Gearing Up For Summer

Well the kiln is nearly ready to be loaded, I managed to get about fifty pendants onto my bead rack, and a few other things glazed for this firing. Its been a crazy year full of ups and downs, and I had a slow start to the spring production, but things are starting to settle back into some semblance of routine around here. Thankfully I have patient Gallery folks in my life.This past year has held more than a few challenges to my pottery making. 

When I came to Cape Breton a few years ago, I started making pots at my kitchen table with a crappy old cheap rolling pin, and a dollar store exacto knife. My templates were made of old file folders and I had five boxes of old clay that I hand recycled to make those first few pots. I lugged those pots into town, and paid to fire at the craft centre, sold the pots and bought more clay. After about a year, I was able to buy a kiln, with the help of some grant money, and the pennies I had saved from selling my pots. I have upgraded my rolling pin a few times, and now have a selection of exacto knives, my templates are still made from scrap card stock for the most part, and I am still carving my own stamps. I love what I do. There have been ups and downs financially, and physically, but somehow we always manage to plow through it. Sometimes its difficult to see how far I have come, when it seems like there is so much further I need to go.

So far, I have managed with rolling pins, and knives. Simple tools for not so simple pots. But 43 years of doing all things with one hand have taken their toll. My body is protesting, my production is slow due to pain, and my good hand is now, my not so good hand. Time to re evaluate the methods, rethink the process, and get pain reduced, production up, and income flowing.