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The Difference Between Play And Practice In Pottery
190 Plays4 months ago
In this episode, Nic Torres explores the critical differences between play and practice in pottery. Drawing from his high school sports experience, Nic emphasizes the importance of both experimentation (play) and focused skill improvement (practice) in developing one's pottery craft. He discusses how blending play into pottery helps to break the monotony and sparks creativity, while consistent practice is essential for mastering techniques. Nic provides practical tips on incorporating both elements into a potter's routine, ensuring continuous growth and innovation.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sports Memories
00:00:00
Speaker
What is the difference between play and practice in pottery? What is up Shape Nation? This is Nick Torres here and you see when I was in high school I was a big sports person. I played a lot
Commitment in Sports and Pottery
00:00:13
Speaker
of sports. I played water polo and baseball and for baseball specifically There's only a couple of us that really kind of took it a little bit more seriously because we were in the there were only couples that really wanted to win. I was one of those couple people. And the rest of the people were just kind of there. they They tried hard when the game played, but during practice, a lot of times it was kind of goof off. And which is fine because, you know, they were we were all kids at the time, high school kids.
The Role of Play in Pottery
00:00:43
Speaker
And but what is that difference between play and practice? You see, during practice, a lot of the times I saw a lot of people would be goofing off. They wouldn't be taking it seriously. They wouldn't be trying to improve something to get better. I also kind of saw that in water polo as well, because there was a lot of us in there. There's a lot of people in there and there was a tiny pool and we had a mix. We had a share pool with the the girls team. as well. And so I saw that a lot happened, especially on the boys side where a lot of people weren't really taking that seriously, they weren't trying to improve something. And that right there is a difference between play and practice. So in pottery, it's the same thing as well. There are times when we should be playing and there are times when we should be having fun, right? And there are times when we should have our head down, practicing and getting better.
00:01:36
Speaker
You know, I have told you many, many times before that it's so important to have play in your pottery practice, but too many times are you actually spending time to actually practice getting better at a certain technique, practice getting better at throwing taller, getting a better shape, getting something better, something that is improving with your pottery. You see, that difference between play and practice play is mainly for experimentation.
From Experimentation to Skill Practice
00:02:05
Speaker
It's to help you get out of that mundane cycle that we all get into and probably we get into that cycle where we keep making the same thing over and over and over again because we know what's working and other people were seem to be resonating with it. So we keep doing that. And that's where play comes in because.
00:02:21
Speaker
The biggest thing that can deter you from finding your own pottery voice is boredom. And having play in your in your pottery practice is going to help you so much. Because they have like one day a week where you're just making whatever, right, you're experimenting with a bunch of different stuff. And that's where play comes in. But what practice comes in is where you are trying to improve something, whatever it is. So when I was first learning how to sculpt my characters, right, my scope, learning how to sculpt my magnet people, I had no idea what I was doing.
00:02:59
Speaker
And at first I was just playing around. But when I got more serious about it and I wanted to continue doing this, that's when play became practice. I set time every single day to practice. Practice getting better, practice making better arms, practice getting better face so facial features, eyes, fists, hands, feet. That's where practice came in. And because that daily practice came in where I was trying to improve something, my sculptures became that much better.
Establishing a Practice Routine
00:03:30
Speaker
So you have to set time for play. You also have to set time for practice. How exactly do you do this? So on the play side, it's a bit easier because you can squeeze in one or two things into the kiln where it's just something that is completely out of ordinary and you just try something new. Right. I get I've heard that advice a lot from interviewing a bunch of people is where they will sneak in one or two things into the kilm kiln load. That is just something that is completely out of the ordinary and something that is not like what they normally make.
00:04:01
Speaker
But on the practice side, it's a bit more difficult, especially depending what level you're at, it can be a little bit more difficult because it's harder to stick with that practice. For example, let's say you are somebody that wants to throw on the wheel and but you're not really don't have a wheel at your house. How exactly are you supposed to practice that if you don't have a wheel? Well, The best thing i ah advice for that I could offer you is to go to a community party studio as often as you can. Right. Set time. Maybe if you are there for a community party to feel two hours. For that first 30 minutes or so, you are just practicing something, practicing getting taller. And after that, then you can go make whatever you want.
00:04:46
Speaker
But if you have a wheel or if you are doing something that is that you want to get better at, or you want to try more to incorporate into your own powder, you want to practice it. set time every single day, ideally every single day to try to achieve this. What works for me is waking up directly after like when I wake up, after I brush my teeth, go directly into the studio and practice something for 10 minutes, five minutes. That's all it takes. Five, 10 minutes is all it takes daily practice. and your growth continues because of that daily practice.
Balancing Play and Practice
00:05:22
Speaker
Play and practice are both needed and it's about choosing when to do it. Practice, you should be trying to do it every single day if you're trying to improve something. Play, try to do it once a week or try to squeeze in one or two projects into the kill and load whenever you fire it.
00:05:40
Speaker
So that's the difference between play and practice. Play is where you're experiment experimenting, practice is where you're trying to get better. Hope you guys enjoyed the episode and I'll see you guys in the next one.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:05:51
Speaker
Hey, thanks for listening to this episode of Shaping Your Pottery with Nick Torres. If you want to discover how close you are to actually discovering your own unique voice with your pottery, I put together a free four question quiz. It's very short. Take 30 seconds for you to take. If you will want to know how close you are to finding your own unique voice, go to shapingyourpodtery.com forward slash quiz, or you could simply go to shapingyourpodtery.com and it'll be right there at the top. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and I'll see you guys next time.