Making Things: A Pinch Pot and a Poem

Welcome to Poetry Friday! This week we are hosted by Catherine HERE. Be sure to stop by this weekend. Thank you, Catherine, for hosting!

Like many I’ve met on Poetry Friday, I love to write, cook, sew and otherwise make things. I love writing poems, a collection of words that never existed before. Amy Ludwig Vanderwater has written a delightful poetry picture book celebrating the joy in making things. Many I am sure have read it.

My sister, Barbara Rog, likes to make things, too. She is a professional ceramicist and a teacher for many years, currently living in Burbank, California. Recently, she has been making pendants and many other pretty things.

Though she’s retired from teaching, she recently taught a few Girl Scouts how to make pinch pots. If you’d like to see her teaching video for children, the YouTube link is here.

The two girls below are fashioning pinch pots with clay. They glazed them and Barbara fired them in her kiln. In the absence of a kiln, air dry clay can be used.

They made these little pots:

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LITTLE PINCH POT

Warm from the kiln, 
one of a kind,
my fingertips forever
etched in clay.

I bring you home today.

There you will sit, 
sparkling blue,
on a shelf
or windowsill, 

soon to hold 
spices, 
salt,
shells,
or sea glass,

each 
more splendid
because of you. 

© Janice Scully 2022

I hope you all are writing or otherwise creating something that will bring you joy. Thank you Catherine for hosting!

By Best,

Janice

8 thoughts on “Making Things: A Pinch Pot and a Poem”

  1. Janice, I do have Amy’s book and should go back and read it this week. It is craft time in my house so thanks for your delightful poem. While I have not made a clay pinch pot, I did take a class on fusing glass. My teacher finished each person’s project by placing it in her kiln. I could hardly wait for it to be:
    “Warm from the kiln/one of a kind”. Enjoy your summer. My blog is almost ready for posting but I am in the midst of watching my youngest cousin’s graduation from Fairport High School, Live on YouTube. Happy Summer!

  3. “each more splendid because of you” is the most perfect last line! Wonderful poem and photos and message. Thank you.

  4. Creativeness refuses to be denied, Janice. It bursts forth in so many guises. Your post and your poem are a testimonial to this irrefutable truth. Thanks for the reminder.

  5. Echoing Linda M.’s comment, I love your ending, Janice. My students & I made pinch pots once, starting with digging the clay! It was a special experience. Making things, as Amy writes, makes all our lives better! Thanks for this. Time to create!

  7. Your poem is lovely, Janice, and like many others have said, the last lines are my favorite. There is something so satisfying about creating. The notion that we can transform a lump of clay into a sweet little pot is magical!

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