by Kristin Muller
Kristin Muller is the Executive Director of Peters Valley School of Craft and Adjunct Faculty at Hood College. She's also a studio potter, who specializes in wood firing.
"Working at a craft school exposed me to the possibility of quality learning beyond college," she says, "It actually opened up a new world of options for me."
Experience is non-transferable.
I grew up with that encouragement. It was my dad’s way of encouraging and inspiring his children to be patient, to never give up, to believe that experience builds knowledge, character and yes, for many of us, art. Experience builds art. Experience creates art. Experience in and of itself is an art. When you learn a new skill you more or less begin with the basics - simple steps to get you going, to get you started. Simple. Not overly complicated, or hopefully, not too complicated. It’s kind of like building blocks – you place one on top of the other, and those basic blocks – skills - become the very foundation for advanced skills. You start small, and you build from there. An effective teacher, or mentor, will impart that information in a clear, concise manner – an easy manner – so it inspires and produces early success, and encourages the student, the learner to advance even more, even further. It inspires. When you begin to learn - and start to fall-in-love with what you’re learning - you want to move quickly, rapidly, through the process, because you want to get there, and it can feel like you have hopped onto the fastest moving train travelling down a real narrow path that is a miles and miles and miles long. And for that moment it’s completely and thoroughly accelerating. Experience is non-transferable. But when you start to refine your skills, when you dig further and further into a topic, it can feel like you’re diving into a very narrow space that is miles and miles deep. Miles deep is very different – wholly different - than miles long – it’s a very different experience to delve into advanced learning. It’s hugely challenging and can be hugely discouraging and very often – more times than not - can be hugely frustrating. But that’s the beauty of digging deeper, getting to the root, advancing. Discouragement and frustration and all the challenges that at times seem insurmountable transform themselves into something extraordinarily tangible, magical, and all-in visceral – and that’s called a personal experience - and that’s the absolute beauty of having dug deeper and further and feeling your way through the darkness and narrow space. Coming to a Craft School is very much like deciding to take a journey, one that is both miles long and miles deep. You come to a place that is ready to receive you open arms: with instructors and resident artists who are ready to take you straight into a quest of discovery, of skill building, of expansive thinking, of history of material and craft, of design, and so much more. But the key here is to experience it for all that it is. We can provide the information, we can share our stories, we can offer up our disappointments and victories, we can hold up our art, our craft, our finished pieces, but the experience is yours, that part of the journey you have to take on for yourself. Experience is non-transferable.
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