John Baymore on tue 15 jul 03
Which brings me to stress and strain on the wrists. I know that in my
youth
I was very competitive and wanted to wedge the biggest lumps of clay, and=
center the biggest, blah, blah, blah. I stressed and strained my wrists
and
now (roll of bass drums, sound of the Shofar) am Paying the Price.
Great thoughts about preserving the body, Lili. Not to be disrespectful =
to
g-d here...... but hopefully the "tribes of CLAYART" will hear the great
shofar . Our bodies always "being there" for us is something most of =
us
take for all too much for granted. (Look at Jared Branfman's current "ou=
t
of the blue" experience, for example.) As they say.... "youth is wasted =
on
the young" . I too used to fall into the "macho trap" and thought
nothing of centering and throwing 100 lbs and such in one chunk. I am
reminded here of Indiana Jones in one of the various movies...... with th=
e
bad guy brandishing a huge curving sword with great skill and trying to
psych out Indy with his prowess...... who then calmly pulls out his hefty=
gun and just shoots the guy. Get the job done with the least risk .
In my intro and intermediate throwing courses I spend quite a bit of time=
discussing ergonomics and the way the human body works and the forces
involved in throwing. How you use your body matters to your success...an=
d
longevity making pots. It is amazing the contortions and inefficiencies
that people will contrive when they focus on the wrong outcome
.....which they often think is to bully the clay into submission. =
Centering and throwing is a dance....... not hand-to-hand combat . =
ONE of the most common problems relative to the wrists I see all the time=
is letting the muscles, tendons, and other soft structures in the wrist
joint take a lot of the forces involved in centering. (True for wedging
too.) For throwing, lots of people "break" the wrist joint quite a bit =
backward (particularly the left one for counterclockwise wheel spin) at a=
n
excessive angle and put the contact point for the forces somewhat outward=
toward the base of the fingers. In this position in order to to countera=
ct
the forces that want to bend the hand backward more.... the muscles and
attachments come WELL into play. This then typically causes them to tens=
e
up and try to "power" the clay into submission..... decreasing the fluid
and efficient use of the body to accomplish a physical task. This tensin=
g
of the hand is often accompanied by a held indrawn breath........ limitin=
g
oxygen flow to the body....... and also often resulting in the tensing of=
just about every other muscle in the body. This is NOT the basic effecti=
ve
approach to any physical performance .
The "power point" for that hand really is sort of in line with the forea=
rm
bones, and is located more in the "cupped" portion that is in the center =
of
the palm back more toward the base of the thumb between the "fatty portio=
n
and the lower "blade" part of the hand. If the arm bones suddenly were
extended to project THRU the palm..... right where they woukld come out. =
The fingers are somewhat initially held in the position one would take if=
you were just about to shake someone's hand (wrong side, of course). Usi=
ng
this part for the main contact allows the fingers to then curl around the=
clay in a relaxed fashion and to be the "sensors" for what is happening,
and to act more as the "fine tuning" control. This puts the force vector=
from the spinning clay running pretty much straight into the alignment of=
the arm bones....and greatly decreases the stresses on the soft tissues o=
f
the wrist joint. If this forearm is then somewhat "anchored" and support=
ed
by having some bracing from another body part in line behind it.... like=
the side of the leg, the pelvis, or even an external brace of some
sort....... you get feeling pretty "powerful" without using a lot of
muscles. It is all about the allignment of bones, masses, and the subtle=
manipulation of dynamic forces. Sort of like Karate and other martial ar=
ts
.
For centering larger amounts of clay ..... and for me I find that exact
definition changes inversely with my age ...... I mostly do it a littl=
e
differently that I find even less stressful on the bod. It also has the
large side benefit of keeping water OFF of the clay. For larger amounts
(currently 25 lbs +), I usually use a technique that involves dividing th=
e
clay into smaller sections.... like say two 12.5 lb. balls for a 25
pounder. The first ball is put on the wheelhead.... and with the wheel
rotating VERY slowly, a slapping motion is used to "pat" the clay
rhythmically until it is pretty darn centered. No water. The motion use=
s
the entire forearm moving, and the hand is kept open and the wrist flexib=
le
but straight. The hands/arms move inward and downward from the sides of
the wheel at about 9 oclock and 3 oclock. The pats start out gentle and=
build in intensity and then decrease in intensity as I start and stop the=
action and work around and up and down the clay so as to "average out" th=
e
forces around the whole lump as force level changes. The force used is
never really heavy....... it is repetitive but it is not "beating the cl=
ay
into submission" . It is more of a "slap" than a "pound". It is
important that the hand be flexible....it is not replacing a stiff mallet=
. =
The form of the patted chunk is now in a convex domed lump pretty much
centered on the wheelhead. When you have done it a while..... it could b=
e
mistaked for a "normal" centering job....except for the irregular surface=
pattern. from the impacts.
The top surface of this mound is then patted very gently to smooth off an=
y
depressions and form it into a slightly domed, convex shape.
Then the bottom of the second ball of clay is patted gently into a conve=
x
shape (off the wheel) and it is then placed somewhat firmly on top of the=
one already on the wheelhead..... smoothed convex dome shape to convex do=
me
shape. This is then patted downward and inward gradually in a similar
fashion to the first ball of clay....spreading the two relatively smooth
domed faces into each other so as not to trap air bubbles. VERY
IMPORTANT....... no water to join them.... it would create a shear plane
later. It is also important to make sure that the faces that will spread=
onto each other do not have little finger holes or indents.... which will=
create air bubbles later. This second ball is then patted until it is
centered down into the other piece and eventually is centered as well as
the first part was.... and the whole thing now doesn't remember it was ev=
er
two pieces of clay. If you "spin up" the wheel a bit faster now.... it
should seem like it is just about fully centered in the normal fashion. =
NO
water is used at all so far. The wheel is never moving more than
minimally. I do this on my Brent CXC......... which has the footpedal po=
ts
set for really slow max speed and low speed change sensitivity ........ b=
ut
the speeds involved are more typical to those of something like Lee's
Korean/Japanese wooden kickwheel. =
Then I take my closed fist of my right hand with the thumb tucked pretty
tight (I usually throw with the wheel going counterclockwise)
and I punch downward GENTLY in the center of the top of the mound of cla=
y.
After the initial indentation where the point of the knuckles are used, =
it
is the flat of the knuckles that is hitting the clay. Once again it is a=
gentle thing, I am not going for a George Foreman punch . This is aga=
in
done similarly to the patting to center the clay...... rhythmically and
smoothly increasing and decreasing in intensity..... at very low wheel
speed. I keep repeating this until I have opened the mound of clay and
have the floor thickness CLOSE to, but slightly greater than, the final
desired amount. If it is a bowl form... the floor contour is left
rounded... if it is a cylinder based form... the floor is more defined fr=
om
the walls.
I then go to the outside again and pat the exterior back a bit onto cente=
r.
Back to the inside....back to the outside ... with fine tuning.
It is only at THIS point that I now introduce SLURRY....not water... into=
the picture. I throw with slurry.... keeps the clay drier. The clay is
"wet" and the wheel speed is increased SLIGHTLY. Lee is so VERY correct
when he says that if you are feeling moved and jostled around, that the
wheel is probably going too fast. If you have trouble with regulating
wheel speed... set your footpedal range controls to a lower setting so it=
is not so "touchy" or try throwing on a kick or better yet a treadle whee=
l.
The interior of the mound is then LIGHTLY smoothed over in more of a
smoothing action than a centering move. Ditto the exterior. Trying only=
to average out the little finger pat marks a bit...not really "move" a lo=
t
of clay.
The first "centering action" happens not at the base of the opened mound =
of
clay but at the LIP. I center the lip into a thick rounded band........ =
in
the case of 25 pounds it might be the thickness of the diameter of a larg=
e
cucumber. Then I start at the base and center the walls..... which
requires very little "force" because the clay is now hollow and thinner. =
Every so often I go back and recenter the thick lip. If the lip and the
foot of the piece is kept round and well compressed .... it will tend to
hold together everything in between .
Once things are "happy"..... throw as normal.
=
Watch your wheel speed. Too much speed is a real problem at all stages o=
f
throwing. For a GREAT example of supurb throwing.... and the gestural us=
e
of the clay......... get the video "Art of the Potter" from Steve
Branfman's Potters Shop....and watch Hamada Shoji throwing on his hand
wheel...... that goes about 8 revolutions before it must be spun up again=
. =
You can also see him do the "pound to open" method...although on a smalle=
r
amount of clay.
This sounds kinda' involved in words........... but once you have learned=
it, it is pretty fast and it is definately easier on the body than
centering and opening in what here in the west is the "traditional"
fashion. Anyone who has seem me demo at a throwing workshop has probably=
seen me do this...... and maybe they can explain it with words better tha=
n
I have here . =
Hope these thoughts help someone.
best,
.......................john
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086-5812 USA
JBaymore@compuserve.com
http:\\www.JohnBaymore.com
603-654-2752 (studio)
800-900-1110 (studio)
"Earth, Water, and Fire Noborigama Woodfiring Workshop: August 15-24,
2003"
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