A substantial chunk of damp or saturated brown clay is placed on a spinning wheel.
The speed of the wheel is controlled by a foot pedal.
The pressure on the clay is exerted by hand.
The end product might be a plate, a pot, or a pitcher.
The imagination of the potter is the only limiting factor in the resulting art work.
The ceramic need of a potential customer is the functional concern of those who use the potter's process to more practical effect.
In Middletown, Connecticut, a few miles from the campus where the project began, the students and members of the non-profit cooperative Wesleyan Potters, spend hours each week shaping and molding clay into beautiful pieces of pottery that are both functional and decorative.
It is slow, hands-on work, that begins with a vision, travels a path of manipulation and fire, and ends with surprise; ranging from disappointment, to perfection, to the unforeseen realization resulting when a potter's vision mixes with the unpredictable chemical reaction that occurs inside a 2,350F kiln.
Begun in 1948 by a group of women connected in various ways to Wesleyan University, Wesleyan Potters has grown and moved a number of times until settling in 1970 at its present location in a former manufacturing building in Middletown. The cooperative no longer has any official connection to the university.
On a typical morning in the studio, the workspace is occupied by students and members ranging in age from their teens to their 90s. Quiet concentration is the prevailing atmosphere. A slip on the wheel, a glance away from the work, too much pressure on the clay, or not enough, can push a project off balance.
None of it is as simple as it looks. Patience is required. After achieving the shape, and forms that will allow for function, there comes the question of decoration, coloring, and glazing.
This is an art form within an art form that requires an understanding of the reaction dying chemicals will have when applied to the clay and heated to high temperature. The experience of opening the kiln is described as being like opening a present on Christmas morning. Even well planned applications can offer surprising results.
The world is increasingly complicated and chaotic. The Wesleyan Potters' studio is just the opposite. Simple. Ordered. Creating functional beauty out of a shapeless lump. Each piece a product of one person's imagination and caring.
Wesleyan Potters is known of course for its pottery, but over the decades the cooperative has expanded to include the disciplines of jewelry making, metalwork, and weaving. Classes usually run about nine weeks. The pottery program alone serves more than 140 students a year. A gallery shop sells crafts made on site and from artists from around the world.
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© Dean Pagani 2022
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© Dean Pagani 2022