I'm Launching on Kickstarter!

So... I know it's been quiet around here. I've been trying really hard to maintain a creative practice at home and too much blogging (reading and writing) takes away from that. My creative energy is a-bloomin', though. I've been craving clay more lately than I have in a very long time. Hiatuses are good sometimes I guess. But this isn't exactly a hiatus anymore. 

There's big news.

I'm launching a Kickstarter Campaign, today, and I need your help, (Mud)Bucket Readers.

For those who aren't familiar with it, Kickstarter is a web-based, grassroots fundraising tool for creative projects aplenty. Individuals propose and then list projects on the Kickstarter website where friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, and strangers alike can pledge different contributions to the project in exchange for a series of rewards. The pledges are collected in an 'all or nothing' fashion, so each project is accompanied by a monetary goal which must be reached before the project creator can reap the benefits of the fundraiser. This protects both the project creator and its supporters, and ensures that no projects end up half-assed. I like that.

I've been working on this Kickstarter Campaign called 'Ladies Work' for the last couple weeks and I'm finally ready to launch. It is a textile arts project that I am very excited for. How does a textile arts project relate to a ceramic arts blog, you say?  Well, to put it plainly, I hope, through the production of this textile series, to develop a stronger point of view as an artist which I will then feel more confident translating into the different mediums I love to use- including clay. (In fact, this whole series was originally inspired by the workshop I took with Diana Fayt earlier this year, fancy that.)

The obstacle that I've come to in my ceramic work is that I feel I don't have a solid path to follow. My work has been very weak on many levels and for the longest time I couldn't figure out what was going on. I thought maybe I really didn't love clay as much as I thought. WRONG. I thought maybe I just wasn't any good with clay. Again, WRONG. And then I thought, well maybe I just don't have anything unique to offer the world as a ceramic artist. WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG. I have since realized, through the pursuit of my textile work, that I do want to work in clay and that I do have something unique to offer the kiln gods. If it is through the consistent exploration of multiple mediums that I remember these facts, then so be it. Isn't it funny how that works?

So... I am asking you, readers, to help me with this project. We have until December 1st to reach the pledge goal of $1500. If you can pledge, thank you from the bottom of my little potter's heart. If you can share this Kickstarter Campaign with your friends, family, studio mates, and blog readers, again thank you from the bottom of my little potter's heart. If you can do both, I will explode with gratitude like a pot full of plaster in the kiln.

Thank you so much for reading this. For more information please visit my Kickstarter page, where you can pledge if you decide you'd like to contribute and where you can find the video above to share with your friends and readers.

I hope this project inspires some of you to try your hand at a Kickstarter project as well. If it does, please let me know. I'd love to support you, too.

Pledge to "Ladies Work"

P.S. If you'd like to see some of what this project will fund, check out my board on Pinterest.