There were some shocking changes announced at pottery this morning, the main one being that at the beginning of each class session we will be given ten tickets, each one required for the firing of a specific size of a glazed piece. The piece has to be a certain size, which is about a six by six square, maybe? per ticket. This leaves someone like me, who makes mostly bigger pieces, shit out of luck because as many squares as the item covers, that's how many tickets you must use. I can see why they've instituted this plan though. People make many, many items to be fired, some large, some small and if you make a lot of pieces that are large or larger, you are taking up a great deal of kiln space and I can see how that's not fair. The prices for the classes at the community center are more than reasonable so yeah, it makes sense. There is only so much space in a kiln, and only so much time the kiln operators can give to the work.
Still.
Sigh.
That pathetic little fishy is what I worked on today. I had mostly finished it last session but I decided to just concentrate on it. It needs to be fired now but...I DON'T WANT TO WASTE ANY MORE TICKETS THAN I NEED TO! What I had planned for Little Fish was to make more like him/her to hang on a wall and I also thought about making bubbles to go with the wall fishes. So, in order to get my full ticket value, I may now make the bubbles because they will fit into a square with the fish.
This is all rather confusing and poor Gail, our teacher, had to go through the whole process and explain it and answer questions and tell us why this was happening, and so forth.
But besides that, it was nice to be back and I think that although there are ten of us in the class, there was only one person I did not know. It was so good to see Lizzie and hear about her latest life events. Gentleman Caller™ stopped in to see us. He and Lizzie are going along, getting along, doing well, I think. I love it when he comes in. We all look up from what we're doing and say hello with great enthusiasm. We may all have a little crush on G.C.™ I'll just tell you right now that he is adorable. I told Lizzie today that if she ever gets mad at him she should just tell him not to say anything for awhile and simply look at him. I'm not sure she'll take that advice to heart. She's not really that sort of woman.
Yes, everyone liked my shirt.
Jessie worked on the wheel today and she made a beautiful vase and a few small plates. They are lovely. Her muscle memory is still very much intact.
She and I went to lunch afterwards. We talked about a lot of things. We still have a lot of catching up to do. I wanted to hear what going back to work has been like and how the boys are doing in school and if they like their teachers and all of that stuff.
We also talked about the shit circus going on in America right now and the diaper-clad, demented shit circus master who, for whatever reason, is still the...
Okay. I just can't say it. I cannot deal with this any more. I'm not ignoring the news, I'm just not going to doom scroll anymore. At least for now.
Is he dead yet?
Once again, it seems like it's trying to rain. Thunder, a drop in temperature (thank-you, thank-you, thank-you) and darkening skies but no rain. It almost reminds me of the days at the end of my pregnancies when I wanted so desperately to go into labor and I'd walk and I'd jog and I'd drink teas specific to that purpose, and as these things go, it happened when it was time to happen.
All right. Here are the two pieces that I worked on last session which finally got fired.
Pruners for scale. I'll be lucky if I have enough tickets to fire those two when they're glazed. And it will take me this entire session to get that accomplished so...
Perhaps everyone will not be getting a platter for Christmas.
Oh well. And la-di-dah.
It's all just clay and glaze, an idea and an attempt to create something from the idea. And let us remember- not all ideas are really worth worrying about.
Meanwhile, I better go make some supper.
Love...Ms. Moon
You'll figure out the firing. It will definitely set criteria for your work -- what's "worth" a ticket -- and that kind of restraint is great for developing your art voice.
ReplyDeleteHave you checked into Joanne's blog yet? Please do.
First, thanks for the head's up about Joanne. I was pretty devastated to read the post. I had to wait until this morning to comment. I just didn't have it in me.
DeleteYou're right about the what's worth the ticket thing BUT, also, for me, definitely, a huge part of the learning process has been seeing what does and does not work after glazing. These are the lessons I build upon. I completely understand what you're saying I'm not sure that my art voice is going to benefit from this. I really don't put that many items on the kiln shelf anyway, it's just that they take up space.
I understand about the new kiln system, but it is disappointing to those who have already made larger pieces and in future must make only little things.
ReplyDeleteI have read the newest post at Joanne's....
We're still welcome to make larger things, we're just not going to be able to make as many.
DeleteI am so sad to hear the news about Joanne.
That new ticket system for the pottery studio sucks. Kilns aren't expensive to run. If the kiln is full, run it more often, otherwise what's the point? I just looked up what it costs for your classes. Is $109 right? That's very reasonable. Ours cost $500 because the hours have increased.
ReplyDeleteI thought I had left a comment on the last post but obviously I did not hit publish for the comment. Sigh.
Hope you have a lovely day.
I think it's more of a matter of time with the kiln. I'm not sure. It seems always to be running as it is and yes, our classes are so much cheaper than many other classes and of course, there's the cost of glaze, as well, which the studio provides unless you want to buy your own.
DeleteBut I'm just trying to figure it out.
Too bad about the firing tickets. I understand but it still sucks. Your latest fish is even more charming than the last. So much fun. Lizzie and GC have been an item for quite some time now.
ReplyDeleteI, too, understand but I don't like it.
DeleteYou are correct about Lizzie and GC! They make a handsome couple. And I think that Lizzie is very, very good for him.
I love the fish. Can more tickets be purchased once the ten tickets are used up?
ReplyDeleteNope. You can pay to go to what they call Open Studio on specific days and if you do that, you can get more tickets so...
DeleteI understand the need for the rule, but it's still kind of a bait-and-switch to institute the rule NOW. Don't a lot of people have pieces in progress that they might have made differently had they known? I think they should fire everything in process and THEN begin enforcing the new rule. Tell them I said that. I'm sure they'll change their minds. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI think you should trademark the phrase "diaper-clad, demented shit circus master.™ "
I WILL them you said that, Steve! I am sure they will revisit the immediate enforcement of the policy.
DeleteI thought that phrase hit a lot of the high notes. Low notes?
Is "ticket-worthy" the new "sponge-worthy"? LOL
ReplyDeleteOh my god! You are so right!
DeleteI agree with Steve that the tickets shouldn't apply to the work already started. So you now have to make many tall, skinny things so they don't take up many squares? Weird.
ReplyDeleteI know- there's no height restriction as far as I know! I am aware that people have been bringing in pieces they've made in other places to be fired and although there's a very strong rule about not using the studio and kiln for commercial production purposes, I think people do it. Hell, I know they do.
DeleteWow, what a bummer about the firing limitations! I made many big or tall things, and found I had to wait forever for them to be fired...while the folks with little things were done and gone. Such is a community studio. I'm so glad you're back doing that! Just letting your creativity go in a different direction (while home decor and culinary efforts and blog writing are certainly worthwhile!) Hi to Jessie, it was great meeting her. Glad she's throwing on the wheel!
ReplyDeleteYep. That is indeed a community studio. Needs must, right? It's not like a big commercially oriented studio at all.
DeleteI will figure out what I need to do. I wish I didn't, though.
I will tell Jessie you said "Hi!" She's a precious, isn't she?
lol not your best work lol xxx
ReplyDeleteWhat? This post? The little fish? The platters to be?
DeleteThe ticket system needs a way to accommodate big pieces as well as small pieces. That's my thinking. Did someone get promoted for coming up with this system? I always wonder what drives decisions like this.
ReplyDeleteMaking multiple fish with bubbles to display on your wall seems like a good idea.
I think they knew they had to somehow control the amount of pottery going into the kiln for several reasons and this was the best way they could come up with. There was mention made of studying other systems. I don't think anyone's really happy about it unless it's the kiln operators.
Delete