Hi everyone! The McKinney Art Studio Tour is this weekend and I’m in it. Wow. Wow. Junior year is hard and I had little to no time to do anything but I have been prepping for MAST. MAST is this weekend: November 11 & 12. Please come and support your local artists.
I am going to be at the McKinney Art House and all the stuff is in my contact. There is food…I hope that sways you. Anyways, there is so much going on and every artist has put forth so much effort into this and I can’t wait for it. Please come and look around and spread the word!
Here is the link to the website : http://mckinneyartstudiotour.com/
Even if you can’t come, here is the website for the online silent auction. I am putting pictures of my pieces here so you can see what I have been working on. http://www.biddingowl.com/MAST
I was doing an assignment for English and I was tasked to write an essay for a college application. I wrote about pottery and the journey about how I get here and I thought it would be worth posting on here to see how I got into art and pottery. When I was writing this I got teary eyed and reminiscent so there’s that. But here it is if you are interested:
Growing up, my father and I used to sit on couch and watch cartoons animated by Studio Ghibli, a well-known Japanese animation studio who created great movies such as My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service. My father would insist on me watching the films in Japanese even though neither of us understood a single word of the language. His explanation to this was that he did not want the subtitles to distract from the art and storyline.
What my father could not predict was how much influence art would later have on my life. When I moved to a new city, I had a tough time transitioning. My mother saw this and thought it would be a good time to enroll me into art class at a studio in McKinney so that I would feel more enthusiastic about transitioning to a new city.
That studio would be my second home and the owner of that little studio, Sona Knox, would not only be my mentor but a close friend who has pushed me to be a better artist. She opened the doors to a whole world of pottery and ceramics. Over the course of the past seven years, I would learn sculpting and throwing as well as firing techniques such as rakuing.
Starting out, I went to classes for fun. I went three hours a week, every week and would always make my mother wait for me after class because I could never keep track of time while I was there. While I was there, I met many great artists who had so much passion for their art that if they even shared a drop of it with me; I could create for a lifetime.
The big turning point of pottery was when I hit four and a half years. My long time mentor had finally decided to retire and she offered me a spot as a studio potter. This meant instead of paying her for classes, I paid her for rent and instead of her teaching me, she trusted me to push myself. I really went from student to artist when Sona took me to my first show. I had been to shows before but this time, I got to show off my skills to others and I really got noticed.
My first job ever was helping at an art camp. Magda Dia, the employer chose me because of my skill at throwing on the wheel. I was so proud of myself; I gotten my first paycheck and it was the first time I could pay for my supplies, rent and make a profit. I would later go from a helper to a full time teacher within the next two years.
Teaching pottery is an incredible experience. Art is difficult to teach; you have to teach enough to allow students to create but not set too many guildlines to destroy the creativity. Watching my students get so excited about the next project or feeling their anticipation right before they get their piece out of the kiln is a mixture of pride and happiness. Teaching children is not only fun, but it opened my eyes to see what it really means to have endless energy and believing in the impossible. However, teaching adults is my biggest challenge and my greatest sense of pride. Teaching adults is a lot harder than teaching children, children can imagine for days but adults are practical. Doing multistep projects are easier so the things that are created are unspeakably beautiful.
In June of 2015, I was approached by an artist to be a vendor at a local festival. She wanted me to sell my work and do a solo sale. I was speechless and swamped by paperwork. To sell pottery, you must have a sales tax license and after I applied for the seven or eight things needed to acquire this license, I had a business and was officially self-employed.
Note: 650 words is not enough to fit 6 years of pottery into.
There were so many things that pottery has brought me. But the biggest thing is the sense of accomplishment. When I was doing pottery in middle school, I volunteered at this Art Gallery tour called MAST( McKinney Art Studio Tour) and my memories of volunteering consists of Sona making fondue and Rocket and Daisy, Sona’s two golden retrievers, running around and getting pet by everyone, sitting in the cold trying to check everyone in and sitting and wishing that I could be in the show one day.
Chronologically there are so many details and so many things that happened at the right time or the right place, namely, opportunities that appeared and nice friends who would drive me around everywhere because I don’t have my license. There were so many shows and parties I went to that helped me meet the right people and long story short I ended up getting offered to be in the show.
I won’t talk about my first show because in all honesty it was just another show, but on a more elevated level. I sold a lot and ate a lot and hung out with my dear Brittney, who is a fellow artist, but it was really a great show. This year, I am once again in it.
As much as I love McKinney and the people in McKinney, I have to credit some of my success to Laura Helms, my art 1 teacher. I was always hesitant to take art in school because to get a grade on something that depends on my creativity and just art is so subjective. It didn’t sit right. However, I think the marking of a great teacher is someone who can push past these things and teach a great curriculum. She really pushed me into art contests and gave me constructive criticism on my pieces and for that I feel like I have grown as an artist.
Writing this college essay, makes me so reminiscent of everything that has been so blessed to have happened to me. And it is absolutely crazy that it’s not even near over. Pottery is definitely something that I will be doing until the day I physically can’t anymore and I aspire to bring art into everyday life.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, there have been so many people that I haven’t said thank you to enough. First and foremost, Sona and her husband Jim who have let me do crazy thing in their art house, make messes and do shows. I really don’t think I could ever say thank you enough. You have brought opportunities to me that I could never have dreamt of and taught me so so much over the past couple of years. There is literally no way I could ever repay you for that. Brittney, who I have gotten to know super well over the past two or three years, she is definitely my partner in crime. I got to go to shows and joke about driving your car and I know that if I ever go to an artist party, we can eat cheese and I can pretend to drink your wine and maybe fall asleep on your shoulder. Magda, thank you so much for offering me my first job. I still have the first paycheck from working a birthday party. It just shows so much has happened and thank you for giving me an opportunity to teach. Noriko and JB, I think I credit the two of you for my business. Without second Saturdays, I would have never had to apply for it. The endless opportunities you offer me are… I can’t even find the words. Tim, you have awed me and inspired me beyond belief There are just so many people, Cate and Renee who has been role models and who I got to observe teaching and had the pleasure of helping, Wendolin who I beat in a watermelon seed spitting contest but still loves me, Brigit Hauser who really told me to sit and think about pursuing art as a career, Lisa who taught me to think out of the box… the list goes on and on.
But I do need to thank my parents, mainly my mother who has dedicated so much time driving me to and from the Art House, and being so proud of my stuff. Endless support my parents put behind me is incredible. She really does make all the difference. Going to shows and dragging her friends, finding me commissions, she really does do it all. All of it. Everyday. Thanks mom, I love you.
Leila's Ceramics 