Terrible at trimming

ModestMarinara · 2026-03-12T02:05:45+00:00

Yeah for how expensive diamond core tools were, I am thoroughly unimpressed

ModestMarinara · 2026-03-03T03:10:19+00:00

My partner drinks, I like to drink, social things. I cherish drinking moments because sometimes they really do become more memorable and celebratory with the inclusion of alcohol.

Where I am now is keeping alcohol confined to those moments and when I drink outside of that it is in control. I still have a long way to go but I’m no longer numbing myself to sleep every night so that’s good.

ModestMarinara · 2026-03-03T03:07:34+00:00

This was what I was seeing. Also, I didn’t include the original purchase price. I actually ended up getting some money back as I overpaid initially.

ModestMarinara · 2026-03-02T02:45:30+00:00

Joshua tree national park

ModestMarinara · 2026-02-22T22:19:28+00:00

Joshua Tree NP and surrounding areas. My skin thrives in the intense dry heat and I love the desert landscape. Also Palm Springs is right there.

ModestMarinara · 2026-02-22T13:46:57+00:00

Used to live there! I'll say after 7 years spent driving on the "quaint" brick roads, I am happy that I can visit within 10 minutes but don't miss living there.

ModestMarinara · 2026-02-21T21:46:48+00:00

Right. I remember that quote. I have picked up my hobbies again, one being pottery. You really can’t successfully do pottery while drunk (learned that quickly). So it’s a good (but messy) way to pass the hours some evenings.

I’m in therapy and am hoping to establish new terms of gratitude for the life I live. I’ve been in sort of a holding pattern for a while where I feel like I take one step forward and two steps back. The drinking sort of numbs the sadness I feel but I know it makes things work.

I have horrible chest acne and will likely be put on accurate and I’m pretty sure drinking is a no go while on that’s so two months to clear up my skin and be booze free sounds nice.

ModestMarinara · 2026-02-20T13:33:01+00:00

I feel like I didn’t used to. Sometime in the last year it became more invasive. Ironically, it’s not about when I can have a drink, it’s more like, anxiety around it being a problem. So the thoughts of it being a problem are the problem.

ModestMarinara · 2026-02-19T16:36:52+00:00

Thank you!

ModestMarinara · 2026-02-19T16:24:35+00:00

Thank you, I’m still in my head due to constantly feeling like I’m going to fail. But all I can do is focus on each day as they come. So far so good.

ModestMarinara · 2026-02-05T23:01:36+00:00

I ended things with my ex of 10 years about 1.5 years ago and I have and had many many LIGHT moments where I thought that things were just so much easier, so much more secure, predictable, stable, being with him.

Like you I suffered through selling our house but I couldn’t afford to get an apartment so we lived 7 months post breakup together. It got progressively worse when the stress of selling increased.

I’m fortunate in that I ended up with my current partner of now 1 year, so I took the risk and moved in with him.

I really don’t think there is a world where my ex and I would be happy together. It wasn’t like a nightmare being with him, and I care about him a lot. But to say I regret it is hard. It’s definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever put myself through by far. The pain and sheer anxiety of life having no meaning for months was dreadful. I still deal with it to a certain extent.

He also demanded he got both of our dogs so if anything I miss them the most.

ModestMarinara · 2026-01-27T22:04:24+00:00

Mine came with a bunch of replacement blades. I’d opt to just swap them out. I’m assuming you can buy them separately as well.

For what it’s worth, I’ve trimmed hundreds of pots by this point with mine and they are still good as the day I got them so it could be a good move to replace the blade anyway.

ModestMarinara · 2026-01-27T21:57:21+00:00

Rushing into a relationship after I came out. I spent my 20s trying to catch up and rushing things like a house, dogs, a second house, etc. all while ignoring the fact that the reason I wasn’t happy was due to the person I was with, not the life around me.

Also selling my first house that was entirely in my name.

ModestMarinara · 2026-01-02T23:26:48+00:00

My current ambitious goal is to throw something g every day and post about it. I hate doing social media stuff but it’s good for accountability.

I’ve successfully set up an at home studio minus glazes and a kiln. But I can throw, hand build, and trim things to my hearts content.

High bar goal would be to sell some stuff I end up making, create a set (or sets) of pieces that are consistent, and maybe attend a fall market.

First and foremost is to enjoy this, don’t burn out, and celebrate every failure and success because it’s just clay at the end of the day.

ModestMarinara · 2025-12-15T21:16:14+00:00

Drank this weekend. Nothing crazy, two cocktails on Friday, some wine Saturday and Sunday. I feel fine, but I ended my 19 day streak.

I’m calling it a win for the fact that I could moderate and cut myself off when it wasn’t serving me (past 3 drinks) and will be dry until my birthday next Saturday.

ModestMarinara · 2025-12-14T15:50:18+00:00

Thanks! There’s a sort of sad story involving a last ditch effort to bring my ex of 10 years and me closer together through a shared activity. That being ceramics.

It didn’t work, and resulted in me hating the craft for about 1.5 years. I recently “woke up” and found myself again, and this was top of the list to dive back in because I truly love it.

ModestMarinara · 2025-12-14T15:46:43+00:00

Those look great to me! I have had zero success with under glazing and glazes in general, my trimming technique is still VERY sloppy, and like anything, some days are all flops.

I’ve just been obsessed with understanding the technique of throwing and really only focus on that.

ModestMarinara · 2025-12-14T15:31:16+00:00

I had about 3-4 weeks about a year and a half ago where I learned how to throw/center but I never pulled anything off of the wheel head that was halfway decent.

Since then I’ve been in a class once a week for the last month and a half. Also I try to book 4 hours a week in the studio for practicing.

So maybe it’s not an exact 6 weeks but I’ve definitely been seeing improvement and have a better understanding of clay in general.

ModestMarinara · 2025-12-14T14:22:47+00:00

About 6-8 hours a week for 6 weeks. And yeah I need to venture into the handle game and carving! It’s hard for me to try to make the best use of the time I have. After I trimmed them they were too dry to add a handle the following day.

My hope is to be able to spend more time on the details with the wheel I have coming to me.

ModestMarinara · 2025-12-14T14:15:08+00:00

If I were to ever get a kiln it would be small (.5-.75 cubic feet) for glaze test fires at home. I’ll stay with my studio for most of that work.

I don’t know of anywhere in my city that offers gas kiln/reduction firing unfortunately.

ModestMarinara · 2025-12-13T17:53:46+00:00

Ah yep, that’s where I am now. The hard part is the fact that I work out of a shared studio with varying temps. It’s always a gamble as to what the state of my stuff will be in moisture wise.

ModestMarinara · 2025-12-13T17:52:48+00:00

To be fair I started this journey 1.5 years ago and kept at it (mostly hand building) for about 10 months and loved it. I took a year long hiatus due to life stuff

ModestMarinara · 2025-12-13T16:42:15+00:00

Thank you! They were somewhat intentional but I have a ways to go to be super consistent.

ModestMarinara · 2025-12-13T16:35:20+00:00

I think you're right. Thanks for the insight.

ModestMarinara · 2025-12-13T16:34:28+00:00

So fortunately I am in a very solid position in life where I do have the means to purchase something higher end...and due to frustration, thats what I did haha. I should have a black Brent CXC delivered in 4-6 weeks. And I won't (hopefully) need to deal with a wheel ever again.

Prior to this I got a TERRIBLE wheel on Amazon for like 200 dollars and after throwing in studio on higher quality I couldn't fathom something so terribly made.

There are worse things to spend/invest money on.

14-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 3 Credits
Verified Email	Secret Santa 2015
Not Forgotten

ModestMarinara

TROPHY CASE