Off-Season Moments

I think Abby Grace‘s newsletter hit my inbox at the pefect time. Photographers often talk about the “season” and how we basically gear up for 7 months of shooting non-stop, which is all fun, exciting, energizing, crazy, hectic, and often a stressful at the same time. We shoot and book and update and do almost everything we can possibly do and we have a tendency to say yes–to everything. But as Abby mentioned, in the midst of it all, it often feels like the off-season is a fantasy that may never arrive.  Managing each season can be really difficult but I feel like each go around, I get a bit better at it. About two months ago, I introduced something new to my routine that I think has helped: pottery.

I took pottery in college and I really grew fond of it. I used to go into the studio late at night to finish projects and I still have many of my (some not-so-cute) creations in my apartment. I had been on the waiting list at Bright Leaf Pottery studio in Columbia Heights for a year and a half. Yeah…a year and a half. By the time Phyllis reached out to me, I really had to think if I wanted to do it or not. For starters, I no longer lived just a few blocks away, and I also wasn’t sure if I could commit to at least six consecutive classes. Then I realized that I really needed to put the excuses aside and just do it for me. So for six weeks on Thursday, I committed myself to going to pottery.

There’s something cool about creating a piece and working at different stages to finish it. From throwing it, to trimming, to glazing. Sometimes each step works perfectly and sometimes you go through the process to find out the end product wasn’t quite what you hoped for. But that’s what I really like about pottery. It never ends the way you expect it. Each piece I’ve made came out fairly different than I envisioned it because of various things (like last night how I noticed one of my pieces cracked and broke off). And that’s a learning experience that I really enjoy taking every week for two hours. Plus, it’s fun gathering with a group of girls to chat (sometimes over wine and sweets) while each one of us creates something different. It’s relaxing and definitely inspiring. So with that, I’ve officially decided that two hours each week in the studio is my way of bringing that “off-season” feeling a bit closer, making this season just a bit better this go around!

And because every blog post needs a photo, here is on Phyllis took of our Thursday group! And let me tell you, these girls are hilarious and it was totally worth the year and a half long wait!