My work is not made as one might bake a cake, from start to finish. I work in cycles. One day pieces are thrown on the wheel, the next day trimmed and embellished. Another day is spent hand building plates, small bowls, and sculptures. It takes an entire day to glaze for a kiln firing.
Last night I loaded the kiln with noodle bowls, flower bowls, dinnerware, small bird and owl sculpted bowls. As these fire, the pots for the following week are set atop, to dry in the radiant heat.
You can see that next week's kiln firing will have penguin wedding cake toppers, owl soap dishes, birds nest casseroles, pea pod casseroles, and Urban Rustic bowls. You will be able to see most of these in LeeWolfePottery.com.
Why not on Etsy, you might ask. Well, Etsy has been redefining "handmade" lately. It now means 'anything someone claims to make with their hands, or somebody's hands, even if the individual handmade artisan is also a wholesale importer and distributor of things that are identical to that which one is handmaking. Or having other people handmake.' This blog explains it all, if you haven't been enjoying the latest debacle.
What a shame mass produce has found its way into the artisan one-off world. It seems there is no stopping them sometimes but at least we still have purchasing power and can vote with our purchases.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes think of pottery / ceramics as being similar to gardening. There is a lot of planning and then nurturing and patience before seeing if it pays off.