Adventures of Life

Pottery Life Lessons

Watching a potter work is like magic. A lump of clay is transformed into beauty. Like many things in life, preparation is required prior to the creative part. I have been enjoying taking a pottery class for the past few months. I have had an interest in pottery for quite awhile, but never took the opportunity to invest the time and money into it. The class meets at a community center. There are no grades, and most of the students are medical or business folks.

Before

After: Not my work :)

There are several thoughts and life lessons for this pottery phase of life so far.

The first few classes began with demonstrations of making cylinders and bowls. The teacher made a comment about planning ahead with a piece. We all chuckled as we go with the flow hoping our lump of clay turns into something functional. He responded, well nothing turns out exactly the way you imagine. The real thing is only in your head.

This leads into the next life lessons of redemption and expectations. The teacher encourages us to keep everything that we make at first. This means that they are thick, short, asymmetrical pieces. One of the more experienced potters is excellent in redeeming pieces. She encouraged me " Just cut off the top and continue from there. It can be a glazing experiment. You can put a hole in the bottom to make a planter." The teacher says if there is an opening in the clay that something else can fit into, that is a success.

First piece...yes it has a hole. It, however, can hold something like keys :)

One of first pieces with a very thick bottom, but cute

Yes, there are many pieces that are not redeemable as a useful piece: hole in the wall, too lopsided to be structurally sound, or you simply do not want it. Not all hope is lost, you crumple up the clay and set it aside to be used later. There is a freedom to this. Few things in life have this freedom.

Before one ever gets to the wheel, the clay needs to be wedged. This is a process of getting the air bubbles out of the clay and aligning the clay particles. It requires pushing the clay down and forward repeatedly. In the end it forms a shape like a rams head. The clay is then cut and formed into the size balls you want to work with on the wheel.

Wedged clay with ram's head technique

In life, we get filled with air pockets of hurt, self pity, distraction, business, etc. It takes purposeful significant attention to squash these out. If these remain, we like the clay will explode when we cannot handle the heat/pressure of life anymore. Sometimes, it is outburts, retracting to be alone, or others.

Next step is forcibly dropping the clay on the center of the wheel. If it is not firmly "attached," it cannot be centered. After adding water, two hands are required to work together to apply pressure to center the clay. The clay changes from a wobbly flattened ball, to a smoothly rotating disc of clay. Skilled potters can do this quickly. When you ask someone how you know it is centered, often the answer is "you just know" or "you can feel it." The feeling comes from experience. If one tries to open up the clay when it is not centered, the piece will be wobbly and not structurally sounds. If walls are managed with the non-centered piece, usually one side is thicker than the rest. The walls can not be very high either.

Centering clay

Centered clay

In life, centering is important. My foundation should be Jesus. Like the clay, we start each day off center. It takes effort, pressure in the right places for the right amount of time to become centered. Reading the Bible, praying and/or journaling, worshiping God. It may mean leaving the phone in another room, going to a special place. I am trying to be more consistent with this. I can tell a difference. Ultimately, if we do not have a firm foundation, when life "falls apart" we simply crumble. If we are centered, there is often still hope even in the dark circumstances.

After getting better at centering, one can pull the walls up. This is done by applying the right amount of pressure (not too much and not too little). The pressure changes to form the height and shape. Responding to the pressure the clay will be a cylinder, vase, bowl. The skill and art is knowing where and how much pressure to apply. Another component of throwing is the wetness of the clay. It needs to be wet enough to be easy to work with, but not too wet that it is too slippery. In other words, just the right amount of mess :)

Pulling the clay to form walls

This is where the images in Jeremiah come to mind. This is were the transformation is evident. The thin walls, cups, bowls, vases, plates all start with the same process above. It is here that the difference happens. I have a new appreciation for God being the potter and we are the clay. Being a skilled potter, He knows exactly where and when to apply pressure and pull and push to form the shape he wants us. He knows what shape vessel we need to be to serve Him well. It is uncomfortable for sure, but we can trust He has our good in mind

Once a piece is made on the wheel, its time to think about wanting to trim it to make the bottom smoother or a different shape. Do you want to add a handle or not? Do you want to use slip to change the appearance of the glaze or just glaze?

The clay then dries and is placed in the kiln for bisque firing. Once a piece is bisque fired, it can stay that way forever. During this first firing, the piece shrinks. One of the benefits of bisque firing is the glaze can be washed off. Glaze is what makes the pieces look like glass after a second firing.

I think I have been stuck in the after bisque firing, but not fired with glaze in life. I am functional, but not at my full potential.

unfired, bisque fired, after second firing with glaze.

Once the glaze has been applied, the piece is at the mercy of the heat in the kiln. Each time something goes into the kiln, it is with expectation that the potter waits to see the final piece. Although there are many aspects that can be controlled, accounted for, known, the final product is not in the potter's control. The heat is what makes the components of the glaze react with components of the clay. It is the heat of life circumstances in combination that can initiate change for good or bad in our lives.

Glazing is a whole different aspect that one could spend years developing. Making glazes as well as combining them on pieces makes the pieces unique. The possibilities are endless. Once again, God creativity at work to make each piece individual. Well, are you ready to sign up for a pottery class?