Week One
9/9-9/13
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Objectives:
Learn the importance of wedging clay
Getting a feel for throwing on the wheel
Learning how to center clay on the wheel
Week 1 Reflection:
Importance of wedging clay
Wedging clay before wheel throwing is incredibly important because it first of all gets rid of any air bubbles that could blow up in a kiln or mess you up while throwing but it also prepares the clay for the wheel by warming it up, compressing the clay particles and making it more maleable. Stretching and smashing the clay gets the clay softer and more workable which important for the wheel because it must be pliable in order to be easily manipulated once on the wheel.
Challenges with centering
I couldn't do it. At least not this week. I pretty much got it about one time and made a small cyllinder pot as you can see above. At first I wasn't using enough clay, and then I was using to much, and then the next day I would have it almost perfectky centered and then water would somehow get under it and it would completely sip off the center. I rewatched rhe videos multiple times, rewedged, and rescraped and dried and wiped the wheel so it was super dry before slamming more clay back down, but alas, I was still unssuccessful. As frustrating as not being able to center this week was, I've still learned a lot and have gotten a feel for the wheel.
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