No, not a previously undiscovered Gilbert and Sullivan opera!  Rather, an approach to making pots.

I was thinking, as I was working in the studio today, of how many tools some of the potters I know possess.  Sixteen different kinds of ribs, all purchased from the latest hot tool vendor at NCECA, all kinds of fancy trimming tools from the cryogenically frozen metals to the hand-forged, geegews that center for trimming, that center for throwing, trimming chucks, whisks of all sizes and shapes, and on and on and on…you get the idea.

I probably have less pottery tools than just about anyone I know.  Some of my favorites are a barely sharpened wooden pencil, the non-business end of a bic pen, various bits and pieces of plastic lighting screens from flourescent lights I’ve known, broken bits of soft-brick, pieces of old construction lumber where the grain has become pronounced as the soft wood recedes, you get the idea.  I use what is at hand, and when what I need is not at hand, I figure out a way to proceed from there.  Generally it’s not too hard to figure out how to make do, and sometimes it even leads one in a direction that improves your work.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate a good tool, and sometimes a good tool can make all the difference in doing a good job, but generally, in the pottery field, I have not found this to be the case.  I’ll take some photos tomorrow of the kind of things I’m talking about, and post them on the blog.  I guess what I’m getting at here is that it’s not the newest tool on the block that makes one’s work good, or your own.  It’s honing the basic skills, acquiring the subtlety about your materials and processes to know what you need to get the results you want, versus just working with tools for the thrill of working with tools.

Today was all about trying to finish up “the list” of things to make for the studio sale, before breaking off to glaze and fire.  I’ve got a couple of items yet to make, but strangely (or not so) the mugs are not going to get made.  I may make a few to try out a new shape I’m noodling around in my head, but they are this year’s item that just never gets it’s number called…instead I focused on covered jars, which will be made with sculptural handles put together by studio mate Carolyn.

…guess folks will just have to make-do this year without my mugs.

Later,

Richard