Pieces of wet clay splatter across sophomore Caleb Chacko’s blue apron as he begins to shape his next project on the potter’s wheel. Instead of creating a traditional bowl as he has in the past, Chacko experiments with new bowl styles, deliberately thinning out the clay as he reaches its rim, leaving the base thicker than usual. As a newcomer to pottery who has created six pieces so far, Chacko asserts that one of the most rewarding parts is getting to use the finished pieces.
“If you’re eating out of your bowl, I really like thinking that, ‘Oh, I made this,’ and it’s your work that you put into it,” Chacko said. “I really like the fact that I’ll have stuff of my own that I can keep for a long time and that it holds memories of the people in the class and the people that I know from school.”
3D Sculpture and Design teacher David Bigelman explains that, as someone who’s been making pottery for over 30 years, he only finds the most technically challenging and well-made pieces worth keeping. For the other dozens of pieces that he’s made, Bigelman usually gifts them to his friends and family. Chacko also gifts his pottery, finding ways to repurpose pieces that didn’t turn out the way he intended in terms of function. His most recent piece, for example, was supposed to be a Nara Smith bowl: a chunky ceramic dish associated with content creator Nara Smith. However, the piece didn’t turn out the way Chacko wanted: it was too small and he didn’t like the color of its glaze. So instead, he gifted the bowl to his mother for her to store her jewelry.
Junior Meyra Olcay, who has been enrolled in pottery classes at MV for the last three years, also recognizes the fragile and unpredictable nature of the craft. Olcay says that the first thing she was taught is how to remain unattached from pieces she creates by deliberately destroying some of her very first pots. According to Olcay, she kept this lesson in mind as she continued to create more pottery pieces, as glaze may not dry as intended and sometimes, pieces can break from being in the kiln or from accidental drops. Despite planning out pieces before using the clay, Olcay explains that the three-dimensionality of pottery poses a unique barrier in visualizing a piece before it’s finished.
“You can only understand so much from drawing it on a piece of paper and imagining it,” Olcay said. “But when it comes to life, and you get to see it on your desk and on your shelf, it’s kind of cool. You can’t know how the pot is going to look before it’s out of the kiln and it’s pretty rewarding to see it work.”
Although Olcay and Chacko have both adapted to the unpredictability of the wheel, both recognize the intense learning curve they needed to overcome. Chacko emphasizes patience, saying that rushing in both learning and practice will result in an inability to grasp the fundamentals of pottery. Olcay shares a similar experience, explaining the frantic experience of getting comfortable with the equipment.
“The learning curve was chaotic because when you’re throwing, there’s a lot of room for error,” Olcay said. “During the first attempts at making even a tiny little bowl, my lump of clay would fly off the wheel and I would get water all over me. There was a lot going on and it was a little hectic, but when the clay got in its place, it was fun.”
Bigelman explains that teaching students and helping them overcome the learning curve is fulfilling. He says that even though focusing on students doesn’t leave much time for him to make pieces recreationally, watching students hone their skills is a worthwhile trade-off.
“It’s fun to go through the steps with them,” Bigelman said. “You just break it down, and then you try to show students how to do it. Then, when they can do it, that’s when you feel like, ‘OK, they got it,’ and that’s what you need. That’s where the satisfaction comes in seeing them accomplish it.”
Bigelman adds that a major challenge when learning pottery, aside from using the wheel itself, is familiarizing oneself with using both hands to help shape the clay. Bigelman says that he pays specific attention to his students’ ability to do so, as he says that people tend to not use both hands for a task until they are forced to, and it takes a while for them to get used to it.
According to both Chacko and Olcay, despite the intense learning curve, pottery serves as a calming and therapeutic activity. Chacko explains that interacting with the clay is soothing due to its soft and slippery texture. Olcay agrees, adding that the slick texture of the clay and spin of the wheel is a much-needed break from the stress of junior year.
“Pottery is a really good break from the academic stress, especially at our school,” Olcay said. “It’s very therapeutic. There’s a lot of textures going on, and it’s so mesmerizing seeing something turn out perfectly. When you put your finger on the clay it makes little swirls — it’s really mesmerizing.”
Bigelman agrees, explaining that his love for pottery grew gradually as he gained experience. He says that after dedicating more time to the craft, he decided to pursue a career in teaching pottery due to the calming nature of the clay.
“When using both of your hands, you feel the flow of the clay and the spin,” Bigelman said. “It’s very meditative and calming with the clay spinning around. There’s your connection to the earth in this material, so there’s a soothing factor to the way it’s all coming together.”
