Sunday, August 31, 2008

Fire

A post on Becky's blog referencing Harry Nilsson's "Jump Into The Fire" got me to thinking about our relationship with fire in pottery.

We have an extraordinary link with fire. Every time we make something we put a little bit of ourselves into the fire and wait to see how it comes through it. It's almost like the kiln should have two doors --an in and an out since firing our pieces really is a passage.

There's also the analogy of each pot being like your child. You put everything you know into forming them, finishing them, trying to be sure they can stand on their own. When you put them in the kiln it's like sending them out in the world to do what they will. You just hope you had the necessary skills to make them complete.

Elements...

We are working with all the elements in pottery. We start out with that most basic --earth. We add water to help form it and decorate it, then wait for the air to dry it. But it's the fire that really makes or breaks the piece. It can wrap it in drama with the most amazing colors, contrasts and hues or it can break it into pieces. The worst it can do is nothing when a pot comes through it's trial and is completely nondescript.

Too much thinking and not enough throwing...

4 comments:

Unknown said...

mmm well said. I am waiting for the 100 pots...

jbf said...

Thanks.

100 pots? You must have me confused with a potter. I might be able to hit 100 if I had about 3 years.

What's for dinner?

Unknown said...

dinner? the babes and horses are out to eat someplace else, seems to be. I am eating handfuls of almonds these days it seems.

100! 100! 100! 100! 100!

;-)

jbf said...

I picked up some almonds with cinnamon and brown sugar coating. Yum.

10! 10! 10! 10! 10!