Making the Most of the Rain

When the lonely potter gets up in the morning, his first thoughts are usually about what he "needs" to do outside. Trying to keep an acreage, even a small one, in decent shape takes a lot of work. Whether it's weeding, fencing, mowing, painting, planting, pruning, sawing, chopping or fixing, there are not many idle hours during the summer. He has  not, yet, found that happy place in his psyche that allows him to balance the work that is calling him outside, with the pleasure that is waiting in the studio. A rainy day, then. can be a gift - if he can force himself to not worry about what is not going to get done, and can focus on what he can do.

We haven't had many rainy days, but there was one a few days ago when the lonely potter decided to spend the day in the studio making raku glazes. There was a time when he had a few good glaze recipes, and he knew how to apply them for the effects he wanted. Somehow, somewhere, those glazes have been lost, or mixed up with other glazes, so he is having to start from scratch.

It wasn't easy to start in the morning with reading glaze recipes and to end the day with a half dozen passable raku glazes to experiment with, but he stuck it out, and actually ended the day feeling like he had accomplished something.

If glazes have been made, can a firing be far behind?