How Long Does It Take To Make A Mug?
Anybody who has tried their hand at pottery knows it is the greatest teacher of patience, one of your greatest joys, greatest frustrations, and also very, very addicting.
I just watched a reel that truly shows you just how long it takes to transform a lump of clay into a masterpiece that people get in line for. It can take me as little at sevenish days or as long as three weeks to get a creation finished. The weather has a huge impact on this. Think about hanging a wet t-shirt out to dry. In the Pacific Northwest winter, you wouldn’t bother because heck, it might just freeze solid! Or you would start a fire put it near your wood stove like I do!
Start to Finish:
Wedging (5 minutes)
Setting up (10 minutes)
Throwing (10 minutes)
Drying (2-5 days)
Trimming (10 minutes)
Attaching handle (10 minutes)
Drying (2-5 days)
Painting designs (5 minutes)
Drying (30 minutes)
Carving Process (10-20 minutes)
Drying (1 Day)
Firing (1-2 Days)
Glazing (10 minutes)
Firing (1-2 Days)
Grand Total Minimum: 2 hours active, 7 days inactive (drying + kiln firing)
Grand Total Maximum: 2 hours 10 minutes active, 16 days inactive (drying + kiln firing)
I can usually fit about 20 mugs per kiln load. If something explodes, it could ruin everything. 20 Mugs x Active Time Spent Per Mug (2 Hours) = 40 Active Hours of work lost.
I would say that the above estimate is when I am on my A-Game and everything goes perfectly. My cat doesn’t decide to bump me in the middle of trimming, nothing explodes mid-fire, I don’t let it dry “too much” and it becomes untrimmable, or worst of all… after 2 hours of work and 5 days of waiting, in the final stage my glaze runs and fuses with the kiln shelf with nothing to show for all my efforts. Maybe it’s because I’m insanely positive and I am always searching for the light, but I reflect on all of the things that went right. And I think about how much fun I had making it up until this point. “Enjoying the journey” if you will.
After all of the fails I have seen throwing, I still find myself wondering back to the pottery wheel. The feeling of wet clay being morphed by my hands into something beautiful that I can share, it is like nothing else. And it makes it so much more wonderful when something does turn out right, because of all the miracles and lessons learned to get to that point.
Here’s to doing the things we love! Truly does feel like Christmas opening up a kiln to find all of the work you’ve been mulling over, toying with for the past week finalized. I hope you try your hand at pottery, and feel that rush of endorphins when you get it right. It is worth it.
