Poetry in clay
Published:Sunday | October 7, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Amitabh Sharma, Contributor
Norma Rodney Harrack takes a lump of clay, kneads it into a ball and throws it on top of a spinning wheel. With the flick of a
"The potter's wheel was a
synchronisation of feet, hand and brain," Rodney Harrack said, working
like a drummer in harmony - tapping the pedal with his foot to play the
bass drum as the hands work the drum sticks on the cymbals to produce
beats.
Pottery, Rodney Harrack said, is a very
meticulous process requiring patience and hard work. Like cooking, the
prepping of the ingredients is a time-consuming
task.
It starts with choosing the right clay, which is
soaked for around two weeks to get the sediments to settle down, then
passed through a sieve. "The clay is in a consistency of thick ice
cream, it is then kept to dry, when it becomes a leather hard stage ...
it is kneaded to take out any air pockets," she
explained.
"The clay has to be leather - or cheese -
hard consistency, and is left overnight in the open before it is
carved."
The prepping process takes around three to
four weeks … or one can buy ready-made clay and start using it, "It is a
personal choice, the traditional process gives gratification, but one
has to wait to execute a creative idea," the potter, artist and lecturer
said.
"It's the difference between making a cake from
a cake mix or going through the process of mixing the ingredients from
the scratch," said Ann Ventura, founder and creative director of Sanaa
Studios in Kingston.
Pottery traces its history to
ancient civilisations, as a work of art and in daily use, from the
'Yabba' pots of Africa to its aesthetic use in Mesopotamia (modern day
Iran and Iraq) and the Indus Valley Civilization (India and Pakistan)
more than 6,000 years ago.
Centuries later, the
flywheel has become mechanised, but the fundamentals remain the same.
"It is a labour of love where the head, hands and the heart work in
harmony," said Rodney Harrack.
Throwing
process
A foot pedal controls the speed of the wheel;
the pace is set at fast after the clay is 'thrown'. " The process is
called throwing because you have to throw the clay on the wheel and then
centre it," she informed.
It is critical that the
clay is centred and once that is done, the process of moulding
commences. The moist hands' movements decide what shape the clay takes,
coupled with the pressure applied and excessive moisture
removed.
If something goes wrong, she said, you can
get the clay back as a lump and start all over
again.
"The clay is soft and obedient to be shaped,"
said Rodney Harrack, who is the pottery lecturer at Edna Manley College
of the Visual and Performing Arts, Kingston.
Once the
desired form is achieved, it is removed by running a cutting metal wire,
the pottery is then kept to dry and then fired in the kiln. Once baked,
the finishing touches are applied, which are a variety of glazes or
paints according to the artist's preferences and
style.
"Traditionally, the pots were 'burnished',
which is a process of smoothing the surface, after two days of the pot
being made, by rubbing a smooth stone or back of a spoon to give the
shine," she informed. "The process takes about three to four
hours."
Pottery is a painstaking and, at times,
back-breaking process, but at the end of it all, the sweat, toil and
caking hands in clay, like planting a seed and seeing it germinate,
gives a sense of elation and gratification to the
creator.
The potter's wheel moves like a circle of
life, creating forms and shapes from earth.
"It is a
very meaningful experience, which still holds relevance and bonds us
with nature," Rodney Harrack
said.