Thoughts on Creation

Spirituality is not separate from life, rather, it permeates life.

Sometimes I’ll sit and make small forms for hours, concentrating on the simple and familiar. Even these are small meditations. There’s a definite zen to doing good work. Creating with intent is crucial - I believe that my mindset will come through the clay. So I create accordingly, and according to wherever I am that day. Sometimes the small and familiar is all I can do.

Complex forms require a more centered self, a more settled self. Each form has its own needs. It’s one thing to make delicate, flowing, wheel-thrown-and-altered porcelain teabowls. It’s another thing to make sharp, robust stoneware ones. Developing a new form combines intent with creation.

It’s important not to think too hard, but just to create. I’ll make a dozen pieces, look at their wet-clay forms, alter or reclaim any that are too far from what I’d intended. From the start I am envisioning the finished product, the form, the surface, how they reinforce each other. I make notes on how I intend to finish the work - will it be slipped, which glazes to apply, what wadding-marks I will make and which wadding material will suit, where to put a piece in the kiln and in what orientation. I’ll move forward in the dark, knowing the range of results that may come of my decisions, blind to the specifics.

Once the firing is complete, the kiln cooled, I’ll unload it, see the finished work. From my mind I dredge up my thoughts, what I hoped for, expected, intended. I sit with them, look, handle, look again over many sittings. It takes time to absorb all this. From this I hone my intent, my process. Then I start working again.

Working loosely requires a particular sort of control, an intimate understanding of process and material, the ability to let its character come through. Once the base knowledge is there, using the material with ease is crucial. Application of glaze and slip are imprecise sciences. Art follows mastery. Every step of the process has the potential to create magic. I set the conditions for stars to collide.