What should you know when coming to your first pottery class? Pt. 1
Thank goodness we humans are not mass produced! We might all be perfect, but we would lose so much of the amazing uniqueness, brilliance, and inventiveness and love that we are capable of.
That’s why, in our pottery classes, we remind each other often that “we’re not Walmart”!
Nothing against that company, it certainly is good for a lot of things.
But there are times in class, especially when someone is there for the first time, that they can easily get very frustrated, since their creation doesn’t look flawless like something they could purchase at that bastion of cheap necessities.
Not Mass Produced
How did we all get the vision of handmade perfection from the cheap mass-produced products available to us? Why do we think that anything we handmake should look like that?
I’m not sure, but it’s important to realize that
your pottery will NOT look like that! It’s not supposed to! Your hands made it—it should look like your hands made it, and not some cold, dead machine.
Flawlessness is not success in personally created pottery. Beauty, warmth, function and meaning define the success of a piece of handmade pottery.
Adjust your expectations. Accept that since you are early on in your pottery journey, your pieces will have more personality than beauty. They will have more meaning and satisfaction than function at first—and that is ok!
Instead of focusing on creating a perfect project, focus on the feel of the clay. Focus on the place creativity is taking you in your mind and heart. Focus on learning about the technique. Learn the vocabulary as you go…learning is rewarding in itself. Give yourself a big pat on the back for getting out to a class and doing something to care for yourself.
I’ll write more soon about your first pottery class, but for now, I will make a promise: if you come to my class, you WILL have fun, and you WILL leave smiling. Ok?
Register for classes with me here: buchananartgallery.org/clayclub
