The Big Blue Planter
spring 2025 i was walking around my apartment with my watering can and noticed My 6 year old monstera was getting large, so i needed to come up with a new spot for her. i started this planter with an intentionally organic slab and slowly built it up to be larger and larger with coils. once it had gotten sizable, even with shrinkage in consideration, i started to smooth it. inside, outside, around the edges.
it was then i thought, well, it may be too smooth. nobody wants too much of anything, even a good thing. i started adding little horns to it, as if it was a toad or Rhinoceros. concern started growing when i considered watering my plant, and the animal vision was long passed. i started cutting holes.
i have one particular very defining trait that influences everything i do, obviously making no exception for my creative endeavors. i am someone who is perpetually trying to get the last drop of juice out of the lemon. i’m shaking the bag of life like a kid on the couch trying to get the metaphorical chips out. I CANNOT BEAR THE THOUGHT OF LOSING OUT.
I HAD TO ADD BUD VASES, OBVIOUSLY. IN THESE LITTLE DIVOTS AND CURVES I SCORED AND SLIPPED LITTLE POCKETS TO HOLD WHATEVER FLOWERS I COULD HYPOTHETICALLY FIND WHEN THE TIME COMES. I WAS REMINDED AGAIN OF A CREATURE, BUT A KANGAROO THIS TIME. BIG GREEN GROWING PLANT STORING DELICATE CUT FLOWERS IN A SPECIALLY DESIGNED POCKET JUST FOR SUCH A THING.
“OH, THAT LOOKS LIKE A TREE TRUNK,” SAYS A STUDIO MATE.
DESPITE SIMILAR WORDS BEING PERSONALLY PROPOSED TO ME AFTER A LARGE LUNCH IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, I HAVE OBVIOUSLY FORGOTTEN THIS STATEMENT AND MOVED PAST IT WITHOUT ANOTHER THOUGHT. THIS EARTHY BROWN CLAY WILL RETRIEVE A CERTAIN ELEGANCE BY THE END, YOU JUST WAIT!
i GOT BACK TO SMOOTHING.
EVERY SINGLE PROCESS IN LIFE WORTH COMITTING TO, SO FAR, FOR ME, HAS ARRIVED AT SOME POINT TO THIS STAGE. SMOOTH IT OUT, THEN ADD SOME SPIKES. WAIT, SMOOTH IT OUT AGAIN. MORE SPIKES. SMOOTH THE SPIKES? SPIKE THE SMOOTH? I THINK I MIGHT JUST BE DONE.
I GOT THIS LARGE, QUESTIONABLE OBJECT OUT OF THE BISQUE FIRING. (FIRST OF TWO ROUNDS, SIMILAR TO A PIE CRUST, IF YOU’VE YET TO TRY CERAMICS)
BEING NEWER TO THE CRAFT AND UNSURE OF MYSELF, I REALIZED THERE WAS A HIGH LIKELIHOOD OF THIS bole coming out of the kiln with an unassuming, earthen finish to it. that being said, the quite natural shapes called for something reminiscent of the woods, at least. THE STUDIO I WORK IN FIRES MOST WORK TO A CONE 10, WHICH IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH LESS VIBRANT GLAZES. (THIS IS A BLANKET STATEMENT)
when used on the brown stoneware body, the glaze i chose takes upon almost a mossy green finish in splotches on a primarily rich blue surface. i loved how this reminded me of both the sky and the ground, with the tree-like shape binding those two together.
anyway, it’s gigantic and heavy and my monstera is still in her old pot. thank you for reading. see you later!