Yesterday I was just getting ready to cut and slam wedge some native clay that had been sitting on the wedging table to dry out, as I often do to pick out the odd little rock or left over hard chunks of debris. Found this little fellow "hunkered down", as they would say here in the South. He had chewed and burrowed his way about an inch into the clay.
Earlier in spring and summer, we are pestered by some much smaller black beetles, resembling this one, actually, only about 1 to 2 millimeters in length. They come out once the sun goes down and make their way into the studio, seeking out leather-hard pots and damp clay. Groups of them will actually burrow right through the sides of pots. Sometimes I think they make a point to go for those pots you have spent the most time on trimming or carving a design into ...pure coincidence, of course.
Since we don't have screens on the windows and the studio is kind of open, we usually try and wrap or cover pots with dry cleaner's plastic. We have to also make sure we turn the lights to the studio off when we leave, since they don't seem to nibble in the dark.
3 comments:
OMG, I thought it was a ceramic beetle! It must be sort of fascinating and frustrating at the same time to find these critters.
Luckily this year we haven't had too any loss as a result of these guys. Easier to see the tell-tale signs when you know what you're looking for I suppose ;)
At first I thought you had modeled a clay Scarab beetle and was going to comment on your attention to detail. Hilarious!
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