It happened again. That intense delight of opening the kiln I so joyfully wrote about last week. Yesterday, I biked past Patti Smith’s old home, down the hill and under the BQE arriving at my studio in the mid-afternoon. My mugs sat on a shelf, patiently waiting to give me that rush of delight, to show me their magic.
I knew they would be a different color than my usual work when I glazed them. My whole pot making life, I’ve been pulled to neutrals and I anticipated these mugs would be a warm sandy white, still safe and beautifully bland, but with freckles of yellow and brown.
But the magic of the kiln! The heat melting the drippy glaze! It cast a spell and splashed a warm creamy waterfall through a fiery copper landscape.
A studio mate was drawn to the magic too, coming over to hold the mugs, feel their weight and the textured splashes of glaze. After chatting him through my mystical process, I safely wrapped and tucked them into my backpack, feeling like I was carrying an otherworldly secret on my back the whole ride home.
This isn’t an unusual occurrence, carrying magical secrets in my bag as I move through the city. When I first began making pottery in NYC, I worked out of a studio on West 25th street and I’d carry my alluring pieces of glazed and fired earth back to Brooklyn on the subway. Sometimes, I couldn’t wait to get home and would sneak little glances at the mug or bowl I had stashed in my bag, feeling a rush of delight at this gem I had created, hidden from the other commuters around me.
I knew I couldn’t hoard the magic in my bag forever, I needed to spread it to friends and family and, eventually, perfect strangers. And so began my journey of starting my little business, a pull to share this magic I’ve uncovered and want to continue creating for as long as my hands allow.
May the pottery in your life remind you of the magic that’s everywhere around us on this swirling planet, if you take a moment to look for it.
You can find this week’s magic mugs here, if you want to feel the enchantment with your coffee each morning.
May’s mindfulness pottery subscription goes out next week! This month’s surprise is a perfect summertime sipping vessel. Join me here with code POTTERYISFORclayclub for 15% off, if you’d like!
The Spring weather and blooming flowers in Brooklyn are drawing me to color in new and exciting ways. Here’s a little hint at my summer pot plans:
I’ll leave you with this poem, a beautiful little slice about magic in the everyday:
thank you thank you thank you for being here xG