My Sophomore year in High School I took a ceramics class with my two best friends. I really disliked the teacher and the set-up was a little pathetic: thirty kids in the class but only four pottery wheels. Still, the class became one of my favorite classes in the entire four years. I attribute most of that to the fact that we were largely unsupervised in the class and, like I said, I had my two best friends with me, but we took other classes together and I didn't enjoy them as much as ceramics. I think there was something so therapeutic about molding, sculpting and just playing with the clay that really resonated with me.
As a fifteen year old I had grand visions of becoming an amazing potter as an adult. I would dig my own clay out of the earth, spend hours in my pottery studio, fire my amazing creations in the kiln I made myself in my backyard and sell the finished products for thousands of dollars. Sadly, the class was only one year and since it had fulfilled the art requirement I needed to graduate, there was no reason to take another class. I never really thought about it again.
A few months ago a friend of mine emailed me about a Groupon deal for a two-session pottery class. I jumped at the chance.
A while later the two of us found ourselves at the class, armed with clay and sitting at a potter's wheel. Once the wheel started spinning and I felt the clay under my hands, all my grand visions of backyard kilns and thousand dollar creations came flooding back to me.
The teacher had a simpler vision: we could create two pots. And here they are:
It took three hours. Three hours with no kids, no laundry, no cooking. Three hours to hang out with my friend. Three hours to mold, sculpt and play with clay. It was wonderful.
We left our pots there to be fired in the kiln. Several weeks later we went back to glaze our pots (something I have never done before). I made them look like this:
A few days later our pots were all done and I went and picked mine up:
Still, I'm not going to wait another ten plus years to get my hands dirty again!
I LOVE that purple and blue one!!!!!! So cool!
ReplyDeleteLILO AND STITCH LILO AND STITCH LILO AND STITCH AAAAHHH
ReplyDeleteUsually I vaguely recognize your titles, and sometimes can tell where they are from (or I ask Nate) BUT I GOT THIS ONE BECAUSE I HAVE THAT WHOLE MOVIE MEMORIZED LILO AND STIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH.
I told Nate that when Toby is old enough to supervise himself (how old is that? I'm going with 7, or I will cry myself to sleep) we are going to take ballroom dance classes for real. Not community classes this time, they are too creepy. Real ballroom classes. Also, I want to get into archery because I am good at it. Who knew that a legally blind person with a burst retinal vein could get several bullseyes in a row?
(PS Lilo and Stitch.)