Have you been influenced by....

[Thatch]

throwing pots? I would bet that most if not all of us have worked in clay at one time or another. I at one time wanted to be a potter and threw hundreds of pots, owned a wheel (Shempo) and a small electric kiln. I was wondering a few days ago how much the fluidity of form that is in a hands on way only available to those who throw has influenced my feeling and understanding of form.

I used to work in strictly geometric forms that started out being also symetrical. I later went assymetrical as I developed but I truly think that the forms were more a function of the materials than any aesthetics on my part since I was doing constructions in steel rod based on drawings done with a straight edge.

Now I am delving more into organic shapes and though the process is glacial in comparison to throwing pots I have been thinking about how the forms used to literally flow through my fingers and how that might have influenced how I look at organic form now.

So here is the question(s). How many have thrown pots, during what stage of your life, has it influenced you and what kind of forms do you make now?

Thatch

[Nina Florence]

Hey Thatch,

Thought provoking question. I too thought I wanted to be a potter. I have an AdvDip in Ceramics and spent 3 years at the wheel. I still use the wheel for some sculptures. Like to cut and paste. If I haven't been into the studio for awhile, I sometimes sit at the wheel and make hundreds of little Aladdin pots. Just to get the feel of clay again. My favourite tools are my rubber kidneys. Use them with every sculpture I do. I mainly just use my hands, which probably comes from potting. I got bored with potting and switched to sculpture but I am immensely appreciative of the skill. I understand clay and all it's possibilities. I have never got bored with firing!!!

Cheers,
Nina

[Ries]

I tried throwing pots in 9th grade, was a dismal failure at it, and have never gone back.

However, I have been influenced greatly in my sculpture by a few ceramic artists- sculptors, really. Some of whom threw pots, some of whom did not.
I was lucky enough in the early 70's to have a girlfriend who was a grad student in ceramics at the UW, in Seattle, so I spent months and months hanging with Howard Kottler- and, to a lesser degree, Patti Warashina and Bob Sperry- and learned a lot from all three, but particularly Howard, about sculpture in general.
I have also been quite appreciative of the efforts in ceramics of Dick Marquis (now mostly known for his glass work) Nirmal Kaur, Viola Frey, Jun Kaneko, Clair Colquitt, Clayton Bailey, Micheal Lucero (who was also a grad student of Howards at the time) Ken Price, and many more.

There are a lot of really great sculptors working in clay.

[cmustard]

I've always been attracted to the ritualistic approach to process potter's seem to have. I'd say that has influenced me.

Also the relation of form to touch ie....how things feel in your hands....cups, pots, goblets stuff like. I like to imagine how large pieces of sculpture would feel if we were able to pick them up and hold them in our hands.

[ironman]

Hi, Never threw a pot and never really wanted to. My only interest in this area was to learn how to fire a kiln and keep the explosions to a minimum.
I do like Peter Voulkos and Robert Arneson's work, just to add to the list that Ries had mentioned.
Have a great day,
Jeff

[jOe~]

Tired it once in college. Immediately went back to my first tool, that I found as kid, and still use today, a ball peen hammer.

jOe~

[HappySculpting]

I'm taking pottery class currently. Since I already work with water clay with my sculptures, the feel of the clay in my hands on the wheel is the same. I'm used to the organicness of it and the water smoothing it etc. It is a whole new ballgame, though, to learn to center and pull up a cylinder etc. I'm enjoying adding reliefs to my to my pots, cups, and platters. I sculpt the relief and then make a plaster push mold and add that relief on to the ware. Then I usually throw on a rose and some leaves along with that. So all my wares are embellished with stuff. It's all just for play and fun. I'll learn more later how this has impacted my serious sculpturing (is it a word?).

~Tamara

[Thatch]

Maybe I should add a bit to this. Once a person has the basics down on throwing pots and can pull a cylinder they have the ability to change the shape of the cylinder wall with the slightest pressure. The clay flows through your fingers, around your hands but the forms have to be basic or it falls apart. I am not refering to any process besides the actual throwing and the ability to make quick changes in a plastic medium that only allows simple organic shapes while the wheel is turning. I hope that makes sense. This has nothing to do with decoration, firing or any sculpting that might be done after the wheel stops.

Even the most skilled potter can only make simple, basic shapes. The more skill the thinner but the eye sees the outside only so it could well be solid. The reason I am inquiring about this is that the more carving I do the more basic my shapes are getting and the fewer hard edges I want, and then they are very deliberate and for design function only because hard edges are the most fragile parts of wood sculpture. The other day I was remembering about throwing pots and unless pointed tools are used in the finishing stages other than a lip and the bottom there are seldom any straight lines in a pot or vase and the curves tend to be gentle and organic in nature.

I would almost include glass blowing in this but you can't do it with your hands and it is a slower process even if the shapes are simular. Part of the thing about throwing is that it is quick and you use your hands and I can't think of any medium where this is possible.

(jOe~ get some really thick copper or silver wire and a cross peen hammer and you can really have some fun, but that is good for another thread)

Thatch

[Merlion]

So here is the question(s). How many have thrown pots, during what stage of your life, has it influenced you and what kind of forms do you make now?
My interest started with figurative sculptures. I have since expanded my scope in sculptures. I have also learnt elementary ceramics and have seen people thrown clay for firing.

But somehow the idea of making round ceramics objects does not emotionally click with me, be they plates, pots, vases, etc.