Pottery class, Week 2. Threw four bowls, or tried, at least. Tore one right off the wheel (did I not knead the clay enough beforehand?). Made the walls of another bowl too thin. Caught the side of a third with an errant hand while I was reaching to grab a board. Salvageable, but when I left the studio I forgot to put wrap the drying bowls in plastic. They may be too brittle when I go in this week. A supercut of every beginner mistake imaginable.
I’m just starting to get a feel for the kind of manual pressure I need in order to center the clay on the wheel, and I’m told this is the toughest thing to learn. That pinky-edge-of-hand-muscle is getting a little stronger. I also practiced trimming a bowl I threw last week. Used a tool with a metal loop on the end, conveniently called a Loop Tool. Even before I started this class I’d heard, I don’t remember where, that when you’re working with wet clay you want to focus on the shape of the inside. Now I know one reason why: You can much more easily trim the excess from the outside. Get that invisible solid right and you’re in much better, um, shape. It’s the same way with novels.
