I spent most of today at Eastnor Pottery, practising my throwing. I don’t actually need any more plates/bowls/mugs at the moment – I have a house full of them already and haven’t broken any recently to necessitate making more. And it’s too close to Christmas now for me to be able to get anything thrown, turned, decorated and fired in time to be Christmas presents.
I decided that I could really do with sharpening up my throwing technique. So I spent several hours repetitively throwing the same basic shape on the wheel, with a standard-sized lump of clay (~600g), throwing cylinder after cylinder. Once I had finished each one, I cut it in half with a cheese-wire to look at the cross section, so that I could see how even (or otherwise) I was getting the base and walls of the pot. As the day progressed, the pots got taller and thinner from the same sized starting lump, so I could see that my technique was improving.
I’ve come home pretty tired from all the concentration, and with a stiff back from hunching over the wheel. It’s surprisingly physical, and I’ll feel it in my legs and upper arms tomorrow. But I feel that it was a day well spent, and I always enjoy spending time at the pottery. It’s a very peaceful atmosphere, and the time just flies by.
