I’ve been having a tough time with motivation lately.  Part of it is because I’m in what I call one of my headache cycles.  Starts with a migraine, then I just seem to have a nagging headache leftover for awhile.  It could be a day, it could be a month.  It makes me sort of stupid, which is very frustrating for me.  I just haven’t been able to stir my stumps and get in the studio.  I pushed myself to get in there the other day and start cutting out pendants.  I ended up using my terracotta clay, which is a different beast than the white earthenware.  Seeing my glaze samples on the terracotta inspired me to work with it this time.

One thing I’ve found interesting is that motivation doesn’t seem to go hand in hand with inspiration.  I would think that once inspiration strikes, I’d get right in there.  I’ve had to settle for just jotting down some notes to use later.  I think it’s time to implement some new techniques that I’ve picked up in my various pottery books and my favorite magazine, Pottery Making Illustrated. I want to do some slip casting as well, but that project requires uninterrupted time and sunshine.

I did manage to start working on my shopping cart on my website, so if my laptop cooperates with me perhaps I can have it done by the end of the week. I have all the glaze samples photographed (now if I can find my memory card and reader). I decided to incorporate a Paypal cart into my site; it has all the functionality required, and I have to do minimal html editing to get it up to speed. I hope it will be worth the effort I have to put into it!

What do you do to work yourself out of a rut?