I’ve spent another day back at Eastnor Pottery, something I always enjoy. Jon the Potter only runs his weekend throwing workshops from autumn through to late spring, finding that there just isn’t the demand for them over the summer. He focusses instead on the more lucrative business of children’s parties, hen parties and his “Flying Potter” mobile potter’s wheel. So this was my last session there until the end of September. However, I’m such a regular that I have a standing invitation to hire a corner of the workshop for a day over the summer and work there on my own, should the withdrawal symptoms get too much.
I spent all morning throwing, and must have got through about 20kg of clay in total. Most of that I recycled straight back onto the waste pile, as I simply have no need, nor indeed the space, for another two dozen bowls! I kept the best five pieces, and I’ve asked Jon to wrap them up in plastic once they get leather-hard. They will stay that way all through the summer, so will still be workable when I go back in September. I expect them to be a bit mouldy – but that is only cosmetic and will burn off in the kiln. The clay might be slightly too hard to work with, but a quick dunk in a bucket of water will soon sort that out. I’m sure I’ll have completely forgotten what it was I made this time, so it will be a pleasant surprise for me when I go back and rediscover my cache of half-finished pots!
