Words and Photos- Callum Webber-Smith
We arrived at Hands On pottery studio early in the morning, fueled a little bit by the caffeine we had at Caffe Fantastico before hand. When we got there, we learned about what types of clay to use, and how to make it more malleable or durable. The most important thing we learned, though, was the seven-step process for making pots. The artist in the studio said that the first two steps could take up to two months to master, so I feel like we did quite well! These first two steps though, coning and centering the clay, are definitely the most difficult ever. Moisture was really important! The clay would hurt your hands with the vibration and friction if it was too dry, and it would fly off the wheel if it was too moist. But once you reached that happy medium, you could sculpt the clay and move it around. But don’t worry, there were still more hard steps to come. Then you would create a dip in the clay, pull that out to make a surface, create a right angle corner at the bottom, fold the edges in, and then pull up the walls to the pot. At least it was straightforward. Besides that, it was incredibly hard. I’m guessing around 85% of the bowls and tumblers were warped or twisted that we made. However, that 15%, those were beautiful. Carys especially, spent 30 minutes working on a bowl. She wanted a bowl. She made a bowl. We all got to keep two bowls for firing. The rest we had to cut up. It might have been different for others, but being the indecisive person I am, it was heartbreaking to slice our pots in half. We’re not done yet though, we still have to glaze! And then Carys will have her gorgeous bowl.
We got lunch at the Hudson Bay Market. For those who were in boarding, as well as a lot of the day students, they hadn’t been here yet. It’s a very interesting layout, restaurants on the outside, and tiny little booths down the centre. We bought, or brought lunches, and ate at the tables. Mainly, we discussed the teachers at the school, what we wanted to make for mugs and bowls, and also (specifically John Duffey) criticizing me for being obsessed with the booth that sold agate and jade bracelets and astrological necklaces. This led to me giving a crash course in astrology, and then Mr. Wong telling us about his obsession with making or buying Chinese tea cups. We met in the middle by discussing Chinese astrology as a compromise. Finishing lunch, we headed back to the studio with sore fingers and sore backs, ready to finish our pottery. An exciting start to the year in this cohort!