Changes seem to come at one of two rates, catastrophic or slooooooowly.
I’m sure that, from the outside, this one is the latter, probably not even registering as much of a change at all to pretty much everyone except those who turn clay themselves, but I feel that there’s been some very long awaited tectonic movement… It’s the switch to a hand cut foot ring.
Tule Fog
“Tule Fog” 2017
Mid-Range stoneware
Hallmarked
$90
Not a big switch? I wholeheartedly disagree. It’s part of a drift away from the tightly turned symmetries, and for some reason, dispite wanting to make this switch since first watching Jessica Fong cut the feet on her work a few years back, I just couldn’t make it work for me.
Until now… It finally clicked. It’s a tiny detail, wonderfully imperfect, small yet so full of character, and it’s only getting more so as the process carves itself into muscle memory.
There’s a deep personal satisfaction that comes with process learning and bringing together a specialized skill stack to make this work. I’m very proud of the results. Each piece feels like it was meant to be made, like its alway been real, it just didn’t exist yet, it just needed a hand to be pulled into being.
I know, now that they’ve been made, given enough time, anyone could learn to make these, but at the moment, I’m going to indulge in the feeling the pride of seeing a design finally drop into place.
All it took was a pair of hands, lots of patience, and happy feet to make it happen.
Zygote Blum 