I reckon at least half the time I meet somebody new, the first response is normally something along the lines of: “Oh that must be so relaxing!” I get it. It can be calming at times, but for the most part, when ceramics is undertaken as a profession, rather than say, simply practised in an evening class environment, where attendees are often seeking to reconnect and work with heir hands, it’s anything but a tranquil process. Pottery encompasses so many processes, there’s glazing and firing, preparing and wedging hundreds of kilograms of clay, packing and shipping out dozens of parcels at a time and keeping a keen eye on all the shipping details for the inevitable box that goes missing. Throwing accounts for a fraction of what most ceramicists do and whilst I always look forward to it, my mind tends to wonder when I’m throwing onto things such as my taxes, social media, have I made enough to be financially secure? In those early stages when you’re first starting, your hands are covered in clay and the process of throwing is mentally and physically taxing, that you can’t really do anything else other than make the pot in front you. You can’t pick up your phone to check it as you’ll smother it in stoneware and thus, for a few hours each week perhaps, you might have a ‘relaxing’ period. Or, you might ruin all the pots you make and feel extremely frustrated. The media doesn’t help and the movie Ghost has of course also made a mark but it’s incredible how often I have to explain that, “No, it can actually be really stressful and demanding”. The bonus is that most of us are self-employed and thus we don’t have bosses and we end the days when we want. Yet, this fact comes with a multitude of stresses that are involved in running a small business. There’s no sick pay, there’s often financial insecurities and the separation between life and work can easily become blurred. I’m a victim of that. The truth is, nowadays craftspeople are also expected to be social media managers, videographers, narrators and to have a personality of sorts. It’s a second job, often with an audience that can communicate with you around the clock and thus, as it’s tied so closely to selling pottery, there’s a need to reply and to engage. What makes pottery rewarding isn’t that it’s endlessly peaceful, it’s that it feels meaningful despite the stress. Most of us continue doing it not because we spend our days floating through clouds of clay-dusted serenity, but because there’s a deep satisfaction in making something tangible in a world that’s increasing becoming intangible. The irony is that the moments people imagine pottery to consist of entirely, those quiet hours at the wheel, are often the smallest part of the job. The rest is trimming, planning, worrying, packing, filming, replying, accounting and attempting to hold together both a craft and a livelihood at the same time. Yet somehow, amongst all of that noise, there are still moments where a freshly thrown pot spins beneath your hands and for a few seconds, the romantic image people have of ceramics almost becomes true. #pottery #howto #craft #ceramics #satisfying - @floriangadsby