Life is Clay, You Are the Potter

I have to say that this list item, #15, Make a Piece of Pottery, was one of my favourite things I did this year. I felt such a sense of accomplishment when I was finished and I will definitely be returning to the class, probably once the Summer (and the rest of my list items) is complete.

I kind of stumbled onto this pottery class by accident. When I made the list I didn't know where to find such a class, but in talking it over at work I discovered that one of the girls I work with was taking a class with her grandfather through the local university (one of their non-credit personal interest courses), so when the next course came along I signed up quickly. It ended up being quite a big class, with 9 people. Word of mouth had spread through my workplace, and 6 of the 9 of us work together. The other 3 fit in really well with us though, and it was a great group to work with, very supportive and encouraging. Our instructor has been a professional potter for years and has studied pottery all over the world. This girl knows her shit. Her quirky style fit in well with our crazy little group and her 'cool rules' (mostly, no negative talk about anyone's work, including your own) helped us all feel comfortable and welcome in her space. We each received 22 lbs of clay and were allowed to do pretty much whatever we wanted, within reason, and the instructor guided us during our turns on the wheel.

It did not look like this. She sat across from us. It was far less romantic.











We learned several basic techniques; throwing, slab work and pinching. Some of us also worked on some sculpting. I had a disastrous experience with this. But more on that later.

First, we learned about pinching, and made 'pinch pots'. It's exactly what it sounds like. You make a ball, push your thumb into the middle and pinch until it resembles a vessel of some sort. None of these pictures are of me, by the way. I planned on taking pictures, but you get kind of involved in what you're doing. That, and the fact that you're usually covered in so much clay that holding a camera would be dangerous. For the camera.





We then got a demonstration of, and took turns on the wheel. Making things on the wheel is called 'throwing'. Not sure why. Even my instructor wasn't 100% sure about the origin of this term. You do throw the clay onto the wheel when you begin, but that's about it. Anyway, throwing is very messy work. Lots of water is needed and you come out covered in clay sludge, but seeing those pieces take shape in front of you is unlike anything you'll ever experience. The placement of your hands is very important, as are the techniques for creating your piece (ie. coning up, coning down..and some others I forget the terms for...). It's very easy to mess things up at this point, which is why the instructor helps you so much.

We also learned about slab work. The slab machine in this picture is a little different from

the one we actually used, but it'll give you the basic idea. It's a lot like a giant pasta machine. You put your clay down on a piece of canvas and punch the crap out of it to flatten it. Then you fold down the other side of the canvas and push it through the machine. It works best with 2 people; one to guide the clay into the machine and one to crank the handle. You have to do it in one quick motion or you'll end up with grooves in your clay where you stopped. You can adjust the thickness and at this point it's also fun to experiment with textures by putting things in your clay when you roll it out.



Now, the sculptures. I got the great idea to attempt to make Dalek salt and pepper shakers, which would require me to do some pinching and some sculpting. I spent almost an entire class trying to get this right, and wasted more clay than I wanted to part with, and eventually, sensing my frustration level, my instructor told me to put it down and walk away. Which I did. It was the only class in which I felt discouraged. Maybe I'll try again next time I take the class.

Once your pieces have dried, or after they've been fired the first time, you can paint them. One of the hardest parts about this is that the colours change when they're fired and glazed. Also, I'm not very artistic, so most of my pieces ended up pretty simple. But I love them anyway <3








Next step is to glaze the pieces. This happens after the first firing (baked in the kiln), and

before the final firing. The instructor typically does all the glazing, but given the size of our class and the number of pieces we'd each made, she got us to do our own pieces. I was really nervous that I would ruin these beautiful pieces that I'd worked so hard on and had fallen in love with, but, with the instructor's coaching, I glazed most of my pieces myself and didn't find it as hard as I'd thought I would. There were 2 kinds of glaze, clear and celadon, which is a really pretty blue-green. When you put them on they cover all the beautiful painting you just did, and the clear looks muddy brown and the celadon is a light greenish colour. Neither glaze looks very forgiving when you're using it, and it takes a lot of stirring to keep the consistency right. You can pour it over your item or dip it in, either using your hand or a set of wicked looking tongs, reminiscent of something they'd use during a mummification process to remove people's brains through their nose. But bigger. It's very easy to put too much glaze on the pieces, making them look gloppy when they're finished. You also can't get any paint or glaze on the bottom of your pieces, because it will fuse to the shelves during firing. Not good. Added pressure. 


The final step is the last firing. Firing is done in a kiln, which reaches some ungodly high temperatures and takes something like 14 hours to complete. I'd hate to see the power bills. A few of us stayed late one night and watched the instructor load and start up the kiln. I had my doubts about everything fitting in, but the instructor is a professional for a reason and she got it all in.







Now I'll show you all my pieces!

This was the first piece I completed, my pinch pot, and is also the piece I like the least. I messed up with the painting. Also, I missed a class and while I was gone the instructor did a firing and this piece went in before I'd had a chance to finish painting it. Hence the boring white outside. I was planning on painting it to resemble the plant from Mario that comes up out of the pipes. Fail. Now it holds jewellery on my nightstand. Kinda scary looking though...

My mug was the first piece I threw, and the only piece I put a handle on. Handle placement is tougher than you think. Clay also shrinks drastically when it's fired, so this mug turned out a lot smaller than I'd originally planned. And as you can see, my handle is a little lumpy. It's cute though.

I made these for my friend. Not exactly sure what they are, but I thought maybe she could hang them in her garden. I used cookie cutters to make them, just like playdoh!

This is the first of 2 bowls I made by forming them over a bowl I'd bought at the Dollar Store. This one was a bit tricky to get off, so my instructor suggested I cover the bowl in plastic the next time to make it easier to remove. This is a piece I glazed myself, and this is what the celadon glaze looks like when it's fired. I'm going to give it to my Nan, who fed me before every pottery class. She earned it.

This is the bowl I made on the plastic covered bowl. It's hard to see, but it ended up looking like lettuce, and instead of smoothing it out I turned it into a salad bowl. This is an example of how different the colours look after they're fired. It was supposed to be a lighter green, but I still love my lettuce bowl.

My mom collects wind chimes of different materials, so I made this for her. I got tired of throwing out so many scraps of clay so I cut them into little pieces and celadon glazed them. I secretly think it was this project that inspired my instructor to get us to glaze our own pieces...

This was the last item I threw. I didn't know what to make, but then I decided to make a bowl that was more streamlined than my rather organic looking lettuce bowl and it's tidier brother. I'm really happy with the way it turned out and it's great for when you just want a bit of cereal to snack on. I'm recently very into bright yellow so I painted it that colour. 

I love this little guy. Another scrap, which I put through the slab machine with a large patterned lace on it, and painted the pattern that remained. I use it to hold my tea infuser after it comes out of the pot. It's just the right size. I was devastated for a couple of days because I thought I'd lost it, but I found it hiding in the dishwasher. It's so damn small!

This is a little snack plate I made in the same method as the tea infuser holder, and I painted it to match. They also match my kitchen. I love this piece as well. It's great for cheese and crackers or cookies.

And this. This three piece set is my pride and joy. The pieces I am most proud of. My cream and sugar set. Kind of a happy accident that they ended up together like this. I had planned to make them from the beginning of the class, but wasn't sure how to execute them, especially after my instructor told me that lids weren't a beginner skill. I decided to model the sugar bowl after those frogs you used to see in kitchens to hold pot scrubbers, where it was open at the mouth. So I made a hollow ball on the wheel (with a great deal of help from my instructor), and when it had dried a bit I cut a hole in it. It was love at first sight. The tray was just something I made to practice my slab skills, without a real purpose for it in mind. It was another piece that got fired before I could clean it up, which was probably for the best because I most likely would have painted it instead of just celadon glazing it. When we were taking some pieces home I just happened to sit the sugar bowl on it and one of the other girls and I realized how good it looked there. I made the creamer several weeks later, without the other pieces to reference, but it worked out perfectly. The spout even works without spilling! I opted out of a handle because I liked the simple look of it, and, frankly, I didn't trust myself to make a sturdy enough handle. I glazed the creamer myself and love it in an almost obscene way. The set sits out on a shelf for everyone to see, because I love it so much.

This 8 week course was so refreshing and relaxing. It made me happy and made me feel creative. The feel of the clay in my hands and seeing my pieces go from lumps of clay to beautiful, functional items was incredible. And looking back at it now, and at the last 10 months of the Project, I kind of feel like I'M a lump of clay. When I started the Project I had lost my shape and was kind of drab and dreary. But with each list item and experience that has come along, I've started to reshape myself into something new, something I'm proud to show off. I'm brightly coloured and happy again, and I know that where I'm headed is where I want to be.