What a Month!!!

Today, I'm pondering where I started in this journey and how far I've come in just this one month's time.

NEW BEGINNINGS!

Even though today is January 29th...my throw date is February 1st...the beginning of a brand new month! 

Thank you YouTube viewers, Facebook Friends & Peeps..your encouragement has meant the world to me!

In the month of January, I've tried and tested new throwing techniques while being given an incredible amount of input that would make your head spin! But you need to understand....this is all perfect for me! 

After a month of throwing cups (good or bad for all the world to see) through a video log, I've been allowed the rare experience of having professionals and amateurs give me their suggestions on how to improve on my skills. This has been more than I ever anticipated! 

The 365 Day's of Clay Cups Project began as a personal quest, challenge, journey..whatever you want to call it..to finally make an educated effort to improve and grow as a potter. It didn't matter if I was just talking to myself on the videos, the fact I was keeping a vlog about the journey would keep me consistent . Now, I look forward to hearing the insights of others and getting to know them and watching what they are doing with clay...it's just been a wonderful experience!!!

Here is my new game plan/goals  for February :

.

1. Start being consistent in throwing. - I need to focus & practice consistently 

Steve Booten and Alex Shimwell..two very experienced professional potters located in the UK...  have been giving me email instruction, video responses and tips that I've decided are to become my basic pottery throwing guidelines for throwing...the ones I will continually work on to practice and improve. 

I'm also going to blend into the mix tips posted by others on youtube such as Janice & Cindy & Lynn & Sharon & zhpottery this should also help give me a complete package of skills to improve on. 

2. Follow cup inspiration - Find Inspiration for the cup BEFORE I sit down to throw it! 

After recruiting some friends to give me their favorite songs, it occured to me that my inspiration is generally stoked by songs, feelings and themes. I found that the cups I threw along with listening to a song and thinking about the qualities of the person, gave me incredible insight on what I think a perfect cup for that person would look like. It becomes like a story and I've found my inspiration flows to match it. 

Put the inspiration together with technique and there are no limits to what can be created! Looking forward to growth in February, thank you everyone for your continued help and guidance! 

Warm Regards

~ Tammy Jo

Check out what's new in the video log:
http://www.youtube.com/user/hobbypotter?feature=mhum

Or Join me on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001569625633

Pete & Repeat sat on a fence...Pete fell off..who was left.....REPEAT!

As I look around youtube at all the ceramic and pottery videos or on Etsy with so many varieties of ceramic works, I've realized there is a never ending supply of talented potters and ceramists out there!  They inspire me.... I'm an inspired hobbyist!

HOBBYIST: "Is an interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and is engaged in primarily for pleasure."  

"Primarily for Pleasure" Being a hobbyist of pottery and ceramics, I find great pleasure in creating something new every time I get on the wheel, but if I'm honest with myself the thought of repetitive activities...be it work or play...just sends a wave of nausea through my body :) 

I recently shared  a picture on my personal facebook page of a cup I made for the series (finished cup will be on Day #19). Everyone loved it and started asking me if I could make more of them or if I'd ever consider making and selling them. I thought about it..and then the nausea came! No, I probably won't be duplicating the cup over and over again. That's the beauty of a hobby...it's not your livelihood and you're not required to do anything other than find joy in what you are doing. I own another type of business and my reason for potting was to NOT make it into a business (well...at least for now). 

I've loved making these videos, especially when I read that there are others out there who can relate to the journey in someway. I've also loved making the cups..although at 1st I knew it would be repetitive, I also knew that it had to be done to learn and grow. There was satisfaction in knowing the handles could be unique to each cup, so this realization caused the "repetitive" waves to subside. 

Will I ever be a production potter...no. Although my favorite motto is "Do what needs to be done, When it ought to be done, Whether you like it or not". For this hobby, there will be a time of learning & a time of creativity and together there will be harmony.  ~.1 cup a day!
~ Tammy Jo

Watch it Be Thrown

SNEAK PEEK Day #18 Cup

To Come...List of Glazes :) 

MUST READ!!!! Set Your Clocks Forward 3 Days...Reporting Live!

I'm breathing easier now, things are starting to click and the train is running smooth...plus FRIDAY'S ARE MY SATURDAYS! I'll be short and brief today because I want to hurry up and get outside to the workshop.


I've decided that it would be more helpful to me as I grow to keep the blog as my "LIVE JOURNAL". This means the posts you read here will be in real time. Video posts are 3 days behind what I am currently working on (Today is the 14th Cup for the videos, but I'm working on  Cup 17 today).


You can expect to learn some spoilers here on what's coming up as I share my thoughts,  but I'd much prefer you think of them as "PREVIEWS" of what's to come! I'll do my best not to ruin it for you ;)


What's New? 


Photo Gallery: I've been working on the Photo Gallery on the www.hobbypotter.com  website and have also uploaded the photos to correspond with the videos on the Facebook friends page.  So far I've only published the leatherhard images, but will be adding the thrown images soon!


Here is a Quick Video I made of all the cups up to the 13th (As requested by JanicethePotter from Youtube):

What's on My Mind:

I'm living off the successes! The handle for Cup # 15 turned out awesome...I'm carrying that success out to the shop with me this morning to keep the mo going.

 Also on my mind are thoughts of glazing all these cups. I really could use some suggestions and inspirations on color when it comes to glazing...this is probably the most difficult part of the process for me.

I pretty much have every color glaze you can think of in low fire (made a sweet deal a while back and have a stockpile of them on the shelf...they were practically giving them away to clean out a storage facility. To be honest, they just kept loading them into our car as we were driving away! :) I got rid of the colors I didn't care for and still have a good selection..so throw your ideas at me!

That's it for today! Hope you enjoy today's Video for Day 14! 

For the Love of Clay...1 Cup a Day ~ God Bless

Tammy 

No offense taken...mistakes and videos...I'd rather learn! :)

Before I begin...here's today's video

DAY 13



When I first started working with clay, I was not a healthy person. Physically and mentally speaking, I needed to just learn to relax through each moment, heal and take each day at a time. My Dr. recommended I learn a hobby, RIIIIIGHT, starting new projects and working WAS my hobby! But he suggested to ease things up I needed to find a relaxing hobby. Something new that I thought I'd enjoy and here I am 3 years later working on pottery.

I had someone say to me, "How can you do that? I could never put myself online so people could watch me make mistakes and then criticize me?" . I guess I don't think of it quite like that. My mindset is that I need to learn something important to me and with my schedule there isn't time to do it the traditional way, with class and teacher.  My brain stuffed with ceramic & pottery info from videos and books...that's all well and good, but being an island hasn't helped me improve...so something had to change.

If having a teacher watching your technique and critiquing it are what you get when you go to a class,  I had to somehow find a way to simulate that experience. So I told my friend it's more important to me to get that experience than to worry about looking foolish :)

I should also add I wanted to keep track of my progress throughout and follow through for a year. What better way to do that than to put myself in a position where I MUST do it! Thus, I created a little more incentive to learn and grow.

So, here I sit at Day 16/ Cup 16 (Upload date Cup 13).  I've finished up some business work, gearing up to  to drive a couple of the kids to school and then work with my youngest son on his home education schoolwork. Pottery, cups & my goal firmly set for this afternoon... I'm ready to rock & roll!

~ Tammy Jo

Cups ~ Videos ~ Life!

The intent of the blog was to keep you posted daily on what I've been working on, my thoughts behind why I'm doing what I'm doing..just a little  more deep than the vlog.  That just hasn't yet happened. What surprised me was the amount of time it took to edit and upload the vlog....big surprise. 








Then there was the internal debate about the blog.."Do I post the present day I'm working on, or the day of the video upload?" When videos are posted online, these cups were made 3 days prior, for example I just uploaded Day #12 of 365 Days, but today's shop experience will be Day #15! So before I decide on a concrete post date...let me recap what I've learned in the last couple weeks: 


There haas been so much helpful wheel throwing & pottery tip information posted on the youtube videos, I wanted to gather up in one place so I can go back and reflect the past 14 days): Here are some excellent video responses: 

• Smooth the lip of the cup with a chamois .
• Tie a piece of sponge around a stick to get water off the bottom of a cup.
• If using a sponge to throw, cut it in 1/2 (lengthwise is the correct way..I just cut it in 1/2..oops..lol)
• Try not to use the sponge when opening or pulling up, it will dry out the clay and doesn't allow me to easily feel the thickness of the clay. 
• Work on centering and securing the piece to the bat, also be sure the pieces are leatherhard before trimming!! (big exclamation point on this one).
• So many more tips I've received and will add to future blogs!
• One of the biggest suggestions was a video response from Steve Booton that shared a simple way to make a cylinder and get all the clay up from the bottom..here's the link:
  
  HOW TO THROW A SIMPLE CYLINDER 
  Steve Booton~ 
• "Throw the base of the cylinder out farther than you want the width of the outside rim." Then continue to pull up! 

Too Darn Cold!

Because I've been dealing with a cold workshop, I've had to make some adjustments such as bringing in the cold clay to warm up and the thrown pieces to dry in time to be trimmed. 


Editing ~ Not for the Time Starved
After 15 days I think I finally have this monster under control. I was spending way too much time editing and saving in a professional software program and optimum settings when I could have easily taken another route (which I have) and saved myself hours (no joke)! 


What's Next? 
After typing this blog I've decided to use my blog to type what I'm feeling and experiencing on an actually given day. So today ( 1/12/11) is the 12th Cup online, but the 15th cup in the shop. So in a sense this blog could be a 'SPOILER ALERT' for future videos or a "preview" of what's to come! 


Signing Off ~ Now go enjoy some clay~
~ Tammy Jo