Pottery is Just Like Hockey...Apparently

Wayne Gretzky, the undeniably great Canadian hockey player, once said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
 
When I read that many years ago, I thought he was only referring to sports. I was so wrong. So very very wrong.
 
As it turns out, every piece of pottery than I never made was destined to be perfect. Magnificent works of art. I just never made them.
 
Pottery is a maker’s art. You have to show up and play the game. You have to get messy and dirty. You can not make pottery in a sketch book or sitting around thinking about it. You have to do it.
 
My design process is pretty organic. I throw a pot on the wheel and make judgements to “improve” the piece as I throw the next. Sometimes the changes are subtle and sometimes, not so. But the organic nature of the process can only happen when my hands are in the mud. I really do have to show up to create.
 
Now, it’s not everyday that I feel very creative. I do have days when the idea of sitting down and throwing a few dozen pots is not all that exciting. As I pug the clay and prep it for the work ahead, I just feel like I’m going through the motions of art and not the E-motions of art. True. There are motions before the emotions.
 
When the clay is pugged and measured, I cover it with plastic to keep it from drying. I set it next to wheel. I walk over to the workshop and fill my water jug with hot water and after walking back to the mud room, fill my throwing bucket. I then sit down and throw a pot. Throwing that first pot of the day is not always that exciting. I’m still just going through motions.
 
Sometimes the first pot gets me in the game. Other times takes a dozen pots or so before I start really feeling like I’m playing the game well. But because I show up, things are made and art has a chance of happening.
 
I’m about to head on over to the mudroom. When I hit the switch that turns on the heater, I’m going to think about Mr. Gretzky’s quote. today. Game on.