Pat Hayward

The most exiting thing about being a potter is opening the kiln after the final glaze firing .

Will the pots be cracked ,dull , drab , boring or will they zing with life ?

Sometimes I am too scared to crack the kiln.

With pottery you get no colour until this point .You work with white clay , the glazes do not reflect their final colour , there is no sheen or sparkle , just elements and oxides from the earth , chalky and dusty .

Recently I did a series of plates evoking  the desolation following the bushfires . In my head I knew exactly what I wanted , but after hours of making , the first bisque firing , applying six different glazes with waxing in between . it was all up to the firing .

AWFUL .

One of the six glazes had not matured .I spent another eight hours of firing to a slightly higher temperature . I was so apprehensive about opening the door . Then the adrenalin rush as they were just as I had envisioned them !

Potters do not work with colour . It is our imagination and knowledge that produce the finished coloured pieces . 

What could be more fantastic than creating a pot worth kissing ?