Studio Journal: March
"March is the month of expectation, the things we do not know." - Emily Dickinson
I am no stranger to the notion of ‘managing expectations’, what potter is? We all have ideas and visions and spend our time trying to physically manifest them. And so often they fall short. This month I have experienced some disappointment with some glazes I’ve been working on. They showed such promise on a small test tile but now I’ve made a bigger batch and tested them on actual pieces, they’re not how I’d anticipated and I must admit I felt a little deflated at pulling them out of the kiln. Yet more work to do!
Matt too has has his own clay frustrations with iron in the clay bloating on pieces for a large commission, causing something of a headache. Sometimes it can feel like a bit of a slog when things don’t go to plan, but I also think it is just an essential aspect of being potter and somehow we have to factor it all in to the bigger picture. One thing however is that we are going to really explore some new clays and change things up a little. Maybe, just maybe I can finally convince Matt to throw a few pieces in porcelain……
Luckily, the month of March has also contained many glimmers and moments of beautiful sunshine amongst the windy weather and snow fall. We’ve been experimenting with applying slip with a hakeme brush (made by Rose Harradine). The results actually exceeded expectations (see images above), so perhaps everything is working in harmony after all. I really enjoyed the process of decorating with coloured slip in this way and have a few ideas as to how to push this work forward. Expect to see more in the coming months…
Matt has been working on completing all the mug pre-orders from February and he has made some really lovely pieces. He must have made thousands of mugs by now, and each time they just get even better. It was such a pleasure glazing these and I hope the recipients approve. We made extra so have a few available online too, and we will be continuing to make more in April, mugs are ever popular.
We ventured out of our studio twice this month with the pots, first to Manchester Ceramics Fair at the Whitworth and then to the Hepworth Wakefield Ceramics Fair. Both were cheerful events and it was a pleasure to talk to so many customers and fellow potters. Both shows were so busy it was brilliant to see so many people championing and supporting potters.
For us April looks to be another month of intensive making, a little bit of teaching as we host a throwing workshop at the end of the month, plus starting a new wholesale order and making for a big gas firing in June. Oh, and the kids are off for 2 weeks (3 weeks for the littlest!) so studio time will be a bit patchy. Luckily now we have the workshop near home we can be more flexible with time. Maybe it is time to train the eldest child on clay work.
Things we’ve enjoyed listening to: We’ve been listening to ‘How Reading Made Us’ on Radio 4 which I have found really interesting. I am quite passionate about reading but find it harder and harder to concentrate on the simple act of sitting and reading a book (I’m looking at you Instagram). Also an episode of ‘In our Time’ about silica which is super interesting for us potters.
I’ve been reading Middlemarch by George Elliot for ages but have been finding it really difficult and sleep-inducing. I’m half way now and finally starting to enjoy it, i’ve relaxed into the language and got a grip on the characters. (A good lesson of persistence? I must apply the same resilience to glaze testing)
