Pots

In making pots, however creative a ceramist might feel, s/he has to be part of the real world, following all the rules of chemistry and accepting the principles attached to it. The ceramist can never say, 'I made this pot'-only  'I took part in making this pot but the kiln had the last word'. All potters will know what I mean when I say that experience teaches me that a kiln has a life of its own: the kiln makes what contribution it will and the ceramist must accept it. This is why Japanese leave sake and rice in the kiln for the fox, for it is the fox that fires the kiln. This tradition is the origin of the fox as my own ceramic mark. When I was four years old and seriously ill, my grandfather made me a wooden shape to play with and my grandmother dressed it in some fur from her fox stole: and I like to think I must have been a reborn, ceramic spirit of the universe, remembering my past spirit companions. And why not? Ceramic is pure magic-the incredible earth, air, fire and water of the ancient philosophers and alchemists- Eric James Mellon

Beautiful.