Creative Hands in Clay
Getting the Wobbles Out
Monday, February 18, 2008
Getting the Wobbles Out
As a ceramic artist, working with clay has taught me a lot about life and living. Clay has a nature, and as a beginning artist, I sought to understand and control that nature so that I might create the pottery and sculpture I wanted. I've noticed that some of the same forces that shape a form on the potters wheel are some of the same forces that shape one's life. In order to make a shape on the potters wheel, the soft clay must be aligned and centered to get the “wobbles” out. Unless it is centered, it will waver, wobble and probably collapse. We spend a lifetime getting the "wobbles" out of our lives, getting them "on center,"on balance. Unless it is disciplined and governed by a hierarchy of values, life has no focus, no design. In the beginning , my clay collapsed a lot ! After years of working with it, it still does, but less frequently. . . and so my life. - John Fink
Like twin mounds of clay
mold them as you may.
Shape one after me
another after thee.
Then quickly break them both,
remix, remake them both.
One formed after thee,
the other after me.
Part of my clay is thine;
part of the clay in mine.
Kwan Tao – shing
( Chinese, 13th century)