…clay play…

My instagram feed can be a dangerous place, when one is as distractable and suggestible as I am. I follow an eclectic mix of makers and creators, and it’s not uncommon for me to flood the group chat with screen shots when something cool pops up. Next minute I’m down a rabbit hole of online shopping and pinterest and into creative play. One of the things that crossed my path a while back is pottery. I’ve been wanting to try it forever, and even sent off a request for class info, around the time I took a silversmithing class.

In the lead up to Christmas, a local potter posted about workshops. I took it to the board. The board said I most definitely totally needed to do it. Next minute, I was paying my deposit and the husband was getting a text.

“you just bought me a pottery class for Christmas, just FYI”

-ME, TO THE MISTER

He replied that it was very kind of him to arrange such a thoughtful gift. I agreed, and gave him brownie points for excellent gift giving. I got equal brownie points when he decided I was giving him a new barbecue as his Christmas gift. Clearly, neither of us have “gifts” as our primary love language, so our system works well.

At the class, at the beginning of January, we made a mix of items. A pinch pot (which I altered to be a simple yarn bowl for sock knitting). Two formed bowls. A platter, and two flat spoons (one is still being glazed because I’m a goose and put my stamp in a weird place the teacher couldn’t notice. I’m smart like that).

I am thrilled with the end result. Unfortunately, my platter cracked during firing, but after chatting with the instructor, I think we have a plan! I have two-part resin in my craft stash, and copper leaf. If I can find the random box I have stashed them in, I plan to fill the gap with resin and top it with copper leaf and make a feature of the crack.

It was a super fun class, and I’m hoping to get back to another one soon. I’m thinking a bowls class is the next on my list. I would love to do a vessels class as well, but our new house is still at least 12 months off, and I don’t want to do any big display pieces until we are closer to done and I have a firmer plan for the colour scheme. This was also why I went super neutral with the glazes of this batch, so they should work ok regardless of what I decide to do. Bowls or plates should be a good option to tide me over until I can start working on some bigger pieces!