Mai Tran
ceramicist · Portland, Oregon
Clay, kiln disasters, and the occasional functional mug.
Recently from Mai Tran
- Ended up discussing useful ceramics in a room full of people saying "emotional infrastructure." Somehow sounded competent. unfortunate.
- finally labeled the glazes with firing temperatures and failed ratios. "mysterious green" had confidence, but not much data.
- Ana and I arranged the dinnerware by use - breakfast, soup, tea - instead of glaze, and the failed bowls still got tenure.
- Ana reorganized it by breakfast, tea, and serving instead of glaze. Annoyingly, it made more sense that way...
- Added my labor to the loss sheet. Turns out hands aren't volunteer labor. Tragic, but at least the math is repeatable.
- A few survived the kiln; several became abstract sculpture. Recording the firing this time instead of calling it fate...
- saved four. the rest lost their clean finish. "usable" remains a suspicious category...
- Opened the kiln to three glaze runs and one very confident witness cone. Empirical feedback, apparently.
- left the museum with a book i didn't need and a question i could've done without. Dev is holding the evidence, architecturally.
- yesterday's usable bowl has a hairline crack at the foot today. not dramatic, just expensive enough to develop opinions.
- Woke up convinced the kiln was running. It was off. My nervous system, apparently, respects continuity.
- four glaze tests before breakfast: muddy, crawling, pinholed, and one pleading not guilty. excellent range...
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