Awaken Into Life Blog

My Foray into Pottery Making

Recently, I ventured into pottery making.  I started with pinch pots and coils.  My first lesson was utter bliss.  As the newest student, I enjoyed my solitary work while my teacher gently taught me the basics of working with clay.  How to cut a chunk off of my block of clay.  How to use my palms instead of my fingers to gently form it into a circular shape.

It felt so soothing in my hands, this freedom to create without pressure or expectations… the liberation of using my fingers in a different way.  Instead of forming the edges with my fingertips, I used the middle of my fingers, opposite my knuckles, to form the edges.  Whether I was pinching or rolling out little grey snakes with my hands to make coils, I just allowed my hands to do the work.  Grabbing stamps or tools as I needed.  Nothing, just immersing myself in the glorious letting go of it.  Letting go of planning or analyzing, just feeling and creating by instinct.  Receiving gentle guidance from my teacher, Steff, as she sweetly encouraged my work and demonstrated different techniques as I progressed.  That first day, I made four pots.  Each different and purposefully imperfect.  I imprinted them with patterns, symbols and words.  I created pieces from my heart.  I did what I wanted.

Was that the end of it?  No.  My pieces had to be fired in the kiln before I could paint.  When it was time to paint, I had to be intentional about colors and the types of paint I chose.  Some paints cannot be used together and others need to be fired at different temperatures.  Some require a clear glaze.  In addition, the colors you choose in the bottles are rarely the color of the finished project.  After they’ve been painted and fired once more, they are finished…  Ready to cook, eat, drink, or serve from.  Beautiful and useable and sometimes much different than your original inspiration.  The process of creating can be fun, spontaneous, interesting and surprising. 

Are you expressing your heartfelt creativity?  If so, how are you intentionally evolving it into something tangible or something that can be shared?

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2 Responses to “My Foray into Pottery Making”
  1. Sharon says:

    Love this site! Your sensuous feel of your pottery experience is very beautiful…the wise woman way!

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