A Student at the Wheel

I have a student. Since I have an electric wheel now, it seems like the right time. I am enjoying teaching. It's been a long time since I had a wheel student. 

My student's pots, with two already trimmed and drying, and the rest awaiting trimming. There are two covered jars!

My student's pots, with two already trimmed and drying, and the rest awaiting trimming. There are two covered jars!

I am reminded of my own wrestling with stoneware in Ceramics I in college, when I see this adult student grappling determinedly with individual ideas and motions and putting them together bit by bit into a whole process. I remember my own nascent desire to succeed at conquering the formless mass that is clay, and to put my own sensibility into it. It was hard. But I worked at it continually, and eventually I got it. My student will, too.

Working at the wheel is a metaphor for creative learning. You need to bring together body and mind to  produce an object on the potter's wheel. You need to hone both to make really good objects.

Posted on May 29, 2014 .