Essentially, we take a lump of mud and turn it into something beautiful. Something we hope you'll find beautiful too.
That takes a long time, with SO many different stages where things can go wrong. It can be heartbreaking when you've nurtured (and I do mean nurtured) a piece only to have it fall at the last hurdle.
All those stages include throwing on the wheel, making and attaching handles, biscuit firing (9 hours in the kiln) glazing it (some of my pieces have up to 6 layers of different brush on glazes & can take up to 2 days to complete) or dipping in 1 or several glazes, then another kiln firing for 12 hours. Good quality photos come next, then if you're advertising them online and finally carefully packing and shipping to their new homes, or selling them at craft fairs.
Oh and I nearly forgot, trips to the pottery suppliers, schlepping in heavy bags of clay (ok so hubby does that bit😉) buying commercial glazes or raw materials to make my own (its not a cheap hobby for sure) mixing big buckets of glaze, measuring specific gravity (I never considered myself a science nerd but I'm getting that way!). Testing new glazes etc
So why do I do all this? It sounds like a lot of work and it is. But I just love it. When I create something beautiful out of a lump of clay, all my Christmas come at once. It sounds kind of corny but each piece is like one of my babies (I'm not kidding!) When someone buys that piece and leaves me lovely feedback, it absolutely makes my day. Or I hand deliver it to them and see the genuine thrill in their eyes. Nothing beats that feeling. Nothing.
So next time you consider buying a piece of handmade pottery remember the time dedication, love and a little piece of ourselves that's gone into each piece, because we loved it before you did.
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