A lump of clay

Have you ever worked with clay? I took a pottery class as an elective when I was a sophomore in high school. I had visions of sitting at the pottery wheel and watching it spin and this great work of art come forth from my hands. Boy was I wrong!
Do you know that in order to even get to that point that you have to have already spent a good portion of time working the clay? When you get the clay, it is hard and dry and full of impurities and air pockets. We actually were instructed to just smoosh it and stretch it over and over again in order to get it pliable enough to work with. Then, and this is one of my favorite parts, we had to slam, yes slam, the clay onto the worktable. Why? To force any and all air pockets that were created during the smooshing/stretching to come out. If you were to put a piece into the furnace with an airpocket, it would explode. Not a good thing!
So you do this smoosh, stretch, slam process repeatedly until you end up with a smooth, pliable lump of clay. Now, finally, it can be worked with to begin to be molded into a beautiful creation of art.
At this point, water can be added to keep it moist and pliable, but not too much, because you will end up with a lump of goo, not clay. As the clay begins to reveal its desired form, pieces are discarded that are not needed or are too much or in the way. At each point of this dance of creation and discovery, more and more of the excess clay is removed. What is left is the beautiful work of the creator. The artist's handiwork.
Are you finished? Nope. Now the piece is "fired." It is placed in the furnace to bake and to become hardened, ready for further creativity and beauty. The piece is placed in the kiln and impurities come to the surface while in the furnace. The bonds of the clay are strengthened and solidified so that it can be used for its ultimate purpose. The clay is then cooled. It emerges the same creation, just changed... in color and strength. The fire brought out the impurities.
Out comes the sandpaper. All of the impurities or false ingredients that have come to the surface, are still a part of the creation. They need to be sanded off in order to complete the project. Course sandpaper gives way to find sandpaper as the pieces of imperfection are stripped away. What is left is a shadow of what was given to the artist to begin with, however it is still the same lump of clay. Just further along in the discovery and creation process.
Now we get to decorate! Even when you paint or sketch on the bisque (fired clay) at this point, every stroke causes a buffing to occur. As beauty is given, another layer of the dirt and surface layer is removed. The paint used is never the same color in the bottle as it is after the final firing. You have to trust that the colors selected will be the right ones for your particular piece once it is completed. Yes, you are creating, but the final product cannot be visualized until after it enters the furnace one more time.
If there is a mistake made, as there often are, in the "beautification" process... the paint can be washed away at this point with mere water. You just wash the mistakes away and start over. It is a beautiful and fascinating process. Even if the paint is dry, it can be washed away to begin anew. The artist can even use pencil in order to mark where he wants his colors to go. A guide or a map of his creation. Once it is fired, the pencil burns away. There is no evidence of having even been marked.
At this stage, if the artist is satisfied, the project is set for a final firing. Into the furnace it goes for the final step. The paint is heated as the bisque is fired and it actually becomes a part of the creation. It is not just another layer on its "person." The creation and the markings of the creator become one. If there are any fault lines or hairline fractures, they are actually strengthened in this final phase. The piece is "put to the test" and comes out shiny and new and ready to be used.
Some artists make pieces just as decoration. Some actually intend to put their pieces to use. I prefer the latter. Why go through all of these steps to have your handiwork sit upon a shelf to collect dust? Fear that it will be used and chipped? That adds character and uniqueness. What if it doesn't work as I intended it to ? Then there is another purpose for the creation that what you had originally in mind. Beauty and purpose is in the eye of the creator.