have also been asked if I do large shallow glass bowls. My first thought was no because that's a hotshop project and I'm a torch hound. However after giving my head a rattle I had another thought: I don't have a hotshop, but I sure know who does and he's been doing the hint-on for team glassblowing. Must see about seat sales to California.....


Sherri Donohue

No comments:

Post a Comment