Throwing Pottery

Today Naomi and Johnathan got to throw pottery... And miraculously, we didn't break anything!



Our friend Rachel has a beautiful pottery studio called Joy Pottery, and she invited us to come and play with clay. They loved squishing it to make worms and race cars (I have to admit I couldn't resist the urge to squish it, too!).




Then we learned how to use the potter's wheel. Mrs. Rachel made it look so easy as she whipped out a pitcher in no time flat! She taught us how to prepare the clay (I think this was called wedging), center it on the wheel so it doesn't come out lopsided, and pull it up into something beautiful.

Naomi and Johnathan each took multiple turns throwing their own little pots. Johnathan prefered working with very tiny pieces of clay and swirling lines in them. Naomi loved making bowls and using the wire to cut them off the wheel. I had always wanted to try it, too, just to feel what it was like to have the clay mold beneath your hands. It was really cool - and not as easy as it looks (unless your goal is to make a lopsided bowl with a hole in the side, like mine!). Maybe some day I'll take a pottery class... I'll just add that to all the other things I want to learn, including knitting, scuba diving, and the penny whistle!

Mrs. Rachel travels all around with her potter's wheel, sharing her testimony and demonstrating how we are like clay and God is the potter. It was so neat to get a taste of all the illustrations how that verse is true. We pray for soft hearts that are like the wet clay - ready for God to mold into something beautiful!