Here are a few shots of one of my latest pots from my class. My efforts at pot-throwing (and by this I mean the creative kind of throwing, not the destructive kind of throwing; the difference being that your mom is less angry about you doing the first kind in the house than the second) are improving, I think. This bowl is about the tenth thing I've thrown on the wheel, and I can already see my progress in getting the clay centered better, as well as forming a more centered hole. Centering is the process by which you move the clay from where you slapped it down on the wheel, uneven and lumpy, to the exact center of the wheel. The object of centering is to achieve uniformity in the clay, thus producing a uniformly round pot. It looks so easy when someone experienced does it, but this is the fourth week of my class and there are some who still struggle with it.
Similarly, opening the hole in the exact center of the clay is important, too. If you haven't, you will still have an off-center pot, despite the careful centering of the clay you did just previously. There's a lot of fascinating physics involved in throwing on the wheel. Really, this kind of pottery is all about physics -- it relies on properties of physics to create beautiful works of art. In that way it is different from painting and drawing or even other kinds of pottery. I don't understand the specifics, but I really enjoy using the principles to create pots. I'm not sure what this one is, truthfully, but I figure my mom and dad will be happy with whatever I give them, right?
Maybe next time I'll shoot a play-by-play of the creation of a pot.
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