Maybe Spring is finally springing?

The kiln is cooling inside and the weather is warming outside what else could I ask for!  If all goes well I'll have new lamps posted this week, the last firing did not go well at all.  
Took a break last week and visited Troy, Alabama and attended the 25th annual Clay Conference.  It is amazing how I can't sit for two hours and watch a movie, but I can sit for 6 hours in a car then 8 more hours watching awesome artists make pottery two days in a row!  The best part of this conference was the Mata Ortez Pottery, I learned so much about how it came to be.  We were fortunate enough to see a piece made and painted right in front of us, then fired to perfection.  Truly amazing.  When you see artists at work like this, it really makes one sit back and analyze where their creativity is and where it is going.  What really hit home was something so trivial yet, important (to me) Juan worked with 3 tools which he carries in a travel toothbrush holder.  How many tools do I (we) have?  I immediatley went home and gave away every tool that I was keeping for "just in case".  Think about is, how many tools does one really need?