Mammogram and Pottery

Mammogram done in the AM.  Home for lunch and then back out for my first Pottery class.  I was alone as neighbor Jessica backed out.  This was good for me.

I called Lindsay (the instructor) to see if my being alone would present a problem.  She said no.  I had one to one instruction for the first steps of pottery making.....'hand building'.  

Much like I did in Kindergarten I rolled out the clay....marked it and started making a circle with it.  Repeated this several times...one ring (coil) on top of the other. [In Kindergarten we rolled a ball of clay and stuck our thumb into it and called it an ashtray.  Rich pleaded with me not to bring home a bunch of ceramic ashtrays]. OK, I've got this ...now what?   Slabs.

By this time I wanted to stop and said I'd watch her.  That looks like fun.  Grab a chunk (slab) of clay and throw it hard onto the table to flatten it out and get rid of any air pockets.  Then mold it around a shape.....hmmmm this is looking more interesting. This has to be good therapy for working out stresses.  When 'working the clay' my mind is totally on the clay and the outside world does not exist. 

We stopped at this point and I asked Lindsay if $20 for a 1½- to 2 hr class is correct?  I'd noticed a fee schedule in the other room which read $50/hr for a one to one art class.  Lindsay said she couldn't charge me that much because she's just starting to teach. She's not the owner of the studio. 

It's amazing to me how things come about.  I'd always wanted to try this. I'm probably the only person I know who didn't take a ceramics class at some point in their life.  I didn't think I'd want to do ceramics, but working with the 'wheel' had special appeal for me.  Apparently 'Ceramics' and 'Pottery' are used interchangeably, but Pottery is done on a wheel.  Learning the basics of how clay feels, why water is used and how to get the air pockets out, is where I'll be for a few more lessons. I'm going to like these classes..can't wait to work with the wheel.