Throwin' Clay

I have an amazing grandmother. The sort of grandmother whose house always smells delicious, who uses words like "davenport", who was eating tofu before you could buy it in just any grocery store and who is delightfully liberal and politically savvy. She will casually reference Deborah Madison as "little Debbie" since she just so happened to have known the Madison family while living in Davis, CA around the time my mother was born, before they moved to Berkeley.

While chatting with my grandmother last Sunday about her recent trip to Fiji for her 87th birthday, presidential candidates and the beginning pottery class Adam and I had just finished, she appropriately compared the satisfaction of pottery to making bread. I wish I could remember her words exactly, because she spoke so eloquently of what becomes of your perfectly wedged clay equal to what becomes of a well kneaded ball of dough left to rise.

Reflecting on my undergraduate education, International Environmental Studies (which has left me with a basic knowledge of of many global, environmental and social issues, and a deep, scientific understanding of almost none of them) I often wish I would have pursued an art degree instead. I am almost always thinking that I should have studied photography. Its easy to get lost in a daydream of being paid to travel and take photos...I often think I am bursting at the seams with creative energy. I lieu of yet another bachelors degree I may not use, I should just try to plan time for more creative activities. Painting, taking pictures, making prints and throwing clay.

Adam and I took a beginning wheel through Seattle Parks & Rec. We were hesitant at first, $180 seemed steep for an art class. After the first class class at the Alki Bathhouse; I think we both felt it was well worth it. As a passerby, I'd always been curious about the space at the Alki bathhouse. Its a tiny studio near the Alki Bakery. The half of the studio devoted to pottery is reminiscent of a summer camp craft house; shelves overflowing with donated glazes, a kiln, adult work drying on shelves with creations from the kids hand building class, and lovely pottery wheels. Our instructor, Janna, was patient and talented. She allowed us freedom to throw what we fancied, while demonstrating proper
techniques, often more than once for the student who missed it the first time around.

The session ran about ten weeks. We headed to Alki for class on Wednesday nights after work. Most Saturday's we spent in the studio too, working our way through fifty pounds of clay, each. Fifty pounds made me about thirty pieces of pottery including the slightly off center pieces from the beginning. Its amazing how glaze and a firing really showcases your mistakes.