I do not keep a paper diary. I do have several notebooks with notes, drawings, sketches, ideas, glaze recipes and poems. But I do not write every day. I know all the great writers do - and I do not consider myself one. If I ever started writing a diary documenting my work, it would have to be now, in these times. The mundane and the extraordinary are intertwined. 

14th March 2025

I worked on Iapetus at our studio over the course of 3 hours, while we were open to the public and people came and went, bringing in their work for firing or picking up their finished ceramics. I struggled to finally sit down to make this vase, as I struggled to not be interrupted while making a few glaze tests a few hours earlier. Wedging, pinching. Will the glaze really look metallic? It felt like a Saturday at the studio. We were busy. I had great conversations with Pam. Should I have tested another recipe? I built the vase from two pinched pots. The shaping of it was the most time consuming, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. At then end, I applied some porcelain slip on one side of the vase. I should have eaten a snack. 

-----

Iapetus is Saturn's third largest moon (1436km in diameter) and has an orbit period around Saturn of 79 days. It was discovered by Giovanni Cassini on Oct. 25, 1671. When the Cassini probe flew by Iapetus in 2007, it sent back incredible images of the planet. One hemisphere is white (probably covered in ice), and one is significantly darker (featuring craters), which is not yet completely explained.

Image credits: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Orbits and positions of Saturn's 250 irregular moons as of March 2025.