Saturday, July 14, 2007

get off the wheel!

My greatest creative passion in life is throwing on the wheel. For me it’s fun, it’s easy, and I can make stuff quickly, which suits my impatient and snappy nature. When I arrived in Japan, the first thing I did was start throwing on the wheel, but I wasn’t making anything that excited me. So I threw a bunch of the local porcelain, the shortest porcelain I’ve ever thrown. But I conquered it after a few hours and didn’t know what to do after that. I’m obsessed with nesting bowls and I’ve always wanted to find the time to do a nesting set of 18, so I figured I would work on that. Did that… bored with myself again. Then I thought I would assign myself a task; no more throwing for a week, only handbuilding. I have never gotten into handbuilding. The last time I handbuilt anything was back when I first took a pottery class and had to take the handbuilding before I took the throwing class. I barely scraped by with a “C”. And I handbuilt the leaf platter but that was a nightmare for me.

So, I rolled some slabs on Ryoji’s electric slab roller; so great cause I can drink coffee while my slabs roll out. I made an awful box, but I had fun. Then I made a few lily pads, kind of falling back into old habits, but at least they were not thrown. Then I made this vase you see here, and I think I love it. And I think I love handbuilding too!

3 comments:

  1. This piece is beautiful whitney! it's different than your usual style (as pictured in your blog) both in shape and design. The 18 nested bowls sounds amazing. i hope you'll post a picture of them some day.

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  2. Hi! I have recently found your blog...and as a temporarily sidelined potter, I am living vicariously through you, (hope you don't mind!) Having never given myself the time to conquer the wheel, (although I yearn to learn), everything I have ever made has been handbuilt, so, glad to see that there are two sides to every coin! And your piece is beautiful...as is everything I have seen thus far. I am so grateful to you for sharing your journey in the world of clay and beyond with us! Thank you. ~Amy Giles

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