In the interest of truth in reporting I thought I would share this Weegee-like image with you. During a sunny afternoon, yesterday, I thought I would get some more drying done, cut some more wood, to take advantage of this rare opportunity before the rains returned. Well the rains returned a little earlier that I anticipated and during supper last night , the pots that on this table were lost. The truth is, I've been trying to cram all of this pottery making in to meet some deadlines after losing two weeks to wisdom teeth.
This is what happens when you stay up late too many nights, you lose your edge, you lose your pots!
To describe what I felt when I went up to the shop to try to save these from the downpour would require a kind of anger that I'd rather not return to here. But to describe the scene in more unemotional terms may be more helpful. Of course I was upset and wondered whether I'd have enough pots for the firing, now. I ran through a checklist of what was on the table. I believe there were 3-2 gallon jugs, a nice small four handled jar, a few small jars , and two big, 4 gallon jars. My first reaction was that I will remake the pots, which I soon saw as ridiculous. Those pots are gone!
Then I remembered a craft show I did many years ago in Guilford, CT. where I lost a whole shelf of pots to a gust of wind and a tent flap. I remembered the heart sinking and the shock. Then I remembered that I had no choice, really, since the show was open, but to clean up the mess and put a good face on ASAP. For it was more critical than ever to sell what I had left and try to cover my losses. Those pots were gone, there was no glue that would put them back together again.
So in this current 'Humpty Dumpty' situation I expedited the clay back to the slop bucket immediately and got to work. There was no time to waste. I remained in a kind of shock throughout the night and this morning. I still have a dull ache in my head, no doubt from the replaying in my mind of what I could have done, or what I should have done, but what good is that? At least I can make more pots, even though it may mean more late nights ahead.
So I stayed up late making jugs.
