Welcome Ashley! I've found my art to be terrific therapy, in fact I attended an art therapy workshop a few years ago so I knew I was on the right path.  I am a business of one too and that's a challenge in and of itself.

I have a small hand truck that I purchased at Princess Auto and a supply of bungee cords.  I use plastic cases that are a good size for the hand truck and not super heavy for me to move (short distances only). I find the plastic file folder cases work really well and I wrap my pieces in the thin, light foam sheets that you buy in rolls to use as an underlay for laminate flooring.  We've cut them into a variety of sizes to accommodate my work so I wrap my work and pack it into the boxes.  When I get to the venue, I load the cases 2 at a time onto the hand truck and strap them down then roll all to where I need to be.  This is no help if there are stairs to negotiate but I haven't encountered that yet. I do find it very taxing to do a one - two day show this way and have been looking for other ways to sell that don't involve this as I'm pretty wiped by the end of the day.  If anyone has better solutions, I'd love to hear them!

Hi Desiree and I couldn't agree more about doing what you love!  I'm having a major rebuild on my right foot on Thursday and am not sure what working in my studio will be like for the next few months but am hoping to do some sculpture.  I purchased a DVD by Esther Shimazu and am feeling very inspired.

I have never considered myself physically challenge before, I have Multiple Sclerosis and have been holding together.  I go to physical therapy off an on to keep walking and I'm not quite as strong as I use to be.  But lately I have been have trouble with my eyes, I can only work for a short time and then everything around me gets blurry.  Optic Neuritis is quite common in MS patients, I'm hoping this is a temporary problem. I'm thinking about going back to throwing it doesn't require the vision that the majolica glazing I do now.  There was a blind thrower in my college ceramics class she did some beautiful work.  I look forward to any helpful tips from members of this group this vision problem is new to me and very disconcerting.  Denice

My recovery from surgery is going well but it's been 6 weeks and I have at least another 2 weeks non-weight bearing and stuck in my wheelchair.  I've been able to get into my studio and have the kiln going right now as I need to have completed pieces photographed and ready to go on fri for a group show.  It takes at least twice as long to get anything done but at least it is getting done!!

For me Denice, with a gradual loss of function I still grieve and feel the loss but  I get the chance to adjust and learn to cope. I'm not sure how I would cope with the amount of function I've lost if it happened suddenly but I think the adjustment would be very difficult.

I googled blind potter and found some terrific links.  The yahoo link has some great advice, especially around grants and accomodations to help you adapt your pottery practise.

Roger Hicks

Blind Art Gallery

Ann Semple

Kerry Wilson

Awesome practical advice

Thank you for looking up the links for me, I'll take a look at them tomorrow, it's suppose to be a snowy day.  I have actually been very lucky with my sight a lot of MS patients first symptom is double vision, blurry vision or no vision. They told me 5 years ago that I had a lesion very close to my optic nerve and that I had a small hole in my vision. I just kept hoping mine wouldn't get any worse.  From what I have read this could clear up in 6 months and leave some damage or just stay they way it is. I'll just have to be patient and wait.

Is anyone else having difficulty finding a work/life balance that keeps them well physically (and emotionally!)?  My husband sat me down the other day and we went through my average studio time per week and it is roughly 80 hours.  That's a bit too much but I sit down, start working and become so absorbed that I forget to eat, stretch, move, etc.  When I was in my wheelchair in Jan & Feb, I needed to figure out how to work with a minimum of moving around the studio.  When I'm working in wet clay which is my favourite part of the process, I really lose track of time!  Working smarter, not harder is a concept I need to adopt.  Any thoughts from others on how you manage this balance and still produce work?  

My partner has been a potter for nine years and I was always annoyed at how much time he spent working with clay. There were always some pieces that were just dry enough to require trimming, or new bisque that needed glazing. He didn't have balance in his life.

Then two years ago I began making glazes and his time allocation to clay has become far more reasonable.

Apparently assimilation is an effective strategy for finding balance in your partner's life.

Kathy I have the same trouble losing my self in my work and not giving my eyes a break.  So I started noting the time I started and then set a time to stop. During my break I would go do something else a load of clothes, sweep the floor or play with the dog and then go back to work. I don't get quite as much work done but I'm still working.  If  just keeping track of time didn't work I was going to use a timer that had a hour max.  I know it's not that easy for you to come and go from your studio, may be there are some wheel chair exercise you can do to stretch and move.  Denice

Thanks Denice & Norm.  I started taking breaks a week ago and now I'm having trouble getting motivated!  It seems I can ignore aches and pains when I'm busy but ten when I stop, I notice everything.  I need to get the foot of a teapot finished off as it is supposed to be at the gallery for a show TODAY and I'm not ready, ah well.  I've tried to get my husband interested in the parts of the process, such as applying glaze and firing that I'm not so fond of but it's just not his thing.

I've been working with clay since the mid-90s.  I have had low vision (legally blind) since 2005 and continue to throw pots.  Decoration and glazing are a challenge now, but I have and still am finding ways around those challenges.  Any other blind potters out there?

Hi everyone, I'm new here.  I've been working with clay since the late 90s.  I became legally blind in 2005.  I still throw, but glazing and decoration have been problematic.  I have had some success in overcoming these challenges.  Any other blind potters out there?

Hi Rodney I'm glad you joined the group, I was wondering the same about low vision potters.  I have been having trouble with my vision lately because of my MS and was hoping to get some advice from them. One thing I have noticed on older potters is that their work gets looser and softer.  I think it's easier to work in that direction with failing eyes than detailed orientated. others say their work has matured with age.  Maybe it's a little of both.      Denice

Hi Rodney, happy to 'meet' you.  I searched the internet on an earlier post (Feb 11/13)in this groups' forum and found a few websites for potters who are blind but creating wonderful work.  My challenge is very weak, clawed hands so I hand build using a staggering assortment of tools.  I'd love to be able to throw but don't have the dexterity for it so I use my remaining grip to hold tools. Do you use a wide variety of  glazes?  I went to your cone 6 page to check out your pots but see you are brand new here and haven't posted any photos yet.  If there is anything we can help you with in finding your way around this site just ask.

Sorry Rodney, here are the links I found in February

Roger Hicks

Blind Art Gallery

Ann Semple

Kerry Wilson

Awesome practical advice

I went to the links and got a lot of inspiration.  One - the Kerry Wilson link I think - goes somewhere else now.  I have an "efriend" who has the same eye condition I do.  She is hand building using templates, and her husband and friends help her with the glazing.  I haven't done much in a while.  I'm gearing back up and will share some pics when I get a body of work done. 

Also, to answer someone's question/comment.  I have gotten simpler.  I used to do a lot of sgrafito which doesn't work now.  I'm trying to develop 2-3 glazes that I understand and stick to those.  I'd like to have breaking glazes to add interest and stick to dipping pots instead of brushing on glaze.

Kathy I may have to get some info on your tools,  I've had some stiffness in my arm and hands and today they went numb.  I'm hoping this is only temporary, losing the ability to grip is real common in MS. I'll give it a month and see if this flare up goes away.  Denice

Kathy, we may all be interested.  I saw an article some time ago about a potter who made things for folks with disabilities.  Thinks like plates with high sides so things didn't get chased off of the side, bowls with a ring on the side to hook the thumb of a stroke victim through etc.  It sort of piqued my interest.  From a marketing standpoint, I think those would all have to be made to order (as your tools may be).

I go to second hand stores, kitchen stores, craft stores etc and am always on the lookout for great tools.  I've found some great cake decorating tools such as a roller with discs you can combine in different ways to form patterns. There is a cake decorator on TV (Duff ?) who has a line of cake decorating items through Michaels. I like his set of hand tools for smoothing or forming patterns; each tool is double ended and you can make a variety of patterns with them. I went to a conference a few years ago and was given a 1" wooden apple on a pencil in the bag given each attendee.  When I got home I took the apple and glued it onto a piece of dowel, giving me one of my favourite tools for adding volume to a straight sided form from the inside.  I have a set of large wooden spoons I picked up at Value Village and they are terrific if I coil a rounded shape because I can put them inside the pot and paddle from the outside.  The profile on the spoon changes over its' length and I can shape the bowl as I paddle, the handle is also terrific in tight curves.  

Tarpaper and heavy construction plastic are great for making templates which is a technique I use more than any other as well.  I draft the shape I want on newspaper (another great tool!) and when I'm happy with it I put it on the plastic or tarpaper.  

The best tool I own is a very small slab roller that I bought at NCECA Seattle and I use it all of the time.

When I am out shopping I'm always on the lookout for things that I can repurpose and periodically the tools on my desk have to be sorted so that there is room to work. It's amazing what a wide array of items are needed to perform the same tasks as a good pair of hands can accomplish and I haven't found just a few perfect ones yet. 

Kathy thank you for the information, I have never looked into cake decorating tools, I also love working with wooden spoons.  I don't make many patterns but I do have a roll of contractor paper that has fiber in it that makes it a little more durable.  By the way the numbness in my hands has already disappeared, I'll just keep on working and try not to let these flare ups scare me.   Denice

I just wanted to check in with the group and see how everyone is doing.  I have been doing pretty well, having some trouble with my legs so I am thinking of buying a motor for my kick wheel.  I am making coiled pots right now so there is no rush.  Denice

I haven't checked in for a while.  I have a serious health issue which required a couple of operations and took up the fall and winter.  All looks good now.  I will be on an every 3 month check-up for a while.  I have developed nodules in the tendons in my palms - probably from wedging - that are just a nuisance.

The weather is turning nice.  I'm going to get back in my studio.  I hope everyone is at least holding their own if not getting better.