Solo [The Terra Cottage] An Artist is an Artist, pt. deux

[Kirsi Winterflame]

Timestamp: 9th of Summer, 513AV Kirsi blew her hair out of her face as she tried to balance a very large urn on the shelf. She'd only been employed at the Terra Cottage for a few days, and Garob had mostly had her moving his pottery inside and outside at open and close, it seemed. Mildly frustrated that she hadn't been given the chance to showcase her own ability - beyond that of a workhorse, anyway - Kirsi was attempting to impress the Epharian with her amazing talent for... Arranging pottery. Thus far, she didn't think Garob had even noticed. Standing back to eye her work critically, Kirsi jumped a bit when Garob suddenly popped his head out the door. "What in the Gods' names are you doing? Its pottery and a shelf. Its not art. You want art, you get into the back and make that clay I threw look like this," he shoved a paper into her hand and disappeared back into the shop. Kirsi could hear him muttering to himself as he fiddled with each display, arms seemingly reaching every direction at once. Not for the first time, she was amazed that he was able to coordinate so much movement with no disastrous consequences. Suddenly it dawned on Kirsi. Garob had told her to go carve something! Sort of carve something. She peered at the design in her hand. It was basic. Just a geometric pattern of lines around a bowl - or was that a pot? Grinning at the prospect, Kirsi decided she didn't care what kind of anything it might be - she got to carve it and make it beautiful and hopefully prove to Garob that she was perfect for this job. Humming under her breath, she practically skipped to the back room to get started. "Watch it!" Garob's admonition was accompanied by an arm snapping out to quickly steady a display of jewelry . "Sorry, Garob!" Kirsi called out, having already moved into the backroom. Looking around, she saw a chamberpot, freshly thrown, and... Nothing else. A Chamberpot? Kirsi huffed indignantly. It wasn't exactly the glamorous start she had hoped for. Its going to be hard to dazzle him with this, she thought, with a grimace. But its a start. Deflated, but only a bit, Kirsi pulled a stool up to the table, and smoothed the drawing down next to the clay and bit her lip in concentration. What tool should she use? If it were wood, there would be no question: her smallest burin - well, why not? She shrugged and dug around in her pack for her burins, selecting the most delicate one. Holding it up to the light, she considered it carefully before nodding and hunching down close to the pot. I never thought I'd be this excited to be face-deep in a chamberpot, she thought, stifling a giggle. Beginning with a straight line around the middle of the bowl, Kirsi slowly ran the burin over the surface of the clay. Studying her progress as she wiped clay off her tool, she compared her line to the drawing - right height, not too deep... Maybe just a little deeper? No, best to leave it alone - probably Garob didn't want her slicing through the pot. She moved on to the rest of the design, appreciating the clean lines; it would still be a chamber pot when she was finished, but it would be a lovely one. If chamber pots could be lovely. Working for an hour, tracing angled lines and simple patterns in Garob's clay creation, Kirsi finally sat back. She reached up to stretch and massage her neck - she really should have taken a break in the middle of the project. Happy with her finished result, Kirsi cleaned the clay from her burins - she had needed to use several, surprisingly. All in all, she had discovered that clay was not much different than softwood. Certainly you needed less pressure, but you also needed a steady hand. She pursed her lips as she stared at the one spot she would considered 'deviant' to the pattern. Moving just a bit too fast for the material, she had gone slightly off level with the line. Thickening the whole line up a bit had taken care of the mistake, visually. Kirsi wondered if Garob would notice. Leaving the pot on the workbench, she made her way back to the shop front and looked around for the boss, or any of his arms. When she didn't see him immediately, she peeked outside; Garob was fiddling with her shelf and pottery arrangement. Telling herself not to be nervous, after all just because he didn't like her pottery arrangement didn't mean he wouldn't like her carving, she announced brightly, "All finished. I think. I mean, unless you think its not," she stumbled through her speech. Garob looked up from his pots and nodded. "Well, lets go take a look, then. If you had played with these pots any more out here, people would have started to think we were a gallery and not a store - keep it simple," his voice trailed off a bit as he headed back into the shop, and straight for the back room. Kirsi caught up to him in time to see him standing in front of the pot, turning it slowly to see it from all sides. "What happened here?" Wincing, Kirsi saw he was pointing to the line she had bungled. Although it looked attractive to her, she couldn't tell what Garob thought of the change. Deciding to play it off as intentional, she smiled widely. "Do you like it? Its the only thing different from the pattern - the line looked too thin. I thought it would be better balanced if it were thicker...?" Her voiced trailed upward, making the statement more of a question and she waited nervously for Garob's final judgement. "Hmmm," he considered Kirsi for a moment, before turning back to study the chamberpot. "Its good," he finally said, nodding. Kirsi gave a sigh of relief and her tentative smile turned into a full-fledged grin. "Don't get too excited, there, girl. Its a good chamberpot. So, we know you can carve chamberpots. Its a step in the right direction, and proves that old Akalak at Labor Aide still knows what he's doing." But the gruff words were softened with a smile, and Kirsi knew she'd made a good impression. The rest of the day spent moving pots and jars and various other pieces seemed almost enjoyable, and Kirsi found herself looking forward to the next chamberpot project.

[Caelum]

Thread Award Name: Kirsi. Skills: Carving +1 Lores: Carving: Chamberpots Notes: There is totally integrity in carving chamberpots. It's in there with the -- Nevermind. Please delete or edit your post with this thread link in the grade request thread if able and, as ever, don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns, or cobbler.