Ceramics is about timing: is my ware wet enough or dry enough for whatever stage that I’m at? Tonight I pulled handles, then trimmed mugs while the handles dried, then worked with another set of eight mugs, and then… nope, the timing didn’t work this time. These pulled handles aren’t dry enough to attach to mugs so they’re heading into time-out under plastic. The handles and the mugs need to be at very similar stages of dampness so that the handles just don’t crack and fall off. You’d think that in this dry Alberta climate, they would have stiffened up in all that time but nope, still floppy and far too annoying to work with. It’s too close to bedtime and I need to get my beauty rest – I like my handles just a wee bit closer to leather, thank you very much. Now I will hope that they don’t dry too much under the plastic because I won’t be able to pay them any attention until tomorrow night. With ten mugs waiting for handles, I sure hope the mugs stay wet enough while the handles stiffen just a wee bit so that the timing works perfectly.
