Life | Confessions of A Potter
by Stacy Chan
Pottery
The activity or skill of making clay objects by hand.
Why Pottery?
I didn’t think too much when I signed up for my first lesson. It was ‘trending’ amongst my creative industry friends and I have always liked crafts. The idea of making my own tableware appealed to me. Little did I know, you don’t get to make tableware immediately (at least not at where I took my lessons).
I took lessons at a community centre near my house (TIP: community centres are way cheaper than private studios. The trainers are just as qualified, some also teach at said private studios).
I started with the hand-building technique before moving on to wheel throwing. In my first year of learning, I made a variety of items but none of which I would consider proper tableware.
Not tableware...
Fast forward 3 years, I now have too many cups, bowls, and pots than space to keep them.
Instagram credit: @xin_makes
The process of making wet malleable clay into solid structures such as functional ware and display pieces is really kind of amazing. It’s such a primitive but wide-ranging art form. Taking up pottery also made me realise how integrated ceramic items are in our lives, from daily use tableware, plant pots/vases to art sculptures!
Personally, the main reason why I enjoy pottery is that the whole process helps clear my mind from work and life in general, and trains me to focus on the task at hand. For those few hours, nothing else matters except me and how I want the clay to be. It can be frustrating when things don’t turn out the way I imagine but that has also taught me about letting go and going with the flow. There is always an element of surprise to pottery. That bit of uncertainly as the items are being fired in the kiln. No one can say for sure how it’s going to turn out. We just do our best and hope things turn out as expected, else we go with the flow and adapt, pretty much like how life is.
Destruction VS Success
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