Throwing Clay Pots

I've always wanted to make something on a potter's wheel because it looks so cool! It's one of those things I could watch all day and the professionals who share snippets of their craft on YouTube and Instagram make it look ridiculously easy. 

Inspired by the Centre of Ceramic Art in York and The Great Pottery Throw Down that was on TV last November, I've been waiting for an opportunity to sit down and make a pot, and I finally found that opportunity. I mentioned in my last post that I was house sitting over Easter and it was an extremely pleasant surprise to me that the family own a manual potter's wheel. Upon discovering the wheel, I hurried down to Hobbycraft to buy a load of porcelain clay to give it a go. 

I cut off a slice, rounded it into a ball and threw hard onto the bat like I saw the potters do in the videos. I wet the clay and attempted to centre it on the wheel, my arms flopping around as it span because I didn't realise you had to anchor your forearms on the edge of the drip tray. I wet the clay more and more, squeezing it harder and harder, chasing it round the wheel because of my inability to steady my arms until I was left with a tiny, off-centre smudge of what used to be a good quality lump of clay. It was at this point I realised that pottery throwing is much harder than it looks on the internet and there is a reason only a select few do it as a profession, otherwise everyone would be making crockery for their kitchen.

I probably went through about 5kg of clay before I managed to centre it properly but that's okay because that 5kg of clay gave its life to teach me. After hours of perseverance, a numb foot from all the peddling and sore hands, I managed to get something that slightly resembled a pot. It was an ugly pot.

Revisiting some of the tutorials I'd watched the previous day from Ingleton Pottery and Simon Leach seemed like a good idea especially as I now had some (very limited) experience under my belt. A good night sleep and a 'Fast and Furious' marathon helped clear my mind from yesterdays failures and I got back to work. I eventually got the hang of it and experimented with manipulating the clay into different shapes until I was happy with what I'd made.

I'm really happy with the pots I've created and I've learned an extraordinary amount about ceramics. During my time at university I tend to stick with painting a lot so it was exciting to spend some time trying something new. I paint a lot of pots and vessels in my still life pieces so it could be interesting to use some of my own within the compositions. I plan do do this in the near future so keep your eyes out for that. If you ever get the chance to try pottery throwing you should definitely take it because it's super fun and you will learn a lot about something which has such a simple function that we take for granted everyday.