“What gets you up in the morning?”

My advanced students keep a weekly blog about their progress in the studio throughout the semester. At the end of this semester, I asked them to reflect on the semester, prompting them with a few questions. One of the questions I asked them was .. What gets you up in the morning? What gets you to the studio?

Their answers are inspiring and remind me of some of the reasons I am engaged in my own studio practice …

“My son, my family, my art, my housework and my alarm gets me up in the morning. I come to the studio to center myself and some clay and remind myself that no matter how crazy and off center the world (or my clay) gets, it can be shaped into something beautiful or at the very least useful with a little time, practice, and work”.

“I come to the studio each day because it’s fun. I love the experience of starting from nothing, making the clay, wedging it, wedging it, wedging it, then throwing on the wheel to create something that I can take home and use and know that I had a hand in every creative process that it took for that work to exist. It satisfies me, and knowing that that piece could survive and be discovered thousands of years from now makes me feel a little invincible.”

“I look forward to going to the studio because it acts as my escape from the real world. I love being creative and seeing what I can make each day.”

“I want to bring a happiness to people. People’s lives are hectic and hard, and I want to give people a little haven from all that. This is what gets me in the studio and up in the morning.”

“Originally I made pots simply because I wanted to. But now it is immensely more personal than that; even beyond my comprehension. So everyday I can make pots is a day I spend on the forefront of my self, and that’s what makes me get out of bed in the morning. I belong to it.”

“I like to work; I enjoy what I do. I like the studio, every single studio, studios in general; I’m fortunate to be at a local school, with good studios and teachers and students I get along with and like. It’s amazing, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I have.”

So, what gets you up in the morning? What gets you to the studio?