When you begin, there is just earth. The clay feels firm, unforgiving… resisting your touch at first. As the energy of your touch permeates it, it starts to give little by little. Then it is time to add the water. Together, combined with the warmth of your hands and the speed of the wheel, the clay begins to give in to your will. It begins to flow in concert with your touch, cascading beneath your fingers, ebbing like the tide being pushed and pulled by the moon. You can’t help but feel the awe of the relationship between the two and how dramatically they can change each other.
Once the water has helped the clay take form, it is almost unbelievable to think that this vessel was once simple a chunk of earth. The gentle curves that my hands helped shape are still very fragile, but will soon harden again into solid stone.
Once the bowls have dried a bit more, it is time for them to take their final form. With steel tools, each is trimmed while there is still some water within the earth, allowing the tools to carve away the excess clay while the clay is still forgiving enough to part with it. Another reminder of the intimate relationship the two elements share.
When rest of the water has gone, it is time to add finish the piece by applying the glaze. Though I chose warm earth tones reminiscent of aged copper, the glaze is devoid of color; a deep matte black like a starless sky. And now, it is time for earth to meet fire.
The fire brings the pigments in the glaze to life, and the blackness that was there before is replaced by warm browns and vivid blues and greens. As all of the remaining water is driven out of the clay by the intense heat, all that remains is earth… a solid stone vessel made with Water, Fire, and Earth waiting to become part of your magical practice.
The Crystal Path 