We're back in the
studio rocking out to Gen X Radio on Pandora, and making pots. It
feels thrilling after a big break for moving in and setting up.
I had the great
pleasure of hanging out with Kyle Carpenter and friends in Asheville
the other night. We had an interesting conversation about mugs,
speed, work practices and our course our tender feelings.
Stepping back.... last
Fall, I was fretting how long mugs took me and trying to go faster. I
was trying hard to make more and be more efficient. I think I got up
to about 4 mugs per hour. That's every step of the process: throwing,
adding the handle, refining some edges, slipping, painting
underglaze, some carving, the bisque firing, wax and glaze
application, glaze firing, drawing the artwork, preparing and
applying the image transfers, the final firing, and some final
quality checks and sanding.
Hitting four per hour
was big improvement for me. I had been averaging about two per hour
when we first headed to the hills as full-time potters. I was so
focused on getting faster. Then Kyle and I got to talking, and he
telling me he is at 2 or 3 and happily trying to slow down. He's
reveling in taking it slow and getting pulled into each detail. It
was really kind of shocking to hear.
But it shouldn't have
been. I mean if you know Kyle's work, you
know his stuff is really TIGHT. Meaning very consistent, appealing,
and ergonomic. I love how his big tankard feels in my hand.
Thinking about all this
I made the effort this while starting a big run of mugs to get the
new year off and running. I really relaxed into them and made the
effort to slow down. It was great, the mugs got a little taller and
straighter, the rims more refined. I was super-focused, obsessing
really, about perfecting each handle.
Instead of being a
little stressful, it was a lot of fun. And the mugs turned out GREAT!
So I gave Kyle a call to talk about the experience and say thanks and
we had a great follow-up conversation. We talked a bit about the
flipside of how speed matters too, we are trying to make a living
with our art after all. It is an interesting tension between wanting
to be relaxed and perfectionist, and the financial pressure of having
to get the work made quickly enough that you can keep your prices at
a reasonable level.
For now let’s ignore
the question of what makes a price “reasonable” as that will be a
future fun post.
Anyhow, as an
experiment I decided to then alternate between speeding up and
slowing down over several iterations in the studio. This was a
fantastic experiment and I highly recommend it. The slowing down
phases of really intense focus are obviously going to help move the
work forward. Then when your comfort level and muscle memory build up
a bit, you can safely accelerate and hopefully keep a hold on the
quality improvements but be more productive.
The final result of all
this: I do think making a conscious effort to go against the grain
and force yourself to switch up your pace is incredibly beneficial.
I guess the trick
moving forward will be developing a good intuitive sense of when to
speed up, and when to dial it back a bit.
So give it a try, and please comment and let me know what you think.
Thanks!
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