Wednesday, September 20, 2023

How Talented Are We! Pottery Throwing



I started to put a question mark at the end of "How Talented Are We"  but changed it to an exclamation to make it a statement of fact rather than a question. You can make the determination of which is the most appropriate.

I've posted in the past about trying new things and continue to look for opportunities to experience something that I haven't done before. Last month my wife and I took a two hour pottery throwing class. This was something we have never done and thought would be fun to try. It was a lot of fun!

We put on an apron and then sat at our own pottery wheel with four other students. After a brief demonstration by our instructor we were handed three chunks of clay to make our three masterpieces. I had joked for a month that I was going to make three ashtrays, even though no one in our family smokes. 

I slammed down the chunk of clay into the center of the wheel. Yes, you really have to slam it on to make it stick good. My first piece was fairly easy to do and I got pretty confident in my abilities at making pottery! I made a nice little bowl. I slammed my second piece of clay and started on my second masterpiece. I decided to make this one a little taller so it could be considered a vase. Boy, oh boy, the second try was a disaster. I collapsed my bowl vase ashtray thing several times. I would try to form it up as it was spinning and then it would get all out of balance and clay flew everywhere. I finally gave up on that piece and attribute the failure to bad clay! My third piece of clay went much better and then the instructor gave me another piece of clay to try again.

We completed three pieces each and had our aprons, arms and hands covered in slimy clay mud. After the pieces were glazed and fired we picked them up a couple of weeks later. We were impressed with how well they came out. The photos below show our pieces,  mine are blue and my wife's are green. I made three bowls and she made a spoon rest, jewelry bowl and bowl. We did a Facebook post and my youngest sister said one of mine looked a little "wonky". I agree it is a little imperfect but was a pretty cool piece made by my own hands. Besides that, my sister is a little "wonky" herself! I told her and will tell you all, pottery throwing is not as easy as it looks.

Has anyone tried a pottery wheel? Are any of you really into it as a hobby and make awesome pieces? Have any of you tried a new thing lately? If not, I encourage you to try something new to try. As I always say "You never know 'til you go"!











18 comments:

  1. Wow - they are seriously impressive especially for first efforts

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    1. It was a lot of fun and very reasonable cost. It was $40 per person for two hours and that included the materials and walking away with the three completed pieces in the end.

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  3. Both the green and the blue pieces turned out beautifully, I would brag if I made them.

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  4. Well, I'm impressed with these creations. Keep at it . It looks like you could have more fun.

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  5. Presume you've seen the movie Ghost with Patrick Swayze and how the couple turns figures on the pottery wheel! Linda in Kansas

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    1. Yes, that was a good one and I thought about that movie when we sat down at the wheel.

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  6. I haven't made pottery since high school art class but remember the joys of collapsing/flinging clay very well. I'm positive that at some point I did make an ash tray back then though neither of my parents smoked. It was an actual assignment in art class. I'm sure it has long been in a landfill somewhere where some future archeologist might ponder it's role in civilization.

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    1. If you enjoyed it back then, I strongly encourage you to give it another try!

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  7. Gosh, those finished pieces are beautiful! I am very impressed. What a fun activity. I have never thrown pottery, but I would love to try it.

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  8. I agree that trying new experiences in retirement is healthy for us. Apparently it also helps slow down our perception of time. I have wanted to try a pottery class for years, but have never taken the initiative to do it. I think your pieces turned out great, especially for a first attempt. I am inspired!

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    1. I have found that trying something new like this gives me a lot of satisfaction. And, it brings a smile to my face whenever I glance at the pottery or glance at a stained glass piece I made a few years back.

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  9. I've only done pottery with coils. That looks like so much more fun!

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