Do what you love. Love what you do.

Our daughter once bought us earrings that had that saying on – one said, ‘do what you love’, the other ‘love what you do’. It was at a time when we were still caught up in work that was no longer enjoyable, and was actually quite stressful. It was one of the prompts to thinking, life could be better than this. There were many! But the saying stayed with me and is what we try to do in life.

This poetry plaque came out of the kiln last week. If you do anything creative, you might understand that feeling of emptying the kiln, assessing each piece. Some aren’t the way you wanted them to be. Some are okay.. Some, occasionally, are like, ‘yes!’ that’s exactly what I wanted to do. And this piece was one of them. The way the glazes came out, the shadow to one side, the beautiful words by Chris – it all came together and worked. It’s what makes it all worth while.

We have worked very hard at creating something original. Not what is fashionable or on trend. Of course at the beginning, it takes a while to find your feet and to find your style. But it’s worth hanging on in there and pushing through, especially not creating things that are what people ask for, but rather creating what you love, and finding the audience that loves it too.