Clayshaper Jim

Wow . . . while I always explain to my students just how long I spent learning enough to begin life as a professional potter (9 years with classes, the least 3 yrs were 30+ hr weeks), words are all you got to prepare them for likely the most difficult 'hands-on' endeavor the student has ever attempted, and they rarely suffice. While I can speak to folks who have learned to play a fine instrument, I can convey - to some degree - the difficulty of the task in front of them. I tell them to recall when "less noise" was a 'victory' and apply that rate of progress to the wheel . . . and that helps . . . but the difference is that every music student has been told many times - for multiple years - "how difficult" learning to play is. So, music students are 'prepared' for the inevitable early lack of music and prevalence of "noise". Not so the average pottery student . . . "I've seen 'Ghost' (the movie) "You can't tell me pottery is hard to do" is a quote from a 30-something yr old man I know. Nobody spends any great amount of time telling their children how difficult pottery is and how long it will take even if they work hard. It hurts "exceptionally competent" people's feelings to be so bad at anything . . . much less, something "as simple as pottery must be." I will from now on use these words, "you do not "do pottery" you become a potter." Thanks, old lady !!