There is a lot that can go wrong in pottery. Pots can go wonky on the wheel, crack during drying, get bumped by little kids that share the studio, or get subjected to a misbehaving glaze. And if a piece survives all that, it can simply blow up in the kiln. Its a crazy, stressful process to put yourself through again and again. To quote a good friend and fellow artist, "Hey, I really like this thing I just spent 40 hours on! ...I think I'll light it on fire now."
With all that uncertainty on the fate of our art, we Ceramicists share a common religion: we PRAY to the pottery gods. There are many of them; the god of water, the god of clay, the god of the humidity in the room. But most importantly, there is the KILN GOD who makes all this magic possible. I pictured him as a dragon like smoke creature with eyes that are useless in a usually dark kiln room. Pots MUST be sacrificed to him regularly. It is very important to keep him distracted...
This sketch is in pencil and then Photoshop. I wanted to make it much more complicated, but it's my bedtime. I also have lots of ideas for the other pottery gods. Eh, I'll get to them someday I guess.
HEY! Did you know I have a gallery show opening in 3 weeks?
