Posted a bunch of vases on Etsy. It’s been my latest focus, solitary, basic vases with some hand carving to personalize them and give each of them a unique personality.
I think one of my favorite glazes lately has been this one. A millring green that oxidizes metallic gray over any breaking points. I’ve seen some fun stuff done with it and I look forward to playing around with it more.
Happy Halloween!
I think I’ve turned a corner and I’m really liking where this is going.
I brought home a bunch of new items today from the studio, I’ll be bringing home some more later this week. One of the lessons I think I’m learning…keep the glazes simple. Sometimes I try to do jazzy things with glazes and I think it takes away from the overall piece.
I’m going to focus more on etching, and then letting the glazes work simply to support the piece. I think I managed that with this mug and bowl set…and I think I’m going to stick with it.
The month of August was a bear. This summer marks the anniversary of the longest most agonizing year of my life that I can recall.
Sometimes I feel guilty for saying that. I feel guilty for marking this past year as so tough when I’ve gone through previous years that have included personal loss, passing family members and other life altering events that within the moment felt insurmountable. But that’s the point I think, the guilt reminds me that every time I think I won’t survive, I do. Every time those dark days come, light always follows. We are adaptable in that way. We heal. We always heal.
So many things in my life are not as I hoped they would be. But I’m learning as with most things, there is no point in hurrying.
Harried efforts are almost always regrettable. Pottery is a constant reminder of this. So many things to think about all at once. Hand position, water, tools, form, function, symmetry. You can’t process a thing else. You are all at once completely engaged but completely relaxed. You trust yourself, and you create. Everything else, can wait. Everything is a process. Even us. All things in their own time.
And we’re all the better for it.
This handcrafted and etched piece serves as a unique and impressive candleholder. The cut out squares are deceptive looking square from the outside then rounded from the inside, casting a wonderful reflection against a wall. These are some of my favorite pieces to do. The second picture shows the graduated blue to pooled white on the inside. This one is 5 inches high x 4.25 wide.
Available for the moment, at Etsy.
Cross posted from here.
Intuition Report for YOU
Date: Friday, July 25th, 2008
Dearest *Insert your name here*:
You have a problem. Maybe it’s not a problem, maybe it’s more like a recurring issue. A little thorn in your side that bites you from time to time.
Whatever it is. It is there. And it has been there for awhile.
Deep within you, you have a belief about this problem/issue/thorn. Even when you flail about pretending you have no earthly clue what’s going on, what you should do or which way you should turn…you know subconsciously that you have a belief. The problem is deciding whether or not you’re going to trust it.
And by the way I do not mean the belief that your feet are too big, or your face too round or your capacity to learn or be is limited by a shortchanged brain or the belief that you’re so odd or whatever that no one could possibly ever be enthralled with the amazingness of you. Those aren’t beliefs, at least they shouldn’t be. Those are tiny minefields you plant for yourself to distract you from your truest beliefs. Step out of the minefield for a minute, wave a magic wand to disarm them all, and start again without the eeyore complex.
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Embracing or accepting what you believe in a society that constantly wants to impress you with how much more insight it has than you can be an extremely difficult task. But take into consideration the fact that you are the ONLY subject matter expert on you.
Your task today is to avoid wandering around from advisor to advisor looking for them to bless or blast your belief. Avoid putting yourself in the position of having your beliefs given to you by someone else. Shut down the mental mindfield. Instead…ask yourself this question…
Why am I so unwilling to believe in this belief? Is it because I am afraid of being incorrect? Am I afraid I will be rejected by those I love and who love me? Do I trust others more than I trust myself? And if so, when exactly did that happen?
Finally, if I chose to move in opposition to this belief – will I find more peace…or less? And then…
Believe it, or not.
This piece stands about 5.25 inches tall and 5.25 inches wide at the mouth. The glaze was a spattered assortment of Khakatile, Fat White, Apple Green Celadon and Iron Brown Black. Not sure I could get that effect again if I tried, but I was happy with the final product.
Not sure if I’m going to let this one leave the house yet. I’ve been throwing things bigger lately and I’m still grinning at the accomplishment.
I’ve got a few things waiting to go in the glaze kiln and several more pieces to glaze. I hope to share them with you soon.
This jar was done in a spodumene glaze with a touch of iron oxide around the rim, and some heavy splatters of teal, or one of the greens. Sized: 5 inches tall x 5.25 inches wide at widest point. I’m pretty sure I want to hold onto this one, at least for now.
The objective during my next session is to work on height in my pieces. Developing shapes from the basic cylinder.
When I took my first pottery class in May of 2007 I was eager to dig into a craft that had been calling to me quietly since I was a child. While I am still very much a beginner, its become a hobby I simply can’t live without. While I’ve been blogging for a little over six years in different spaces about everything and nothing, most of my content has been personal, professional, political or social.
Here, in this space, its all about the clay and what thoughts stem from my time in the quiet of the studio. There may be cross posts, but probably not often.
As I’ve learned techniques aligned with wheel throwing, glazing, firing and finishing, I’ve consistently been amazed at how there are so many life lessons to be learned in any artistic endeavor. Patience. Restraint. Trust. Purpose. Vision. Focus. Perserverance. Instruction. You learn from your failures as much as you do your achievements, possibly more.
Pottery & Pondering will be my online studio. The place where I share my work and the thoughts inspired in the making. As with any of my ramblings or expression or life itself, I look forward to the journey. You will find a gallery of my work (the good, the bad and the ugly), my various notes to self regarding wheel throwing and glazing and more often than not, my own food for thought. If any of that interests you, then I am very glad you are here.
