(Ceramic piece in place in a collector's home)
Recently our family has enjoyed the HBO show "Pottery Throw Down." Besides the obvious entertainment value of the show, it has me reminiscing about my own ceramics journey.I was just finishing up my last semester of my art degree with an emphasis in Painting and Drawing at the University of Utah when I signed up for a wheel thrown pottery class. I had always wanted to take that class, but just hadn't found the time to do it. The first assignment was to throw a 6" cylinder. It seemed easy enough until I realized that for me, it was almost impossible to center the clay.
After futiley trying for several hours, I called my wife to tell her I wouldn't be coming home until I figured this out. That resulted in four days where I don't remember leaving the seat of the wheel. After completing the assignment, I promptly went to the office of the register to sign up for a further two years of pottery classes before graduating vowing to not leave the University until I had conquered this medium. Of particular interest to me where the Shino glazes and the lusters and iron oxide effects from slight chemical alternations. I continue to be attracted to similar effects in my paintings.
Have you ever tried wheel thrown pottery? Did you find it as difficult as I did?
-Tyler
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