You Know You Want To Sing

It's OK.  You can tell me.  Every time you see a big bowl you get that song running through your head.  "I like big bowls and I cannot lie. All those other potters can't deny..."  If I were more creative, I would have more than two lines.  It would also probably help to actually know the original song.

Everyone poses like this after throwing something big, right? 

I'm trying to make something large enough to use as a bread bowl for my friend Erin. These started out with around seven pounds of clay.  I'll see how much they'll hold after they are fired.  If I need to try for bigger, I will.  I've got to say though these are just about at the upper limit of what size I am capable of making.  Erin only needs one bowl, but I'll make two.  Always good to have an "insurance piece" when working on a special order. 

It was time to defrost the refrigerator.  I know this was true because the door kept freezing shut.  I decided that must be a sign that I actually needed to do something about that huge chunk of ice. 

It was really nice on Saturday, so I had the air conditioner off and the doors and windows open.  We put that big chunk of ice to good use.  

I also glazed these pots this week.  These are the last things that Allen made before he was too sick to work.  He gave directions on how he wanted them glazed. I followed those directions exactly on three of them.  The fourth one is sold already and the purchaser requested a different color to match their house.  (I feel like I need to explain why I did something else with that one on the right.  Is that weird?)  We've all been looking at those pieces for months now.  It took me until this week to feel ready to glaze them. It was kind of emotional and I'm glad I was alone.  I'm also a little scared that they won't come out right.  Man, I hope I didn't mess them up. 

It's An Endurance Event

I had an ah-ha moment the other day.  I've got to start thinking of this pottery-making-have-the-studio/gallery-open operation as more of an endurance race rather than a sprint.  Before this spring, the only time I spent in the studio was serious work time.  I would go in, get as much done as I could, visit a little bit with the others but not to much, and then leave.

Now though, I am there more hours, and while I do need to accomplish some things when I'm there, I can slow down. In fact, I need to slow down. I cannot maintain the work hard, go-go-go pace for the amount of time that I'm there.  So like the pace I would run for a half marathon or a triathlon (I'd really like to do another one of those one day) is different from the pace I would run for a 5K, I've got to let myself be OK with moving at a slower pace in pottery making. The point is to finish the race. If I go out too fast, that might not happen.

I approached yesterday with this mindset.  It was a Second Saturday which means potentially more foot traffic uptown. I've decided that I need to try to have the place open until at least 3 pm on those Saturdays.  (Other Saturdays I've been staying until 1:30 or 2pm.)  Jeff and I were also planning to baby sit the three grand children last night, so I needed to save some energy for that as well.  I took my time, moved maybe a little slower, visited with folks who dropped in, and remembered to eat.  The result was that I wasn't half dead at 3pm when I closed up and I had energy to play outside with the kids that evening.  It was great.

Those of you who know me well, will recognize that continuing this will be a challenge.  I'm a go hard until I collapse kind of person. Hopefully I'll be able to continue this way.

While I was there, here's what I did...

Since I would be there for a long time and it was going to be HOT, I decided to see if I could make some mugs start to finish.

Eight 1.5 lb balls of clay

Eight mugs

Outside on the tailgate of the truck to dry

Ready for handles

And done!

In between these steps, I worked on some things that I'd started on Friday afternoon.  I was really tired Friday afternoon when I got to the studio.  I rode my bike, went for a jog (very short), worked on the "farm" for two hours, then I got cleaned up and went to town.  This is not the recipe for successful pottery making, but I threw three pieces that I planned to continue work on Saturday morning.

I planned to make this into a candle holder.  I started by marking off even sections.

 

Next I cut the holes.  

There we go.  Candle holder.

I made a second one too.  The hole cutter I used wouldn't make the large holes, so I did those with a clean up tool.  I was not overly happy with the result, but maybe after it's finished it won't look too bad.  There was also a plate that I cut some holes in the rim.  I forgot to get a picture of it.

A Little Break

I've been away from the studio for a little over a week.  Alright, I can be more accurate than that.  It's been nine days.  That's seven days of grading AP Calculus exams and two days of travel.  The point of this is not to talk about my experiences grading exams - the joy of reconnecting with the friends that I only get to see at the reading, the difficulty of sitting for eight hours a day and concentrating, the fun of going out after work each night for drinks and dinner and to NOT talk about math, the sense of community and accomplishment that I feel in being a part of such a large, important undertaking.  The point of this post is to share how taking a break from pottery was good for me.

Since the first of the year I've felt a deep responsibility to ensure that things continue to run smoothly at A Griffin Pottery.  The first three months were about keeping things going for Allen.  I pushed down the fear and sadness to get things done. I worked. I wanted things to be such that if Allen could come to Shelby he would find things just as he left them.  I made a lot of pottery trying to make sure there would be enough work to bisque and glaze fire on a regular basis. 

The next two months were about figuring out if I could go on without Allen - facing the things that scared me and allowing the grief to wash over in waves.  Could Susan Jones actually make A Griffin Pottery Associates work?  What could I keep the same?  What did I have to change?  Could I learn enough about the things I didn't yet know to get by?  Who could I ask when I had questions about something? 

All of this means that for five months, I thought about Allen, about making pottery, about what needed to happen at the studio almost constantly.  I'm not complaining.  Just the opposite.  I needed and wanted to do that.  I needed and wanted to be at the studio almost daily.  

This nine day break though has been good.  I'm not rested exactly because I've worked HARD for the last week and I've not gotten enough sleep.  I am refreshed though.  I can't wait to get back to my studio and check on things.  I want to see what Gail and Ronnie and Lisa have done while I was gone.  I want to make more "leafy things" with the leaves that I picked up on my way back from eating a chilli bombed pizza at Grinders the other night. (If you are ever in the Kansas City and want a truly unique experience, go to Grinders.  The place kind of defies description.  Do not be afraid of the chilli bomb.  It's intimidating but so worth it!  www.grinderspizza.com)

I have to share something else too.  I got a phone call this week.  I was on my way back to the reading room from lunch one and had my phone on (I keep it turned off when we are working).  When I answered, the voice I heard was familiar enough to cause me to catch my breath and almost stopped me in my tracks.  It was Allen's brother Walt.  It took me a minute to recover from the shock of hearing a voice that sounded so much like Allen.  (Walt, if you are reading this I hope you don't mind that I'm sharing.)  He had been reading this blog and called to tell me that he thought that Allen would be pleased about everything.  That when he drives by the place, he looks at it and thinks that it's OK.  We shared a few Allen stories and talked about how much we miss him. Thanks so much, Walt, for that call.  I hope that sometime if you are driving by if you see the open flag that you'll stop in and say hi. 

Today is the ninth day of the sixth month of 2016, and I'm excited to see what comes next.