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The Importance of Play - For Creatives Reacting To Mae Ceramics
168 Plays2 months ago
In this episode of Shaping Your Pottery I am doing something a little different and reacting to Mae Ceramics about the Importance of Play For Creatives
Check out Mae's youtube channel by clicking here https://www.youtube.com/@MaeCeramics
Sign up to the upcoming Mastering Carved Pottery with Molly Walter virtual workshop by clicking here
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Transcript
Embracing Failure in Creativity
00:00:00
Speaker
You have to be okay with sucking at something to start with to get good at it. You're gonna suck at first. That's it. What is up, shaping nation? This is Nick Torres here.
The Role of Play in Creative Work
00:00:11
Speaker
And for this episode, I thought I'd do a little bit different, something a little bit different. I came across this video on YouTube from Mae Ceramics. If you don't know Mae, she makes some really incredible pottery. She's from the UK and she gives lots of great tips. And I came across this video from her YouTube channel and it says the importance of play for creatives and anyone. And I...
00:00:33
Speaker
I agree so much play is 100% we definitely need that in pottery if you're creative or anything because it helps us grow and I thought I would give my reaction to what she's saying and I've seen a little bit of it not the full thing and so far I think what she said is really good so let's get started shall we? When I teach, I am often very struck by the differences in how adults and children approach clay.
Children vs. Adults: Approaches to Creativity
00:00:58
Speaker
Adults tend to approach the clay with preconceived ideas about who they are, about creativity, about what they're good at and what they're not good at. See that is very, very true.
00:01:13
Speaker
I have done this myself where you you don't feel like you are good at something and you don't end up doing it. You don't end up trying to go the extra step. You don't end up trying to experiment or play because you just get stuck in that own mindset, right? And the kids, on the other hand, they have that that feeling. they They just do whatever. And if we can embody that feeling of just you know experimenting and trying it out, then a lot of our pottery, a lot of our art would look a lot better.
00:01:43
Speaker
Children, um unlike adults, approach the clay with a sense of wonder. They don't have any preconceived ideas about who they are or what the clay is going to do. They just play and play is what we're going to talk about today.
00:02:00
Speaker
Right outside my studio there's a playground and I often see adults playing on the swings and it makes me so happy. As adults we often forget about the importance of play in our lives. We're living under a world of capitalism and social media and a whole lot of other things and I truly think that that has rotted our brains into thinking that we're machines for Productivity and output rest and play and creativity aren't really ever part of that equation of who we are I agree a hundred percent especially on the rest part because for a while
00:02:37
Speaker
I was making a bunch of pots, but
Balancing Productivity with Play
00:02:39
Speaker
I wasn't resting. I was just making more and more pots. And when I decided to take a break for a little bit, I actually got more ideas for my pottery and it became easier to actually play and it became easier to find my voice because I took that simple rest. I definitely agree with that.
00:02:54
Speaker
Play isn't just for kids. It's a powerful tool for learning, for problem solving, for confidence building. Somebody told me a story the other day, which I really liked, of a kid who she was teaching, who made a snail out of clay and realised that when you put a little bit of water on the clay, it becomes slippery. During that, kind of realised that there was a relationship between the material that he was using and the little creature that he had made.
00:03:22
Speaker
Snails are slippery, clay is also slippery. And so he put loads of water on the bottom of the snail and then he was like tracing it around the table and creating all these little snail trails, creating a little maze of where it had been. And I adore that story. I love it. It's the perfect example of how kids don't have this idea of what they have to make and it being perfect and it being lovely to look at. But instead, he was enjoying the process. He was exploring the material. He was learning from the medium and completely let go of the outcome. However, the outcome was kind of part of the medium in the first place.
00:04:06
Speaker
I love that as well because sometimes we get so in our head, like I mentioned earlier, we get so in our head that we forget to actually play. And you don't need an outcome. You don't need a full plan when you're you're making pottery, you're making art or anything. You don't need a full plan.
Starting Creative Projects Fearlessly
00:04:21
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Sometimes the best solution is just to start making, just start doing things, just start playing around with the clay and see what comes out of it.
00:04:28
Speaker
I adore that story and I adore that kid. Adults carry the heavy weight of preconceptions. When I'm teaching at the Pottery Wheel, people will often say to me, I'm not creative. And I guess that's just like a a way of saying.
00:04:43
Speaker
you don't necessarily need to be creative to make pottery. And I'm sure she's probably gonna go more into it a little bit, but i you don't need to be creative to make pottery. Like I said earlier, if you just start making, creativity comes from when you start making.
00:05:00
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saying like, I'm worried about what this is going to look like. But it's also saying, I'm not going to be good at this. Obviously, that's a limiting belief. But the task isn't a creative one necessarily. Yes, it's working with a material that you don't usually work with. But the task is just to make a cylinder. A cylinder has already been made before. It's not asking you to be creative, but it is asking you to do something different if you're not definitely 100%. She's right on you. And when you're first learning how to throw in the wheel, you're not you don't have to be creative. The point is just to learn. The point is just to try things out. And then once you get better, that's when you can start incorporating more creative aspects of it, creating more play around it. just The first task is to learn. And then play becomes much easier after that.
00:05:49
Speaker
not used to doing it and it's asking you to feel the clay and to explore something and to possibly fail. Creativity isn't about perfection. It's the opposite. It's about trying something. It's about probably failing. It's about expressing yourself along that journey.
00:06:08
Speaker
whatever that
Integrating Creativity into Daily Life
00:06:09
Speaker
may look like. When we let go of the idea of being good at something or of perfection then we open ourselves up to endless possibilities. As an artist it's obviously vital for me to build creativity like it's a muscle. If you're not an artist or if you don't do something creative for a job that can stagnate, creativity can stagnate and that's And that's very true. When it stagnates, it becomes that much harder to get back into creativity. So like, how can you incorporate creativity? How can you incorporate play into your daily lives? Even if it's just five minutes a day, for even, you know, a few minutes a day. Simply by doing that every day, maybe it's drawing, maybe you're making stamps, maybe you're doing whatever. Simply by trying to incorporate it every single day, it becomes easier to be creative and be able to play more with your pot or with your art.
00:06:59
Speaker
It's okay, it's not your fault. If you are then approaching something like pottery or anything creative as a hobby or as a job, maybe, then you have to realize that you're not gonna be good at it straight away. You have to be okay with sucking at something to start with to get good at it. You're gonna suck at first.
00:07:21
Speaker
That's it. You're literally just going to suck at first. Nobody's good at anything at first. Just as long as you keep pursuing it, that's how you get better. That's how we get better in until we grow. That's why allowing play and creativity in is really important. You can't expect to learn a language in a day or to master a musical instrument in a day. And I don't understand why people come to a pottery wheel and expect to be able to do it in a day.
00:07:49
Speaker
It's not realistic. It's setting these really high goals for yourself. And then when you're not good at it in a day, you say to yourself, I'm not a creative person. I'm not good at this. And you limit yourself immediately from doing that.
00:08:03
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On Mondays, I have started something new. Instead of coming into the studio, I have essentially an admin Monday. People think that being a ceramicist must mean that I live this beautiful, happy, carefree, creative life. And I guess I do in some senses. But playing with clay isn't kind of my hobby. When I'm here, I'm at work and I have targets and goals and expectations for output that I put on myself because I'm running a business.
Overcoming Creative Blocks
00:08:37
Speaker
And when I don't hit those goals, I have to work overtime to get what I need to do done because my income is directly related to output. So naturally there's kind of not really a lot of time for creativity and play built.
00:08:51
Speaker
So how, if you're in the same position, maybe work as well, maybe not doing party full time, but you're also work full time. How can you incorporate creativity? How can you incorporate play into your daily life to make it as easy as possible? Into that. So my admin Monday, or as I like to call it motivational Monday is a day where I am away from the studio and I do things like my admin, my emails, my accounting.
00:09:21
Speaker
planning, drawing, thinking, editing these videos and it's really important for me to do this because it has allowed me to kind of relax and decompress and actually set time to prioritise. And because I set myself time to plan and to do all this work that needs doing to run a business, and I also set time to make all the pieces that I need to make for the week, it gives me a chance to carve out time for creativity and creative thinking and creative making.
00:09:52
Speaker
Obviously this is important for me as a maker. I need to kind of make new things. Every now and again I can't just make the same thing over and over. And I have to admit that I don't always do this when I have assigned some time for like a Wednesday afternoon or something. I don't always get to it. I might be exhausted or I might be trying to get something else done. but And that's okay. You don't have to always be, I always have to play, play, play, play. Sometimes there are going to be periods where you're going to have to work and there are going to be periods where you can play. And that's okay. You don't always have to have one or the other or both at the same time. Sometimes it's either one or sometimes it's either another. When I prioritize time for creativity, I always end up learning something. I've had some ideas that have been like rattling around in my brain for years.
00:10:42
Speaker
And I haven't got around to doing them yet. One day I will. One of these Wednesday afternoons. But I know that when I have a little bit of time to explore something, maybe it's making a new glaze recipe, maybe it's making a shape that I've had in my head for a bit, I will learn how to do something new or I will kind of crack something that I have been struggling with like a new technique or something like that. And it always makes me a better maker. Of course, that kind of develops me as a person, I suppose, or um me within my business. Okay, so there's some tips. How do we learn these lessons from kids and learn to embrace our creativity and our playful side? Number one, just start with a clean slate. Approach your creative pursuits like a page of blank paper. Start with nothing.
00:11:33
Speaker
Start with just kind of what you want to do. Don't cast any preconceptions onto what you want to do. Just kind of start. Just start. Just pick up some clay and have ah have a feel of it. Whatever it is, just get going.
00:11:48
Speaker
Absolutely agree. I can't agree more about that. Just start. The most important thing is to just start. We get in our heads a lot. If you just start making, you'll get new ideas. You get new creative thoughts by making the pottery, making the art. Whatever you're doing, just start making. Number two, embrace mistakes. Mistakes are the way that we learn. You need to decide that mistakes are the bricks that we build the wall of creativity with. hey
00:12:22
Speaker
It's not a very good metaphor. ah The staircase of creativity with. When you're trying to learn something new and being creative is new for you, then mistakes are part of that. And each mistake is a brick in that staircase, we'll say. Celebrate your errors as part of the learning process. Number three is set aside time to be creative. So like my Wednesday afternoons and kind of like my motivational Mondays, I set time aside to be creative and to play. when you That is a very, very good tip as well. If you are somebody that is busy, you have to set time to play, to be creative. Like I mentioned earlier, maybe that time you're setting time, five minutes while you are you are making coffee. Or maybe it's right before, or right before you go to sleep. You're you're spending that time to be creative. youre You have that time, and if you could do it every day, it's a lot easier. But if you do it once a week, that is great as well.
Perfectionism and Creativity
00:13:23
Speaker
just try If you could if you find that you can find a habit to make it once a day, then you're gonna go a lot further than just once a week. where I personally, for me, like when I am trying to do something or trying to get new creative thoughts, what I like to do is I like to wake up and just start making pretty much right away. like i have this I was making a Daredevil mug not too early this week,
00:13:49
Speaker
And I was going on vacation and I literally woke up early just so I could finish that mug because I was so excited about it. And simply I woke up and I just started making it simply because I just wanted to make that. So find what works for you and try to build that habit of being creative every day. If you do every day, it's a lot easier compared to once a week. You do that. Nothing else is there to distract you. You're just there to have a little go, have a feel, explore something. Dedicating time.
00:14:14
Speaker
to just sit and play with your clay or whatever medium you choose is a gift, is a little gift to yourself. And remember that this time isn't to create something perfect, it's to actually enjoy the process. Number four, challenge negative self-talk. If you hear your little brain saying things like, I'm not creative, I'm not good at this, I'm not good in general, anything like that, you need to stop and just think,
00:14:43
Speaker
I'm not good at this yet. Understand that your brain is trying to protect you from failure from this new thing that you're trying. Remind yourself that you are in control and remind yourself that you were also once a kid who could make a snail out of clay and put some water on the bottom and make it slide around a table. You are creative, you just need to practice it. Number five, don't let perfection get in the way of good.
00:15:09
Speaker
Perfection is truly the enemy of good and the idea of striving for perfection is Just gonna hurt your soul because you're never gonna achieve that but it definitely perfection definitely does get in the way but make sure you are still trying to make the Best possible work you possibly can and I'm sure she was probably gonna say that as well But like make try to make the best possible work you can every time you make it But don't let perfection get in the way. It's okay if the piece is just good But if you let perfection get in the way then you're not going to be able to do anything.
Finding Inspiration in Everyday Life
00:15:41
Speaker
so But at least try to put your best effort first when you're making things. If you were only ever focused on creating something perfect, then you're never actually going to create anything. If you look back at some of your favorite creatives, be them ceramicists or YouTubers or artists, whoever it is,
00:16:04
Speaker
You can look back at their body of work and probably you'll see a portfolio of improvement and that's something beautiful and you can achieve that too. Lastly, number six, find inspiration in everyday life. What you like to look at.
00:16:19
Speaker
Before you decide what to make, decide what you like to look at. When you're walking around, you might be inspired by nature, by a river or by the sky or by some cool leaves, or you might be in the built environment and you might see some area of a building that really takes your fantasy. Start investigating those curiosities and understanding why you like them and kind of hone in on that. Maybe take some photos, maybe you can write down in a notebook or in your phone or whatever what you liked about them what they made you feel and then when you come to your creative time that you've set aside you can investigate that you can go back to your notes or your photos or whatever and see if you can kind of make something that is inspired by that absolutely a hundred percent agree i've gotten this advice so many times and i've given this advice to so many people if you know what you like first then it becomes easier to be creative
00:17:17
Speaker
Right, and very recently I saw the Deadpool and Wolverine movie and I was so inspired by that movie that I decided to make a Deadpool and Wolverine mug. If you know what you make want if you know what you like, then it becomes easier to be creative, it becomes easier to play because you're doing the things that you know you like. Absolutely love that advice. I finished my glazing.
00:17:39
Speaker
It's really hot now in the studio, about to turn the kiln on. Anyway, if you're feeling stagnant or if you're feeling unconfident or like life is too serious and you're just thinking about output and productivity, then maybe try a little play.
00:17:55
Speaker
Maybe give it a go, maybe prioritize it, schedule it, get it in the diary and be like an adult in a public playground on the swings. Or like a kid who's just learned how to make a little snail and is sliding it around a table. You got this, you can have a play. Enjoy your making, enjoy your life. And I'll see you next week for another video. I've also written a book called Handbuilt.
00:18:15
Speaker
um
00:18:18
Speaker
Absolutely love this. this little YouTube video from May. if haven't If you don't already follow May on YouTube or Instagram, go check her out. She gives some excellent advice, her work is absolutely amazing. Go check her out. Hope you guys enjoyed this episode and remember to incorporate play into your work. If you could do it every day, that's better, but once a week is also fine as well. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and I'll see you guys in the next one.
Upcoming Virtual Pottery Demo Announcement
00:18:43
Speaker
Hey thanks for listening to this episode of Shaping Your Pottery with Nick Torres. On August 29th I am doing a virtual online demo with Molly Walter all about mastering carved pottery. Molly makes some incredibly detailed carved pottery and she's going to go over the tech two tech different techniques she uses to make her carved pottery and at the end she's going to give a fun little challenge to this Workshop as well. This workshop is only going to be available to those that are in my clay games community So if you would like to join the clay games community click the the link in the description to join