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Get Behind The Wheel

CANDACE C. MUNDY/TAMPA TRIBUNE

Student Evelyne (cq) Williams shows off her finished bowl which will now go to the drying stage during the 3rd week class of Beginning Wheel Throwing at the Carrollwood Cultural Center, 4537 Lowell Road.

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By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 19, 2008

Additional Photos

CARROLLWOOD - Pottery student Ann Long lifted the clay cylinder and studied its lopsided edges.

The bowl she created wobbled a bit but was stable enough to head to the drying rack.

Add another bowl, doggie dish and platter to the finished pieces in the beginner's throwing class offered once a week at the Carrollwood Cultural Center.

Long isn't exactly a beginner but has returned to the potter's wheel after a long break. When she majored in art at Rutgers University, she took classes in throwing and free-form sculpture.

At a recent class, Long struggled to regain those old throwing skills.

"I knew it wasn't centered. I just got tired of trying. I got frustrated," she said. "I'm finding you have to pay your dues again."

Long is among five students in a pottery class at the newly opened cultural center. A new session of six-week courses begin on May 5, with registration beginning on Monday.

"It's one of these things, your brain remembers what you did, but you have to connect your brain with your hands," she said.

Long figured she was being too timid and was using too much water. Once she found the right balance of water to clay and gained confidence, the muscle memory kicked in.

She also has rediscovered the therapeutic aspects of throwing.

"You get totally into what you're doing and everything else releases," she said. "You're just into the clay and trying to form something new."

Throwing is about controlling the clay, said instructor Gilda Butler.

The beginning class focuses on developing the fundamental techniques of creating a clay bowl or dish using a potter's wheel.

The method is called throwing because potters toss the ball of clay hard onto the middle of the spinning wheel. The suction between the clay and the bat, a removable tray that sits on top of the wheel, keeps the mound centered.

In this class, the emphasis is on quantity. Students create two pieces a week during the two-hour class.

"What I'm trying to teach them is the mechanics," said Butler, as she helped students pull up the walls of the clay cylinders.

Students start by using a thin wire to cut out 2

1/2

to 3 pounds of clay. They knead the clay into a tight ball, being careful not to fold in pockets of air that could weaken the piece later on. Compressed clay will mean a stronger piece.

Once in a sphere, the ball is thrown onto the center. Getting it centered is the most difficult and important part, Butler said.

If it is off-center, a piece can get wobbly and will eventually turn into a clumpy mess.

The rotating mass is then coned up and down with cupped hands to form a cylinder. The piece is opened up in the center, and its walls are pulled up while spinning at medium speed.

Students use wooden tools and a sponge to trim the edges, smooth out the sides and to wipe off excess clay.

"We try to learn to make the basic cylinder," Butler said. "The cylinder is the basis of everything you're going to throw."

Once the piece is an opened cylinder, potters decide whether it will be a cup, vase, bowl, dish or platter.

"It's just the process of learning to do it so that you control the clay," Butler said. "It's all about control."

Then there's learning the delicate balance of applying even pressure of the hands and fingers and the right combination of water so the clay doesn't drag.

Butler told students not to worry about shaping it, because an overworked piece will fall apart.

At the end of each class, the clay wares dry on the rack. After a week, the bowls and dishes are signed by individuals and spend another week drying before taking the first of two trips into the kiln for an eight-hour bisque firing.

Three coats of glaze are brushed on, the pieces are fired again and shrink more.

Student Evelyne Williams said she's not sure she likes working with the wheel and prefers free-form sculpture over throwing.

"It takes a certain skill, and I don't know if it's for me," she said. "I like to work with my hands without having to worry about the speed of the wheel."

Long knows that throwing is not all about control. Sometimes the wheel determines how the piece turns out.

"It's often a surprise," she said. "It's fun, and there's something new every minute. Even your mistakes can be made into something else. Then there's other times it just goes to plop."

Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.

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