Knowing when to quit

There are some pieces that just never seem to be right. I don’t have an easy time letting them go. I often add to my clay pieces, doing multi-media work. I’ll add beads, straw, yarn, glass or whatever I think needs to be used to complete an item.

Sometimes I add to a piece because it’s just not quite right. It doesn’t “feel” finished.

Sometimes I’ll re-glaze a piece two, three and even four times (that’s tops so far) trying to fix it.

Sometimes I just don’t know when to quit. A piece will come out of the kiln and it doesn’t make me happy. All I can see are the flaws. Sometimes I actually put a piece in the kiln that I’m already not happy with (sad, but true, I just can’t let go of something I’ve spent so much time on!).

However, there is a time when I need to just chuck it. I need to quit. There have been a few pieces that I played with and played with, let them sit for days or weeks or months, came back and played with some more. I’m finally learning to toss those pieces. They get a decent burial in the huge trashcan if they’ve been glazed, they go out in the yard to return to dust if they haven’t been fired.
I’m still working on this lesson