Well it’s my last week of purely self employment for the summer, as I go back to teaching casually this fall. But don’t get me wrong I love the teaching, and not because I don’t love being in the studio full time, but because it offers different opportunities for new directions and perspectives in my own work. I truly believe that one learns as much from their students as they impart themselves to the group. I have yet to walk away from any teaching post without a new perspective on something. The last time around I was teaching different techniques to break through size barriers and plateaus with wheel thrown work, either by centering larger amounts of clay in stages or attaching pieces that were thrown separately. And in teaching this i found I broke through my own, unrealized at the time, plateau in scale. It’s happened before, I just keep working and working and suddenly realize in the end that all my pieces are the same scale!

So I’ve been pretty excited in the studio lately throwing larger forms, bowls and vases mostly that are dwarfing my previous pieces. These ones which I made while teaching are approx 16 inches in height. (I know, still quite a ways to go, but for me these were huge!)

So if any one is in the Saskatoon area and interested in classes, the Saskatoon Potters Guild likely still has a few spots available for fall classes starting next week. They offer beginner, intermediate and advanced wheel throwing, handbuilding, and children’s handbuilding. To register either email: [email protected] or phone: 343-6566 and leave a message.