Alright, let’s talk about my little project I did last weekend – making a traditional flowerpot. It was a bit of a mess, but hey, that’s how we learn, right?
So, I started by gathering all the stuff I needed. I grabbed some clay from a local store. They had tons of options, but I just picked a basic terracotta one. Then I headed home, ready to get my hands dirty. I cleared a space on my work table and laid out all my tools – a bucket of water, some sponges, and a few shaping tools I found online.
First thing, I tried to center the clay on my makeshift pottery wheel. Let me tell you, it’s trickier than it looks in those videos! After a few failed attempts and a lot of wobbly clay, I finally got it somewhat centered. Then I began to pull the clay up to form the walls of the pot. This was the fun part, watching the clay take shape as I slowly pressed and shaped it.
- Wetting the clay was important, I did that every few minutes to keep it soft and easy to work with.
- Pushing and pulling at the same time is a lot harder than the pros make it look.
- I realized pretty quickly that I should have taken a class or something beforehand.
I aimed for a simple, classic shape, but my pot ended up with a bit more…character, let’s say. It was a little uneven, and the walls were definitely not the same thickness all around. But you know what? I was pretty proud of it. I managed to create something that resembled a flowerpot, and that was good enough for me.
After I was done with the shaping, I left the pot to dry for a couple of days. Once it was firm enough, I carefully smoothed out some of the rough edges with a damp sponge. Then came the firing. I don’t have a kiln at home, so I took it to a local pottery studio. They fired it for me for a small fee, and a few days later, I picked up my finished flowerpot.
It wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot. But I learned a lot from the whole process. Now I know that working with clay is not as easy as it looks, and that centering clay on a wheel takes a lot of practice. Also, I learned that it’s okay to make mistakes – that’s how you get better.
So, there you have it, my adventure in making a traditional flowerpot. It was messy, challenging, and a whole lot of fun. I’m already thinking about my next pottery project. Maybe this time I’ll actually take a class first!
