Gary C. Hatcher on sun 12 jan 03
I used to be a purist too about wedging clay. Saw the films of a little
Japanese guy wedging a piece of clay twice his size. That worked great about
the first 10 years we had our studio but then my wrists and especially my
right elbow started to go from spiral wedging. Wedging is great for small
amounts and for the young but as I approach 50 I am constantly analyzing
everything I do. The easy way is not always the best way but just as with
making pots, it does not really matter how hard you work on a piece (or
wedge your clay), if it walks like a dog and barks like a dog, call it a
dog.
I would not be without my Venco pugmills, in fact we own two of them for two
different clay bodies we work with. I still wedge clay after it has been
pugged as I think there is something in the idea of alignment of clay
particles by wedging. The pugmill just means I wedge about 1/10th as much as
I used to. But the days of wedging all our clay by hand are long gone thank
god.
Working with clay can be a wonderfully romantic affair but there are always
compromises if you want to survive with your body, mind and pocketbook in
place. The real question is what tools add to the work and what detracts
from the work? Machines are not bad just because they are machines. In the
end it is your work that must stand or fall on its own, how you get there
really does not matter to me.
gary
Gary C. Hatcher
e-mail: gchfire@pobox.com
home/studio: 1-903-857-2271
university office: 1-903-566-7296
http://www.pinemills.com
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