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What Part Of The Process Satisfies You Most?


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Most satisfying is using finished ware.

 

The process itself, it has to be throwing. There's something almost magical about the way clay responds to touch on the wheel. A good session at the wheel is more satisfying than finishing handles, glazing or firing. Though I'd get frustrated being the thrower in an assembly line... throwing is still exploration for me, and ultimately, there's not much point to this if I don't produce finished ware I or someone else can use.

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At first read this question seems very simple, I get satisfaction when taking a pot from the kiln that has good structure and is technically pleasing.

 

When thinking about the question further, If I have spent many hours trying to come up with a solution to a problem, usually involves a fair bit of teeth gnashing and blubbering,  at the end of the day there is great satisfaction in knowing I have worked it out. So I guess the short answer to your question is that I get the most satisfaction from fixing my failures.  I’ve had a whole lot of failures so perhaps being tenacious, (read stubborn), probably helps.

 

Hope this doesn’t sound like a load of fairy toots and pixie dust.

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Didn't sound like pixie dust to me!

I'm with Min on loving the problem solving, especially the technical stuff. I love figuring "it" out, whatever "it" is (throwing, chemistry, firing cycles, well considered design and execution, kiln loading.)

I could go for a really, really long rant, but I gotta go cook a turkey. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone north of the 49th!

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spent too much time today working out the newest slip design on bowls that i will probably give away to the empty bowl supper next month.  using several colors of slip together to make raised leaves that i then carve around and leave the background a solid color.  it was such fun that i almost missed the meeting of the potters guild, how could time go by so fast?

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I can't say there are are many parts of handling clay that I don't like. Love the feel of clay flowing through my fingers & becoming an object, hand building sends me into a zone of quiet & then making glazes & seeing those fantastic results when I open the kiln. Ok so not always fantastic but room for improvement & try again.

Joy

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Like working with translucent bone china slipcasting at times ....fussy, difficult and WAY too temperamental at every stage of making and I may only get 1/4 of a small kiln load to work.....but when they work, emerging from the kiln paper thin and full of light, it is absolute MAGIC to me!!!    I sit there smiling and admiring them for some time......I know, a bit sad.....but when they work out I just love them!

 

Irene

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I still enjoy sketching, particularly whimsical designs that take advantage of the extreme flexibility of clay.  That means that my sketches are pretty loose and less constrained by my inner control freak who might ask if the sketch-design is acually do-able.  The real satisfaction comes from seeing that two-dimensional representation on paper come to life in three dimensions in clay.  Even more satifying are those time when a design takes on a life of its own from the seed of an idea from an old sketch.

-Paul

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