The Estevan Arts Council has been working with many local artists, to help them enrich their skills in the age-old artistic tradition of pottery making. The council hosted a pottery wheel class, at their location at the Estevan Leisure Centre, on Feb. 4.
Several people of varying experience levels threw, moulded and eventually spun clay on pottery wheels, creating a number or projects that tested their skills.
“The Pottery Club is a community group and they, through the arts council, put on a variety of programs to introduce people to different parts of a medium,” said Darlene Martin, the instructor of Saturday’s class. “The wheel class is part of the learning process, finding your way to work with clay. It’s a skill, so it’s something you start on and usually, improve.”
Martin said that all of those present at the class enjoyed themselves, and were focused on throwing clay, preparing it to be placed and moulded on the wheel.
“When you make round things, (the wheel) is where you shape the clay to make it into those functional and decorative items,” Martin said. “You have to prepare the clay, because it has certain properties you have to deal with, right from the beginning. The first thing you learn is how to centre it, and get everything spinning around without wobbling all over the place.”
Saturday’s class was one of several Martin has planned, in which subsequent classes will allow participants more practice to hone their craft.
“Because I’m teaching a wheel class, it’s the kind of thing people need to do for more than just one day, to get good at it,” she noted.
People getting into pottery usually start with wheel-free hand building, Martin added, moving onto the wheel when they want to extend their knowledge and create more complex pieces than what can be achieved just by hand building.
“There was a number of members of the pottery club on Saturday, and most of them are planning on signing up and continuing with the club,” said Martin. “An important part of the club is to have fun, too. It’s not a ‘do or die’-thing. The expectation is not that you’re going to make beautiful four-foot tall vases right away. Everyone came out with something, and we were thrilled.”
