Ric Swenson on tue 22 apr 97
Clayarters;
This post reminded me of a description I heard once about centering and
throwing at the potters wheel being LIKE A DANCE. In the way the legs are
used to brace and help apply pressure to a large mass of clay..especially
if you like to center large pieces while standing...or at a treadle -type
wheel....or the flying feet at the kick wheel... The arms, the hands, the
torso all move in a slow dance of creation. Centering the potter and the
pot.
I can't remember who described it that way...Voulkos ? Combs? Soldner?
Ball? Someone that had more of a way with words than Ric Swenson. (Uff
Da!)
Enjoy.
Ric Swenson
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>mel jacobson wrote:
>
>> -------------------------Original message----------------------------
>
>> ....... place your forearm on your leg and push with the leg...
>> little lori in south carolina learned to center 25 lbs in about 10
>> minutes....just used her leg...........ask her about it........
>
>Hmmmm....looks like I have been put on the spot.....
>
>Yes, it is possible to center and throw large amounts of clay without
>injuring your various BOKY PARTS. It is just as mel says; use your leg.
>Lots of power in those muscles.... Of course it helps to prepare the
>clay...pat it out into a cone shape, as symmetrical as possible. Then
>just do it. Don't get frantic...it will get there.
>
>I am 5'0" (okay, 4-11 and 1/2"), so body size and strength is not really
>an issue in throwing large amounts of clay. It's more about technique
>and control. I know what I have to do to make the clay do what I
>want...every potter does. So use your leg to help center, and make the
>clay do what you want.
>
>Lori Leary
>lleary@sccoast.net
>Pawleys Island, SC USA
JOE BENNION on wed 23 apr 97
Ric,
It was Garth Clark, in "Transformation and Inheritance", who quoted Pete
(?)oulkos as saying something like this: " The clay moves and one must learn
to dance with it." My first teacher, Andy Watson, said that there is nothing
sacred about technique or hand position in centering. If you can do it with
your feet then go for it. By the way, did any of you see Andy's wonderful demo
at the Creative Industries booth at NCECA? He made three pots at the same time
on three wheels. One with his feet, one with his left hand and one with his
right hand. Andy is still the best clay dancer I have ever known. Joe the
Potter
Ric Swenson on thu 24 apr 97
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Ric,
> It was Garth Clark, in "Transformation and Inheritance", who quoted Pete
>(?)oulkos as saying something like this: " The clay moves and one must learn
>to dance with it." My first teacher, Andy Watson, said that there is nothing
>sacred about technique or hand position in centering. If you can do it with
>your feet then go for it. By the way, did any of you see Andy's wonderful demo
>at the Creative Industries booth at NCECA? He made three pots at the same time
>on three wheels. One with his feet, one with his left hand and one with his
>right hand. Andy is still the best clay dancer I have ever known. Joe the
>Potter
-----reply---------
It may be that Clark quoted Voulkos but...
I remember it being much more than a "sound bite" in a written article....
I looked back in my OLD NOTEBOOK... to refresh my almost 50 year old mind...
As it turns out, it was a workshop where Pete Voulkos spent 3 days
demonstating and talking about clay...and steel....and bronze
sculpture..... in 1978 in Anchorage at Alice Martin's studio and the UAA.
He was standing, throwing a big platter...on my new Brent CXC with it's
new "adjustable legs"....and as he talked he compared the way he had to
stand to focus centering force on the clay, to the movements of a
dancer...the metaphor went on for 5 minutes as I remember. It made an
impression on me. He made an impression on the clay too...piercing and
"pass throughs" A nice platter. Nice memories.
There is also the memory of staying up WAY too late drinking a few beers at
a local establishment and singing along with a new song that Pete seemed to
like a lot. "Kenny Roger recording of "You Took the Wrong Time To Leave
Me , Lucille."
Uff da!
Ric Swenson, Bennington, Vermont.
rswenson@bennington.edu
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