breaks
Not always a bowl comes out as one wishes. There are many moments during the creation process in which something may not turn out the way you want. First, the mud must be at its point, neither too dry nor too wet; otherwise it will not be possible to work with it. Then it must be kneaded to compact its particles, homogenize it and extract possible air bubbles; not spending enough time on these preliminaries will make later steps difficult. Arriving at the lathe, the pella must be placed firmly on the solera, since being timid about it would make it slip; the mud needs to be well grasped. Afterwards, all the work with the hands, well moistened to glide smoothly over its surface, is in itself a world of moments in which each small step is crucial and decisive for it to take shape successfully.
But the thing does not end there: during the return you have to be as careful or more careful, because a little more force is the difference between screwing up or leaving it with the perfect silhouette. Then comes firing, where so many factors influence that even the most sophisticated factory has to discard products, because the position in the oven, the time, the temperature, the enamels, the pressure, the arrangement of the pieces, the fuel, the amount of oxygen and so many other things go into the result that sometimes it seems like a miracle that things turn out well. Especially in artisanal processes where many of these factors have been given freedom. In the end, if a bowl doesn't turn out as expected, it can be a tragedy the first time, but little by little, this craft warms the potter. Which in order to become one, has had to work, as much as the mud, on himself, his patience and resilience.