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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

To pot or not to pot...



I'll bet you thought I was going to talk about gardening here.  No...I've been reading blogs lately that have to do with cats, farm animals, knitting, cooking, gardening, and pottery...  and have found some great ones that I intend to follow

Pottery is a fairly new activity for me. I have played around with writing stories, sketching, water-color, photography, etc. for most of my life. But about 2 years ago, I decided that I would like to learn to throw on the potter's wheel.  So I signed up for some classes and have been at it ever since.  Working with clay is new to me and extremely enjoyable. I've a long way to go, but the process of getting there has been delightful.  Most of the people (or maybe I should say, 'a lot of the people') I'm working with have done this for 15 - 30 years... so-oo since I'm already 67, I doubt if I will ever be as accomplished as them.  But that's OK.

While learning to throw on the wheel has been my main focus, hand-built sculptures has provided me with lots of entertaining hours.  The picture at the top was the first part of our project for last semester... a stoneware dinnerware set.  It wasn't great, but I was happy that the pieces actually came close to looking like what they were supposed to be.  The second part of our project was to hand-build 3 trophy animal sculptures.  Well, the thought of animal heads on trophies put me off... so I decided to do birds... for whatever reason, it didn't seem so off-putting. 



 
I choose a rooster, a puffin, and an eagle...













I find working in this new medium not that different than some of the others... such as writing.  When writing sometimes the story takes off on his own volition; the characters taking on a life of their own. Well, sculpting seems to do this also.  Sometimes I plan to make something whimsical... but it pulls towards reality... or vice-versa.  With the wheel though, I find it a constant struggle to conquer it... but am beginning to realize that its not a matter of controlling it, but rather learning how to co-operate with it.  Again, I'm still very new at this.







8 comments:

  1. Oh, my gosh, I LOVE your stoneware set, it looks lovely. And your birds are amazing, at least IMO. Not having any artistic talent that I'm aware of, I'm always in awe of people who do.

    And in my case, I'm terrific at starting things (as evidenced by so many things in my house that are torn up but not completed), but terrible at follow through. I'd never have the patience and perseverance to carry through to truly learn a craft.

    -Kim (Musings on a Small Life)

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    1. Thanks, Kim. I may never make a living from it, but I do enjoy it... and that's something!

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  2. Thanks for becoming a follower on my blog ...I have repayed the kindness. I love visiting those across the pond ...what interesing lives ...and interesting people you all are. I love blogging ...mine is a mix of my life and my interests ...although i do keep my Family History seperate on G the P. Like you I am not very finanially well off in retirement but it makes one inventive and appriciate things. Most of my money goes on the cats lol
    Love your work ...will be back to have a browse over your past posts ...belated birthday wishes.xx

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    1. Angie, I feel the same. So many interesting people willing to share a part of themselves. I love reading blogs and sharing comments. Thanks for becoming a follower... and for loving cats!

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  3. I have just had a browse as prommised ...your Jack had an amazing expression on his face.....and the racoons are wonderful....how many ferals do you tend to? ...we have one stray...a large longhaired ginger and white, who calls for breakfast, on top of our 20 who are a mix of ... passed on to us, wanted, rescued ...and ones from 'oops how did she get pregnant'. I once did mouth to mouth on two new borns and they lived ...how could i part with them lol
    I was interested to see you enjoy 'Pie in the Sky' ...I loved it and often watch re runs....and Ella Wheeler Wilcox was my Nanas favourite poet. As a child I too loved some of the poems ....read from a book given to her by her loving late husband... especially the one that contains 'Laugh and the world laughs with you' xx

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  4. The place setting looks great to me. I loved your comment about not controlling the wheel but learning to cooperate. Isn't that the truth of so many things? I have found that I just have to be making something all the time in my retirement. I was never into arts or crafts of any kind, but lately I feel the need to create.

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    1. I have always 'felt the need'... used to write late into the night after coming home from work. But do find that now, after retirement, it nourishes me.

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  5. Jack is an amazing cat. He is one of 5 kittens that were left in our yard by their mother... and we took them in. But he is the 'heart' of the house-hold. He's intelligent, curious, very communicative, and has never met a cat or any living thing that he didn't like. Our ferals outside now number around 12.

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