Lori Leary on tue 23 apr 02
I don't want to turn this into a lovefest for our fearless leader (even
though he deserves it)... but I have to say this when he talks about
teaching throwing:
PAY ATTENTION!
Truer words were never spoken. Am I biased? You betcha! I am a living
example.
I was putzing along in my own little world, making *okay* pots, (some of the
time).
I knew my pots could be better, but wasn't sure how to accomplish that. I
read every book I could find, took community classes wherever I happened to
be living, and examined every pot I came across, trying to figure out if it
was good or bad and why. I KNEW my work could be better, but just couldn't
figure out how to make it happen.
I never called myself a potter because I felt that I did not deserve that
title.
Along came the opportunity to teach a raku class in an adult education
setting. I felt qualified to do that.....I had devoured our Steve's raku
book....a wonderful book that helped chart the course of my future life in
clay (unbeknownst to me at the time). I built my first kiln ever and had
the process down cold...I knew about dampers, sintering, primary air,
secondary air, making glazes.....I had raku dinner parties, did demos...you
get the picture.
So I taught the class: a wonderful group of people as excited as I was.....
Becky, who never finished art school (who cares), made the most
imaginative, creative *things*. Joe Powell, 88 years old, who previously
worked with clay in the 50's and 60's...making wonderful sculptural slab
pieces and curious fish and animal figures that were just wonderful to
behold. Demarie: a women with so many ideas...and was able to use clay to
express them. Jamie: who had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome...but that didn't
stop her....she worked hard and made delightfully whimsical pots and
sculptural pieces. Sue: 75 years old and could do anything! Pottery,
weaving, painting, glass, you name it, she did it!
When I first heard the expression "pushing the envelope", I knew I had found
a phrase to describe that first class. We handbuilt: pinch pots, rattles,
boxes, whistles, figuring out what worked and what didn't, learning along
the way (me included). All the while having a ball. But I digress......
My students wanted to learn to throw....but I had no idea how to teach them.
I didn't have the words, skill, or technique to truly TEACH them. So it
happend that mel came to teach a workshop. I begged and borrowed any wheels
I could find to supplement mine.
If you plan it, they will come. And they did....locals, not so locals and
clayarters from all over...even from South Africa (Toni Maartens).
And we learned. Mel demonstrated, lectured, told stories and made us do it
HIS way. We worked hard, practiced, looked at slides, laughed way too much,
worked some more and left that workshop not only knowing WHAT we had to do
to throw good pots, but that we COULD throw good pots.
I cherish those memories, and I can truly say that mel changed my life. Not
only did I learn to make some damn fine pots and learn to be an excellent
teacher of clay, I learned that I was capable of "Going After It", and that
I didn't have to be afraid.
So here I am....a nurse (always will be one), POTTER (thrilled to be one),
artist (yes, I think so), and soon-to-be graduate clay student (with a nice
scholarship, thank you very much!)
I still have to pinch myself.
Thank you, sensei.
Lori L.
lleary@epix.net
Mountaintop, PA
Mel-san :
> teaching throwing is about consistent technique.
> if you hire me to teach you to throw, well i will do that.
> you will not have the stage...i will.
>
> it is not about letting students have their own ideas about
> throwing...they know nothing about it. they have only
> some notions. the techniques that have been acquired over
> 50 years are the only ideas that have merit. often you
> have to push students to do things correctly. those must
> be consistent, muscle memory concepts.
>
> they all start with the legs.
> they must be in the proper position to support the arms.
> very few teachers of throwing ever think about the legs.
> centering should be done with the left thigh muscle.
> the left elbow should be planted against the left thigh.
>
> this is how you get a student to pull 15 pounds of clay, very
> fast...in weeks. this is how you get 100 kids centering in two
> days. legs. think about how to teach 100 kids...get them all
> on the same page, at the same time....
>
> when you teach math...do you let the students solve the problem
> with the wrong answer?...oh, nice...it does not matter.
>
> that is the new age idea....nothing matters, well, except the
> students feelings. bs.
>
> students want consistency, they want direction, they want
> the teacher to guide and direct them. then comes success.
> but, it is their own success, based on solid principles.
> when they have their own success, then comes excitement
> and future development.
>
> i coached my entire life...both divers and swimmers.
> one of the most complex muscle memory tasks in the world.
> kids would fight me, tell me how they wanted to dive.
> i would say...`no, you will do it our way`. they would fight, stalk
> out of the pool, cry. there was only one way to do things...consistent,
> do it by the numbers task oriented, muscle memory skill. soon they
> would come around. soon they were doing it in the correct manner.
> then the smiles would come, the honor of doing the job well.
> of course their scores would tell. 7 7 6 7 7, then 7 7 8 7 8
> my god, they are getting to be champions.
> no more 3 3 4 3 5. if anyone thinks that teaching and coaching
> are easy...well you are nuts. but, the greatest coaches and teachers
> are the one's that want the student to have his or her own success.
> they did it, they own it. forever.
>
> it is the same thing teaching the muscle memory skills of throwing,
> and working with clay. it takes dedication, and sometimes very
> tough love. we are not talking art, creativity. that is the problem,
> the confusion of what we are teaching. the first stages are all
> about skill, materials, physics of the clay. screw art and creativity
> in the early stages. how can they be creative with materials they
> do not understand? it is just accident.
>
> everyone in my class threw almost the same. they did it according
> to a plan. no one had to throw clockwise...i taught them how to
> use both left and right hands. the older kids became the best teachers
> in the world. they showed by example. total success. this is how
> you get it.
>
> it is amazing when a program is based on skill and dignity. same
> in the pool, if you cheat you lose. only one sign in the hopkins high
> school pool.
>
> it was small.
> on the wall.
>
> Dignity, skill and honor.
> Champions
>
> every kid knew what it meant. work, work, work, skill, skill, skill..
> then the dignity, of being a part of something, of value. followed
> by a state championship. the kids got the trophy.
>
> i have very firm ideas of how one gets to the end of a skill.
> bad habits, hands in a wrong position will not allow you to
> solve the physics problem of throwing. it is complex...if you
> have barriers, it just makes it more difficult.
>
> kelly had about every bad habit one can acquire. i could not
> in conscience let her leave that class without correcting those
> habits. she was not happy. but, then, i was not about making
> her happy, i was her teacher. i was about making her a better
> potter. now she is.
>
> i did the same thing with tom sawyer. changed a great deal
> of what he was doing. had to get after him. that is hard when
> you are a guest in his home...but, that has to be gotten over.
> he hired me to make him a better potter...not tell him what he
> wanted to hear.....others had already done that, and that
> is a shame. total bs. rich or poor, old or young, skilled
> or non skilled...they get consistent, skilled, dignified instruction.
>
> many of you know well my bias`....sit in a big chair, talk about
> art and creativity, as if it fell from the sky....tell the students
> to `feel the clay, it will tell you secrets`.....bullshit.
>
> it is a complex physics problem, with a great many muscle
> memory skills attached. when a student understands that,
> and has a teacher....they leap to it.
> the smiles are ten feet wide.
> mel
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