POTTERY TIP #302

PT #302; Always maintain a good field of vision when reaching into a container filled with sharp implements. (I am not sure if this is covered under the ‘never run with scissors’ rule or not.)


Better safe than sorry is the expression and I wished I had paid heed to that sage maxim. Yesterday while finishing up tooling of some pasta bowls, I leapt before I looked and grabbed for a trimming tool and when pulling back my hand, I had a fettling knife deep into the cuticle of my left thumb. I normally have my sharp tools pointing downward to avoid such problems but in a hurry to clean up the day before from finishing the oval serving pieces, I just scooped everything back into the contained for tools. Being that the knife is a bit old, rusty and covered with a concoction of terra cotta, stoneware and porcelain, I now have an infection in my thumb. This is certainly not the first, nor I doubt it will be the last, infection I will get from some errant injury to the digits, but it did keep me from throwing today. Luckily, I have the weekend, peroxide and neosporin to get things back in order and hopefully back to throwing on Monday.

Check back for more pottery tips as I manage to create chaos and mayhem out of clay.