Posts from a Spanish Diary: #4 My Large Pot...

Remember my large pot I threw in Spain? Well, it made it successfully through both firings! Unfortunately it was too large to throw over my shoulder and lug through the airport and so it is enjoying time with Uncle Seth now.

I wanted that pot to really be symbolic of my time in Spain and I had a few different ideas of what to paint on it. As the time for the firing and my departure grew closer, I realized that there was no way I would be able to bring that pot home with me. I had no money to pay for it to be shipped either. So, I resigned it to the corner and tried to detach myself. As Helen and I loaded the kiln, Seth says, "Sarah, what about your large pot? Aren't you going to glaze that?" I told him my reasoning and he very gently told me that it would be good practice.

So off I went to paint my big pot. The pot was made in three sections so I thought it would be interesting to mimic that with three scenes. I decided on three scenes from the process of pottery with the pot itself as the finished product, rather like a fourth scene. As I sat outside in the sun painting my pot Seth walked by and noted, "Oh yes, rather vigorous decoration there darling, very nice." Complements indeed, coming from Seth!! That certainly inspired me to continue.

I've included images below (rather poorly lit). At the very end I've included a video of the pot with my explanation. (If you watch it twice, the second time around notice the unbelievable sunset happening out the door in the background!) As I said, this poor pot was left behind but I like to think that it's enjoying Spain for me while I'm not there!

[To see the earlier post about it, click here; to see more photos of the making of the large pot as well as more photos of the pottery in Spain, click here]


The first is a potter at the wheel with his clay, all of his attention on the lump that will be his pot.


The second is an expressive hand with a brush, ready to paint the pot.


The third is a very active figure, stoking the flames of a wood kiln.


The fourth is the pot itself, the finished product of all of those processes.