Last week we looked at softening the clay and how that sometimes means being in times of intense pressure. While this is no fun, the rewarding part of the process is when you realize that you’re not alone in the rough times. I’ve admitted through this series that I know very little about pottery. I’m not an artist by any stretch of the imagination. And to be totally truthful, I thought last week was going to be the final installment of this series. Then a friend sent me a text reminding me of the final phase of making a lump into a useful treasure. Continue reading
Last week we looked at softening the clay and how that sometimes means being in times of intense pressure. While this is no fun, the rewarding part of the process is when you realize that you’re not alone in the rough times. I’ve admitted through this series that I know very little about pottery. I’m not an artist by any stretch of the imagination. And to be totally truthful, I thought last week was going to be the final installment of this series. Then a friend sent me a text reminding me of the final phase of making a lump into a useful treasure. Continue reading
Now perhaps this should have been last week’s post and maybe things are a bit out of order here. The past couple of weeks I’ve been reminded of a pretty important part of messing with clay. Before the work really gets started and before the lifeless lump of clay can begin to look like something it needs to be softened. But how does a potter soften the clay? 
I’ve never used a potter’s wheel and quite frankly not sure I ever will. But I think there’s a lesson we can learn about life if we look at what goes into making a beautiful vase, or anything for that matter, on a potter’s wheel. Each Wednesday this month we’ll take another look at the wheel from a little different perspective but for today let’s just think about getting ready to make something. We won’t even turn the wheel on yet. We’re just going to sit and look at the wheel and the lump of clay.