Hi there
Woke up this morning, and decided to bite the bullet. Thermal Long Johns, thermal vest, two pairs of socks and a biker’s tube for the neck – and I was set to get back behind the wheel!
No no no. My days of Harley Davidson biking are well and truly over. In fact, my lovely bike was sold last year. It’s just way too dangerous. Too many cars, too many idiot drivers, too many potholes. But I’m grateful for the experience, and I’m glad I ticked that box when I still could. That I can say, I was an L.O.H. A Lady of Harley.
No,no. I got togged up today to go in the garage true enough. And I did get behind a wheel too. My trusted Shimpo RK-3E !! It’s a dream drive! So many key features for a potter!
- Forward and reverse switch, so wheel goes in both directions,
- foot pedal locks for set speed,
- super quiet – it’s called The Whisperer.
- no belt
- 2-part splash-pan easily detachable for cleaning.
I haven’t done any pottery for months. The last thing I made was the lamp stand for Mark and Alex’s wedding in September!
I ventured out there a couple of weeks ago, but by the time I had cleaned the area, (all the stuff from the Open Days was still right there, where we had dumped it in November!) I was frozen to the bone, and aborted the session.
Honestly, it’s been a pretty mental few months since we got taken to the cleaners by Create & Craft in Oundle-Peterborough. And when the ship is sinking, what do you do? You row like your life depends on it, you bail water and you try to stay afloat. Believe you me, pottery is NOT an option.
But the clouds are lifting slowly. The waters are still treacherous, and there’s an inordinate amount of work to do, but the good ship Clarity is pretty steady. We’ve got such a tight team, and good people around us now. There’s a lot of turbulence and unrest in the industry for sure, and retirement isn’t an option, but that fear of going under, which has been crippling me for months, has gone away.
Today was the first day I actually felt like doing pottery again. And that speaks volumes, friends. It really does. It tells me that, at a subconscious level, I am beginning to unwind again. I have been sprung like a coil for months, you know. You can tell yourself that it will all be fine a thousand times, but saying it and believing it are two different things, right? Of course, we still need to hustle like mad, but we‘ve got lots of great ideas and designs, and as long as we keep coming up with lovely, irresistible products, and the Clarity Community keeps showing up to support us – I think we will go from strength to strength.
I did wonder whether I might have forgotten how to throw pots on the wheel. It’s been such a long time! But no. Not at all. I did ease myself into it though. Here’s how:
I wedged 9 balls of clay, in batches of 3 weights: half a pound, three quarters of a pound and a pound. I set myself the task of making pencil pots, and decided not to deviate. I started with the smallest 3 balls, threw them. Then moved to the next size, threw them. Ended with the 3 largest size. Result? Nine pots, all fine. And yep, they got a little larger with each batch. In fact, when I compared batch 3 with batch 1, there is quite a size difference in the pots, but I didn’t feel the difference when I was throwing.
I never want to be a production potter, but it’s good to be able to throw pots and bowls. Especially because folks DO like my work, I CAN sell them, and the money DOES go in the Clarity pot! Every little helps. So I feel I am contributing this way, too. Tomorrow, I will turn these, and maybe I’ll throw another batch of nine.
The object of the exercise is to grow my little pots to Brush Pot size, but make lots of lovely pencil pots at the same time. Would it be easier to bulk buy them in China? For sure. And they would even print Clarity Brush Pots on them for us if we ask nicely. Would they be cheaper to you to buy? For sure.
But tell me. Which would you prefer to buy? Actually, yes. Please tell me. Cheap and cheerful from China? Because that can be arranged. Or handmade by Barb? I’ll make a load anyway, because they’d take about 6 months to get here from China !! TWHGBM. Have a guess…
Have a great evening.
Love always,
Barb xxx