Studio Journal: February 26
“But at the end of February, out of a cold black north a dozen meandering snowflakes fell. They drifted about the air like thrums - blown from the raw edges of the coming storm. Next morning, colour had gone from the world. Shapes, sounds, the energies and acuteness of life, were muffled in the dull white that covered both earth and sky.”
― Nan Shepherd, The Quarry Wood
Making has been a little slower than usual this month. Instead we have been tackling some of the trickier, complex and daunting aspects of our studio. Planning our making, setting targets, completing the GPSR paperwork mountain and being able to resume shipping to the EU, dealing with finances and tax ‘stuff’. The relationship between money and creative satisfaction should not, I feel, be too interwoven, but of course in reality it is unless you are of the fortunate few who can work in a creative field without the need to also make a living. We wrack our brains for ways to make our pottery business smarter and more efficient but there are no labour saving devices here, there is no mass production, and there is no back up fund or ‘sensible’ job to fall back on. Just two sets of human hands and and plenty of skill and daft conviction that this slow craft is important. Plus a whole lot of love for our work. And so like in Nan Shepherd’s snowy scene, I too feel a little muffled, frozen in time, ready to emerge from the thaw and try and put some of our fiscally daft dreams and desires into action. Just keep moving! What is next? More creativity and a little less……..tax ‘stuff’ please.
Earlier this week I filmed Matt throwing candleholders and watching the process through the tiny view finder on my camera, the light reflecting off the clay’s watery surface, I was struck by just how much movement is happening with the clay despite Matt’s hands being relatively still. I enjoy this property of clay, its plastic state being manipulated and pushed almost to the state of collapse. Little does it know in a week or so, it will be put into a very hot box and transformed into something still and permanent and irreversible (although still very breakable).
Speaking of fragility, I think the curlews are back. I can’t be sure but I think I saw and heard them during my lunch time run earlier this week. It seems a bit early for them though. I hadn’t really seen curlews before we moved here three years ago, but I do know that things have become increasingly difficult for these birds, their habitats are being slowly destroyed. And then yesterday evening my son burst in from the garden to excitedly tell me he has seen three hares boxing in the field behind our house. Magic.
Earlier this month we introduced a couple of new designs, including the bowls pictured above. These are larger and more substantial than our other dinner bowls. They’ve been really popular and we hope to make more as soon as we are able, although we do have a very full order schedule at the moment so it is difficult to know when this will be…
Last month I shared a few images of glaze tests but I have had to pause that to make time for other things and to finish a big commission. However, since we’ve been enduring increasing problems with our clay body bloating we’ve been testing some new ones. At the moment we blend two different clay bodies to create our own distinct blend, but we think we’ve found at least one good alternative (hoorah).
Testing out our core glaze range on new clay bodies…
And so we look ahead to next month. March has a lot in store for us as we prepare for Manchester Ceramics Fair and the Hepworth Ceramics Fair. March is also mug month. We’ve got your pre-orders (this remains open til the end of this month) and we have coffee, clay, 3,2,1 - go! Seriously though, we’re really looking forward to getting on with the making and being able to restock our empty shelves with your favourites again.
Things we’ve enjoyed listening to: So much this month. Matt and I both listened to ‘There are Rivers in the Sky’ by Elif Shafak. It is a novel that has deeply affected me and I find myself thinking about the characters all the time. Also in the studio we’ve been listening to the BBC Ultimate Calm series which is just lovely. Through this I have discovered Hania Rani and just fallen in love with her music.
Things we’ve enjoyed cooking (and eating): I got ‘Home’ by Romy Gill out of our local library and my goodness what a beautiful cookbook. All the paneer recipes for us (paneer curry is one of the only dishes every single member of our family will eat, and this book has a whole section dedicated to said cheese’.