Entering the art hallway, you can see the plethora of pottery arrangements decorating the tables lined against the walls. Ranging from bowls, pots, plates, and even more. As you walk into the classroom, many students are doing various activities, a student laughs whilst wheel throwing, the clay resembling something more like mush than a pot. While another student is focusing on hand building, their apron is dirty with remnants of dried clay, sleeves rolled up with a determined look on their face.
The pottery class has been known for the artistic crafts you can complete, being a class where you can not only work on your skills but also create anything your heart desires.
The class has multiple activities you can complete that changes every period, leaving students curious for what the next class assignment will be. Primarily, the class focuses on hand building and wheel throwing, the two skills that will ultimately be their midterm and final.
“We’ve made a couple bowls so far, or at least attempted to, and we’ve made a couple stamps,” said Marisa McCallum, a senior taking the class.
The class’s first assignment has been designing stamps, an instrument for stamping a pattern or mark, in particular an engraved or inked block or die.
Wheel throwing is the skill of shaping clay into their desired shape on a spinning pottery wheel.
“Wheel throwing – you just got to get the hang of it, and then you can make cool projects,” said McCallum.
Students so far in the class have tried to replicate a pot the teacher has made, however to no avail, with most of the time students getting frustrated and continuously commenting how hard this previously believed “easy” skill is. Despite this frustration, the final feeling of creating something successfully is unmatched.
Wheel throwing is a useful skill to gain for pieces such as cups, bowls, or vases. Being able to create flowing shapes with more precision compared to hand building.
Meanwhile, hand building is a traditional technique for shaping clay by hand, without using a wheel.
Hand building uses tools such as pinch pots, coil building and slab building to mold clay, generally being less messy than wheel throwing. Despite many thinking you’re limited with hand building, you can still make sculptural pieces with intricate designs, however it’s more difficult to achieve.
Introduction to Clay Honors has been a tedious process and journey for the students who have to overcome this learning curve. Despite this, the class has been filled with laughter, new experiences, and something to look forward to. The happiness that students of all ages experience when successfully completing a vase is beyond compare.
