Spring Cleaning in the Studio

Snowdrops in the garden

January is nearly over and it looks like Spring is on its way already - as you can see from the lovely snowdrops in my garden.

I've been doing a bit of Spring Cleaning. I've got a few custom orders to make so it's nice to start the New Year fresh with a clean studio. I'm quite a tidy potter (I clean as I go!) because I find it difficult to work when things are messy. So the floor, shelves and wheel needed only a wipe over to get them back to feeling brand new.

Pottery Tools

I also like to clean and sort through all my throwing and turning tools once in a while. I keep them in an old vintage wooden cutlery tray which has a handle in the centre for moving them about in one go. This box normally sits right next to me on the wheel so the whole lot gets covered in splats of clay during throwing.

As you can see in the photos, they've all been given a good clean and are (obsessively?) arranged into separate sections - throwing tools, turning tools, wooden modelling tools, kidneys, knives... I know some potters might think this is unnecessary. But I find it helps enormously to always know where the right tool is kept and also that it's going to be clean and ready to use when you need it.

Throwing Tools and Turning Tools

Once the studio has had a Spring Clean, I find it useful at this time of year to do a complete stock take. This means checking through everything I need for the pottery business including things like glaze materials, stationery items and mailing supplies. And it's also a good time to get up-to-date with all my reclaim clay which can easily build up. So now all my slop buckets are empty and ready for throwing new pots.

As for finished pots, I'm pretty low on these at the moment. Most of the pots from my last glaze kiln (which I fired on Christmas Eve and opened on Boxing Day!) have already gone to local galleries and suppliers as New Year stock. So my on-line shops are currently very sparse. But I've made a long list of pots to make - most of which are my standard ware. As you can see in the photos below, I've already made a start throwing a small batch of jugs, but I'm keen to try some new pot ideas too - hopefully you'll get to see them soon!

Small Batch of Jugs