Why I Love Ceramics
I recently rejoined Greenwich House Pottery to continue learning how to throw pottery on the wheel. Last year, I took a 6 week course and fell in love with the art of wheel throwing. The first few weeks of wheel throwing were incredibly difficult. Learning how to center is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and I’m still learning how to get better at it after hours of throwing.
I’ve found pottery to be extremely relaxing and the tactility of it brings me a lot of joy. The act of getting my hands dirty and being fully present with the clay is challenging and calming. In most parts of my life, I feel a pressure to perfect things, but when I am practicing ceramics, that pressure tends to go away. I’m OK if things go wrong, which they always do. Creating anything in the ceramics world has so many points of failure. From centering, to pulling to transferring the pot to the first firing to the glazing, there are SO many things that can go wrong. I love that if something goes wrong, you can just start something new.
If you are someone who works in a job that stresses upon avoiding failure, or generally feel a lot of pressure to be a perfectionist, I think ceramics can be a really good outlet for failing and trying again in a safe environment. I’m not the best at pottery, but it’s something that I’m really enjoying and hope to do for a lot longer ❤
