Apparently all of recent posts are going to be about commitments made months and months ago. I really enjoy working on custom projects for people, but I do have a tendency to overcommit and then it just ends up taking me longer to complete projects than it should.

My friend Carissa asked if I would do a pottery set as part of the registry for her wedding back in October. I agreed, but also said it would not be able to be completed by the time of the wedding. I’m a little embarrassed that it took me almost a year from the wedding to finish it, but Carissa and Tim were very gracious and patient. I did have a several month period where my kiln stopped working, so that threw a wrench into my progress.

Here are some shots of the pottery set prior to glazing. The set consists of 12 large plates, 12 small plates, 12 small bowls, 4 medium bowls and 8 mugs.

I finally wrapped up the glazing last week and here are the finished products…

And from the top on my favorite color combo…

I’d be lying if I said I had loads of fun working on all of this pottery. There was much cursing and gnashing of teeth involved throughout the process. While clay is one of my absolute favorite mediums, I don’t know that I will ever be able to call myself an expert. I have a hard time creating consistent, stackable sets. Just in case any of you are wondering, the mugs are actually supposed to be very different – I’m not that bad… As much work as it was, I am still glad I agreed to do this for my friends and I can genuinely say I feel a great sense of accomplishment now that I’ve finished my second set of pottery.

But, if any of you are newly engaged or soon to be engaged and are thinking, “wow, what a great idea – a pottery set from a local artist as part of my wedding registry,” know that the next set I work on will be for myself.