mel jacobson on wed 20 aug 03
thanks carl for your return post about `male male`.
it is important that me and others do not make
sweeping statements about electrical systems.
he is so correct that we must use caution. i have
done these things many times, not worried...but, if
someone takes off half cocked and starts to do things
without instruction, it can be very dangerous. again.
great post carl.
all throwing is a strict matter of `muscle memory`.
it takes a great deal of time and repetition to become
adequate. it is not about art and design....it is about
muscle memory. craftsmanship
i always tell my students that my wife is a calligrapher.
she has very well developed right hand finger muscles.
they are as well developed as an olympic weight lifter.
she has the dexterity in her fingers of a professional
skater. it takes years to develop. good throwers are
like great violinists, complete control of hand and finger
movement. millions of combinations.
as we age, we must learn new methods of throwing.
the carpel cartilage of the thumbs takes a great beating.
in fact, some of us have destroyed that part of our hands.
opening centered clay with our thumbs is the big nasty.
i now use my fingers as a claw, and draw the clay to me.
no more one fluid motion. i also use a large flat wooden rib
that has a handle. i can flatten the bottom of a pot with
almost no effort or strain on my hands. this is the result of
making thousands of pots over 45 years.
a very talented neighbor that has made pots for years...lots
of pots.....is going to have to have her wrists fused. no more
cartilage, and the bone is damaged.
my lefty story. (careful, you will start to cry.)
when i was ten, 1944, i was smacked on the back
of my head by a teacher. i was cutting out some project
with a dumb school scissor. (blunt and dull) she said `will you cut straight
and learn to use a scissor`. i had right hand scissors in
my left hand.
she did not have a clue. if i put left hand scissors in her
hand and told her to cut, she would have been helpless.
i then could smack her in the head with a brick...and yell
at her.
thank god the world has learned that for a lefty the world
is backwards. but, we do cope...and learn to think. but,
we also do not forgive very stupid people.
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.rid-a-tick.com
Lee Love on wed 20 aug 03
----- Original Message -----
From: "mel jacobson"
> as we age, we must learn new methods of throwing.
> the carpel cartilage of the thumbs takes a great beating.
> in fact, some of us have destroyed that part of our hands.
I over worked my thumbs when I built my woodkiln. I am
left-handed. My left thumb has reccuperated, but my right thumb is still
difficult to put pressure on. I was calling it a case of "brick mason's
thumb." Never thought you could strain your thumb with the simple act of
picking bricks up and setting them down.
Don't realize how much you use your thumbs until you can't use them.
Lee In Mashiko
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