Abandoned Treasures

One of the great pleasures of working in academia is the end of the school year. Not in that "thank goodness it's over" kind of way, although I have to admit I'm not above a certain sense of relief when the middle of April rolls around. What I mean is when the school year is over I get to sort through all the junk and detritus left in the classroom. And when my classroom is a studio (and also by turns a hangout, a kitchen, and very much a home) inhabited by some of the craziest, funnest, most creative people I have ever met I find all sorts of wonderful abandoned things.

Now these things left behind are never the masterpieces, and not the works that students are most proud of. Students always come back for those ones. The things left behind are the failed experiments, the technically misdirected, the pieces that got made in the desperate all-nighter pulled prior to the morning critique. They are the teapot without a lid, the bowl with the unturned foot, the vessel with no obvious purpose. They are a track record of the learning process, mostly dead-ends in an expressive, investigational journey. These are the works with personality, world-worn and abandoned, but still kicking. They are my favourites.

This one here is a cup by Katy Furness. She would be the first to say it's not her best. And she'd be right - I've seen her make some great work. In fact I have another *perfect* one of hers, but I'm posting this one first. It is heavy, has an awkward handle, and I had to grind the daylights out of the bottom of it because it took no small chunk of the kiln shelf with it when it was unloaded. But the shape is a dream. With its mass and small opening it can keep my hot honey lemony beverage warm forever. And if I'm lounging on the couch or in bed I never have to worry about it tipping over when I place it on a soft surface.

These last couple weeks, since the weather's gotten nice, I've begun eating breakfast outside on my tiny deck. I like to take this cup out with me. It deals well with the old uneven boards and isn't likely to have an accident or get dust or other wind-blown debris in it. It's a great pot.