the first year of making for my PhD….
Now, we are in May, the winter is upon us and the studio is cold. The Porcelain is also cold and I am only throwing with a container of hot water as my source of water. No need for much water actually, the clay is quite malleable and throwing well. I had one bad day where every shape I threw was off centre, but it hopefully was just one of those days. Sometimes it can be as simple as the chair being in a slightly different spot. I should mark the spots on the floor actually, then it will never go wrong, but the thing with throwing is, and I do sometimes forget this, that its all about the flow between the clay and I, we become an inseparable shape, where we bend and stetch together, where we condence and expand, we go up and down and somewhere, we both, the clay and I, find a shape that we are happy with, so that shape stays, I let it sit, I go inside, have a Pilates stretch and return to see if it is alright. In winter, a shape can stay on the wheel over night and though it will definitely get cold, it sits firm and proud when I return to it in the morning. Usually by morning tea time,that next day, it is ready to turn and it goes upside down quite happy, turns nice and evenly, or if its not too even, it doesn’t mind being slightly off centre. The thing that I forget is that the clay and the forms I throw are thrown by me, a person. I am definitely not a machine, I am definitely not able to get the form perfectly centred. That is the beauty, that is the balance that I need to create between the shape,the clay and I. I am not a master of the clay, I love to throw and I do throw very well now, but I can get distracted by the radio in the background, the dog barking at the neighbours. It’s the pot that does the work from here. It sits, drying and tells me what it needs next. Soon, I will draw, and I am looking forward to that!