Visual arts have never been my forte. I’ve dabbled in oil painting, thanks to Bob Ross, before everyone knew who he was. Before ‘the internet’! My dog sometimes bears a striking resemblance to him. I have fond memories of making homemade play dough with my grandmother. The smell of wet flour and salt always brings me back. And like, I assume, most people, I love poking clay packages in art stores, despite the signs asking people not to. C’est plus fort que moi! I think the first time I realized you could use clay as an art form was at the cottage. Sure, we all made clumps of clay, digging deeper in the sand to get more. We covered ourselves in clay for smooooth skin. But my first memory of clay art was my cousin, who also had a cottage on the same lake. I thought she was the coolest person. Not afraid of bugs, or slimy things, was so pretty with her beautiful long light brown hair. And she was from the big city! She made a horse head made out of clay, dried flat on a wooden board. We brought it home with us and I was so sad when it broke in pieces! She is, to this day, still the coolest. Still making horse art! Check out her art! So yes, back to clay…
The workshop I decided on was wheel thrown, and as most women in my age group, pottery became ‘mainstream’ when Ghost came out. Classic pottery scene. And sure enough, when I went to my pottery workshop last Friday, it was myself, and a group of four friends, slightly younger than me. Once we started working on our pieces, they asked if they could take pictures, and of course posed like the movie. I commented that it must be a very common thing to happen. The teacher pointed to the office, and on the top shelf they actually have a VHS tape of the movie… and then she admitted to never having seen it! Nope, that didn’t make me feel old… :p I was expecting it to be difficult, and it was, but I truly enjoyed it. I was pleasantly surprised with the result. The teacher did help to fix a few wonky bits, but all in all, these are my creations! I can’t wait to see the finished product in a few weeks once they have glazed and fired it! I will share them when I go pick them up. In the meantime, this is what they looked like on Friday.
This Side of December 