Vessels

I love clay as meditation. I especially love porcelain because it’s the most responsive. Even when I’m not consciously aware of feelings of unease or imbalance, the clay will reflect it.

This spring has been marked by profound grief and loss, and porcelain has been a comforting presence. One day, rather than struggling to protect the clay from my grief, I decided to pour all of it into the piece. I had no idea or intent for the outcome, simply the experiment of making a literal vessel for my grief.

This is what happened. It became a beautiful form, and the beginning of a whole series of tulip shaped vessels to come. I decided not to glaze the outside, because I wanted it to be raw. When fired in the gas kiln, more beauty emerged. The bottom became dark grey. The sides have shadows of grey and red. The inside is a simple white glaze, but in the firing, a small crack formed in the base. From the inside out.

Without my trying, the process fulfilled the expression of the vessel. What comes next? It may become the pot for a growing, blooming orchid. It may become the holder of symbols I let go to the ocean or the earth. I’m not sure.