15 September 2023

Finding inspiration for new designs is like a scavenger hunt. I look for little clues that light me up, and keep a sketchbook to do preliminary designs. My latest hunt has been for a design to hand-paint onto the cutest little cappuccino mug I created just before the flood. The form itself was inspired by a soup mug I had made many moons ago during my studio time at Farmhouse. It's the perfect shape to sit right in the palm of your hand. A postcard with an illustration of a Chinese market has kicked off the design as I've been searching the pottery in the image for references of how to fill the space with an interesting design. There are urns, bowls, and vases depicted, and the bottom of my mug resembles the bottle of a bowl so those pieces specifically are becoming inspiration. I also notices a similar pattern happening on one of my paintings last night, so I am considering finishing the mug with a scrolling flower similar to the one in my painting. 

The glaze tests will be coming out of the kiln tomorrow, fingers crossed everything comes out as planned! It is kind of gnarly to be a potter, working for weeks on a batch of pottery, only to have to leave the final results up to the kiln and the kiln gods. Weird things have happened to my pots in the last month firing my work like gross bubbles in my glaze, the wrong colors, and bare spots where glaze was supposed to be. A part of my wonders if it is because we have had to fire in a new, smaller kiln to the pieces haven't had the same firing cycle. It's a big guessing game to try to solve the issues. In the meanwhile, I try to keep motivation to make more so that eventually the perfect pieces eventually make their way out of the kiln. 

Today's projects are finishing my tiny pots, cleaning up mugs, and cutting out decals for new mugs. 

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