It has been a very long time since I posted in my journal but I’m excited and happy to be back! Do sign up to my e-newsletter below if you’d like to receive my occasional thoughts and stories on all things clay. I have missed writing to you!
Ever since I set foot on this glorious path, whenever I’ve been showing at an event or craft fair other potters will come up to my stand and ask me about my making process with the lustre. We all know it’s not easy to use and they want to know how I get it so smooth, but more importantly, they want to know my firing temperatures and tips for working with this notoriously tricky glaze.
Perfecting any process takes a long time and there are inevitable bumps in the road so it took a lot of trial and error to get the lustre to do what I wanted it to do. It’s hard to know what to do with a hard won skill and when I started out I never knew whether to tell people my trade secrets or not but now I share all that I can. I knew then that I had something a bit different and didn’t want anyone to steal it, but of course no one can really. They can take the concept (and actually the instructions and firing temperatures are on the side of the lustre bottle and in a thousand You Tube videos!) but the energy of the individual maker and their vision is found in the spirit of their pots and theirs alone.
I appreciate so much the joy of and support in sharing skills, tips and ideas between potters, largely a generous bunch of warm sensitive individuals. Events can be daunting and we spend a lot of time together as strangers initially as we set up our stalls side by side and put the very essence of who we are creatively out on the table in front of us for people to look at, pick over, comment on and like or dislike. Some days are good, some less good and some downright terrible but we help each other through in any way we can and it’s a joy to be surrounded by likeminded souls. By the end we are congratulating, encouraging, comforting, hugging and supporting each other with genuine understanding. New friends are always made and it’s a reminder that a rising tide lifts all boats.