Making a Mint

   I'm slowly making my way back into throwing on the wheel and it has made Michael Kline's challenge all the more relevant. We often talk about the rhythm of making pots, but sometimes getting underway is more like trying to start a car that's been sitting for a long time, sputtering and stuttering along. 

   I think one reason I put it off is that once I do get underway, the obsession kicks in and everything else takes a back seat. So, it's important that all those loose ends are tied up so that I can then be transported to the land of form in 3 dimensions. 

   The first thing I did was make the blanks I mentioned last week for making LibertyTown money. I'll sharpen them up when they're leather hard and carve them when they are dry. The clay is a very fine white stoneware. I use it for all my stamps.  Then I'll biscuit fire them before opening the 'Fredericksburg Mint'! I've got three sizes for three different denominations.
   I also threw a bunch of coin banks and some oval pots that I'll take photos of tomorrow. Modest things. It's good to have that feeling return to my hands that only comes from a day of being polished by the rotation of wet clay.

This was the prototype I made last week.

One of my favorite comments came from Jim Gottuso who remarked that he liked the idea of skipping the part where we make things to sell for money and go directly to the making money bit.