This was my second day back at the studio. We had a peaceful break in Venice for our annual gathering with friends there for the New Year but I promised myself that I’d be back at work on the first Monday of the year. The first day was mainly tidying up, stocktaking and ordering new materials. Today was the first day of making.
It’s a new project, quite different from my usual bottles, to make some tea bowls, but I’m using my usual, mixed clays to give an agate effect. I think that I may also have found a way of throwing a layer of completely different clay on the outside of part of the bowl. It’s too soon to be sure that it will work, but it’s fun trying new ideas – this one thought up after waking this morning and waiting for the alarm to say it was time to get going.
Wedging the clays today (always the hardest work of my process) followed by throwing. Then guessing how dry things will get overnight and what precautions to take, as I have to turn the still damp but firm clay tomorrow. Better still too wet than already too dry, so a loose covering of plastic sheet.
And tomorrow morning a very large delivery of clay and glaze making materials that will have come up from Devon overnight – so another early start.
But tonight, the highly praised production of “American Psycho” at our local Almeida Theatre….
Oh – and a confession. The picture is a sham! I’d already cleaned up and was about to go home when I remembered that I wanted a picture for this blog, so I got very slightly muddy again for the pose.
