Last night was pottery class, round 3. My BFF joined me this week so we worked on our pieces together. It is ALWAYS a gift to spend time together!
The focus for the studio time was to finish trimming our pieces, prepping them for firing. Smooth things out, add any decorations, fix the oopsies.
We sat and stared at our pieces for a good while, not sure what to do with them. We could see what we liked and we could see parts that needed improvement, but neither of us had the vision to see where to go next.
We were listening to our broccoli but I think our broccoli was taking a nap.
Sometimes this stuff is hard! We agreed that this stage of the process is the most difficult, requiring the most skill and experience, of which we have none. This is where the nuance and character come to life.
In a bold move, she decided to make a handle for her tiny cup. This meant learning an entirely new skill – how to pull a handle. This is a lot like milking a cow. It requires the perfect touch – too soft and nothing happens, too hard and it gets lumpy and breaks.
Ironically, our conversation centered around a variety of things in our lives that we are trying to get a handle on. Goals, career, hip issues, family – creating paths just as she did on her cup.
Ultimately, she literally got a handle on things. I admire her moment of decisiveness and commitment.
Meanwhile, I worked on taking the hips off my bowl. I didn’t like the profile with the hips, plus I am totally good to not have any more hip stuff in my life! Just like me, my bowl does not have an hourglass figure.
This is how we left our pieces.
We will go back in two weeks to glaze. I’m curious to see if our broccoli will have woken up and things come together for us. In the meantime, we’re good to sit in our uncertainties for they will launch us far once we get a handle on them.
The Rest of The Story…
All images © 2021 Carey Martin
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