This is a cosy Christmas blog post. In fact my family is spread out across the world and we don’t really do Christmas. However living by the sea it’s often good and stormy around December January and so to be sitting by a huge log fire with a nice glass of wine in the hand is a great feeling.
During my life I have planted more than a thousand trees so when I go out with my chainsaw a few times in the winter and lop a few branches off here and there I have a clear conscience for the future of the planet. I usually light a fire with enormous logs when the weather gets cold and keep it glowing non-stop until the spring begins to warm the air.
There are many things about being a potter that I really enjoy. I think a potter could aptly be called a ‘Mud, Water & Fire Man’. I started lighting fires for my parents when I was eight years old and, while I am definitely not a pyromaniac (I don’t fiddle with it the whole time), I really enjoy keeping the home fire burning which is a very basic instinct in me. I very much enjoy every stage of the pottery process. Since I was ten years old we have dug our clay in a very romantic valley by the River Blackwater. At first it was digging by hand… and then god sent the JCB. Saviour of slavery.
When working closely with clay it has a very distinct and satisfying smell (I wish I could think of a kinder word than ‘smell’.) When the clay is won and sitting in a big pile at home it is like a farmer harvesting his crops. I know there is a year’s supply there and I always enjoy the preparation process as the clay becomes finer and then ages. Not until it has aged for many months do I know how good it will be for throwing pots. Usually it is fine, however sometimes nature goes in another direction. Feeling the clay slip in my fingers and watching the shapes grow is extraordinarily satisfying. Then there are the kilns, and each time the pot comes out of a kiln it is reborn. When a pot is finished it has a completely different feel to when it is being lifted, soft and pliable, from the wheel. I suppose because I have worked with wood-fired kilns in France, England and Japan there is a strong emotional connection for me between sitting beside my log fire and quietly thinking and the excitement of when a wood-fired kiln comes up to temperature with a rich harvest inside.
Anyway it’s lovely to sit by a log fire and feel these deep emotions of the earth, the heat and my labour and not be working for a few days.
Have a happy and peaceful holiday…
Stephen
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There is still time to order pottery in time for Christmas delivery to the UK and Ireland – but you’ll need to get your skates on!
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