I have been troubleshooting an issue I have been having with my underglaze for over a year. An issue that probably most people don't notice or care. I want my white underglaze to be vibrant. Particularly after glaze firing. You can see in this video that the white is bright against the black.
But then it came out of the kiln and it was muted. Normally, I would hate it. I would criticize it up and down. Focus only on the white that didn't turn out the way I intended, but I didn't do that. Remember I am not doing that? I am going with the flow, focusing on the process, not the outcome. As I turned the bowl in my hands I thought not how much I hated it, but how much I loved it! It was gorgeous. You can see a close up here.
It really got me thinking, like stop everything you are doing and stare at the wall thinking. I started to tear up. Had I been doing this for all these years? Had I been beating myself up and focusing on all the things that didn't go as planned for years? Then I started to cry. Had my work been beautiful all along and I missed it because I was preoccupied with searching for flaws?
I think maybe I had. No more! Here is the bowl from every angle, because it's too pretty to pick just one side.
