You've worked a while at ceramics when -

• You drop a piece and don't get that upset because you figure you can make a better one
• A person says they could make what you make. You observe their beautiful well-manicured fingernails, their make up and lovely new clothing and smile. Go ahead, make my clay.
• Mud is a good word
• It hasn't been a good day unless you scrub at the sink for at least 10 minutes because you keep finding new places where clay or glaze landed.
• Wherever you go, you see textures that might make a good stamp
• Wherever you go, you see things that might make great tools
• Upon observing a clay soil, you wonder what it would look like fired.
• If you see ceramics in a store, you instantly turn it over and look for signs it was hand made. Any sign you find that indicates a human worked on it makes you happy. This is akin to the feeling I used to get when I saw bear tracks in the forest. Look! A ceramicist was here and they left their sign!
• Drywall is not just for walls
• You view all loose hair as the enemy while throwing and when the inevitable hair does get in the clay, you swear you will cut it all off and then you don't because you think you can stop it from happening this time
• You like that damp musty smell in your studio that indicates your clay will be nice and pliable
• You have your own language for the texture and consistency of clay and glaze. My celadon tends to be green-buttery, my toshi brown is moossy-goosy and one of my stonewares tends to mump (get bumps when wet). My glazes also get mold, which I have dubbed 'glold'.