Making pots for the blind

Several years ago I had a woman visit me and presented me with her final thesis paper for her BFA at University of Western Ontario. It was about how my pots could be enjoyed by the blind. She taught the blind and used my pots in her class. That has stuck with me in my making process. It's not about a WOW glaze. It's about form, it's about texture, tactility and taking your fingers for a walk on the surface of the pot. Yes, you could enjoy a beautiful round classical form. Hold it, hug it and enjoy the smoothness of the surface. Or you could take a pot that maybe resembles a cliff, a rock, a plowed field , a journey for the hand and the mind. Potters often examine a pot with their hands more extensively than with their eyes. We are tactile people. I used to tell the students at Sheridan that they should know what glaze they are going to use before they make the pots. It is time for me to listen to my own good advice. I'm seeing Korean celedon over crack, or temmoku hairs fur fired near the flue where it oxidizes slightly. For a brief minute when making these bourbon sippers I comptemplated not putting a lug/handle on them. Then I thought would they actally be mine or a short cut avoiding the signature I have long established. It's not a handle, it's a signature. A signature is hard to establish. It means someone can walk into a room and know it is you.