NECESSITY

For nearly two decades I have dragged around this odd plastic cup that I was given as a gift as a joke and it has been ever present on my desk near the computer all that time until recently when it actually just split in half. Though I carefully glued it back together I realized it could no longer function in its previous capacity as a pencil holder so I made another to replace it. The illustrated pierced Oribe style pen holder  is based on a pierced Japanese Oribe candle holder that I really like and the piece was quickly thrown in stoneware, incised to establish where I would cut out clay and then holes were cut in the opposing solid areas to lighten up the visual form. Obviously this was glazed in one of my Oribe formulas, in this case made from lepidolite which highlights the incised decoration and the sharp cuts from the piercings. I am sure that it was not my intension to have to make a pencil holder the day before I did but it fit well within the kiln and adds credence to the old maxim; necessity truly is the mother of invention.

BTW could there be anything less interesting that a blog post about a guy making a pencil holder? It really is true, the fact that I have nothing to say means I definitely should blog about it.