So, I wanted to make a post about a form of artistic expression that I try and make apart of my life as much as possible, that being pottery. Making or "throwing" pottery is something that I took up here at college last semester. I thoroughly enjoyed the class (Ceramics with Susan DeMay, she's amazing btw) and often found myself in the studio throwing on the wheel, trimming, firing, and glazing pieces that I made with my own hands. The end result was a small piece of myself, the time and effort put forth from my imagination and fingertips, into a physical manifestation that could house a bouquet of flowers, pour a glass of water, or simply sit on a shelf to look pretty. Either way, I found something that allowed me to express myself and create something unique at the same time.
I still throw whenever I can find the time (there's a high demand for my professional pieces....psssssych) and to incorporate this into our theme, I wanted to do a little "series" of posts that takes you through the steps of making pottery. If this is something that interests you, I encourage you to read this and keep an eye out for what is to come next. Pottery is a process like most things so I'll be re-posting as I go through each step of the process :D
So this will be the first post then. The picture you see is of the first, four pieces that I've made since I've been back to school (and therefore had access to a studio).
This is what thrown (pottery sculpted on a wheel) pieces look like before being fired in a kiln. The original soft clay has been kneaded repeatedly to release the tiny air bubbles inside the clay (or otherwise it would explode in the kiln), and then placed on a "bat" on a wheel. I'm sure most of you have seen the scene from Ghost where Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze are throwing pottery (amongst other inappropriate things). That's basically what it is, just spinning the clay around while shaping it with your hands...doesn't sound too hard, does it? Don't let it fool you, it's much more difficult than it looks. Just learning to center the "cone" of clay before you actually shape it takes tons of practice.
So after the pieces are thrown/formed, they are set to dry. Handles and trimming to the base are done before the clay body is too hardened, at a stage called "leather-hard". What you see here is the finish of the first step of the process. Once the are completely dry, they can be fired. So, next time you see these pieces they will have been fired in the kiln!
Well there ya go. Kinda long but the ones to follow will be more brief, no worries.
¡Hasta luego!
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