Tuesdays with Chris: “Liking Mistakes”

Not surprisingly, Chris’s kids have grown up using handmade pots and cups, and one day Chris asked his youngest daughter what it’s like to use handmade pieces, and she said “Dad, I really like the mistakes”.

It’s that beautiful messiness of fine craftsmanship that creates something that’s one-of-a-kind and gloriously unpredictable. As in life, where we are so much more than a series of precise measurements; we are not exact templates. As in life, each cup holds a story, transferred from the hands that make it and then again transformed by the hands that hold and share it.

Our mistakes add interest, color, and emotion ~ whether in our craft, or in our life. I call them happy accidents, because nine times out of ten they lead to a new idea or thought or road one might not have travelled, and we’re made the richer.

This is one of Chris’s most touching video’s, imperfectly perfect, where his trademark honesty shines through. Enjoy!

(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.)