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candide wrote:You've shared your art with us.

Now, permit me to share my art with you.

Well, I blew it. I wrecked what I was making you.

May as well spill the beans on this one: My art is clay. As in Pottery.

I throw during the spring & fall, when it's not yet too hot in the garage for me to work (sweat dripping into my eyes does not help hand-eye coordination), yet not too cold and dry (pieces dry too quickly & crack). This fall, I made this really great mug. Good balance. Nice handle with a good feel. And I wrecked it. While decorating.

That was why I asked for your favorite colors, Allan. After I trimmed the foot on this mug, I decided it'd be great for you (what, with all of the caffeinated beverages grad students need to drink). And I wrecked it. Crumbled in my hands as I picked it up to swirl around some underglaze I'd just poured inside. This after I'd spent an hour carefully working on the outside decorations.

Well, there's a saying in pottery: don't get too attached to your pots.

And, I have to admit, it wasn't that I manhandled the piece. I goofed in two other ways: not decorating while suitably soft, and trying to do too much decorating with a dry piece. The moisture creates tension in the drying work, making it more frail.

There's another saying: pottery is a process, not an end-result.

BTW: This should also explain why I said you'd get something from me "eventually". It can take 2 days to 1 week before a thrown piece is firm enough to complete (attaching handles, trimming excess off of the foot, any decorations), and another week for it to dry enough to fire. There's also a second firing (you don't put glaze on an unfired piece). Each firing takes at least 2 days.

So, the shortest time, from lump of clay to finished, glazed piece, to create a ware is about 3 weeks.


On the bright side: You don't have to wait. Now I'll just have to send you something from my "stockpile."

The problem with pottery is, as you throw, you accumulate. My shelves floweth over. When I make a mug or something that I like, I'll use it ... for a while. Until I tire of it. Then I give it away and make myself a new one. And boy, do I have a lot of pieces I don't use anymore.

Hmm... maybe the sake cups & sake bowls...

-chuckle-

Yes, I'm ALL TOO FAMILIAR with having a hobby that creates detritus. I have at present enough scrips, scraps, and books of drawings to fill a medium-sized trunk. I can't carry all of them with me when I move, and back when my dad had an antagonistic relationship with my art, I felt compelled to -stealth pack- close to a third of the volume of my personal effects when moving.

"What's IN all these boxes?"
"Just school books! Honest!"

Boy am I relieved THAT phase is over. Remember, kids, it's not YOU that's "going through a phase". It's your parents. They're going through the "hey, wait, I just got used to running someone else's life and now you're telling me I CAN'T anymore?" phase.

allan_ecker wrote:-chuckle-

Yes, I'm ALL TOO FAMILIAR with having a hobby that creates detritus. I have at present enough scrips, scraps, and books of drawings to fill a medium-sized trunk. I can't carry all of them with me when I move, and back when my dad had an antagonistic relationship with my art, I felt compelled to -stealth pack- close to a third of the volume of my personal effects when moving.

"What's IN all these boxes?"
"Just school books! Honest!"

Boy am I relieved THAT phase is over. Remember, kids, it's not YOU that's "going through a phase". It's your parents. They're going through the "hey, wait, I just got used to running someone else's life and now you're telling me I CAN'T anymore?" phase.

Amen