Practice Makes Perfect

Day; 232. Sunny and chilly. Snow-covered after 3-4 inches of snowfall last night.

Temperature on outside kiln; 30 degrees
kiln firings; Glaze firing to cone 6 (2,210 degrees with an eight minute hold)
Music in the studio; Acoustic Winter on Spotify

I'm making progress on my 270-tile commission.... This is about as slow as I have ever worked and it is kinda surreal... I work for an hour or two and then that is it, maybe another hour after lunch but no more. I am deeply into pacing myself, and it is taking some practice, but I am doing it.... It has been a bit strange, the slow down in the studio has made me realize how I speed through everything in my life; thrown the dishes in the dish washer, quickly vacuum the house, race to feed the dogs, do some laundry, run the garbage can out to the curb.... it is all at a certain hectic pace... Now I am moving with a certain deliberateness that I have never possess before. I rather like it now that I have gotten use to it, it is so much more calming and at ease. It will be interesting to see if I get just as much work done slowly as I was at Warp Factor 5, I anticipate that this will be so....
Today I loaded the last of the glazed blue tiles into the kiln, now only 120 yellow ones to go! There is some progress goin' on. This afternoon I will switch gears and glaze two of the dozen pieces for the La Fonda Hotel's new gallery. Just last week I might have glazed 6 pieces in an afternoon but not now... I am first going to design the surfaces, mix the glazes, and then execute my idea. That will be enough, I have two weeks to glaze and do the last image-transfer firing on these larger plates and platters, plenty of time.........

Besides it is the 23rd of December and it is time to celebrate our lives and have a little Christmas cheer..!