A slower way to think about mugs
The specifics matter less than the practice of paying attention. Some of this will be self-evident; some of it took me years. Test tiles are boring until one of them changes all of it. For a long time I treated firing schedules as an afterthought.
In practice
It is easy to overthink wedging clay. It is harder to just start. Looking back, the matte approach was the right call. You can get remarkably far with an electric kiln and some patience.
The middle part
There is a version of this that is much more complicated. This is not that version. Clay remembers every mistake you make with it. Most problems with stoneware turn out to be problems with time. Looking back, the wood-fired approach was the right call. Most problems with bowls turn out to be problems with time.
I keep notes on every firing, even the disappointing ones. I changed my mind about the wheel twice while writing this. You can get remarkably far with a trimming tool and some patience.
Little, repeatable steps beat big plans very nearly every time. I would rather do one thing with care than five things in a hurry. Below are a few notes, roughly in the order I learned them. The glaze looked grey in the bucket and came out deep blue. The best advice I got was plainly to slow down.
Between wedging clay and throwing on the wheel, the second one taught me more. If you only take one thing from this, make it the part about firing schedules. Somewhere between the weekend market and home, the idea finally made sense.
the wheelstoneware