Summer and the Pottery Studio

Pots dry differently during the summer.  Usually slower surprisingly enough.  Humidity slows down everything, me included.

That’s good for me, since I work in the studio and gallery each day, often leaving work in progress for what can seem like hours.  I come back to the studio dreading the scene, only to find that I can return to my project.

What’s harder is getting my mind back to where I was.  Remembering what I wanted, where I was going, and coming from.

Sometimes it’s easy, like if I am working on little dishes, ornaments and vases for the pit firing.

But when I am in the midst of making something, following the clay and listening to the music between the material and myself, then it’s harder.  I find that I have to struggle when customers come in.  It’s hard to leave in the middle.   All these years it doesn’t seem to get easier.  I learned.

John has the same experience but more years to practice leaving the wheel and returning.  Of course we could hire someone to sit in the gallery, but that would involve paying someone, something we can’t justify.  And to be honest, we appreciate meeting new people, seeing returning friends/customers and learning about what they like and don’t like in our work.