Mid-Summer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Honey Flow Moon<\/p>\n
Potting, something done for thousands of years by diverse human communities, is hard.\u00a0 At least for me.\u00a0 Kate seems to be getting it.\u00a0 We have a 6,000 year old Chinese pot at the MIA that is one of my favorite pieces in the museum.\u00a0 It is not easy and especially not easy to turn out something so pleasing in shape, execution and overall proportions.<\/p>\n
We start at 10 am at the Northern Clay Center. Leila Denecke, our teacher and a veteran potter, gives us a demonstration.\u00a0 This morning she showed how to make a honey pot.\u00a0 She throws “off the hump” which means that she actually throws the object on a larger hunk of clay known as the hump.\u00a0 This raises the level of the piece on which the potter works, an advantage in itself, and allows for following one piece with another and another, using clay from the same hump, working down from the top.<\/p>\n
Like most expert artists her hands work the clay with ease, as if any one could do it.\u00a0 From a lump of clay, literally, she fashions a small jar with a slight belly and a flanged mouth.\u00a0 With her wire tool she cuts its off the hump, raises the hump higher by creating a cone and creates a flanged top for the jar with a small handle.<\/p>\n
After the demonstration we go back to our wheels.\u00a0 Most of the class, experienced potters, then try to reproduce whatever Liela has shown us how to make.\u00a0 Refinement of their craft with feedback from a pro is why most of the students are in this class.<\/p>\n
Hands slick with slip we work at our various levels, one woman has her own studio, has had for twenty-five years, another sells work at art fairs, yet another came up here all the way from South Miami.\u00a0 It’s a varied group, 6 women, myself and Patrick.\u00a0 We’ve bonded a bit and will share a meal tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mid-Summer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Honey Flow Moon Potting, something done for thousands of years by diverse human communities, is hard.\u00a0 At least for me.\u00a0 Kate seems to be getting it.\u00a0 We have a 6,000 year old Chinese pot at the MIA that is one of my favorite pieces in the museum.\u00a0 It is not easy and especially … Continue reading Working Off the Hump<\/span>