mel jacobson on fri 28 aug 98
this is a story:
while in india we were excited about seeing potters work, we had been to the
weaving villages of madras, but had not really found a working potter.
i asked our driver to find us one, (by the way, you need a driver in india,
esp.
rural india.) of course he had a cousin that was a potter.
the next day we arrived at this very old, broken down house... we went to the
back yard and there he was....making pots.... it was the strangest thing i
had
ever seen. he had suspended an ox cart wheel about 5 feet across on a rock.
the hub of the wheel had a groove in the rock and he slathered the rock
with grease/animal fat and water. the wheel had a piece of plywood nailed
over the top of the hub....he just spun the whole thing with his hand, spread
his legs around the spinner wheel (ground high)....threw down some clay on the
plywood and began to throw.
but, the wheel wobbled about 2 inches up and down as it spun, but his body
just moved in the same wobble.......the pot was perfect. he said if i
wanted to
watch him,i must pay 5 rupies....so i gave him twenty and he did four more.
and that was it...he just walked into the house. time was up.
some arab potters that i met had wheels that looked like leach wheels, but
made
of heavy reed or bamboo lashed together...when they threw the entire wheel
just
shook and vibrated, but they did not notice, just made wonderful tall bottles.
perfect.
i have mentioned before, when people call tony glass at brent and say ` my
wheel
is about a 64th out of perfect...can you replace it?` i just want to show
them a video
of the potter in india.
mel/mn
p.s. how nice today to open my email and have a note from bluebird/soldner.
trina swanson,wanting to find my friend tara at dock six potters with the
problem wheel.......she spotted my message on clayart and took action.
that is good service.
thank you trina. many of you forget just how many people are monitoring
clayart. 4,000 from all over the world...what a wonderful thought.
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
Giles on sat 29 aug 98
For two years I have had two students from India in my night class.
This Christmas, one of them went home for a visit, and asked me what I
would like for him to bring back. Of course, I said I wanted a pot!
While he was driving in the countryside southwest of Madras a cooking
pot in front of someones home caught his eye--lowfire, dark red and
glossy from being cooked in. He could not buy the lady's pot, but she
directed him to the potter. I got not only one of the cooking pots,
but pictures; one of the potter squatting at his wheel, a ground level
turntable powered by his wife sitting across from him and spinning it
with her hands, one of stacks of cooking pots drying next to the clay
charcoal burner they sat on, and one picture of the potters kiln....a
pile of flattened cow patties.
mel jacobson wrote:
> ----------------------------Original
> message----------------------------
> this is a story:
>
> while in india we were excited about seeing potters work, we had been
> to the
> weaving villages of madras, but had not really found a working potter.
>
> i asked our driver to find us one, (by the way, you need a driver in
> india,
> esp.
> rural india.) of course he had a cousin that was a potter.
>
> the next day we arrived at this very old, broken down house... we went
> to the
> back yard and there he was....making pots.... it was the strangest
> thing i
> had
> ever seen. he had suspended an ox cart wheel about 5 feet across on
> a rock.
> the hub of the wheel had a groove in the rock and he slathered the
> rock
> with grease/animal fat and water. the wheel had a piece of plywood
> nailed
> over the top of the hub....he just spun the whole thing with his hand,
> spread
> his legs around the spinner wheel (ground high)....threw down some
> clay on the
> plywood and began to throw.
>
> but, the wheel wobbled about 2 inches up and down as it spun, but his
> body
> just moved in the same wobble.......the pot was perfect. he said if
> i
> wanted to
> watch him,i must pay 5 rupies....so i gave him twenty and he did four
> more.
> and that was it...he just walked into the house. time was up.
>
> some arab potters that i met had wheels that looked like leach wheels,
> but
> made
> of heavy reed or bamboo lashed together...when they threw the entire
> wheel
> just
> shook and vibrated, but they did not notice, just made wonderful tall
> bottles.
> perfect.
>
> i have mentioned before, when people call tony glass at brent and say
> ` my
> wheel
> is about a 64th out of perfect...can you replace it?` i just want to
> show
> them a video
> of the potter in india.
>
> mel/mn
> p.s. how nice today to open my email and have a note from
> bluebird/soldner.
> trina swanson,wanting to find my friend tara at dock six potters with
> the
> problem wheel.......she spotted my message on clayart and took action.
>
> that is good service.
> thank you trina. many of you forget just how many people are
> monitoring
> clayart. 4,000 from all over the world...what a wonderful thought.
> http://www.pclink.com/melpots
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