| Another excursion into the arts was to take a crack at hand thrown pottery. This was actually very interesting in a number of surprising ways. First was the challenge of manipulating a material as malleable as clay, and to form it consistently from piece to piece. I found most students were infatuated with the wide range of shapes they could form and every piece they made would be something different. I wanted to test my skill at predictably reproducing a shape from one piece to the next. That was surprisingly difficult and very challenging! Glazing the pieces seemed to be a leap of faith because there were so many to choose from and when originally applied, they all looked the same - muddy brown! But after firing, some would yield the most intense colors. A very fun process! |
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I originally started out with wild combinations of glazes, however as I began to work more with the pieces, I began to appreciate the subtle simplicity of solid colors and exposed fired clay. | ||
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Once I felt I had gotten a handle on predictably forming shapes, I thought I'd test my abilities by making a set of nesting bowls. When I suggested what I was about to attempt, the instructor met my comment with raised eyebrows as if to say "that's a tough thing to start with!". | ||
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These are a few of the other things I'd made...a few pitchers, tea cups, mugs, and bowls. |