You win some, you lose some….

You win some, you lose some….

Hi there.

Thanks for popping in. Hot, innit! Had a fantastic pottery day again today, doing Raku with a bunch of lovely people. Boy oh boy! Do those teachers work hard! Hats off to Eunice and Helen for keeping going all day in the blazing sun!

Most of my little pots came out beautifully, and I was delighted with them.

BEFORE
AFTER
One missing? Yes, I just dropped it taking a photo. Gasp.
But as the Germans say, “Scherben bringen Glück!”

But the big piece, the piece I have been working on for weeks went howwibly wong….

How can something so perfect….

end up so completely ruined?

At first, I thought maybe it’s supposed to look like that. Maybe if I rub hard, it will shed the shitty grey layer, and a wonderful naked raku vase will emerge.

So I rubbed, and I rubbed, and I rubbed. I rubbed until my arm ached and I broke the rim.

Note to self: DO NOT WEAR BEST BLOUSE WHEN TRYING TO SALVAGE DOOMED VASE…

YGTBFKM !!!

Yes I know. Such a shame. Especially since I’ve been working on this poxy vase every Wednesday class for the best part of a month ! But I’ll tell you what. I definitely learned what NOT to do next time. And I had such a blast all day. It also did me good to get a rubbish result, because I am reminded how frustrating it sometimes is for our workshop participants when we do our retreats. Folks occasionally get really upset when their work goes Pete Tong. I get it, I REALLY do!! And even more so after today! But like I said to Dave, no point in crying over spoilt milk. It’s a pot, that’s all. A pot went wong Pete Tong!

Can’t wait till the next raku day now! And I will have another go ay the naked RAKU, but on a smaller piece, and I think I know where it went wrong.

Love & Hugs,

Barb xxx

24 thoughts on “You win some, you lose some….

  1. Well nothing ventured, nothing gained eh Barb? Still your little pots look fabulous, shame about the broken one though and your ever so posh napkin rings look fab too. So glad you have found something just for you – we all need that bit of “me” time now and again eh? Great shows by the way. Love the new papers which may have found their way to my house!! Hehehehe. Xxxx

  2. So sorry you lost your beautiful vase Barbara – but your pots and napkin rings are gorgeous!! At least you can try again with your vase too, as you say you know what went wrong so you won’t repeat that mistake again, lol! It’s too blooming hot for me, my joints are killing me right now. Hope tomorrow isn’t going to be as hot xx

  3. Hot – hot – hot today. Thankfully cooler tomorrow as I hope to get some parchment finished.
    Your pots look great. Shame about the big vase but, hey ho, if we didn’t make the occasional mistake, whatever we do, we wouldn’t learn. Some times the mistakes can turn into happy accidents which make a project unique. Sure the next one will be perfect.
    🍒🍒🍒

  4. Erm -as I’m not sure what raku is supposed to look like, I rather like that result!! It is unusual and would look good in most surroundings. I like the napkin rings too -guess what your friends will get for Christmas this year LOL. The wee bowls are sweet too. Looking forward to seeing what real raku should look like when you try again 🙂

  5. Sorry about your pot Barb, it’s a shame but your other little pots look really good and your napkin rings. All sent to try us. I have had a rubbish few days craftwise where nothing has gone right with my stamping, most of it has gone in the recycling, so think I’ll give it a miss for a few more days and start again. Hope you have a good Sunday.xxx

  6. Hi Barb, your face in that photo did make me laugh. Haven’t a clue what your facial expression means, me being autistic, so I hope laughing is ok, and I’ve not upset you, or anyone else by saying this. Love what you’ve made. I’m sorry two of your makes didn’t turn out, but if you work out the percentage it’s very low, less than 10%! If my current crafty journey was as good as 90% success I sure would be doing a happy dance!!! Craft that’s meant to be escape and mindfulness is pretty much stress and upset here… But, I’m determined to work through it, and hopefully improve markedly as I go. Unfortunately we all need the failures and mistakes, in all aspects of our lives, to learn to be better at whatever, and to be better people too. Just wish the bad, failures and mistakes weren’t so much of my life… But if non bad/good does come my way at some point, imagine how good that will feel eh… love you xxx

  7. That’s a shame about the vase but your pots and napkin rings turned out beautifully ! Your vase is like us doing a great groovi and then putting the letter back to front ! X

  8. The main thing about today is that you enjoyed it…. You learnt a lot…. You created some fab little pots and napkin rings. Yes it’s sad your vase didn’t work out and it broke but actually its not the end of the world. I would say that on the whole on the big scheme of things you did good!
    Hope you’ve had a lovely evening and that tomorrow you can relax a little.
    Love and hugs xxxx

  9. Oh dear…know the ‘Pete Tong’ feeling all too well! Then again, as you say, if things didn’t go wrong now and then we’d not learn. I’m totally cream crackered tonight…been trying to sort the spare bedroom so it’s my craft room (already had to get rid of the brand new bed it’s gone to a good home tho’!) Plan was to get a sofa bed, just in case we had guests stay over, however until I craft like crazy and use some supplies up goodness knows where we’d put it! Downsizing is definitely no fun…but I keep telling myself it’ll be worth it in the end lol! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, fingers x’d weather stays good xx

  10. What a shame was looking great but hay ho was only a pot but it is devastating when something you but lot into goes wrong but as you said lesson learnt sure next one will be great wow don’t the others look great fantastic you should be proud of what you have achieved in such short time glad you got the hobby o take you away from work and all that goes with it . Phew wasn’t it hot to much for me had family around grandchildren playing out in water and water getting wet keeping 😎 cool night night x

  11. Love the pots & napkin rings, shame about pot no 6 & the larger vase but if we didn’t make mistakes we wouldn’t learn. The thing is to remember what we did so as not to do it again!! Unpredictable art/pottery is the most fun way to go. Too hot here for crafting today & we have a family BBQ tomorrow so hopefully by Monday things will have settled down a bit temperature wise so I can get some jobs/craft done.
    Enjoy the rest of your weekend

  12. It’s all about the fun and experiences you have had over the month, while working on your piece, the journey to the big firing day. The pieces you have made are beautiful and totally unique. Like you say you have a feeling you know where it went wrong, so you’ve learnt a hell of a lot along the way, something you wouldn’t have known months ago before you started your new adventure into pottery. Personally I absolutely love the piece you have created and would have definitely found it a home, it looks like it’s been a discovery on an ancient dig, so looked upon in a different way and it’s a totally perfect vase, but then I’m not the creator and therefore I dont have the expectations that you had while putting all that love and care into it over the time it took. It’s like life on a smaller scale because without the disappointments or sadness, we would never appreciate the good or the sheer elation when something wonderful happens. Thank you ever so much for sharing this with us, I have really enjoyed following your Journey so far.

  13. I was too hot to think yesterday, so I don’t know how you managed to do all that in the heat. Your small pots and napkin rings are beautiful and I love the colours. What a shame about your big piece though. I am not sure that I would have been as philosophical as you at the result!
    Enjoy your Sunday. Hugs. Annette X

  14. Hi Barbara, in your eyes it might have gone wrong, but I think it looks rather beautiful! If it’s big enough why not pop it in the garden and plant a small trailing plant in it.? Just a thought!

  15. It is a shame that your lovely pot went wrong but as you say just got to move on. I used to panic about trying out techniques on card, silly really it is only a piece of card, not any more though I just try again and learn from a mistake. The rest of your work is gorgeous, who would believe you have not been doing pottery for long. xx

  16. Hi Barb, as you say it is just a pot, but I know what it is like to put in all the effort and it goes wrong. The other pieces are just stunning and so creative. love the glazes. Take care all. Bx

  17. The vase may have gone ,but there’s always a but , would it not look great in the garden with a few plants or herbs .😁😁

  18. Shame about the big pot Barbara but if you know where you went wrong you can avoid it next time. I love the small pots and the napkin rings.
    Thank goodness it is cooler today, I am rubbish in the heat. I wouldn’t manage at all well on the continent. Happy Sunday. Have a good day xx

  19. Its still a vase and maybe you could add something to it with paint or collage and make it a thing of beauty. Don’t waste all that effort.

  20. On balance a day with more successes than failures, so I’m sure you all enjoyed the experimentation no end. We’ll see you on “The Great British Throw Down” yet! It’s a fab show if you haven’t seen it – I still remember the amazing (and not all functional) toilets that the potters had to make for one of the challenges LOL!!!

  21. Oh shame about your pot, but better luck next time. Love the little pots and napkin rings though, they will look great on the table as place markers at Christmas…sshhh! Yesterday was a very hot day to be doing Raku too, hope you have all recovered by now. XX

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