Bodies – Clay That Is…
A small sampling of clay stacked in the damp room of the Colorado Potters Guild
Last Monday, I had a decision to make and let’s just say that decisions are not made lightly by me and I had to call in back up. I had no clay – well, actually I have a lot of clay, but most of it needs to be reconstituted/reconditioned/recycled/whatever after over wintering in my garagio. What’s a girl to to do? I called in a life line…only she wasn’t in when I made the desperate call. So I marched back to the damp room of the Colorado Potters Guild, pulled up my big girl panties and confidently pulled out a 25# bag of P60 (^10 porcelain) determined that I was going to throw me some porcelain just like old times.
Handbuilt Platter by Kathleen Laurie
Luckily while I was dinking around the guild, looking for my shelves and gathering tools, my girlfriend, Kathleen called me back and talked me off the ledge. I hadn’t yet opened the P60 and calmly returned the bag to the damp room and replaced it with a bag of Dover (^10 white stoneware) after Kathleen kindly relayed how forgiving Dover clay is in contrast to the P60 – clearly she was trying to spare me from failure & a hurt ego after tenderly reaching out to the medium again. BTW, both the P60 and Dover clays are manufactured by Mile Hi Ceramics in Denver and Dover’s price tag is a bit friendlier too which is always a happy thing.
I should back track and explain my clay conundrum by telling you that I have mostly worked with ^6 clays and historically have fired my work in my own studio in previous years. So, choosing a new clay body with a different firing temperature is a bit daunting. I have to say that I really like Dover – it’s smooth, but not quite like porcelain. There’s still a bit of grog, but barely noticeable and the clay seems to hold up against abuse very well. I’m still practicing throwing and when I head into the guild tomorrow I’m going to try hand building again – my favorite pastime.
If choosing a clay body is difficult, wait till I get around to glazing…the choices at the guild are fantastic and I’ll be like a kid in a candy shop, paralyzed by the endless combinations of available delicacies.
Guess What Ma?
No hands…just kidding.
I Can Still Center
And Throw
Although it did take me forever to select a clay body, wedge, collect my tools, a wheel and finally settle down to attempt to throw something – anything on Monday morning’s visit to the Colorado Potters Guild.
I decided to start with a bowl shape since it is fairly straight forward – and I wanted go easy on myself. No major expectations…just the desire to sit down at the wheel and throw some clay. I messed around with my first bowl for way too long and eventually it slumped into a big gob of gook. But, it felt so good to get back into clay and to just make time to do whatever it is that I wanted – with no pressure.
Did you know that potters use muscles that others might not? I can say this confidently because there are muscles on my back and arms that are sore from my mere 3 hours in the studio after a long absence. My wrists and forearms feel better though after suffering through a bit of carpal tunnel from intensive computer use the past 2 semesters in school. Must be the simple act of using them differently….
I will not likely return to the studio full time, but I do hope to find some balance between life, school and the studio the next couple of years I anticipate that it will take to earn a degree in landscape architecture.
Any tips on achieving and maintaining balance?
Bathroom Remodel in Progress
We're moving here next month in August
And it needs a little bit of help – more like some TLC after being a rental for the past 11 years.
The only bathroom was cute in a 1950's sort of way
But, pink tile is very hard to work with and the bathroom leaked terribly into the kitchen below.
So we gutted it down to the studs
And have to pick out new fixtures and such within a reasonable budget. Why is everything I like so dang expensive?
Even Danzig is curious
How we’ll manage to have this finished and move in ready next month??? My fingers are crossed.
Meanwhile, I am going to try to make some simple plaster cup molds today.
Wish me luck,
Cynthia
Falling in and out of love
For those of you who are potters (or even if you work in another medium) – do you ever fall out of love with clay (substitute medium of choice)? I do and I’m not quite sure why. I’ve tried nailing it down in my head – is it the sales aspect? Or frustration at seeing some very fine factory produced work from Asia selling for pennies? Or lack of ideas? Or technical difficulties? Or keen competition? Or, or, or???
I seem to be afflicted by all of the above from time to time and am really trying to make an objective analysis of my two steps forward, one step back position with clay. Literally, I distanced myself from clay in May & June by not making any work at all. It’s not that I don’t like touching the material, it’s more a question redefining what I make and what I want to see happen with the end products.
Coiled Mug
Let’s face it, it’s tough to make a living as an artist. Throw in teaching, selling in galleries, in person, and online and one begins to approach being able to support oneself. If you are more of a production potter, then you stand a better chance short of being a pottery super star. I guess what I realized about myself is that I’m not happy doing all of the above at the same time. I never have been very good at juggling.
So, in an effort to reclaim my love of clay, I’m taking the selling aspect out of my clay experience. Or more correctly, I’m removing the pressure to make a living as an artist and am simply moving to more of a hobbyist making what I want and selling here or there when it suits my frame of mind and schedule. As an observer, you might tell me that you could have told me this – but somehow I had to decide this myself for it to stick. I think that’s why I decided to go back to school (albeit another creative field, but one where salary is more livable) this fall. For a time, I even considered selling all of my pottery equipment in one fell swoop. But, I know I would regret this when the love returns. And it will…because it always does.
Pinched Bowl
In my last post, I showed a hand built box along with a large coiled bowl that I made last week. I have gone back to basics to help reclaim some of the joy that I originally found when I first touched clay in 2002. Coiling and pinching are a pottery student’s first projects and there is something magical transforming a lump of clay into something – anything. I had to laugh though – I think I messed with my coiled bowl for the better part of 5 hours – not necessarily the route to efficiency or wealth. But, I guess that was my point when I decided to make these projects – sort of clay as zen master. I am not planning on selling these either – they will serve more as a reminder about why I turned to clay in the first place seven years ago.
This post isn’t meant to be all dark and brooding either…it’s simply a revelation I recently made about myself. I love pottery, making, buying, touching – I just don’t want to be a professional potter after all. I truly hope that this sentiment comes across today.
So where is this blog going? I’m not sure. Most likely, it will continue as it has with a bit about my interests, clay work, connections found and maybe even some school projects thrown in here and there.
Here I am standing in the Colorado Potters Shared booth at the farmers market before it opened yesterday morning
Meanwhile, I had a busy weekend including a stint at the Old South Pearl Street Farmers Market early yesterday morning. But, wait – I just said I’m taking the selling aspect out of my clay experience. True, but I did say I’d sell some of my stuff when I felt like it and this was one of those times. I didn’t have much in the way of pottery, but I did bring my ceramic jewelry which generated a few sales and lots of interest – one of my booth mates even commented that I would have made a lot of money if I charged a $1 a touch. 
A local gallery even inquired as to whether I’d be interested in showing my jewelry at their First Friday events. I make stuff that I also like to buy and jewelry is one of those things. Hopefully that comes across in the things that I do make – that they’re made with love by someone who is enjoying what she does. I think this is also true in reverse because it’s also reflects the type of person from whom I buy whether pottery, food, or services. Laissez faire….
Have a great week,
Cynthia
