A potter friend said my work looked 'too perfect' and it stuck with me

I was showing her some new kitchen knives I forged, all clean lines and even grinds. She picked one up and said, 'These are beautiful, but they feel a bit... cold. Where's the hammer?' I realized I'd been grinding out every single forge mark for months, trying to make everything look like it came from a machine. It made me wonder if I was losing the hand-made feel. Do you ever worry about making things too clean?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant5691mo ago

Totally get that. My first pottery mug looked like it lost a fight with the wheel. Maybe we can meet in the middle?

willow_anderson851mo ago

Tell your friend to come look at my last batch of mugs, they've got more personality than a cartoon character. I mean, one of them has a handle that looks like it's trying to escape. Maybe we can trade, you get some of my wonky charm and I'll take a little of your scary precision.