linda rosen on sat 20 aug 05
I seem to get a couple of lefties in every class that I teach. I think =
they
are used to the idea that they are at a disadvantage with most tools and
assume that they need a special approach to throwing. I don't have the
option of reversing my wheels and teaching minutes are unfortunately
limited. I always tell the whole group that both hands are working =
together
(keep those hands linked!) as a single tool. What is important is how =
the
clay is entering and exiting fingers (4 o'clock, not 9 o'clock where you
gouge the clay whether leftie or rightie). All of this works well when
centering, raising, and shaping a pot but when it comes to using certain
tools like holding a pintool or wedge to clean up the piece I would =
imagine
there is some awkwardness for a strong lefty. Any one have advice on
teaching those finishing steps to lefties?
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of mel =
jacobson
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 1:51 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: throwing left handed
like standards of excellence, each finds their own way.
as a lefty, i found that my dominant hand was the left...inside
hand. in fact i think most western throwing is done with the left hand
as dominant.
i may be wrong...but i think your left hand is very well trained
even when you are right handed.
i started on a leach kick wheel. right handed...warren just said it
would be easier.
it is interesting that all japanese potters are right handed.
they have a strong right handed population.
they throw clockwise...the right hand is inside the pot.
hmmmm, interesting. just the opposite of western right handed potters.
they are skilled potters.
so, why if we throw counter clock...does not the left hand
dominate the throwing? just as the japanese potters right
hand is dominant.
????? no one ever answers that question.
working with tools is always a complex physics problem. that is
why critical thinking is important when you teach tools. think about =
it.
it is not emotional...`oh, i don't like this.` the american way..
it should be more natural for a lefty to throw counter clock.
it is poor instruction for lefties that causes a great deal of =
confusion.
i have seen it for years. i have had to straighten out many messes.
just like stephanie. and, as a left handed person...had to figure out
many ways to do it.
as will everyone that throws pots. you find a way.
it is easy to say.
`get kick wheels`...that is not the answer.
kick wheels take up a great deal of space...i could never fit
35 kick wheels into hopkins high art department...i got 35 brent c's
in there just fine.
many of the folks out there have the wheel they have.
you learn to adapt. if you learn left...well that may be it for you.
donald jackson, the calligrapher says that no one should put a
calligraphy pen in your left hand. does not work.
he claims, and i agree, if you start with the pen in your right hand,
practice...and not think of it as hand writing...you can become a
right handed calligrapher. same for pots.
it is a matter of training your brain, and your hand.
it is how you start.
i was never a bully with lefties...i nursed them along. showed them
how i did it....let them feel the power of the left hand inside the pot.
use legs to push clay. showed them how to use the entire body.
if a person thinks they are at a disadvantage with their left hand...
feel left out...well....they will not mature on the wheel.
i never had a lefty that did not take to counter/clock throwing.
but, they started with no previous information. they trusted what
i had them do. step after step.
to change is almost impossible. many with terrible throwing habits, and
man are they around...never change. many will have physical problems
much later because of it.
just the way it is.
mel
from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
http://home.comcast.net/~figglywig/clayart.htm
for gail's year book.
_________________________________________________________________________=
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Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
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Jennifer Boyer on sat 20 aug 05
Tell them to support the trimming tool or pin tool with the right hand
even when holding it in the left. I always seem to be touching part of
those tools with the right, using both hands. And i don't mean way down
the handle, but up near the part that's touching the clay.
Jennifer
On Aug 20, 2005, at 3:26 PM, linda rosen wrote:
> I seem to get a couple of lefties in every class that I teach. I think
> they
> are used to the idea that they are at a disadvantage with most tools
> and
> assume that they need a special approach to throwing. I don't have the
> option of reversing my wheels and teaching minutes are unfortunately
> limited. I always tell the whole group that both hands are working
> together
> (keep those hands linked!) as a single tool. What is important is how
> the
> clay is entering and exiting fingers (4 o'clock, not 9 o'clock where
> you
> gouge the clay whether leftie or rightie). All of this works well when
> centering, raising, and shaping a pot but when it comes to using
> certain
> tools like holding a pintool or wedge to clean up the piece I would
> imagine
> there is some awkwardness for a strong lefty. Any one have advice on
> teaching those finishing steps to lefties?
>
>
>
>
>
> from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
> website: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
> http://home.comcast.net/~figglywig/clayart.htm
> for gail's year book.
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _____
> __
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
************************
Jennifer Boyer
Thistle Hill Pottery
Montpelier, VT
http://thistlehillpottery.com
John Hesselberth on sat 20 aug 05
On Aug 20, 2005, at 3:26 PM, linda rosen wrote:
> Any one have advice on
> teaching those finishing steps to lefties?
Certainly. Get some wheels that are reversible. I peronally wouldn't
take a workshop or a class at a studio that had counter-clockwise only
wheels. And yes, I ask before I sign up.
Regards,
John
John Hesselberth
http://www.frogpondpottery.com
http://www.masteringglazes.com
Maurice Weitman on sun 21 aug 05
>[...] All of this works well when
>centering, raising, and shaping a pot but when it comes to using certain
>tools like holding a pintool or wedge to clean up the piece I would imagine
>there is some awkwardness for a strong lefty. Any one have advice on
>teaching those finishing steps to lefties?
Hi, Linda,
Thoughtful of you to be concerned.
I'm a "strong lefty" and throw on a counter-clockwise electric and kick wheel.
I have no problems using a pin tool, wedge, or any similar tool with
my left hand.
What difficulties or awkwardness do you imagine your lefties might have?
Regards,
Maurice, whose second-grade teacher tried to get me to write righty
by tying my left arm behind my back. It didn't work... I still
write, eat, and bat lefty (but I did stutter for the next ten years
or more).
Wayne Seidl on sun 21 aug 05
Yes, Jennifer, I always manage to stick myself with the needle tool
too
Wayne Seidl
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of
Jennifer Boyer
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 5:37 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: throwing left handed, beyond initial steps
Tell them to support the trimming tool or pin tool with the right
hand
even when holding it in the left. I always seem to be touching part
of
those tools with the right, using both hands. And i don't mean way
down
the handle, but up near the part that's touching the clay.
Jennifer
John Kudlacek on mon 22 aug 05
Linda,
Throwing, like playing the pianos, is an ambidexterous (sp)activity.
To prove that to my left handed students I kicked the wheel clockwise and
threw left handed. Problem was, the wheel spinning in the opposite
direction gave me vertigo.
Topeka
linda rosen on mon 22 aug 05
Maurice,=20
Hi and thanks for the response (and reassurance). I assumed when =
controlling
the tool rather than the clay was important, that a leftie would want to
hold a tool in the left, not right hand. When working at 4'oclock, they
would have hands crossed over. But, I am not teaching right now and I =
think
what I need is to more closely watch a leftie deal with my instructions =
when
I start back this Fall. I respect the fact that I am teaching adults and
they have long since developed their own coping strategies for life in a
right handed world-- many different answers to the same question. =
Actually I
believe this holds true for righties as well and consequently I teach
throwing principles rather than rules.
May the kiln Gods smile on your work,
Linda=20
What difficulties or awkwardness do you imagine your lefties might have?
Regards,
Maurice, whose second-grade teacher tried to get me to write righty=20
by tying my left arm behind my back. It didn't work... I still=20
write, eat, and bat lefty (but I did stutter for the next ten years=20
or more).
lee love on tue 23 aug 05
--- In clayart@yahoogroups.com, linda rosen wrote:
I assumed when controlling
> the tool rather than the clay was important
To me, the relationship of the dominant hand to the cylinder is more
important than the relationship of the hand to the tool. You can
always change directions to accomidate the tool, but the direction you
throw determines where your dominant hand will be.
> that a leftie would want to hold a tool in the left, not
> right hand. When working at 4'oclock, they
> would have hands crossed over.
What kind of tool Linda? I am a leftie, throw counter
clockwise and when I use a pin tool, I used it on the inside of the
cylinder in my left hand. Always makes sense to me, because the
trimmed edge is more likely to fall outside this way.
I hold trimming tools in my left hand trimming counter
clockwise. I can't imagine that this would be a problem. You just
need tools that are sharpened on the opposite side of right-handers,
if they are not sharp on both sides.
If direction were a problem, I'd simply spin the wheel in
the opposite direction to do what ever I need to do. When using a
jumping tool to make chatter marks, I will often turn either way,
depending on how I want the marks to look.
The biggest issue to me is having my dominant hand on the
inside of the pot. You naturally tend to get pots that are grown from
the inside, rather than ones contained from the outside, Pots that
are about volume rather than containment.
--
Lee Love
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://seisokuro.blogspot.com/ My Photo Logs
"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided
missiles and misguided men.
--Martin Luther King Jr.
Bill Seeley on tue 23 aug 05
The Japanese have seemed to cope fairly well with "left-handed" wheels!
However in the West, there are a few commercial tools, principally ribs and
throwing sticks that seem designed to be held by "righties". The solution
is simple: make your own left-handed versions.
I've been throwing "left-handed" since 1972 and the only real problem I've
found is in teaching. Ethically I don't feel justified in passing on
my "disability" (contracted from a "left-footed" kickwheel when I was left
unattended by my 1st instructor for my first month (he thought it was
charming!)) to new students. So I use a reversible wheel, demo "left-
handed" and teach them to throw "right-handed".
Bill
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