Day 4 was given to us as a ‘free day’ in which we were able to work on whatever we wished. This could include trimming old pieces, or perhaps attempting to throw something more challenging. I tried to use this time as best as I could whilst I had the assistants around to advise me. I practiced wedging my clay, but decided the spiral method was too difficult; something I will try to master in the future when I have more time. So I mainly spent my time throwing, unfortunately most of my pieces proved unsuccessful, or at least not my best. I think this is due to the fact that I had been throwing all week, and this type of work really demands the correct mentality, posture and focus. If one becomes easily frustrated from the beginning, it is common for the rest of the work to go downhill from there. However this I didn’t mind, because with every mistake I made, I learnt what no to do next time. The annoyance and effort of having to clean the wheel head, prepare more clay, get it centered, results in a lot of pressure riding on some very minimal and gentle hand movements when shaping the clay. In an instant, if you move too quick, or take your hand off the clay incorrectly, it can push everything off center and before you know it the momentum of the wheel is opening and distorting your piece more and more. I cannot deny I am learning so much about how clay works, what it likes, what it doesn’t like this week. As you can see here, I broke one of the bowls I made. This was such a shame because I loved the shape of it and I felt I had trimmed the foot stool so well. However the walls were so delicate and thin, so I paid the price.
Because I am no longer making pieces to take home, it doesn’t matter if they are a success or indeed finished. It is very helpful sometimes to cut a cross section to view the thickness of the walls throughout the piece. A lot can be learnt about your throwing from this.
Success from Day 4: Lots of practicing, lots of learning, and lots of mistakes!
Lauren Cattle 