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You Can Be Good At Pottery But Not Be Good At Pottery
50 Plays2 years ago
Listen in as I, Nic Torres, unravel the paradox of being skilled yet not truly proficient in a craft, drawing parallels between sports and pottery. I kick off with my passion for sports, particularly basketball, and how the NBA season's excitement spurs reflections on mastery and dedication. The debate of skill versus obsession in the context of legendary NBA players Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant sets the stage. While both athletes possess remarkable abilities, I explore the mental edge that separates a good player from a great one—highlighting Kobe's relentless drive and Vince's comparative lack of it.
Shifting gears to pottery, I use this analogy to dissect what it means to excel in an art form. It's not just about mastering a specific technique like wheel throwing, but also about pushing boundaries and creating a unique identity. As I share my thoughts, the conversation becomes a call to artists and creatives: be more than proficient, be innovative. Discovering one's style, adding unique touches, and telling a story through one's work is what transforms a good potter into a great one. Tune in to hear how embracing originality and eschewing imitation can elevate not just pottery but any craft or endeavor you pursue.
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Transcript
Introduction to Pottery and Personal Experience
00:00:00
Speaker
You could be good at pottery, but still not be good at pottery. What is up Shape Nation, this is Nick Torres here. And on this episode, I'm going to be talking about how you can be good at pottery, but you still can't be good at it. So I am a huge sports fan by huge sports fan. I mean, I like basketball and I like baseball.
Paradox of Pottery Skill and Mindset
00:00:22
Speaker
And because it is right now the NBA season, as it gets in the middle of the season, and it's almost all a store game, I tend to watch a lot of basketball because that. So what do I mean by that? You can be good at pottery, but you can't be good at pottery.
00:00:45
Speaker
The reason why I brought this up is because I was watching a little bit of YouTube and it was pretty much debating why Vince Carter wasn't as good as Kobe Bryant. And for those that don't know who these two people are, so Kobe Bryant was an absolute amazing player. He's like in the conversation for like top 10, top probably five of all and all time NBA players.
00:01:14
Speaker
And while Vince Carter, on the other hand, he was very, very good himself, but he just wasn't Kobe's level. But the only difference was, I would say that in terms of skill, Vince Carter had Kobe Bryant beat. Why is that? So in terms of skill, Vince Carter was probably more athletic, more, definitely had a better vertical jump compared to Kobe Bryant. He was overall more athletic.
00:01:44
Speaker
But the key difference that made Kobe a winner and he had five NBA championships while Vince Carter had none was simply that Kobe had an obsession with winning and with being able to be the greatest on the court. He wanted to be on the court for the longest and he wanted to just absolutely dominate. While Vince Carter, on the other hand, he was very good. He's very athletic. He didn't have that same drive as Kobe.
Developing Unique Pottery Styles
00:02:12
Speaker
And that's the difference between those two players. They're both very good players. But what made the difference was the obsession that Kobe had. The obsession of getting better, getting better, getting better. And being on the court, playing as hard as you can. Well, Vince Carter just didn't really have that in his skill set, right? He had all the skills, but he didn't have necessarily a mindset.
00:02:39
Speaker
And it's the same thing with our pottery. You can be very, very good at wheel throwing on pottery. Maybe you're making some of the largest vases, maybe like on a print. But to me, just because you can make a lot of really tall vases, that doesn't necessarily mean you are good at pottery. You're good at that one skill set. That doesn't mean you're good at everything in pottery, which is totally fine.
00:03:08
Speaker
And that's why I'm reading this up is because if you are good at that one skill set, but how can you not be good pottery? You're good at pottery, but you're not good at pottery. What do I mean? So like I mentioned earlier that you can have this skill set of being a very good wheel thrower, but you're just cocking every other potter out there. And that's what makes you not sell your good pottery, but not a good potter.
00:03:37
Speaker
But on the other hand, let's say you do maybe your wheel throwing is maybe it's average, maybe a little bit above average compared to the normal person. But what you do to spice up your pottery is you do things completely different. Maybe you alter your the way you will throw a little bit or maybe you add some graffiti designs onto your pottery. Maybe you tell a story with your pottery rather than filling in with the mold of other people.
00:04:07
Speaker
You go your own route and that's what makes you a good potter, a great potter rather than just a good potter. And taking that route, you're taking that route for yourself. You're taking that route to find your own style rather than just trying to copy everybody out because there is a lot of copying in pottery, which is totally fine. You know, if you want to go out and do simple glazes, that is totally fine. You can do those things.
00:04:31
Speaker
The things that make the great potters is they try to find their own style with their pottery and they're not just copying everybody. That's the difference between you to be a good potter, but not still be a good potter, because the best potters out there are looking to find their own style, looking to differentiate themselves from every other person out there.
Encouragement to Discover Unique Pottery Style
00:04:54
Speaker
And that's why it's so important to find your own unique voice to always be trying to find their own voice.
00:04:59
Speaker
So you can differentiate yourself from other potters. You don't want to be just good potter. You want to be a great potter. And that's why I wanted to give this little message to you today. Go out and try to be different. Don't just copy other potters. It's okay to be different. And that's what we want. So go out there and try to find that one thing that's going to make you stand out a bit. Hope you guys enjoyed this episode and see you guys in the next one.
00:05:28
Speaker
Thanks for listening to this episode of Shaping Your Pottery. If you are struggling with finding your own theme for your pottery so that, you know, you are known for something, I put together 53 themes that you can use and you can take. All you have to do is go to shapingyourpottery.com or slash 53 themes. That's five three themes to get these 53 themes.
00:05:54
Speaker
It's really important for you to find a theme for your pottery so that you're not going to get burnt out. You can have multiple styles with your pottery and you can be known for something. So again, go to shapingyourpottery.com forward slash 53 themes. That's five, three themes to get these 53 themes. Thanks guys. I'll see you guys next time.