Sometimes a potter needs to change glazes. Even if that particular glaze is a fan favorite. This is the third iteration of the galaxy urns in the 15 years that I’ve been making them.

Springtime is here in western Massachusetts. The buds on the trees are just beginning to open. The sprouts on the ground are coming up, soon the fiddleheads will be ready for harvesting along the river. This spring has a darkness over it though… with the global pandemic, covid19. Such a difficult time for everyone around the world. It is a time of pause, a time of introspection. Everything is on hold. Still spring comes. New life continues.

Yes it is all the title says…. sometimes it’s more so than other times. This Blue Galaxy glaze is my most difficult glaze to create. Sometimes it’s blue, sometimes dark blue, other times lighter blue. It’s four layers of glaze, one of the layers is sprayed on, the other layers are dipped.
This also happens to be my most popular urn.

I have made a new line of cremation urns this past summer. They are glazed in a glaze my son Andrew readily named, “Green River”. He was a lifeguard at the time, who looked at that beautiful color for three summers. There are so many shades of green on this beautiful earth. So many names I could have given this urn, but to me the perfect name for it is “Tranquil Waters”.

There are many potters in the valley of western Massachusetts. Two groups of potters have a pottery tour every year. I belong to the Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail. We have our tour the last weekend of April. The other group, Hilltown 6 have their pottery tour every July. The Fuller Craft Museum near Boston

Echoing Nature... leaves, greens, repetition.

I walk in the New England woods daily with my two dogs. This time of year I see every shade of green imaginable. The American Beech tree is plentiful in these woods... their simple, elliptical leaf repeated in rows along the thin outstretched branches. Each leaf with a diagonal, downward nod to the earth. This succinct simplicity is something I try to capture in the Green Leaves Urn.

I have never met a person that doesn't like to see a piece of pottery being made at the potters wheel. It's magical watching a lump of clay transform into a beautiful form in a short period of time. To see the clay spin and rise, taking shape. To watch the potters fingers dance delicately upon the soft clay, knowing where to put pressure and when to ease up. It all seems to flow with ease.

Each urn takes about 40 minutes to carve the leaves... the perfect time to listen to podcasts or to sit outside on a warm sunny porch. (The latter isn’t happening anytime soon.) Over the weekend I carved three urns while watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. A big smile came to my face when I saw the huge moon jar holding the Olympic flame! 

Sitting with the sun deliciously at my back all day while throwing large urns, I caught a glimpse of sunlight on my red rubber rib tool. 
Sometimes magic happens.
Is it me, or some creative force beyond my realm of comprehension. It's like the red rib touched the pot like a wand... and poof... the pot became.

I didn't get my hands in clay until noon today. I was busy with paper work then packing and shipping urns from website orders. Once I got into the studio I made lids for the small size urns that I made yesterday. Tomorrow I will trim these lids and make sure they fit proportionately to the body of the urns.