lili krakowski on thu 19 feb 04
I was told, lo these many years ago, that people who kick their own =
wheels have the wheel turning counterclockwise; while those who have =
someone else turn the wheel--as, I gather used to be done in Japan, and =
elsewhere I guess, the wheel runs clockwise.
Why? Because 85% of the population is right handed and right legged--we =
kick with the right leg, and what we kick turns counterclockwise. When =
we use our hands to turn something--as in stirring batter-- we work =
clockwise--and a wheel we turned with a belt would turn the same way.
The direction in which a motor driven wheel turns does not matter, and =
many potters can throw in either direction. Generally when throwing =
counterclockwise the right hand is outside the left inside, and the =
reverse applies to clockwise spinning wheel.
My head is now spinning clockwise, it is BEDTIME!
As to formulating one's own glazes. What to say? Repeatedly newbies =
speak of formulating their own glazes. Repeatedly their enthusiasm =
crashes against the seawall of reality. Mixing your own glazes =
requires: a basic knowledge of what different ingredients DO. To =
translate that knowledge from the printed page to the active part of the =
brain or whatever, one needs access to a kiln, a fairly large investment =
in materials, the time to mix stuff, apply it to test tiles, and fire =
it. I strongly feel one should have at least three bodies to test glaze =
on--that is, till one knows pretty well what to expect. One should be =
willing to use a basic glaze and then replace ingredients. One by one. =
(Robin Hopper has a flux exchange glaze in which he does just that. I =
think it is in his The Ceramic Spectrum book.)
To DO glaze stuff one has to have an enormous amount of a particular =
kind of patience, and be able to take a great deal of disappointment. =
It does not make one a better person to be able to do all this, nor a =
lesser person not to. I can do glaze stuff by the day, week, month-- =
Any sewing beyond a simple skirt/pants leg hem, or a few buttons drives =
me up the wall. There seem to be different kinds of patience. Today I =
saw a few caretakers taking seriously handicapped people for an outing. =
I could not do it. They did it with grace. Thank God for our =
diversities.
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
Lee love on fri 20 feb 04
lili krakowski wrote:
>I was told, lo these many years ago, that people who kick their own wheels have the wheel turning counterclockwise; while those who have someone else turn the wheel--as, I gather used to be done in Japan, and elsewhere I guess, the wheel runs clockwise.
>
>
The traditional wheel here in Japan, that is powered by the foot,
is primarily pulled by a bare foot, rather than being kicked, or pushed
with a shoe, as it is in the West. It makes sense to pull on a low
momentum wheel, because your foot remains in contact with the wheel for
a longer period of time and is better able to apply force. When you
center a large hump of clay, the wheel stops almost immediately, when
you stop pulling. In a sense, you are treading the wheel. I
will pull with my left foot and kick with my right. When I am trimming
and I want my left hand steady, I will kick with the right foot.
> Any sewing beyond a simple skirt/pants leg hem, or a few buttons drives me up the wall.
>
After I started studying the traditional way of sewing buddhist
robes (okesa and rakasu), I couldn't feign "not being able to sew." So
Jean makes me do all my own sewing since.
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