This past weekend I had a holiday outing with my college roommate, Julie. Julie and I have known each other since we were 16, and lived together 3 out of the 4 years of college. Our senior year we also lived with Amanda, our guest during the Gasthaus post! We had an amazing time in college, and occasionally I think it would be a blast to go back to living in college housing … and then I remember that I am old and would barely last a night any more.
Pretty much, every year since we graduated, Julie and I meet up for dinner and some sort of activity – with the aim of keeping our friendship strong and relevant. This year, we met in Frankfort for a pottery class! For an extremely reasonable rate, 2 artistically challenged people learned how to make some pottery, but it’s probably more accurate to say that we learned how to make pottery with significant amounts of help.
At Broadway Clay in Frankfort, you can get an introductory, 1-hour pottery class for $25, and during this class, you actually get to mold clay and spin the pottery wheel! I cannot tell you how excited I was to actually have a chance to use a real pottery wheel!! I fully expected to be hand molding or making pinch pots; something that I would never use and would inevitably turn out ugly. But thankfully, that was not the case – we got to use the pottery wheel and my finished product turned out decent!
Ann, our instructor was super helpful and quickly walked us through all of the steps and helped us get started. In order to help expedite our lesson, she helped us position the clay on the wheel and get it ready to mold. And then, the fun started. We got to spin the wheel and shape the clay. We learned how to thin and raise the walls of the clay and make a variety of simple objects … your basic mugs, bowls, and vases. But I am honestly excited with how well they turned out! I expected to be leaving with a lumpy creation that I would sit on my desk and when asked, would say that it was a gift from a child. 🙂
But, thankfully, I do not have to lie! See for yourself and again, I am pretty proud, so if you think they suck, please keep your thoughts to yourself. 🙂
What did I learn on this endeavor? I learned that I am messy and probably messier than the average pottery thrower. I leveraged copious amounts of water to shape my clay creations which in turn resulted in copious amounts of clay accumulating on my hands and ultimately clothing. Does anyone know if there is a way to end up with an inch of clay coating the palms of your hand? I also learned, that molding clay is strangely relaxing and cathartic, and I really enjoyed seeing an end product emerge from the clay.
To make the experience even better, Ann is going to paint and glaze our artwork for us! Why is this great? It’s great because Julie and I would inevitably ruin our beautiful pots with painting! It’s always good to know when to stop, and me and painting have a tortured past. We go back in 3 weeks and pick up our pottery, and I will be sure to share a picture of our finished products! I haven’t yet figured out what I am going to do with all of my finished creations – there are more than I expected! Any suggestions?
It was a great night, an evening of cathartic art, learning something new, and spending time with one of my best friends. It seems like I am on a roll lately with catching up with friends I don’t see near enough of, friends that mean the world to me. Its been a good roll! It was a great night for 2 old friends with successfuly art and lots of catchup conversation!
Thanks for following along again this week and I hope you are warm on this bitterly cold night.
XOXO
Allie
52 Weeks, 52 Adventures 