Pottery with Esther

It’s a new year, so you’re probably wondering: Hey Carlo, got any New Years Resolutions?

No.

But you wouldn’t think that was my answer with the way I spent my weekend!

We spent an evening with Esther at ClayMates, a ceramic studio in East Van, to learn pottery for the first time in our adult lives. Esther gave us a tour of the studio and went through what we were going to learn:

  • Wedging: folding in the clay to prepare it.

  • Smacking (my word): mounting the clay onto the wheel and smacking it until it’s more or less centre.

  • Creating a puck: manipulating the clay into a puck shape.

  • Creating a bird bath: finding the centre of the clay and making a small bird bath-shaped hole in it.

  • Opening: making the hole at the desired depth, and then opening the clay towards you to make the hole into the width you want it.

  • Pulling: applying pressure inside and outside of the wall to raise the clay to the desired height and shape.

I found wedging to be frustrating. I kept getting clay stuck on the bench top, and it just wasn’t mixing as well as Ben’s mound of clay. Pulling was my favourite, because the motions of manipulating the clay that way felt the most natural.

I ended up making a small planter and a bowl. Ben made two bowls.

Would I do this again? I want to. I yearn to. I’d love to do a multi-week course to learn the process end to end, because you might be wondering: Well, now what? How does this become a bowl I can eat off?

I have no idea. I know there’s some trimming involved. They need to be dipped in glaze. And cooked in a kiln. But we won’t have the opportunity to see all that— Esther’s kind enough to work through all of that during her drop-in hours at the studio.

Classes to learn fill up fast. Even the classes at Claymates is booked through until August, and by then I’ll be wanting to spend my time outside in the warmer weather. So while this would be a great hobby to pick up, I need to think more strategically about how I can learn pottery next Winter.

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Day 1,071: Sunday dates on Main St