Pottery sounds terrifying to me. Every post I see is like "Here's this awesome art I made!! Pray for me that it survives The Kiln™ :')" I don't think I could cope with making art that could quite easily blow up and I have no way of controlling that. You guys are true heroes.
Quote from a friend who does pottery whom I sent this to
"It’s actually one of the most beautiful teachings. Learning to love something accepting that it may not survive through the whole process, loving it for what it is while it is, hoping that it will be what you wish
It’s also why you learn to love the process of making almost more than the process of finishing something. It’s satisfying when it turns out the way you hoped, but when you look at a finished piece, all you remember is the process of making it
It also teaches you not to get attached to material thing. Pottery becomes a more spiritual and abstract concept of making and being than it is a tangible item
But still it is cool when it turns out the way you want it, and when it doesn’t, it still sucks
You also learn to make things the proper way, taking precautions, to the point that you know if something will break or not. And if something breaks, it’s because of something you were aware you had no control over
When I was a TA for a class I told this kid to carve out this really awesome sculpture he made, or it would explode. I told him to at least poke holes. I told him like five times. He didn’t do it. I told him it was gonna blow up. He still didn’t do it. I fired the kiln, and his piece was but shards only. He was very sad because it was a beautiful piece he’d spent weeks on. I felt 0 sympathy for him though "
