Ceramics is a Practical Philosophy

Working with ceramics has taught me a lot of useful lessons that can be applied directly to life–it has become a kind of practical philosophy for me.

Clay requires focus and constant attention to what you are doing. It is incredibly fragile at some points in the process and a single casual action can end in shattered lumps of dirt on the floor.
On the other hand, it can also be incredibly durable and last for thousands of years. So, it’s worth taking the care and making an effort because the results will be around for the rest of your life and beyond!

Ceramics requires a long and complicated process to get from an idea to a satisfactory ending. There are forces at work that are out of your control but will still affect the final outcome of your work. How we manage the parts we can control and understand the forces we can’t, can leave us happy or disappointed with our efforts.

At so many stages in ceramics you have to let go. You have to trust that your skills and hard work will advance your piece to the next stage.
I think this is particularly true with glazing. What you see as you’re glazing is NOT what you’ll end up with. Because glazes are minerals suspended in water, they don’t look like the color they will end up being. For example, I have a beautiful pink glaze that is minty green in the bucket! Glazing requires a leap of imagination along with care and attention to what you’re doing. Then you let go, trust the process, and hope that fire, time and helpful positioning in the kiln will lead to the results you want.

After all that, things still might not turn out the way you expected. The joy and frustration of working with ceramics is in the expectation and the unknown. We work hard at something and it still doesn’t turn out like we wanted it to. Maybe stepping away and looking at it with no expectation will let you see the beauty that is there–but different than you anticipated.

In summary the practical philosophy of ceramics is be mindful and focus on what you’re doing, trust yourself, stay open to mystery, and look at things for what they are, not what you want them to be. And that’s a pretty useful philosophy!