This winter I was invited to sit down at a potter’s wheel and try my hand at shaping some clay into some usable forms. This crash-course in pottery was kindly offered by Claire’s aunt Kathy, an experienced potter who showed me the basics.
With her guidance, my first pieces are usable, but more valuable as a learning process into the art of using a wheel. Most notably, I need to work on my scale. Kilns are hot. Clay is made of lots of water. When the water goes, what remains is a much smaller cup than when I started. When these two pieces were removed from the kiln, Kathy promptly declared them expresso cups, rather than coffee mugs. The smaller also serves well as a shot glass. Whether for caffeine or whisky, at least they don’t leak.