Pottery and Me
Somebody who I just gave my IG to: “Damn, you travel a lot….” (looks at the pottery post) ”ohhh wow, you’re pretty cool.”
Me: (swaying my head shoulder to shoulder) ”Thanks, its relaxing. You should try it!”
The Somebody: What made you get into that?
Me: (Then I explain)...
I started pottery in high school — well discovered it in high school. It was the last artsy elective before I had to do some weird non-artsy stuff. Honestly, I hated throwing! I couldn't center to save my life in high school, so I stuck to pinch pots and slab work. Like my weird obsession with yoga (I can watch people flowing into a downward dog for hours on IG). I started watching pottery, which made me want to try it again. In February 2021, I was taken to a pottery class as a date, and I signed up for the membership the same day!
After being on the waiting list for 6 months and watching other people center their life away, I was finally in! Gentle touches that cause massive moves it what drew me in. It’s literally the fastest prolonged process of all the creative things I do. Even longer than 3D printing, which can take hours. But it is the most relaxing and rewarding activity I can think of. I literally solve life problems while squeezing water from a little yellow sponge on a lump of clay.
As I said, pottery is a process and takes WEEKS to achieve the fruit of my labor. Before I list the phases to highlight the parts I hate (haha), I want to mention that I started this pottery adventure as a hobby that keeps me creative. You know the saying, “Find 3 hobbies you love: something to make you money, something to keep you in shape, and something to keep you creative”.
Money - Marketing (Influencer Marketing, I truly enjoy my job)
Fitness - Hiking up all the damn volcanos in the world… and mountains. (I’ve hiked more mountains than volcanos, but I have plans)
Creative - Pottery, 3D Printing, and blabbiddy blah blah. (this list is endless)
Pottery Phases
Greenware - Completely dry and no firing has been done.
Design: This is where my toxic trait exposes itself: I think of too many designs and plans that I don’t pursue.
Throwing: This is the part where I actually work with the clay. Getting it wet and sloppy makes it move the way I want it to. (get your mind out of the gutter)
Drying: (aka, a part I don’t like) The piece needs to get ‘leather hard’, dry enough to lift, and slightly wet enough to trim. This leads to...
Trimming: This is the part where I clean and trim it to the desired shape. It’s officially Greenware.
Bisque Firing: It needs to be completely dry before putting it in the kiln for the first firing, Bisque Firing! This is where pieces can touch each other, and you can stuff the kiln. This firing can take up to 10 hours BUT about 2 days to cool down before it can be opened. It’s officially Bisqueware after the first firing (first image below).
Disclaimer: At this point, I am about 8 or 10 days in. Depending on the weather, pieces take longer to become leather hard and sometimes even longer to fully dry. Timing also depends on the next firing batch; I might have just missed a load and need to wait. (I don’t have my own kiln, but soon enough.) However, when the pieces come out, I am halfway there! This is when I find out if I did an excellent job in the throwing phase. (if there are cracks at the bottom, then I probably forgot to compress or didn’t compress enough) Bisque firing removes ALL of the moisture from a piece, which ultimately shrinks the piece — sometimes, it’s no longer the size I intended. But let us continue...
Glazing: This is when I add color to the piece. The glaze is a substance of fine minerals and some other stuff mixed with water to make paint. For some reason, the color of the mixed glazed is different from the outcome, and the clay color can make the shades different.
Firing: Lastly, I wipe the bottom of the pieces and put them in the kiln for the last fire. The pieces CAN NOT touch other pieces, or they will stick together. Hence, I wipe the bottom so they won't stick to the cookie pieces. After this step, it’s officially Glazeware, the final product (second image below).
So far, I have thrown about 90 pieces, and 20 of them made to the last firing. (By the time I publish this, there would have been a lot more) When I first started, I made it a mission to keep this hobby as the creative hobby, and later change it to a money hobby. Of course, I would love a deal with Pottery Barn, or West Elm! But this part of the hobby is about learning techniques, tricks, and what I want my style to be. As I started to show my work, friends and followers asked if I am selling them, which I am considering. But for now, I am loving the peaceful no-pressure of perfection.
