Pottery Class

Every few seasons I take a break from tennis and do something else. When I come back to tennis, I am usually happy and excited about coming back. Fall is so beautiful that I hate to take up half a Saturday on the courts when I could be in the yard. So to fill the 'me time' hole in my schedule, I am now enrolled in an eight week pottery class. I have always wanted to learn how to throw clay on the potter's wheel, and I envisioned myself as a natural, extruding up beautiful vases and bowls. Yeah, NOT the case at all.

I arrived at pottery class last night after work in my unfortunate looking 'old clothes' per the instructor's direction. I am in a class with two other students (both around my age and experience level - which is 0) and our instructor, Mitzi. Mitzi began class by effortless cutting one pound pieces of clay off of her 25 pound hunk and shaping them into round balls. She instructed us to do the same.  My hunk was at least 5 pounds and was not happy at all about being shaped into a ball. I was winded after creating three oblong awkward balls, so I was happy to sit and watch Mitzi demonstrate how to make a cylinder. Mitzi makes working clay look like taking a shower or going for a walk. When I sat down at my potter's wheel, I was sure that I'd have no problems.

Step one, centering. If your clay is not centered it flops around making you unable to form anything remotely symetrical. I wrestled with my clay for a good fifteen minutes until I thought it was centered, then began to find the floor of my 'piece' and bring up my walls. All was going well - until I got about four inches off of the wheel. It then began angrily flopping around, flinging pieces of clay at me and the student next to me. I smashed it, and started over. On I went, centering, extruding and then smashing for the next two hours. Mitzi came around offering helpful hints and  suggestions 'slow down the wheel, more pressure with your top hand, lock your elbows' and she was remarkably non-judgemental as I continued to create works that included a lopsided plant pot and a bowl with an unintentional pour spout. I was about to smash the bowl with the pour spout when she instructed me to save it for next week when we learn 'trimming'. Sorry Mitzi, but unless I can trim that thing into something I want in my house or can give as a gift, it's going in the garbage (I already have enough of my sad high school art projects that freak Dave and I out). My co-students on the other hand seemed happy with their lopsided works - seemingly unaware of their asymmetry and imperfections.

My pre-goals for the eight week class included a replacement bird bath base (a decorative cylinder about 18" tall), a set of salad bowls, a vase and some decorative grates to replace a couple of step lights at our house. Right. I'd rather have a colonoscopy than extude an 18" cyclinder. So after taking a detailed self-inventory I have decided to let go, focus on centering, and create smaller - easier - items. This is for fun after all, right? Don't worry, pictures of the bowl with the pour spout to come :-).