A LONG TIME COMING

A normal cycle for making pottery, a bisque and a glaze fire usually runs about 3 weeks or so. When I started the current cycle, I thought I would make a few handbuilt pieces, throws some jars, vases, bowls and teabowls and that would make for a quick turn around. As you know, the “best-laid plans” often times don’t work out the way you expected. From the beginning the constant rain, humidity and heat made the drying very slow, so it gave me more time to throw just another pot or two for a small order here and there all prolonging the drying that much more.

I finally drew a line in the sand and decided I had to stop throwing yet more pots. I set about making up small batches of 4 different glazes to top off my glaze buckets. Then a small order had to be packed up, and another and a third and forth and lastly a bigger order as well as a package to a friend and some moments spared to write a bit here and there as well. Now more time has gotten away from me, time really does fly. Add to the misc. stuff around the studio and home, a routine dental appointment, several days down for July 4th and then several days in line waiting for the new Harry Potter movie, oh wait, that wasn’t me, I had better things to do, and another week is gone by. I finally got back to the pots and sanded and prepped them for the bisque which will probably be off by the time this is posted. Tuesday and Wedsday will be those days I truly love, glazing. Unloading the bisque, cleaning, prepping, waxing, dipping, dunking, drying, cleaning and load the glaze kiln, two more days added to the total. Hopefully, baring any additional interruptions or unforeseen occurrences and I will fire the glaze kiln on Thursday bringing to a close one of the longest cycles in recent memory. I am not sure if it is just a summer pace or life corrupting plans made prior, but either way, I will be very happy to complete this firing and move on to another cycle which, no doubt, will probably take just as long……………….

“Time is the wisest of all counselors.” Plutarch