Grounding dishes have always been a meditation practice for me.

But somewhere along the way they became so much more, and have had a profound impact on my life and art practice that I could have never imagined.

The kind of impact that can only be felt through the passage of time passing, and a practice growing as the years merge into memories.

There is magic to be found in the mundane and the repetition of it all.

It is in that repetition that I am set free, and I allowed myself to just be.

The simplicity of this art practice is where its power lies. It made me discover and touch a greatness inside myself I had always known and not ever had the space to embodied or feel safe enough to embrace.

It has all become so deeply ritualistic, more than I thought it could be.

And it is in that depth that things get found.

All the small and gentle movements, the slowness, presence and time it takes from start to finish. No rushing, just flowing.

Clay and ceramics as a whole is the ultimate teacher.

You must let go and surrender to the process. There is only so much you can control, and mistakes and failures happen.

After decades of working with clay, I seek out the imperfections and the failures.

It is in those perceived flaws that the most wisdom, intuition and intellect is found.

Those are the place and spaces that teach you the most.

They are there to be embrace, in their wholeness.

And its where I slowly find me again and again.

Working with clay and art as a whole practice cultivates a level of intuition and personal presence that nothing else has ever been able to give me. Just me and the dirt

Touching a sacredness that feels ancient.

Working with clay, it is exercising and practicing one of the truest forms of Alchemy.

Earth as the clay, water to mould and form it, air to dry it, fire to transform it from dirt to stone and the ether to birth it into existence from thought/memory into being. All the elements, ever present.

I have made grounding dishes for over a decade now.

They are the thing that always brings me back to myself.

There is such a freedom in the repetitive act.

It is so mundane to the point it may seem boring to others. In that mundane process is the space to see and feel the magic of life. Experiencing the freedom that only true solitude brings.

All the noise of life falls away, and all that is left is the hum of life inside myself.

Making the same thing over and over and over again.

The same movements. Never changing. Always staying the same.

It has become a reflex, a memory stored in my muscles. Something that now comes as naturally to me as breathing. There is no separation between me and this practice anymore.

The making process is always the same.

Never changing and yet even in the sameness every single one is unique and its own being.

Much like us as human beings. We are all the same but also so uniquely ourselves. Only once and never again.

A lot of the grounding dishes uniqueness is in the glazing process, and that is the place where my intuition comes alive.

Fully activated.

So many dislike the glazing process because everything that could go wrong usually does when it comes to glazing. It is time consuming, and tedious.

Glazing takes years to perfect and master. A level of dedication and devotion that a lot of people stray away from.

Commitment to the cultivation.

It requires a level of knowing and understanding of natural materials and how they work together, melt together. Glazing is a science, and there is a truth within it to behold.

The truth can only be found in the doing.

Glazing is the part where you must surrender. Leave control behind and allow yourself to flow and melt like the glaze does when fired. It is where things become alive.

It is where I come alive.

Even though there is a knowing and understanding when it comes to glazing and the individual glazes I have made over the years so much is always unknown. It is surrendering to the unknown every single time.

Each glaze will move the way it wants to move, you cannot control it as much as you can guide it. Even the most plain and simple glazes will surprise you in ways you wouldn’t have thought of.

It is that surprise; that energy and flow I seek.

Every imperfection, every coming together and merging, every strange shape and texture created by the glazes tells a story. It has information to share. That is where the intuition comes in.

Reading the imperfections and particulars of a finished piece.

They become spiritual guides, spiritual beings.

Grounding dishes and glazing them are like painting energy. Almost as if I am creating a stone or crystal for protection and grounding. Turning the untouchable into matter.

The glazes tell stories and I know how to read and feel them, also because I made them.

The way the glaze moves from where you initially placed it, to when it is fired and finish, I see that in my head, and feel it in my body. And it is something that has only built and grown with time.

And through that passage of time, like the merging of materials in glaze my art practice and spiritual practice have merged into one and expanded into something I thought I would never see, reach or understand fully.

I make them for myself, but they are also not mine to keep. They need to be set free.

As a a gift for others to acquire, gift and share.

Something to get lost in.

A moment to pause.

To look.

To reflect.

Getting lost in the colours to maybe find parts of yourself in those little moments of wonder.

It is such a small moment. So precious and so fleeting, yet ever present.

To look in awe of what your eyes see in the glazes is a moment of pure presence.

The moment does not have to be profound, it is simple.

Just to look at something, to witness its beauty and be in your body enough to tune into what you are looking at. That is what it is all about. Simple yet illusive.

That’s the mediation, that is the grounding, that is the connection point.

Glaze moves the same way peoples energy does.

I have always felt and known that.

I have always seen people as art, and art as people.

It is strange to try and explain or even articulate, but I’ve always seen it and I’ve always felt it.

A few years ago, I knew I needed to expand my art practice.

In a way that would nourish my soul and cultivate the abundance I’ve been seeking.

While also expanding the knowledge that the grounding dishes as a practice was giving me, so I got an aura camera. Mostly because I have always wanted the camera just for myself, but also to see people as the art that they are and see the way colour is expressed by people the same way colour is expressed in the grounding dishes.

I can have a feeling for the colour.

A feeling for the glaze, but you never know how they are going to fully express themselves. The patterns that are made and created, what it is going to look like. The same thing happens with aura photos.

Peoples energy moves the same way glaze does.

Knowing that, and then finally seeing it unlocked parts of my brain/creativity that I’d been trying to get the keys to my whole life.

The grounding dishes made me be able to read peoples colours better than anything else, and the practice of taking peoples photos and no two photos ever being the same made me a better artist.

One part of my art practice started to feed the other and opened up a level of creative flow I will forever be grateful for.

Colour is feeling, colour is language.

Colour is a way of understanding and being understood.

All the art I make, although it may seem separate and fragmented to outsiders, has never been more connected. Creating an artistic ecosystem in which I can flow has set me free.

The more you lean into your creativity the more you lean into the divine.

Creativity is how you touch the divine/ether.

Having a creative practice and rituals is how you honour it all in its wholeness.

Art is the grounding meditation I have always had and will never let go.

I miss Tumblr.

I miss blogging my little heart out.

I miss the nonsense.

I miss the freedom, inspiration and the sharing. And I miss talking about my art and my process. And the way it helped my creativity flow.

I turn it all into art.

To understand and find the language to talk about it.

This will be a Visual diary of sorts.

࿓ Meditations and musings ࿓