primalmommy on tue 21 jun 05
Teaching folks to center: there is nothing like the visual information
left over from watching mel -- years ago, now -- center somebody's clay
for them -- by bracing his thigh behind their elbow.
I will not center clay for my students directly, not the big biker-dude
or the 7 year old with arms like spaghetti. I just ask permission, and
then come around behind them, grasp their elbow and guide their forearm
-- pushing that ball of clay as if headed PAST center. "If your elbow
doesn't move, that clay will center." Everyone who watches that demo
then sets about finding a way to keep that elbow braced -- against the
body, on the spash pan, against the other hand, whatever.
I find I repeat the same lines over and over. There are so many things
to keep track of at once, when you're starting -- like every kid who
learned to water ski behind our little speed boat. "Knees together, lean
back, let the boat pull you, bend your elbows, bend your knees...." All
shouted form the boat at once.
I start by a demo, and it's the first time they hear my oft-repeated
reminders, usually with a visual example.
I remind them to both reach for and release the clay gently -- then I
grab or yank a cupped hand off a centered cone and let them see the
wobble I created.
I tell them over and over -- "anchor that elbow!" Once they center, and
let the left fingertips ride the top of that form until they "feel"
where to sink the hole -- they want to bend the wrist, lift the elbow
and just poke away. Bad idea.
I tell them, "never touch the clay when it's not spinning!" (A few
exceptions but not relevant to beginners.) They stop the wheel and want
to smooth out a spot, mop a puddle, straighten a wall, whatever -- and I
explain that when a pot is spinning again, that little fingerprint will
be magnified every time you run across it.
Mostly, I say "Slow that wheel down!" They center at bat-out-of-hell
speed, which is fine with me, but then they have to crank it way back
and get that foot off the pedal. Depending on the make, some wheels will
speed up when the student leans forward.. and some students "drive
faster" as they get excited about what they are doing.
Before I sit down to show students anything I offer a reality check.
Kids seem especially to "hear" this message and accept it as a
challenge.
I say, "Throwing is not as easy as it looks. It's not something you can
just pick up, first try, and start cranking out punch bowls and
casseroles. Think of it like playing piano -- it takes a lot of practice
just to get your hands to do the right thing, and then for a while, you
can't expect to produce anything too spectacular. Practice, practice,
practice will get you there but you are going to screw up a lot of pots
along the way. If you are the kind of person(/kid) who quits when you
can't be great at something right away, you might not be a potter. But
unless you quit, I promise I can teach you how to do this."
Then I send them all home after the first class with the assignment to
look at pots. Your coffee mug, dishes at restaurants, stuff in stores --
look at feet, feel handles, think about lids and knobs.
Tony wrote something brilliant once about our learning curve as potters
-- I hate to paraphrase badly, but it's about how quickly we progress at
first (from "look, I centered!" to "look, I made a pot!") and then how
challenging it is to keep up with our own aesthetic as we learn to make
GOOD pots.. and then how hard it is to gain an inch when you're a good
potter.
I think of that a lot. "Getting there" reminds me of when I was a kid
and a glorious rainbow arced over our summer country sky. We told my
parents we were going to cross the farm field to see if there was a pot
of gold. They smiled at each other and let us go.
It was right... THERE... until you got closer... then it was one more
field over.. then behind those woods up ahead...
I feel that way about becoming a "real potter" only this time I'm not
turning to walk back to the house, ever. I'm a few days shy of 44 and
plan to have a hundred years all together, so I have time.
........................................................................
........................................................................
.........
Here's what I wish I had known when I started:
Trying to center before you have learned to properly choose/wedge clay
is like learning to surf on an ironing board... or learning to ski with
2X4s strapped to your feet. Without the background to know that the clay
you are working with is too hard, has wet and dry spots, is full of air
bubbles, and has not been wedged to make it uniform and plastic, folks
jump to the obvious conclusion: "I have no talent." And bagged clay is
too damned hard. It took me a 15 years and a new pugmill to figure that
out.
So people who stuck with it and became potters must share some trait
that kept us from quitting. Pig-headed stubbornness? Self confidence,
warranted or otherwise? Who knows.
Yours
Kelly in Ohio... up early these mornings to take one kid to day camp,
then back to the studio deck under blue skies ... three wheels, one
project on each in various stages, one platter with paper resist to
paint slip over ... one piece of a two piece bowl stiffening in the
breeze.. one pot waiting to be trimmed.. and me, the queen of ADD,
running back and forth between them. Molly follows me around like the
boys never did, doing what I do.. throwing a pot, cutting paper shapes
to stick to it, even whistling back to the bird who repeats..
"peeee-weeeee...... peeeee-weeee... " I asked molly if she could play it
on her recorder. She thinks it's an E and a B...
Happy Solstice to all in my hemisphere, the "full" day, w/ an
almost-full moon, over almost-ripe gooseberries, ripening cherries,
still green raspberries, lavender blooming and bees a-buzzing.. Summer
time, sang Janis (to my generation), and the livin' is easy...
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Vince Pitelka on wed 22 jun 05
Kelly tells her students:
> "If your elbow
> doesn't move, that clay will center." Everyone who watches that demo
> then sets about finding a way to keep that elbow braced -- against the
> body, on the spash pan, against the other hand, whatever.
Kelly outlines the most important points in her post, and as usually, states
them clearly. The above is especially good, because it emphasizes the
importance of allowing each person to utilize their own body geometry. Part
of learning to throw comes from watching and listening to other people, but
part of it is always by the seat of the pants. Each person has to figure
out what works best for them, and it is the teacher's responsibility to show
them the range of possibilities and help them find their way. That's why a
rigid set of guidelines often dosn't work. Too often, people teaching
throwing try to insist on the exact technique that was successful when they
learned.
One other important thing to think about - the strength for centering does
not come from the arms. Control comes from the arms. The necessary
strength comes from the muscles in the hips, back, and thighs, and those are
very powerful muscles. As long as the student can anchor their elbows in a
way that transmits force from the thighs, waist, and back, they will be able
to learn to center without a struggle. With the elbows anchored against the
thighs, hips, or torso, and with the hands braced against each other and
against the spinning lump of clay, the student has only to roll their hips
forward in order to transmit a powerful force against the clay. If they
understand the simple physics and geometry of centering, it usually comes
quite easily.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
Michael Wendt on wed 22 jun 05
Kelly,
Well written. I also add to my speech the following:
The start of any pot is like a three legged stool...
the first leg is perfect wedging
the second leg is perfect centering
the third leg is perfect opening
If any one of the three base steps is done poorly, the pot is much more
difficult if not impossible to form.
Then I let my students throw off the hump I have wedged. centered and
opened.
They find it gloriously easy to throw when the three basic steps are done
for them.
After that, they are taught to wedge, center and open and better understand
what the goal is and how the clay needs to feel if they are too succeed.
Regards,
Michael Wendt
Wendt Pottery
2729 Clearwater Ave
Lewiston, Idaho 83501
USA
wendtpot@lewiston.com
www.wendtpottery.com
Victoria Cherney on wed 22 jun 05
Kelly,
How eloquently you write of a primal struggle, of the challenges of
centering and the marvel of stilling ones hands and arms until the
clay turns with the smoothness of wood on a turning lathe.
Throwing isn't easy. I'm don't see myself as advanced enough to call
myself a "potter," (...as if there is a definable threshold which,
when crossed, qualifies one to link oneself with that beautiful
label). I had thought, however, that, eons ago, centering had ceased
to be an element of throwing which required special attention. A few
days ago I spent 35 minutes attempting to center 8 lbs of somewhat
stiff porcelain, with great gobs of the clay being siphoned off by my
hands as my efforts became more aggressive. When I finally withdrew
my sore arms and scraped hands and stopped the wheel, I had a flat,
disfigured, sticky, mucky mess on my wheelhead. I scraped the clay
off the wheelhead and spread it out on plaster to harden up. That was
it for me for the day (and for several days). When I leaned down to
turn off the wheel's power switch, I noticed that the wheelhead was
set to turn in reverse. If, the moment before, I had retained any
pride in my ability to manipulate a lump of clay, that bit of self got
thwacked and flattened and done in.
The passage of a few days finds me feeling happily humbled, as well as
really, really stupid (especially now that you folks all know that no
idiotic mistake and pathetic absence of awareness is beyond my
capacity). I am reminded not to lose respect to the core process of
centering, which I had taken for granted as something mastered. I'll
bet that in the future I will be pleased and even joyous each time I
center a lump of clay.
Thanks for helping me put my centering experience into perspective.
Victoria
On 6/22/05, primalmommy wrote:
> I say, "Throwing is not as easy as it looks. It's not something you can
> just pick up, first try, and start cranking out punch bowls and
> casseroles. Think of it like playing piano -- it takes a lot of practice
> just to get your hands to do the right thing, and then for a while, you
> can't expect to produce anything too spectacular. Practice, practice,
> practice will get you there but you are going to screw up a lot of pots
> along the way. If you are the kind of person(/kid) who quits when you
> can't be great at something right away, you might not be a potter. But
> unless you quit, I promise I can teach you how to do this."
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Bruce Girrell on mon 27 jun 05
Michael Wendt wrote:
>The start of any pot is like a three legged stool...
>the first leg is perfect wedging
>the second leg is perfect centering
>the third leg is perfect opening
OK, I think I have a pretty good handle on properly preparing the clay and I
think that I do a pretty good job centering. But what constitutes a good or
poor opening?
My objectives in opening are
1) proper and uniform bottom thickness
2) uniform wall thickness
3) even top edge
I usually keep the wall quite thick at first so that straightening of the
top edge can be accomplished with compression, if necessary.
What qualifies as a proper opening for you?
Bruce "opening up a can of worms" Girrell
Michael Wendt on tue 28 jun 05
Bruce asked what I consider proper opening.
Many students over the years have had difficulty getting even pots because
they open off center. Any method that opens on center is fine with me.
That's all.
Regards,
Michael Wendt
Wendt Pottery
2729 Clearwater Ave
Lewiston, Idaho 83501
USA
wendtpot@lewiston.com
www.wendtpottery.com
Bruce wrote:
My objectives in opening are
1) proper and uniform bottom thickness
2) uniform wall thickness
3) even top edge
I usually keep the wall quite thick at first so that straightening of the
top edge can be accomplished with compression, if necessary.
What qualifies as a proper opening for you?
Bruce "opening up a can of worms" Girrell
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