Sit down. Throw the ball of clay on the bat. Dip your hands into the container of water. Drizzle water on the clay. Switch the wheel on. Apply pressure onto the pedal. Dig your elbows into your thighs. Center the clay. Be patient.
Over the last year, I taught myself one of the most tedious, annoying aspects of ceramics, throwing pieces on the wheel. The first level Ceramics course which I took as a sophomore, only taught hand-building methods, coil, slab, pinch, and drape techniques. Taken by beauty that I could take a mound of clay and produce an ornate box or teapot, I wanted to take my knowledge further and enrolled in Ceramics 2 course at my school. One of the fundamentals of the advanced class, was wheel throwing. Outwardly straightforward and simple, but I struggled with the first step, centering the piece of clay. For the entire semester I was not able to center, despite my concentrated attempts, spending hours after school. June came, and I was still relying on other students to center my piece, giving up, moving on each time after fifteen minutes of failed effort.
Use a pin tool to draw lines around the clay. If the line, lightly etched is fully around the piece of clay all the way up and down the pot, then it is centered. If not, re-wet your hands and the clay and continue to fight the clay to the center. Check again.
Despite my ineffective ability to center, I still wanted to take the subsequent ceramics class, and I signed up for AP Studio Art/3-D Design, ceramics as my medium. My teacher, one of my role models, advocated that I signed up for a summer class, at local art center.. The class was six weeks long, every Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m. For the first few classes, I spent the entire time, just learning to center in different methods, coning, 6 & 9 o’clock, and cupping the clay. After each class, I went home covered in clay, but victorious that the centering was no longer ruining my mood, now I was winning the war against the clay.
Learning how to center was by far one of the most tedious and frustrating techniques I have ever learned. As a beginner, it is really hard, but once you have learned how to center it, you can close your eyes and feel the clay. Without the clay being centered, the entire teapot, vase, or piece you are throwing is going to remain uneven and hard to form intricately. It may seem trivial but to be a decent ceramicist one must master even seemingly simple aspects. I had already found an affinity for ceramics, which had been unanticipated when first selected as a basic elective, but without centering, the muse was muted. I haven't escaped it in college, as I throw every week and have joined the leadership of the local club on campus.I hope to continue this passion of mine for the rest of my life, hopefully even opening up a studio in a few decades.
Once it’s centered, the magic can start. Begin to form the clay. Don’t forget to trim before you take it off the wheel.
