A Measure of Glaze

I walked down the quiet brick lane until the dry, mineral scent of clay drew me inside the neighborhood ceramic workshop. On the low edge of a long pine glazing counter, I noticed a shallow stoneware dipping dish alongside a slender bamboo slip-trailing pipet. Pausing to give my round blue spectacles a soft nudge with one paw, I studied the small pool of powdery, unfired celadon glaze resting inside the bowl. Working with patient, measured pressure from both paws, I dipped the hollow bamboo quill into the liquid and rested its rounded notch over the bowl's curved lip. When I lifted it away, a clean, bead-like drop of pale green clung suspended at the bamboo tip, held in tidy balance.