As some of you may recall - a long while back I wrote about making clay rocks. Well, last week they all were finished with their final firing and I went to pick them up. In case you are new here I took a clay class at Santa Fe Clay which ended a couple of weeks ago. This was a project I worked on with the help of my teacher Shereen (thanks Shereen!).
It was a good class. I pushed myself to work larger. The two biggest stacks of rocks are approximately 12 inches tall. When I created them in the wet clay they were bigger, but the clay shrinks about 14% by the time it goes through all the firings. The class allowed me to try some new techniques in ceramics. One thing I really learned about myself with clay is that I find the most joy in just doing my lumps. Yet, I know there is a balance there between doing what gives me lots of joy and trying new things that push my comfort zone.
Yesterday, while at home, I spent a good part of the day painting underglaze on some of my ceramic work.. I'm trying different things and yet it's been a long time since I painted with underglaze so there is that tension of "will this turn out to my liking?" I like working with wet clay the most. I also like painting underglaze - although it's time consuming. What I dislike about the whole ceramic process is the failure of stuff - you just never know when you fire it- if - it will work at all. I'm trying to stay open to this part of the process - as a lesson in art or life or anything - all one can do is enjoy the process and not worry about the outcome. It's a reminder to just make a lot of stuff - because not every seed that drops from the tree grows into a new tree - but a certain percentage grow up, up, up!!!
Clay is an uncertain craft. You can learn techniques - and there are a lot of techniques to learn. Ultimately, those that stick with ceramics, are not afraid of failure and more importantly, are not afraid of the unknown. I think there is a lesson there for all of us - because just daily living - to love one's life - one has to be unattached to the outcome and willing to face the unknown. I think the sages would say live in the NOW.
