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Starting again
Jan. 15th, 2021 08:25 pmI'm not sure what I was thinking. There's not that much of a hurry. But I was taking special orders during the holiday rush, and needed to give people a rough idea of when to expect their pots, so I just said, "I'll be firing again the end of January."
In a normal year, I'd be doing at least two firings over the winter, January, and March, and then another in mid-April to stock up for Ceramic Showcase. I'd also be taking off several weeks to do taxes in February, followed by a concerted effort to design and order all the postcards, posters and bookmarks for Showcase, plus early bookmarks for Clay Fest. And that's how 2020 started--then everything slammed to a halt about the time I unloaded my March firing.
In theory, 2021 should be a little more relaxed. Market is probably gonna start in April going alternate weeks again, but Showcase is definitely not happening in person in May (they've reserved the hall for Mother's Day weekend 2022). They're going to try an online presence, but aren't doing any physical publicity items, and online graphics is not part of my job description. I really only need one firing, probably, to make those orders and fill up all the gaps a very good Holiday Market has left in my inventory and there's no reason it had to be this early.
But habit is habit, and tell the truth, I was missing the clay. I'd gotten a ton in just after my last November firing, and had yet to open a box. So January 2, I was at my wheel, making 40 tall mugs. Followed by butter dishes, honey pots, teapots, dinner salad bowls. Pie plates and dinner plates and dessert plates and dinner salad bowls. Some yarn bowls (special order, and you won't believe the patterns she wants), gravy boats, medium covered casseroles--no large or small, only the medium ones sold this fall. Plus soup bowls, stew mugs, painted mugs, all of which are a little thin. And the city of Eugene will need fifteen 5-year appreciation mugs, and I only had ten in bisque.
So I had a busy two weeks at the wheel, and honestly, I think it's what kept me sane. I don't play the radio in my studio anymore, so missed the coup attempt as it was happening, and needing to get back to the work-in-progress was a good way to break out of doom-scrolling. I'm not saying I'm calm, sane, or unstressed right now, but I'm more than I would have been without something to keep my hands busy.
Right now, I've just finished the last bit of trimming, and the first load of bisque is heating up. I won't be able to start glazing before Sunday, so will probably push my firing back a couple of days, but that's okay.
There's no rush.
In a normal year, I'd be doing at least two firings over the winter, January, and March, and then another in mid-April to stock up for Ceramic Showcase. I'd also be taking off several weeks to do taxes in February, followed by a concerted effort to design and order all the postcards, posters and bookmarks for Showcase, plus early bookmarks for Clay Fest. And that's how 2020 started--then everything slammed to a halt about the time I unloaded my March firing.
In theory, 2021 should be a little more relaxed. Market is probably gonna start in April going alternate weeks again, but Showcase is definitely not happening in person in May (they've reserved the hall for Mother's Day weekend 2022). They're going to try an online presence, but aren't doing any physical publicity items, and online graphics is not part of my job description. I really only need one firing, probably, to make those orders and fill up all the gaps a very good Holiday Market has left in my inventory and there's no reason it had to be this early.
But habit is habit, and tell the truth, I was missing the clay. I'd gotten a ton in just after my last November firing, and had yet to open a box. So January 2, I was at my wheel, making 40 tall mugs. Followed by butter dishes, honey pots, teapots, dinner salad bowls. Pie plates and dinner plates and dessert plates and dinner salad bowls. Some yarn bowls (special order, and you won't believe the patterns she wants), gravy boats, medium covered casseroles--no large or small, only the medium ones sold this fall. Plus soup bowls, stew mugs, painted mugs, all of which are a little thin. And the city of Eugene will need fifteen 5-year appreciation mugs, and I only had ten in bisque.
So I had a busy two weeks at the wheel, and honestly, I think it's what kept me sane. I don't play the radio in my studio anymore, so missed the coup attempt as it was happening, and needing to get back to the work-in-progress was a good way to break out of doom-scrolling. I'm not saying I'm calm, sane, or unstressed right now, but I'm more than I would have been without something to keep my hands busy.
Right now, I've just finished the last bit of trimming, and the first load of bisque is heating up. I won't be able to start glazing before Sunday, so will probably push my firing back a couple of days, but that's okay.
There's no rush.
