I love to make really BIG pots, they are handbuilt,coil by coil, and take min of 8 to 10 days to get it all nice and pretty. Its a lot of effort and patience.
Its the challenge
that I love and that makes the hard work all its worth.
So when I got an enquiry to make 25" by 25" pot,I went all out for it.
The shape was explained to me and enough time was available to take on the project.
Merrily I started building it coil by coil, checking and working on the shape, size, contours....
This method takes time as you have to go up in small bits,not all at a time, you get to say 6 inches and let it dry to hold the shape but wet enough to take the next layer of coil. So the progress is slow. Judgement comes with practice and few disasters.
took me over two weeks to finish the piece.
Then the client wanted a bit of a change,very tricky and better not done, I was sceptical,but had to give in.[hindsight its a mistake and lesson learnt hard way]
We bisque fired the pot on complete drying[almost 12 days],it was sleepless night for me before we opened the kiln,WOW,The pot came out fine,I thought it was great and I was wrong in expecting some disaster in firing.
So next step, I glazed it and we reloaded it in the kiln.
I asked the Kiln Go
d for safety of the pot but there was still some funny feeling inside me.
we took a very slow firing, did not open the kiln till it cooled completely,and then....
Can You See What Happened???
This Is the real test of a potter
To be able to take such a disaster ,accept it ,analyse it and try to learn from it. Or else you cannot go on. Its the most heartbreaking thing to see your creation turning into pieces,it takes a long time to get over such shocks,but I think the survivor's instinct in us that makes us go on,
The challenge really is this and not in creation!!!!!
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