Battling the clay god

I went to my first pottery class last Monday. The group of us that were new to it decided we wanted to start by learning to throw. I found it really difficult to get a lump of clay centered on the wheel. It felt like there was too much to remember so that I remained in control.

It was a battle of wills that most times I lost and what felt like promising shapes ended up more and more awry and eventually fell to pieces. This was simultaneously amusing and frustrating.

Later I e-discussed this process with a friend who is a potter and she described the centering process as I'd seen it demonstrated and it was more absorbable to me as words than it had been watching it. Reading it made more sense than seeing it.

No class this Monday as it's the Anzac Day public holiday but I'm really looking forward to trying again the following Monday. The two pieces I did make will be ready to have their bases shaped.