rebeccmeister | Throwing off the hump

I love it when activities have incomprehensible jargon. The subject line for this post refers to ceramics, in case you couldn't understand it: throwing is using a potter's wheel to make shapes, and the hump is a lump of clay used to make multiple pieces.

Last night I learned how to throw off of the hump. Prior to this, every time I made a new piece, whether a cup or bowl or teapot, I would start with a fresh lump of clay on the wheel. Every single time, the clay must be centered, then opened up, and then shaped into this or that elegant (or not-so-elegant) shape. A week ago I made a nice shape for a teapot, so our ceramics instructor informed me that it was time to learn the entire teapot-making process. It's a bit more involved than the other things I've worked on so far. First, she helped me make a lid for the pot, and we let the pot and lid dry for a week. This week, we made a bunch of spouts (6 altogether) to try out on the pot. This is where throwing off of the hump came in; it's easiest to mass-produce spouts off of a lump of clay. The pot wasn't dry enough to trim, so next week I'll trim the base and add the spout and a handle.

It was interesting to discover where and how I could move the clay around in the spout-making process. I can tell I am really getting absorbed in the throwing process. When I got home, I had some ice cream in one of the very first bowls I ever threw, and for the first time I felt the bowl's imperfections, places where I had left a lot of extra clay in the sides of the bowl. As I slept last night I kept having visions of clay and the potter's wheel, and part of me wants to throw and throw and throw. I actually think some of this was because I had caffeine yesterday afternoon and it put me over the edge. Oh well. My creative impulses demand outlets.