Playing with Pottery

After the animals have been cared for in the evening, and after Zach comes in from blacksmithing in his forge, we start to play.

I make myself a cup of tea and we pull up a PBS special on our tablet. The Craft in America series are some of our favorites, or the always entertaining Roy Underhill, who's puns and playful humor brings back so many memories of my father that sometimes I get choked up with a melancholy laughter that brings tears to my eyes. So with the comforting voice of some artisan or historian softly playing in the background, we play with our clay.

Zach has been the driving force in this new hobby. I'm learning that as artists, he is much better at conceptualizing 3-D art like sculpture, wood carving and pottery, where I am better at color and putting things on a one dimensional plain like painting, drawing and photography...so needless to say, he is much better at it than I am.

Our grandiose potter's wheel is nothing more than a battery operated toy. But it spins, and at this point that is all we really want. It's letting us play and get a feel for this craft, for the clay and how our hands fit into the mix.

I've yet to create anything worth keeping, the last two lopsided bowls in the collage above are examples of my handiwork. But Zach is already getting a feel for things and he's had a few items turn out pretty decent. I can see his mental gears turning and he keeps mentioning design ideas for how he can make an actual wheel from a small motor and other various parts. If I know him, he will make one, and it will work great. But for now it's just fun and very soothing.