Unique ways of self expression!

Work I think should be a meaningful expression of ourselves. Of course, we have to pay the bills, but to develop a more meaningful and balanced life it is useful to think about different ways we could express ourselves and take steps towards it.

I met Violeta Karalic at the Professional Women’s Group of Basel, where  we share  and connect with  professional women living in Basel from all over the world. 

Violeta  - as a Medical Doctor - has her own Practice for Acupuncture and Chinese Nutrition Therapy in Basel.   Acupuncture is also a very interesting  topic to share, but I became increasingly interested in  posting  her experience  when I learned she is modelling  and making ceramics as a hobby. For her, this is  a way of expressing her unique personal  sense of art.  

I asked her how she does this.

Violeta,

You have been moving  around the world like so many other expats and was able to express yourself in your original profession having  established your  Medical Practice.  What made you start making ceramics  and why specifically clay ?  

I had that longing to work with clay long ago. I can’t tell when I felt it for the first time; maybe I had it from the very beginning.

I started making ceramics while living in South Africa, fifteen years ago.

At that time, somehow everything came together. I had more spare time, there was a pottery studio up the hill where we lived. I went there to see and try. It happened - I fell in love with clay quickly and deeply; it fascinates me now as it did on that very first day.

You need to slow down to get into the mindset of creating, do you?

Clay has its own spirit and character. You have to find a way to synchronize yourself, your ideas and your will with the willingness of the clay to follow you. You have to find the right balance to let the clay make the best out of itself.

For that, you have to put yourself into the right frame of mind, you have to slow down, let other things go and start the journey. 

How does  creating  enrich your  life? 

By learning about clay and through the process of creation, I’ve learnt about myself as well. Interacting with something or someone is always learning about what (else) we are. That’s what life is about, I think.

You told me about a very interesting characteristic of clay.  What was it about the memory ? 

Yes, clay remembers. You are allowed to go only until a certain point in the process of creating. If you go further and push the clay beyond its limits, after firing it, it will come back to you exactly in the shape it was before you forced it to do more.

This is fascinating.

Whom do you make the ceramics for?   

For some reason, I’m always making things that you can use in your everyday life. I never felt attracted to making sculpture of any kind. I like cups, pots, trays, bowls, Christmas decoration, tea-lights, vases… You can look at them, touch them, use them and enjoy them every single day.

 

Do you sell  the  creations you make? 

I started to sell only three years ago. At some stage, you want to go out and show what you’ve done, let the things live their own life.

A small gallery in Basel is selling my things, the owner liked my work and so we started.

Twice a year, in June and December, I take my ceramics to the Bazar in Stall 6, in Zürich. Stall 6 is a very special place, with a special atmosphere. It is a former stable, under monument protection. I like it very much.

When and where will you  exhibit  you work next time ? 

The next Bazar takes place on December 1.  (http://www.stall6.ch/programm/detail/stall-6-praesentiert-bazar-im-stall-6-925/)

What do you think about  „things”  in general ? I mean  there has been  a culture  of  collecting and having   things  around us  for a few thousand years, but „recently”   most of them don’t see  a human hand any more.  I particularly feel more attached to those things  which either we make  ourselves, I know who they are made by or they  have a story.

I’ve read somewhere once, and it is so true for me: “The things don’t belong to us…” And yes, I think, they do have their own life before and after us.

I have a wonderful, very old silver sugar jar. Every morning, when I put a little bit of sugar into my coffee, I think how privileged I am to have the opportunity to enjoy it  before it goes to someone else.

This is all fascinating. Maybe it is not enough just to slow down to do art, but it clearly helps. 

How slow to go?

As we engage in an everyday routine, jump to our TO – DO list, put more on the schedule, set objectives to do things quicker not to missout anything, we get hectic and may lose contact to the tasks at hand,  run by the details without enjoying what we do.  Is  this  familiar?   

What is more, we measure ourselves only on how much we have done or achieved and concentrate  less on what and how. We want to do everything very well, which we are used to  managing, then take up more until we can still manage, but then suddenly  we feel too much pressure and perhaps   things are actually getting too much to handle. 

Parallel to the acceleration of technology and output development in  the economy our mind set has changed to value speed and perfection.

Take an old James Bond movie with e.g. Sean Connery!   Dr. No from 1958  e.g. is certainly slow compared to say Skyfall.  The audience did enjoy it however in the 1950s, I am sure.            

What has this speed acceleration brought us and the world?  Better service?

We have so many "speedy" around us  - speedy boarding, speed dialing, speed check on the internet,  fast food, fast learning, instant coffee  -  we catch ourselves each moment hurrying, and we expect everything to happen at once and fast . 

Changing our mindset to a slower pace gives us the time to think and maybe act on  balancing  quality and quantity.  We may  then  allow ourselves  to be more natural and authentic.

In the recent past,  the  growing  World Slow Movement has been addressing these questions from  various perspectives. The movement has emerged to be a counterweight  to valuing fast above all, calling attention to slow down and connect to ourselves, to others, our environment, to notice the details, the beauty, the nature,  the present moment....

    

It is exciting to explore the different aspects of the movement and how  it is evolving.

Slowing down does not mean to be slow all the time. Just jump out of fast now and again. Pull the "parachute out" string and slowly land on a quiet field of peace and calmness. However it is done, it does not matter. Meditate, sit in a Café, read a book in a park and discuss it with someone, climb a tree and look into the distance, watch the full Moon or the stars, play cards with friends, look for treasure in the forest with the kids. ..( www.geocaching.com), daydream  or do anything  else  that  is relaxing.         

   

An  interpretation of  “slow” is  a mindset to aspire for quality more than quantity, peace of mind, a balance of mind, heart  and body.  

Instead of asking :“what have I achieved today?”, how about asking  " how slow was I today?”   

So how slow where you today?