Ellen Currans on sat 30 aug 08
A few years back a neighbor asked me to help =C2=A0him buy an electric wheel=
for his High School daughter, who according to her, and her MFA art instruc=
tor at a private school, was becoming a very good potter. =C2=A0 They had th=
e usual bowls and mugs to show, and he was eager to encourage her interest i=
n art (although probably not as a vocation.) =C2=A0I told him I thought she=20=
probably was a little young to know her mind or apply herself but what did I=
know? =C2=A0 They bought a CI wheel and installed it next to two antique ca=
rs in the barn. =C2=A0I agreed to sell her clay at our cost of making it, he=
lp her with glazes and fire her work in my kiln. =C2=A0 I suggested she come=
over on Saturday mornings for a while, and I would help her with any proble=
ms she was having, and also with setting up her little studio. =C2=A0As a se=
lf supporting potter, I did not want to sign on for private lessons. =C2=A0T=
here was never enough time or energy to get my own work done, much less do a=
good job with a student, but I would have willingly helped an eager young p=
erson learn as much as possible.
The first Saturday she came (with her mother who did all the talking,) and I=
suggested she show me what she could do, so we could go on from there. =C2=
=A0 I discovered that after more than a year of pottery classes using the wh=
eel, she could not center. =C2=A0She did not know how.=C2=A0In fact, she sai=
d that the instructor always centered the clay for her because he didn't wan=
t20the students to become discouraged. =C2=A0I told her that working on her=20=
own that was the first thing she was going to have to learn, and gave her so=
me instruction. =C2=A0She was obviously distressed that I expected her to ce=
nter her own clay, and found it upsetting and difficult. =C2=A0She went home=
with soft clay and was supposed to practice that week on her own wheel.=20=
=C2=A0I was as kind and gentle with her as I could be and still make it clea=
r that centering was necessary.
I said I would come over the next Saturday to see how she was progressing an=
d how we could make her wheel setup more useful. Right height of stool, some=
shelving, water buckets, slop buckets, and a wedging set-up, etc.. =C2=A0I=20=
walked over at 10 AM, the agreed upon time, and found that she was still in=20=
bed, and that her mother didn't know when she would be getting up. =C2=A0I a=
sked if she had made any progress on centering or throwing, and her mother d=
idn't know. =C2=A0I sat around with a cup of tea for 3/4's of an hour and we=
nt home. =C2=A0 I said she could call me when she wanted more help, and she=20=
never did. =C2=A0 She went on to graduate in Education and is now teaching E=
lementary Art.
I'm guessing that if the Quick Center had been available then, her Dad would=
have bought one of those too. =C2=A0And probably the Pottery instructor at=20=
her school would have purchased one. =C2=A0I don't know if she ever learned=20=
to center. =C2=A0I think she moved her wheel to her home when she go
t married. =C2=A0I often think of how she was cheated out of the wonder of m=
aking pottery on the wheel because she never learned the simple skill of cen=
tering the clay. =C2=A0And I blame the instructor for allowing her to think=20=
she was accomplished when she wasn't. =C2=A0I think the Quick Center is just=
another way of trying to bypass a simple, but necessary skill one must lear=
n if one is going to make pots on the wheel. And for all the reasons mention=
ed in other posts, I can't imagine that it results in well made pots.=C2=A0
There is nothing wrong with new tools if they actually do the job expected o=
f them and are reasonably priced. =C2=A0I love tools. =C2=A0I would find it=20=
difficult to do without my pug mill and slab roller and electric wheel, espe=
cially as I grow older and lose muscle strength and joint mobility. =C2=A0I=20=
love my Giffin Grip, but then I am a functional production potter, and it wo=
rks especially efficiently when you do series of pots. =C2=A0If I were makin=
g one of a kind constructions it probably wouldn't be very useful. But, $274=
dollars for a bat and a canister/plunger?
You've got to be kidding!=C2=A0
Ellen Currans
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