when people think about pottery, they assume the only way to make is the potter’s wheel - you know, that heavy piece of machinery that spins anywhere from glacial speeds to the same tempo of good disco and takes actually like 10 years to master. but that’s not the only way, just the quickest and fastest way to make the same cup, again and again, over n over n over n over….
it’s helpful realizing that this pottery process we talk about is a lot deeper than that. there is a whole lot more to it than just learning how to use the wheel. this is a craft rooted deep in human civilization and is rich in history, with many, many ways to make. also, we didn’t have electricity pre1850 so, what do you think the ancestors did?
maybe it’s something about a sense of time and place that evades us in today’s fast-paced world that gets me the most, but we don’t have to move so fast to build something beautiful, nor do you need big muscles or the strongest core to make something larger than yourself. and i’ve gotta say, it’s strangely therapeutic to make a big a** pot using techniques that pre-date the Egyptians.
building by hand lets you work outside the circle, so to speak ⭕️ you can grow and be more varied in your expression faster than you can learn to throw a cup on the wheel.
will show you the ancient and contemporary methods of building pots both big and small. i’ll throw in tips and tricks to modernizing work through form and function, and we use a different decoration method in each class so you learn to both make and personalize your pottery.
i do encourage you to start slow and spend more time with clay rather than jumping on the wheel first. learning the language of earthen material takes time and if you rush, you’ll miss the whispers.
see you in class!
❤️ liza
