Four hours but it feels like one and as soon as I leave, I cannot wait to return. What is this place where I lose time? It is the school I now attend: a pottery studio. I have been taking classes and making pottery for just over 2 years. In this place, making noise when throwing clay on a metal wheel or getting clay on clothes is normal and expected. I like the messiness of playing with clay. Using clay is hard on the body because it requires leaning over a spinning, metal wheel, but it’s worth it. The instructors demonstrate the basic steps and multiple techniques for completing the steps but eventually each potter has to decide for themselves which techniques will work for them. Pottery allows me to turn what I consider a mistake into an interesting design so that it looks like I planned the mistake. In one of my first class sessions, I was not doing well, became frustrated, and almost left the studio early. However, my instructor stepped in and asked if I wanted to try one more time so I stayed and have never left. My classmates and I support each other by sharing tips and compliments. Over time, I have learned to say “try another day” when the clay is not working well for me.
Pottery allows me to experience both instant gratification in making different pieces (mugs, plates, bowls) within minutes but then requires patience to complete the rest of the process. After I complete the process there is nothing like looking at a piece I made and saying “I made that!” When I am using a wheel, I am not aware of anyone else in the studio or what they are doing. One time the wheel was spinning, I was forming the walls of a mug, and for 2 seconds it felt perfect – the speed of the wheel, the movement of the clay, and the placement of my fingers on the clay. It felt so strange and wonderful that I asked myself “what just happened”?
Several of my ancestors were artisans and so I wanted to find something that I could enjoy doing with my hands. In trying to decide, I recalled visiting a friend of mine in the art studio of the college we both attended. She showed me how to throw clay on the wheel and was surprised at how quickly I learned since she was the art major and I was not. So, that is how I decided to check out pottery.
