Make a Habit of Trying New Things

Trying Something New: Pottery

I've never had an interest in pottery, never had an interest in learning about it or trying to make my own. It seems too messy for my taste. I don't like my hands being dirty. I don't like touching certain wet substances or having to dig out dirt and other mess from underneath my nails.

So like I said, I've never had any interest in pottery. Do I think it's fascinating? Yes. Do I think it's a talent? Yes.

I've seen videos of people making pottery and it is quite amazing to watch, to see a lump of clay transform in a matter of minutes. I've never quite known what exactly the hands did to manipulate the clay in such different ways. Never quite understood how they made the clay taller for vases or shorter and wider for mugs and saucers.

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Due to my preconceived notions of pottery and my unwillingness to get my hands dirty, literally, I politely declined the pottery offer. At first.

Ever the optimist and problem solver, Bri looked into what else the pottery studio had to offer and found that instead of making pottery I could choose to paint it. I'm not a huge fan of working with paint either but it sounded less messy and more doable. Plus, I didn't want to completely miss out on a new experience with my friends so I'm glad a compromise was made.

Bri booked the class for four of us for a Saturday afternoon in June and we all met at the studio, Art in Motion on Livernois.

I was excited to work with Kay when I saw she was a black women and support her black owned business. That's a goal of ours, my friends and I plan to find and support as many black owned businesses as we can whether it's a restaurant, yoga studio, tattoo shop, etc.

We had a private wheel throwing class with Kay so when we entered the studio we were the only ones there, for the most part. There were two students in the studio working on projects but they worked in a separate area than us. Kay briefly discussed what we'd be learning and after hearing her offer up gloves and aprons for protection, I said what the hell and decided to do pottery as well.

Before we got started, we were asked to read through a set of instructions that were printed out and then watched a video that discussed some techniques of pottery making - how to place the clay down, how to add water to the clay to keep it moist enough to mold, how to create a hole in the clay, make the clay taller or wider.

We were given chunks of clay to knead before using it on the pottery wheel. Kneading I know about, courtesy of watching my family make homemade bread and knead the dough before baking.

In pottery, kneading clay makes it more pliable and removes air bubbles and debris, I learned. Kneading is simple, just use your palms to press and roll the clay around. Do that multiple times and the prep work is done.

After we kneaded our chunks of clay, we were sent on our own to start wheel throwing and create our pieces. Wheel throwing (which I heard for the first time during class) is the process of shaping clay into pieces on the pottery wheel.

The pottery wheel is the machine with a horizontal revolving disk where the wet clay is placed and shaped into ceramic objects. I've never known the name for that either, or seen one in person. Walking into the ceramic studio was like stepping into a different world. I didn't know anything about the items in the room with me. Didn't know how to operate anything I saw and didn't know the proper terminology for anything either.

The pottery wheels in class had a foot pedal, used to control the speed of the wheel as it spins clockwise.

My first time on the pottery wheel was interesting. Memorable. It was easier than I thought it'd be but at the same time harder than I thought. I sat on the stool in front on the wheel, legs spread open, almost wrapped about the wheel. The sitting position also allowed us to maneuver around with ease, to lean and bend to mold the clay.

To make pottery, we wet our pottery wheel and took the lumps of clay, one at a time, and placed them down on the wheel. In actuality, we threw the lump of clay down onto the wheel. The force of the throw helps the clay stay in place so it can be played with and molded.

To get the clay to move between our fingers and make it easy to manipulate, the clay needed to remain wet, but not too much. That was one of my challenges. Clay that is too dry or too wet is hard to work with.

We learned make small impressions in the center of the clay to make openings of a bowl or vase. We learned to pull the clay horizontally to widen the opening, and to pinch the sides of the clay and pull upwards to form the sides of our pottery. The idea is to continue to pinch and pull until the clay is the desired size and shape.

When I was molding my clay, I struggled to apply pressure, which is needed to mold the clay. I underestimated how much pressure needed to be applied to create a shape while keeping in mind not to apply to much pressure to make my piece collapse between my hands. Once I butchered my first piece of pottery I began to get the hang of it.

Kay was awesome in instructing. She was patient, and energetic, and used a hands-on teaching method which I think we all benefited from.

I had no idea what I wanted to create when I sat in front of the pottery wheel. I wasn't thinking of a bowl or a vase. I was just anxious to see what my hands could do with the clay.

We made three pieces in class and chose two to keep and have painted. We picked our colors and Kay will paint them. I need to contact her to pick up my finished pieces.

I'd definitely go to another one of her classes. She runs a black owned business, and she was fun and personable. I enjoyed learning something new and plan to try more and more new things. I'm working on not limiting myself to things that are familiar and comfortable.

What should I try next?