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Clay: Amenable to Emotion
| Article
# : |
15300 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1989 |
1,941 Words |
| Author
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Jennifer Harper
Jennifer Harper is a features writer for the Washington Times. |
It is the beginning of a long relationship.
The potter's fingers are poised in pale, powerful curves above a dark shape. An inert shape. It is a hunk of clay, smelling of the underground--of earth and cold and damp roots.
The fingers descend. They knead, pinch, and slap. They persuade and cajole. They caress. Warmed by human heat and insistent motion, the clay begins to change. No longer a dull lump, it has become amenable. Eager.
The potter stands back, hands on hips, fingers grainy and smudged. There are decisions to be made about this relationship. It can go any number of directions.
Rolled flat and sliced with taut wires, the clay becomes thick slabs, to be mitered into a handsome jar. Rolled between the palms into lengthy snakes, the clay can be coiled upward into remarkable shapes. Or it can be hand built into wee characters, or a jewel box, perhaps.
Or the potter may choose to gather the clay up, heft its weight once more, and then place it on the wheel. Turned in its own little orbit, the clay is literally thrown by gravity and patient prods into graceful cups and pitchers.
Then again, the potter may toss the clay back in the bin, disgusted.
A very passionate relationship
This can be a very passionate relationship, indeed. Clay, despite its plain appearance, can engender much feeling in those who work with it. People turn to clay, so to speak, for expression, comfort, and emotional outlet.
"Clay is very basic, very organic. There lies the appeal," says Geri Camarda, who works in clay sculpture in Penland, North Carolina. "I literally think of it as the earth. It's receptive and actively responds; it gets you thinking as you work."
Camarda "made a commitment" to clay at age forty and now specializes in large abstractions, softly glazed in a wood fire. She believes that people of any age can respond to clay.
"Clay picks up on personal
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