Sunday, September 20, 2009

In the Zone

by Eleanor Hendriks

*quickly sweeping dust off my blog before beginning to type...*

I had a rare treat yesterday -8 hours straight in the studio without interruption and with most of my list of things that needed desperately to be done checked off.

So I spent the time putting handles on 14 jars that had been waiting quietly under plastic for almost a week. Rather than whip out a batch of ordinary knobs on the wheel, I decided to go all out and turn the top of each jar into a little wonderland

I started off with the chunkier jars and went for a basic woodland look...
Then the knobby bits started to have a more refined shape...
By the time I got the to jars with more dainty shapes the tops had become more elegant as well...

Until, completely in the zone where time doesn't exist, all chairs are comfortable and blaring radios are whispers in the distance, I finished the last two jars with the best finials and most delicate textures yet...
These two are my favourites by far...
I wonder if could have made them without the 12 that went before? Of course, now that I've done them once, I can explore the themes I've created here on other forms.

The first thing that I'll do is make some larger jars to take these themes further on -it will be almost impossible to ask the price that the amount of time spent on these small jars requires -and I haven't even glazed them yet -which I'm sure will be just as time consuming given the directions my fiddly little brain is going as I imagine how these might look finished.

Of course I'm ignoring the downer in the back of my head that is warning me not to get too attached in case one of my attacks of clumsiness takes out the whole collection...

In the meanwhile, all the regular stuff has been going on in the studio as well. Two good kiln loads lately means that there should be a flurry of new listings in my Etsy shop in the near future.

And for local people, the Victoria County StudioTour is coming up next weekend and the weekend after. Visit the many artist's studios in the area and if you drop by my studio and tell me that you read about the tour on my blog I will give you Elan Dollars good for pottery in my studio...



Oh and I will have homemade Lemon Pound Cake -it is to die for and I really shouldn't eat it all by myself...
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