throwing class #2 🎡

 I'm back on a 6 week throwing course at the studio! 

My first discovery on the course was that I think I had forgotten I'm meant to have the pottery wheel turning anti clockwise, and that could probably explain why my attempts haven't been going super well at home.

So my attempts at centering last night went better. And it appears that when I'm centering I often get a bit of clay right at the bottom (closest to the wheelhead surface) that doesn't get centred (cause it's just a tiny bit under my hands that's not going to be thrown). And then this wobble coming from the bottom makes me skeptical about whether my actual throwing clay is centred or not. So I need to be conscious of this and maybe remove some of the extra gumpf at the bottom of the wheel after initially trying to centre.

Anyway, here's 3 pots I started. I made a 4th but it died 🥺

The first one I had fun with making a different shape, and then also messed up picking it up off the wheel.

A general cylindrical shape.

I messed up the top on this one so I decided to see what would happen if I kept constricting it further and further, and I managed to close it off - it's a bit wonky though! Also I have no idea how much water is trapped inside, so I will try to drain it next week.

Testing out my cheap 2nd hand wheel 🛞

 

I had today off from work and a couple of hours to spend before an appointment, so I set up the 2nd hand wheel that I had bought online. It's a generic model, I don't think it has a specific brand or manufacturer, but it's easy to find if you search pottery wheel on various popular websites. I've seen this wheel sold new from anything between £100-150, but I got it 2nd hand for £80 including postage. I thought it's a fair deal for figuring out whether pottery at home is feasible, for me, a newly obsessed person with a tendency to forget about hobbies after a while.

General Points

• The wheelhead is noticeably small when throwing, 25cm in diameter or so, but I think it will be big enough for me to create small items like mugs, bowls, small plates, etc.
• The splash pan is easy to remove and reattach after cleaning.
• The speed control is not perfect but it's enough for me to have fast, medium, and slow speeds for each stage of throwing.
• The height is low, many people have said this for these cheap wheels. I think it's less of a problem for me as I am small, but I am still crouching like a gremlin. I think it'll take some time to get used to the needed posture here.
• I'm using a cheap foldable stool/step that I had in the kitchen to sit on.

Experience

Now I'm a beginner and will continue to be so for a while - so take my thoughts with a pinch of salt. I think this wheel will be sufficient for me while I'm still in the beginner and earlier intermediate stages. 

When centering, right at the beginning, I found the clay got a bit all over the place; more so than my experiences at the pottery studio (I think they have Shimpos and one other fancy wheel). But after the initial chaos everything worked as expected.

I'm going to admit; this session I only threw 2 pots, and I bet I had some slight off centre bits in my clay because I was impatient and very aware of the impending appointment I mentioned. I will give it all another go at some point soon and if there's anything new to report I will add it in!

In Other News

I finished my previous book, Butter by Asako Yuzuki, and started The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin. It's... as it looks and sounds, another in the cosy East Asian fiction genre that popped up over the past few years. I'm enjoying it a lot, I'm sure a big part of it is that it mirrors in some ways my own introduction to ceramics; but it is just a nice and chilled out read. I may even check out the author's other books or some other ones within the genre.