Once upon a time, I took a pottery class...

For several years I have wanted to take a pottery class that a friend of mine, Laura, teaches at the local art gallery.  Laura and I are veterans of working in the place that laid us both off a few years back, but we got the last laugh as we've both landed in what I would say are much better situations.  But still, finances always play a part in what I can or can't do and it wasn't until recently I could pull together some cash to take the 6-week class. 

Laura is a great teacher and the class is clearly a boon for those who want to try their hand at making pottery.  I can't say enough positive things about it on that end, but in the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that I didn't really enjoy it.  Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it by any means, but it wasn't my thing.  Of course, if I hadn't gotten around to taking the class, I never would have known that, right?  Right.  Overall I am very glad to have taken the class and have some new pieces of artwork to show for it, but it's not something I'm interested in doing again.   Some of my work turned out pretty ok and a few pieces are somewhat homely, but one of them I actually tried to make uglier when I glazed it because it was already heading down that road, so why not! LOL

So what's up next for me?  I want to learn to juggle. I have to check out YouTube and see what kinds of instructional videos might lurk out there in cyberspace and see what I can teach myself.  No, I have no idea why I want to learn to juggle, I just think it would be fun to try it.

Before....

After...

This was was going along great on the wheel until I pulled out too much and thinned it out at the top so much that it basically exploded.  Or whatever you call it in pottery terms.

But in the end, I think it looks pretty ok when it was glazed, so I ended up liking it and not thinking it was particularly ugly.

Again, another potentially good piece that just kind got screwed up. But hey, it's all about the process, right?

I painted this one these colors in an attempt to make it hideously ugly because a friend/co-worker really wanted me to give her an ugly piece of pottery so she could re-gift it to someone.  But in the end, I think I like this too much to give it away. Not that it's gorgeous, but I made it and I can't really see parting with any of the stuff I made.  The color on the inside reminds me of an elementary school cafeteria circa 1977.