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Potter's Nod - What is it?


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Do you do it? Do you do it on purpose? Have you noticed it?

I have noticed this autistic/Tourette's looking head bobbing common in the videos and wondering if this is something folks do on purpose or if this is involuntary, or some trait that develops over time. It looks like some mild form of a tick and made me wonder if folks that have it are more inclined to succeed on the wheel because of it.

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Don't know. Nome. Not, really.

Perhaps more prevalent among those wearing glasses - that's glaahsses, "aah" as in car, not gleesses "eh" as in  meh (I wear specs, alla time; in the studio, office lens - range closest to about 4 feet -  works well).

:|

"In our studio, no one noticed."

"Some potters nod – others do not."

“It’s a feeling that’s very similar to being at the mercy of a wonderful drug, except in this case, it’s a holistic antidepressant.”

"...can also be a 'more potter than thou' sort of a thing."

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37 minutes ago, shawnhar said:

Interesting, so Liam, you do it on purpose? Does it feel "natural" and just sort of happens, or is something you have to make a conscience effort to do?

Maybe my pots wobble enough I don't need it, lol.

Just happens.  I notice myself doing it when pulling the walls, it's worse on bowls than mugs.  I'm on autopilot with mugs though.  I have weak vision in my left eye so depth perception is sometimes hard for me

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1 hour ago, liambesaw said:

Just happens.  I notice myself doing it when pulling the walls, it's worse on bowls than mugs.  I'm on autopilot with mugs though.  I have weak vision in my left eye so depth perception is sometimes hard for me

Have you tried placing a mirror at the backside of your wheel so you don't have to nod (or do the "taco bend") to gauge your shape or angle. I've done it and it works wonders for relieving the pain in the neck from bending syndrome...

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Never heard of nodding. Really strikes me as weird. . . .now, I talk to my pots, always have. .. . listen to the timbre of the echo feedback, certain tones seem to be right, without breaks in curve, lost pulls or poor thickness. Love when the pot is inflated to max and just about to collapse. Oh well, at least I am not a nodder. . .. .

 

best,

Pres 

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8 minutes ago, LeeU said:

So...do y'all wobble consistant with the wheel rotation or oposite to the direction of spin? Curious minds want to know. Maybe. Sort of. B)

Mine is slight, it's just a back and forth of maybe an inch?  At least that's how it feels.  I'm just looking inside wall, rim, outside wall, rim, inside wall.  I could see it becoming just a nervous tick though.  Growing up my brother used to scratch his face a lot while playing Nintendo, but never when not playing.  

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I have noticed a couple professors that have the nod. In their cases it's definitely a nod slight movement side to side but pretty dramatic movement of the head up and down. Neither of them realized that they did it when I asked about it. I sometimes move my mouth when I'm feeding the babies. It seems to be a similar relationship where an action invokes a subconscious behavior. Most of the nodders I know don't realize that they are doing it. I am as of yet not a nodder. Once I realized that for them it was subconscious I began taking note and recording myself throwing and asking whether or not I did it lol.

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34 minutes ago, Magnolia Mud Research said:

My observations leads me to this hypothesis:  the “nodding “ potter is following a spot on the rim as the pot goes round and round on the wheel.  When the potter, instead, focuses on the hands the nod disappears, unless the hands are also “nodding “.  

LT

Fro the ones I've seen, the nod doesn't happen at the same speed as the rotation, so I don't think they're following a spot. The nod is slower.

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On 4/1/2019 at 8:33 PM, neilestrick said:

Fro the ones I've seen, the nod doesn't happen at the same speed as the rotation, so I don't think they're following a spot. The nod is slower.

I would agree, and based on Liam's anecdotal information, I would hypothesize the nod is simply a motion that leads to better depth perception, and in Liam's case is compensatory in nature. It would be interesting to know if others that nod have visual and/or spatial acuity challenges.

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