Even after the rain... the sun still shines
Hi Abi here.
As we tiptoe gently into Autumn, I hope this months Pottery Newsletter finds you happy.
We can all be thankful for so much... even when summer suddenly turns into... pouring rain!
Like when Dave and I went to send our first precious parcels out to our lovely new Morecambe Bay Pottery customers! We got soaked just going from the car to the Post Office.
Funny thing was, it had been such a lovely long, golden summer up to then.
Never mind.
We can always be thankful even for the rain.
So of course, first of all a huge thank you—To you!
For buying my pots and cards!
I almost had to pinch myself a little...
When first week of August, actual, real paid orders came in after the launch of my tiny business.
It was so exciting!
I couldn't quite believe it,
But then I realised...
"Wow! I'm a business woman now! Maybe this is what Beatrix Potter felt like?"
Because not far from us in the Lakes...
Beatrix shared her tiny rabbit sketches and look what happened. Her books ended up selling all over the world!
People loved them so much she bought the Lake District, saving it for future generations like us to enjoy...
Of course, it was not all sunshine for Beatrix either.
She had such sadness too (The story of the love of her life who died one month after proposing to her... And just after he got her books published is so heart-rending!)
And so for me too, this past month there has been a little rain. A little sadness.
Here's what I mean...
At first when these plates and new bowls came out of the kiln, I was so pleased.
Until... I ran my hands inside the plates and bowl.
Oh dear.
Every one of these beautiful pieces had all burst!
They all have blisters.
The kiln got too hot and the clay burst through the glaze. So they can't be sold. They can't be mended. They are flawed. A little bit broken.
Yet there is still something to remember...
They are still beautiful aren't they?
I suppose that must have been a bit like Beatrix Potter when she first started too.
Maybe some pictures she loved had to be scrunched up and thrown away.
But she decided to keep going!
And now besides her gorgeous books,
Look at the gift she's given all of us (across the other side of the Bay below)...
The photo above 'After The Rain' is of an art installation on our Prom...
After a downpour!
It mirrors the mountains of the Lake District over the Bay. You can see the names of some of the peaks on it.
One is called: 'Hard Knott.' A bit like the blister in this bowl!
So yes, into all our lives a little rain must fall.
Like pots which blister or crack.
Don't let it stop you though.
Sunshine and rain—It's just part of the amazing story of you.
So now...
I am going back into my studio. I'm going to start all over again and make something special...
Maybe like a set of purple Expresso coffee cups like how these just came out!
After all we 'Potter' business women like Beatrix and I have to stick together don't we!
Love,
Abi.
PS The Lake District is only three quarters of an hour North of us.
Why not come for an Autumn break!
You could even visit Beatrix Potter's little house 'Hill Top', and see one of her original 'scrunched up' pictures letters during your stay...
They are still beautiful aren't they?
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