Thank you so much for doing this video. I am legally blind, tho I do have light perception. I can only see with any clarity at a few inches from my face. Anything beyond that is a total blur. In addition, I have loss of peripheral vision too. My husband & our daughters sort of tease because I often throw with my eyes closed, esp when centering. It’s really tough for me to center with open eyes. The circles the blend of water & clay make on the wheel head throws me off terribly. I highly recommend taking the time to throw pots with closed eyes or even more-so, with a blindfold. It makes you use your other senses, which I believe makes for a better potter. Something I do that I didn’t realize until one of our daughters pointed it out, is that I compress my sides, esp when I’m cleaning up throwing lines using a finishing sponge on the outside & a metal rib on the inside. My footers need work. I really wish I had a kiln. I have the room & my husband or one of our daughters could help me load/unload & fire a kiln. Sadly, I just can’t afford to buy one. I bought my wheel some 18yrs ago. Brand new, it costs three times what I paid for it when it was new. The closest pottery supply store is almost two counties away. If I could still drive, it wouldn’t be as bad. Even if there was public transportation, I couldn’t buy & get 50 to 100lbs of clay home. I don’t know anyone nearby with kiln space I could use to fire my work. My personal mantra is ‘Someday. Someday I’ll have a kiln of my own.’
Very interesting that you shape both right handed and left handed with the wheel spinning in same direction. As a novice, I often catch myself wanting to do this but correct myself..now I want to try it and see what happens!
At 3:05 you use your left hand to smooth the bottom ( I think) and then to hold/stabilize the left side of your bowl. It’s a short time..seconds even, but something I’ve been guided not to do with my non dominant hand. You did it so smoothly it was cool to see . Love your style!
@@joannwilson8263 I do that too. I don’t know if it’s something I’ve always done or if it’s something I adapted to when losing sight. I a, legally blind, but I do have light perception. Anything beyond a few inches from my face is a major blur. In addition, I have significant peripheral vision loss. I have a retinal disease & optic nerve defect. I set my wheel to turn clockwise as I’m left handed. I didn’t notice it until my pottery teacher brought it up. He corrected me for it until he really paid attention to how it helped & didn’t hinder me. I use a finishing sponge on the outside of open pieces like bowls often at the same time as using a metal or thin wood rib on the inside to clean & to compress the clay sides. It gives me a sense of wall thickness & let’s me know if the walls are even. When I center clay, I do so with my eyes closed. It is almost impossible for me to center with open eyes. I have to feel the clay to center it. My great-grandfather & his daughter (my grams) taught me to throw on a kick wheel. After my grams passed away, aunts & uncles sold the studio & equipment. It was years before I was able to start throwing pottery again. I had to relearn to use the wheel, but a lot came back to me quickly. About 18-20yrs ago, I was able to buy my own wheel. I took pottery classes at the local community college, which gave me unlimited access to the glazes & kilns. The instructor ‘placed’ me by having me throw three pots. The weight & appearance along with how they fired in the kiln showed him all he needed to place me in the intermediate level classes. I needed one on one lessons outside of class since I wasn’t able to learn the same way my sighted classmates did. It was some of the best few years I’d had. Eventually though, our daughters needed me more than I had hours in the day. My wheel, bats, etc… were packed away. A few months ago we were able to make room in the barn for a studio. I have room for a kiln; I just can’t afford to buy one. It’s hard to believe my pottery wheel costs three times what I paid for it brand new. I have room for a kiln, but they are so expensive, I’m afraid I’ll never be able to afford one. I try to tell myself that someday… someday I’ll have one.
Wonderful. I’ve loved watching you get better and better.
Thank you so much for doing this video. I am legally blind, tho I do have light perception. I can only see with any clarity at a few inches from my face. Anything beyond that is a total blur. In addition, I have loss of peripheral vision too. My husband & our daughters sort of tease because I often throw with my eyes closed, esp when centering. It’s really tough for me to center with open eyes. The circles the blend of water & clay make on the wheel head throws me off terribly.
I highly recommend taking the time to throw pots with closed eyes or even more-so, with a blindfold. It makes you use your other senses, which I believe makes for a better potter. Something I do that I didn’t realize until one of our daughters pointed it out, is that I compress my sides, esp when I’m cleaning up throwing lines using a finishing sponge on the outside & a metal rib on the inside. My footers need work. I really wish I had a kiln. I have the room & my husband or one of our daughters could help me load/unload & fire a kiln. Sadly, I just can’t afford to buy one. I bought my wheel some 18yrs ago. Brand new, it costs three times what I paid for it when it was new. The closest pottery supply store is almost two counties away. If I could still drive, it wouldn’t be as bad. Even if there was public transportation, I couldn’t buy & get 50 to 100lbs of clay home. I don’t know anyone nearby with kiln space I could use to fire my work. My personal mantra is ‘Someday. Someday I’ll have a kiln of my own.’
all throwing is done by feel. you don't touch your eyes to clay....
Try to make a bowl I can set on my bed without spilling piping hot soup on my afghan?
Very interesting that you shape both right handed and left handed with the wheel spinning in same direction. As a novice, I often catch myself wanting to do this but correct myself..now I want to try it and see what happens!
I'm not sure what you mean. What's the time stamp in this video? It might look like I'm doing something that I'm not...I don't know.
At 3:05 you use your left hand to smooth the bottom ( I think) and then to hold/stabilize the left side of your bowl. It’s a short time..seconds even, but something I’ve been guided not to do with my non dominant hand. You did it so smoothly it was cool to see . Love your style!
@@joannwilson8263 I do that too. I don’t know if it’s something I’ve always done or if it’s something I adapted to when losing sight. I a, legally blind, but I do have light perception. Anything beyond a few inches from my face is a major blur. In addition, I have significant peripheral vision loss. I have a retinal disease & optic nerve defect. I set my wheel to turn clockwise as I’m left handed. I didn’t notice it until my pottery teacher brought it up. He corrected me for it until he really paid attention to how it helped & didn’t hinder me. I use a finishing sponge on the outside of open pieces like bowls often at the same time as using a metal or thin wood rib on the inside to clean & to compress the clay sides. It gives me a sense of wall thickness & let’s me know if the walls are even. When I center clay, I do so with my eyes closed. It is almost impossible for me to center with open eyes. I have to feel the clay to center it.
My great-grandfather & his daughter (my grams) taught me to throw on a kick wheel. After my grams passed away, aunts & uncles sold the studio & equipment. It was years before I was able to start throwing pottery again. I had to relearn to use the wheel, but a lot came back to me quickly. About 18-20yrs ago, I was able to buy my own wheel. I took pottery classes at the local community college, which gave me unlimited access to the glazes & kilns. The instructor ‘placed’ me by having me throw three pots. The weight & appearance along with how they fired in the kiln showed him all he needed to place me in the intermediate level classes. I needed one on one lessons outside of class since I wasn’t able to learn the same way my sighted classmates did. It was some of the best few years I’d had. Eventually though, our daughters needed me more than I had hours in the day. My wheel, bats, etc… were packed away. A few months ago we were able to make room in the barn for a studio. I have room for a kiln; I just can’t afford to buy one. It’s hard to believe my pottery wheel costs three times what I paid for it brand new. I have room for a kiln, but they are so expensive, I’m afraid I’ll never be able to afford one. I try to tell myself that someday… someday I’ll have one.
thats quite cool.
So handsome 😊 Love you!