Ceramics at the OC Fair

The Orange County Fair in Southern California is in its final week, ending August 9. I have volunteered a few days at the Ceramics area, in Crafters Village. There are people throwing pots on the wheels, but since I don't know how to do that, I'm demonstrating hand-building, and have worked on some small sculptures. Here's a picture, (not my best look, but oh well) on a night when I worked on a tree, a tiny bust, and in my hand... is a clay hand. The hand looked a bit creepy actually, looked kind of real... Now I have to decide if I will have these fired to make them permanent.

I have one more shift to work, this Friday afternoon, August 7. It's been fun, chatting with fairgoers about art and clay and various things. It's interesting how many people stop and say, "I used to do that, back in high school." I have encouraged them to try to find time for creative projects, but everyone seems so stressed about finding time. It's understandable, but it's a shame. Kids like to stop and look, since it's basically playing with mud. One boy asked me, "What if you make a mistake?" I said, "That's okay, it doesn't matter. You do make mistakes, and you just keep going." He looked a little shocked, actually. I guess we're so focused on doing things "right", whatever that is, that I think it keeps people from doing creative things. Somewhere in my readings about art, it said you had to be willing to do a lot of bad art, so I try to remember that and just keep going. I think it is the key to doing anything creative, to not worry about everything being perfect... or even good... but to just keep going. It's often easier said than done.

Working on art at the Fair in front of people can be difficult. It's intimidating, especially when you're just starting, and you have a blob of clay in front of you. People pause and look, puzzled, trying to figure out what on earth you're making. Another lesson I learned at some point is that in a situation like this, you have to just not care. And I mean that in the most positive way possible. You can't worry about what people are thinking, you just have to keep going. Even if, as happened the other day, you're working on a sculpture of a woman dancing... and several people think it's a chicken.