random16 asked: I'm not a professional potter. Or even an amateur. I'm taking my first year of a pottery class. What advice would you give a fledgling pottery student like me?
You know, I had a 5-page answer all ready to go, with advice about softening your clay, watching the speed of the wheel, &c., but you really only need to know one thing:
Your first 99 pots will suck.
Accepting this fact is the single hardest part for most beginning potters. Like any skilled craft, making pots on the wheel takes time to learn. Most students seem understandably disappointed when they walk out of the first few classes not having made even one pot to keep, particularly if they’ve come to expect immediate results for their effort.
Making pots on the potters wheel can be highly rewarding, but you’ll need to find satisfaction in something other than the *product*, especially during the first several weeks of practice. I’ve found the best way to do this is to focus on *process*, taking time to experience and master each stage in making pots- learn to wedge well, then learn to center well, and so on.
Practically speaking, expect it to take at least 12 hours of practice on the wheel before you can make a decent* 1-lb. mug- this is about the time it takes to make 100 pieces. I suggest making 8 of each piece, but only keeping 2 to finish and fire; consider 6 of the 8 pieces “just for practice”. Yes, they’ll suck, but you gotta start somewhere…
* By “decent”, I mean: wall and floor of even thickness; no excess clay at the bottom of the wall; a rim that’s slightly thicker than the wall, round, and running true with no undulations; and the finished mug is thrown to measure. For a list of weights and measures for mugs, bowls, plates, pitchers, &c., see https://sites.google.com/site/basicwheelthrowing/Home/Weightsandmeasurementsforpots.pdf
