Alisa and Claus Clausen on fri 28 jan 00
------------------
Vince's post echoed much of my education and now my experience as a potter.
My first assignment was to build a =22belly button=22 pot. My teachers were=
all
throwers, not handbuilders themselves. But they certainly knew how to
handbuild.
After completing that assignment, just the shear size and time it took, gave=
me
and
the others a good deal of enthusiasm and confidence to continue the next
projects. That
would be four years production throwing, some mold making and casting.
I have always looked at throwing as the task, (A task I love)
and handbuilding as the luxury (the handles, big surfaces to decorate,
timeless refining of a burnished bowl, etc.) I divide my day into
this I need to throw,
and if I get that all done, I want to handdbuild that. The way I was =
trained
makes
me want to make multiples in one go.
Many of the people I instruct only handbuild, and regard the wheel as =
something
out of their realm. This is only true for the the persons who physcially =
are
not up
to the strength skills. Of course, we have broken through many of those
perceptions, with some very happy results. I admire the handbuilders for =
their
long
attentions to one, single piece. Again, the production potter in me bucks =
up
when
I sit with a handbuilt piece for too long. I feel like I am indulging and
lavishing myself
with time to myself and better get back to the tasks at hand=21
My child is learning to throw standing at a table top wheel. She is six. I =
had
never
let the small kids in the studio throw on the kick wheels because they are =
too
short.
I did not want to risk them standing on the kick wheel. But, now I found =
that
they can stand
on the side of the wheel, stand with one leg on the floor and kick with the
other (Joyce's twisty
trick number?=21) It works for them and I am not in fear that they will meet=
their
faces
to the wheel head or go flying somewhere.
Best regards,
Alisa in Denmark
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: Vince Pitelka =3Cvpitelka=40DeKalb.net=3E
Til: CLAYART=40LSV.UKY.EDU =3CCLAYART=40LSV.UKY.EDU=3E
Dato: 27. januar 2000 20:59
Emne: Re: teaching the wheel first
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
=3EI agree with Mel here. To be good at hand building it takes as much =
effort
=3Eand learning of skills as on the wheel. Just because you can roll a =
coil,
=3Edoesn't mean you can make good pots any more than being able to center on
=3Ethe wheel.
I have to put in two-cents-worth here. I was a professional studio potter
for ten years in Blue Lake, California before I went to graduate school and
became a teacher. In undergraduate school I never learned how to handbuild.
We only worked on the wheel. As a professional potter I never did any
handbuilding at all. When I got into graduate school I began handbuilding
with a vengeance, because I wanted to explore everything I hadn't done
previously. Soon after that I started teaching my ancient clay workshops,
which focus on ancient and tribal handbuilding methods.
I have always taught handbuilding as the introductory clay course, because I
can get students making decent forms using the pinch and coil construction
methods much more quickly than on the wheel. I can get them fired up about
clay almost immediately in handbuilding. Some teachers can accomplish the
same on the wheel, and I commend them. One of the first projects I have my
intro students do is a life-size head-and-shoulders bust. They have a great
time at it, and it gives them a real sense of accomplishment. Early on in
the semester we also do polished terra sig on a few pinch pots and coil pots
and bonfire them. A little later in the semester we do soft slab and stiff
slab construction, and I reserve that for later because I find it is much
easier for them to learn coil and pinch construction.
I do not believe that art departments have abandoned wheel throwing because
the faculty do not know how to throw pots. I believe they have abandoned
the wheel because of pressure from the studio faculty in other media areas,
who essentially attempt to invalidate what they see as a tool of functional
craft. There are plenty of university faculty out there who are perfectly
capable of making good pots, but who teach in departments with no wheels.
It is evident that the number of people nationwide who can make good
wheel-thrown pots vastly exceeds the number that can make good coil-built
pots. I believe the reason for this is that there are so few people who are
teaching handbuilding in a competent and comprehensive fashion.
I am also surprised by the notion that a wheel-thrower does not know how to
handbuild. This is a rather bizarre notion. There is no potter who would
not benefit greatly by a greater ability in handbuilding. When you put a
handle on a mug or pitcher, you are handbuilding. When you throw components
and assemble them to make a teapot or other multi-part vessel, you are
handbuilding. The more process and technique you have at your disposal, the
greater potential to make good work. It is not absolutely necessary to know
handbuilding to make good wheel-thrown pots, but it will certainly increase
the likelihood of good pots.
I shall now gracefully (I hope) step off my soapbox. Thanks for listening.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka=40DeKalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka=40tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
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