My firing

(This is the flower block the I speak of down in the middle of my post)

I forgot when I last posted because the week has been a bluer. It is Saturday and I spent the whole day just enjoying it with my children, but I'll get to that later.

My kiln load....where to begin. I had one of those events as a potter that you hate but have to make the best out of. Here were my issues:

1.I mixed up new batches of glaze and my amber went on some of the pieces kind of thin...which is a look I really don't like for my pots, so those where out.

2. Two of my teapots had sprouts that twisted just a bit so those where out. ( I had thrown these differently than I normally do so I won't do that again!)

3. Some pieces for an odd reason did this strange explosion in the glaze kiln. Not the kind where the clay just pops off everywhere but it made these areas that kind of "feathered outwards". It was something I have never seen before and the only thing I can think of is that there was a rock or some type of imperfection in the clay.( Of course these where two big pots...waste of clay and soooooooo much time) All of it comes from Highwater, out of the bag so...........................I'm not the first person that has had clay issues and I won't be the last. It just happens.

So, the quandary of all this was to come up with 3 pots for the show. Of course my favorites had issues. Pots that I spent hours on.....just did not come out. I had a great box with a stuck lib that luckily a friend of mine was able to bang off. I had 3 good teapots, 5 good egg cups, some vases, some bowls( that where special orders and filled the kiln) and one huge flower block that I was super proud of but had two small cracks in very noticeable areas. I have to admit my heart sank at the thought that I didn't have a great selection to choose from for the show but I had to make due with what I had. So, I sent the box, 6 egg cups( that are new for me and after seeing them I have one big design flaw that is going to keep speaking to me the entire time I'm at the opening.

" Psst...Jen, hey, we have this small hole in the cup part you need to cover up!" "Jen...yeah hey get away from the food, are you listening? Everyone is looking at this hole we all have!"

( Ok, don't worry I'm not hearing things, this is just how my mind works some days) I threw these in one part and there was no place for air to escape so I poked a hole in the center thinking it would shirk up. Not so...next time I'll know!

The last pot I sent was my favorite teapot and two tea bowls to go with them. I did try to take photo's of these pieces but I was in such a hurry to pack them and ship them that I my batteries ran out so..................

I tend to be very hard on myself when it comes to my expectations. I had so much to do this week at one point one night I was up to late telling myself I still had more things to do and just keep going. Then I looked at myself in the mirror and saw the blood shot eyes and thought "YIKES" get to bed and lay off your self! I'm trying to work on this;giving myself a break from thinking I need to do it all and just tell myself that I'm doing the best I can. Maybe everything doesn't always come out great or go the way I want it to but that is Ok because I'll just try again. This is something I tell my students over and over again. If a pots just ...well dies in some way or another where you wreck trying to fix the rim, trim through the foot or glaze it some horrible combination. It will be ok because the next one will be that much better. I'll have to remember this when my eggs cups are talking to me at the opening and I'm seeing a gold halo around everyone else's work but my own.