{"id":5561,"date":"2026-01-25T12:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T20:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/2026\/01\/25\/wheel-throwing-week-2-bowls\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T12:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T20:19:10","slug":"wheel-throwing-week-2-bowls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/2026\/01\/25\/wheel-throwing-week-2-bowls\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheel Throwing Week 2: Bowls"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After a week of watching pottery videos on Instagram, and dreaming about being on the wheel, it was finally time to get muddy again! This week was a bitter sweet end to the semi-private throwing lessons as two more classmates joined. I felt I had got much of the basics covered in the first class, and they were very lovely people (one grew up a town over from me in Ontario!) so I don\u2019t have much to complain about! The instructor gave us a demonstration on how to throw bowls, we wedged our clay and off we went! <\/p>\n<p>I felt in the groove this week, and was eager to try some of my hypothesis from last week. I had trouble centering my piece again, so I asked the instructor some more questions to get a better understanding of what it \u201cfeels\u201d like when it\u2019s centered. She reiterated the point that I have to ease into the pressure and ease off when it feels centred. What that feels like\u2026 was a bit harder for her to explain, but essentially when the clay stops bumping against your hands and you don\u2019t feel like you are fighting it anymore, ease off. It felt a little easier after this, although my pieces weren\u2019t completely centered in the end\u2026 so maybe I didn\u2019t quite understand as much as I thought. <\/p>\n<p>By the end of class I threw 4 pieces, 3 bowls and a mug. I had asked to do mug last to make up for the accidental bowl last class. I did a time lapse of that piece, to show the process! <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-right\">A Simple Mug in the Making<\/h2>\n<p>I wanted to take a video to show my improvement, specifically in pulling up the walls! Something I struggled with last class. Sadly, the camera fell and missed this part of the process before the instructor fixed my phone. But you can see that I was able to get my walls quite tall and straight! I think slowing down the wheel really helped reduce the centrifugal force pulling the walls out. I also was very careful not to push with my inside fingers. However, as you can see I seemed to reduce the pressure the further up I pulled resulting in a bit of a flare that I had to even out with a few more passes. Next time I get to practice cylinders I will work on maintaining the pressure! Overall I am stoked with my improvement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><video controls src=\"https:\/\/edci336av.opened.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10012\/2026\/01\/IMG_5210-2.mov\" preload=\"none\"><\/video><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lessons From Each Piece <\/h1>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"769\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/edci336av.opened.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10012\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-21-at-12.46.05%E2%80%AFPM-769x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-135 size-full\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Piece 1: A Perfect Popcorn Bowl <\/h4>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We used 100g more of class this week and you could feel it! The clay was much harder to move around and needed more force to pull out the walls, let alone up. <\/li>\n<li>I built my walls straight and high before, flaring out to make it a bowl. To make a bowl you use place the tips of the fingers into the centre of the bowl, then keeping your hand flat and braced on your other hand (that is anchored to the bat) you lean your hand out toward you until you\u2019ve used desired diameter <\/li>\n<li>After this you shape the bowl using the same techniques as with cylinders <\/li>\n<li>For my first official bowl \u2013 not bad! Will be great for portion controlled snacks <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"767\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/edci336av.opened.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10012\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-21-at-12.45.43%E2%80%AFPM-767x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-136 size-full\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Piece 2: A little cracked <\/h4>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I loved the shape of this one, but didn\u2019t execute well resulting in a small crack \u2013 fingers crossed if it turns out at all! <\/li>\n<li>I only pulled out my walls to about a 2 inch diameter, then really bellied out the base to make this shape. but it resulted in a large ring in my base where the original base was. It was very hard to smooth out and by the time I got it the walls collapsed a little leaving a crack <\/li>\n<li>Next time I will pull walls out further before building up so the base isn\u2019t made of walls<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"770\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/edci336av.opened.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10012\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-21-at-12.46.15%E2%80%AFPM-770x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-137 size-full\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Piece 3: Soup Bowl<\/h4>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>After making 2 almost identical bowls I wanted to try something different\u2026 but ended up with the same shaped bowl AGAIN <\/li>\n<li>To make it differed I tried to collar the top to bring in the rim. The goal was a rounded outside. It resulted in an interesting shape, but not quite the spherical shape I was after. <\/li>\n<li>I think I collared to quickly as well knocking the piece off centre, so its a bit wonky but thats okay<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"769\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/edci336av.opened.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10012\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-21-at-12.45.54%E2%80%AFPM-769x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-138 size-full\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Piece 4: A Simple Mug<\/h4>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I already went over my learning points in the video above but I thought I\u2019d share my hopeful plan for this guy <\/li>\n<li>I\u2019m going to ask if I can take this one home after we\u2019ve trimmed it next week, while it\u2019s still leather hard so I can do some carving into it. The whole reason I wanted to get into wheel throwing was so that I could more easily produce mugs that I could then spend more time doing finishing work <\/li>\n<li>I\u2019ve attached some photos of some of my previous hand-built mugs that have the finishing work I\u2019m talking about! <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Next Week: Trimming!  <\/h1>\n<p>Our homework for this week is to watch trimming videos before next class. Trimming is the process of removing the excess clay at the base to give it a smooth finish. Pieces are meant to dry a bit before this step so that they have more structure and shape when they get put back on the wheel. I\u2019ve done a bit of trimming before and it\u2019s very satisfying! I\u2019ve linked one of the videos I\u2019ve already watched in preparation for next class <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OtmJOiG4aQ8\">here.<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Areas for Growth <\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Smoothing out the bottom: still getting ridges in the base. I\u2019ve improved but definitely for more<\/li>\n<li>Pulling straight walls: maintaining even pressure from top to bottom. I\u2019d also like to try different hand positions, to see if that helps <\/li>\n<li>Centering: I feel like this one will consistently be on my list! <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Questions <\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How does different clay change the throwing process? I have a bag of clay that is older and semi dried out\u2026 can I still use it? <\/li>\n<li>Practice makes perfect\u2026 but what do I do with a million imperfect mugs and bowls? <\/li>\n<li>How does one make their own pottery studio at home?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Finishing Work <\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"772\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"140\" src=\"https:\/\/edci336av.opened.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10012\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-21-at-2.22.25%E2%80%AFPM-772x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-140\"><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"145\" src=\"https:\/\/edci336av.opened.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10012\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-21-at-2.22.47%E2%80%AFPM-1-768x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-145\"><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a week of watching pottery videos on Instagram, and dreaming about being on the wheel, it was finally time to get muddy again! This week was a bitter sweet end to the semi-private throwing lessons as two more classmates&#8230; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/2026\/01\/25\/wheel-throwing-week-2-bowls\/\">Continue Reading &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}