“...failure with clay was more complete and
more spectacular than with other forms of art.
You are subject to the elements... Any one of
the old four - earth, air, fire, water - can betray you and melt, or burst, or shatter - months of work into dust and ashes and spitting steam. You need to be a precise scientist, and you need to know how to play with what chance will do to your lovingly constructed surfaces in the heat of the kiln.”