Laura Janssen on sat 4 oct 97
This past weekend I had the pleasure of taking Joel Cottet's workshop in
Portland, Oregon. An absolute incredible experience! By the end of two days
I was centering and opening 8/9 pounds of clay with only my left hand. A
professional potter was in the class and by the end of the workshop he threw
a beautiful 30 or 40 pound pot. I'm afraid I can't remember exactly as I'm
such a novice after 10 pounds I'm simply in awe!
The workshop began by Shawn Keren teaching chi-gung techniques in
relaxation, centering, focusing, and intent. Joel then began his portion of
the class by teaching foot wedging and centering with one hand. The entire
weekend continued with this theme, clay and chi-gung. To make a long story
short, I have cronic pain in my neck, back, and shoulder from on old
accident. I was dreading the aftermath that I thought was inevible after 2
intense days of playing with clay. However, I not only broke through a
barrier in relationship to the possibilities of throwing large amounts of
clay, but physically I felt wonderful, no old pain, no new pain!
This posting isn't doing justice to the workshop, something that is almost
imposible to put words too. I just wish everyone interested in clay could
participate in this intense, incredible experience. I don't have their
workshop schedule but the phone number is 503-292-0485. I would like to
thank Roger Korn for posting information about the workshop to this list
last week...and...Thank you to Joel and Shawn for pushing me past my limits.
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