Tipp City Finds 3

In 1818, Romantic poet John Keats (1795–1821) wrote, “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: / Its loveliness increases; it will never / Pass into nothingness; but still will keep / A bower quiet for us, and a sleep / Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.” The Hotel Gallery in Tipp City specializes in things of beauty, and I bought one that increases in loveliness each day.

Vase by Sally Watson of Tipp City, Ohio

And I do admire it daily! It is a vase by artist Sally Watson. Sally’s pottery is so exquisite that I should put “artist” in capitals: ARTIST!

Sally Watson and husband Steve oversee the artistic shops and the musical concerts of the hotel, which was built in 1852.

Drawing comparisons, Keats implies that things of beauty resemble daffodils beside streams, sheep, shade trees, the sun, and the moon. When I read Sally’s statement (linked above), I understand that she is so well grounded that the beauty of the universe flows through her hands into her pots. Another potter once told me that it is nearly impossible to throw a calming pot if the potter feels stress. As an author and an illustrator, I took to heart the lesson that stress produces stressful art, and, not wishing to produce stressful art, I must relieve stress before attempting to write or draw.* Such excellent advice! (I think we do well to listen carefully to others every day because we never know when a gem of advice will be forthcoming!) I try to find an inner calm before I compose anything, including this blog.

I know that the vase I purchased from Sally Watson came from a stress-free potter’s wheel and kiln; in fact, the vase helps ground me, relieving my stress while I view it.

As I am not a potter, I lack the proper terms to discuss the technique Sally employed in creating my vase. I can only say that I appreciate the colors of the glazes; they remind me of mosses, earth, and sky. The shape of the vase suggests reaching upward to clasp hands around a part of heaven. My feeling for the vase extends so deeply, broadly, and highly that, ultimately, it surpasses description. Every day, when I glance at the vase, I relax.

I want to thank Sally for bringing such tranquility!

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*I recognize that stressful art has its place. Many of the greatest works of literature convey dismay, anxiety, and horror. I happen to feel that life already presents plenty of distress; for that reason, I seek to eliminate and avoid such tension. An inner calm is my goal. For me, celebrations of peace can be just as great as outcries of pain.