My plan for this week was to make bird feeders. I’ve sold a few of them in the last few days (Hooray!) and wanted to make more for the next planned firing.
I threw five on Sunday evening and planned on trimming and altering them the next day. The clay is drying out very quickly in the heat and it decides when you work with it. Certain processes are done are certain times. (Trimming is done when the clay is soft leather hard, like cheddar cheese. The altering (cutting the large windows and drainage and hanging holes) are done when the clay is hard leather hard, a bit like chocolate.) When I went to do the trimming, I discovered I had wired through the bases of all five feeders. That was annoying. They were my best shaped ones yet (see photo); a lovely proportion and curve with throwing lines at the top to add softness. What did I do? I got straight back on my horse to make some more. Unfortunately either I or the clay was not in the mood on Monday. Every one of those bird feeders collapsed on me.
Not every throwing day is a success. The clay needs to be in the right condition. The right proportion of recycled clay mixed through fresh clay straight from the bag. It has to be the right softness; too soft and it will collapse, too hard and it will be difficult to move the clay. It’s also bad for your wrists to throw with hard clay. The larger the object, the softer the clay should be. The potter needs to be in the right mood too; your mind needs to be centred, focused and calm. A lot of potters have the ‘why am I doing this?’ days. Luckily when you feel better you remember why; why even though it’s not always easy, you wouldn’t swap it for anything. You begin to accept and learn to recognise the days when you are not focused enough for the wheel. I’m still learning. One thing that Julie taught me during my time with her was to ‘learn to forgive and forget’. It’s better to stop and do something else productively than create a large pile of wedging and recycling for yourself, making yourself feel worse. Don’t get hung up on what went wrong. Everyone has bad days.
So after a couple days break from the wheel, I’m going making more bird feeders tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the satisfaction of seeing a line of bird feeders drying and waiting for the next stage of making.