Introduction of the Pottery Challenge
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Speaker
I have a challenge for you. What is up, shaping nation? This is Nick Torres here, and on this episode of Shaping Your Pottery, I'm going to be talking about a challenge that every single potter should take every once in a while to grow their pottery skills and help them find their own unique pottery voice.
Reevaluating Wheel Throwing Superiority
00:00:16
Speaker
So, for too long, I got stuck thinking that wheel throwing was the one all be all. I thought that, because I knew how to throw on the wheel, I thought that I was better than everybody else. And I'm not the only one that felt this as well.
Discovering Hand Building's Value
00:00:32
Speaker
I've recently interviewed Nicole Dacey, it's episode 334 if you want to check it out, and in this episode Nicole faced the same thing.
00:00:40
Speaker
was a wheel thrower all her life. That's all she did. And she thought she was better than all the handbuilders out there because she knew how to throw on the wheel because a little bit harder to learn. And when she took a break from wheel throwing for a while, she spent a whole year hand building and she realized that she was wrong.
Avoiding Stagnation Through Technique Exploration
00:01:00
Speaker
And I too was wrong, too, when I felt this because I felt the exact same thing. She was wrong and that she realized that hand building actually has a lot of freedom to it.
00:01:10
Speaker
But what is the challenge that I am trying to get a point? So too many potters, we get stuck doing the same thing over and over and over again. We think because we spent so much time working on it and learning it that that's the thing that we have to stick to. But that is far this furthest from the truth, because the more you can experiment and the more you get outside of your comfort zone, the better your pottery is going to turn out. So here's my challenge to you.
00:01:35
Speaker
If you are a wheel thrower, try hand building. If you are a hand builder, try sculpting. If you are a sculptor, try doing raccoon.
Experimentation for Unique Pottery Style
00:01:44
Speaker
Try adding a different type of underglaze. My challenge to you is to try something different that you never would think to try in your pottery journey.
00:01:53
Speaker
Because if you're doing the same thing over and over and over and over again, your pottery becomes boring and it starts looking like everybody else's. And that's not what we want. We want our pottery to be unique. We want our pottery voiced to have its own little flair. We want it to show off our own personality with it.
Skill Expansion through Technique Learning
00:02:09
Speaker
But sometimes we get stuck in our own little bubble that we have to branch out with the force we branch out and get uncomfortable. Start trying different things, different pottery techniques, because when we try different pottery techniques, that's when our knowledge expands.
00:02:27
Speaker
Right? Like let's say right now you are a wheel thrower. You are a wheel thrower and you're stuck in that wheel throwing thing. And then now let's say you try hand building. Now you have one other thing to add to your repertoire. The repertoire of skills that you can learn and you can apply to your own pottery. So I challenge you, go out there and try something that you never think you would try in pottery. Go do it.
00:02:52
Speaker
If you're a wheel thrower, go hand building. If you're a hand builder, go sculpt. If you're a sculptor, go do raccoon. Go do wheel throwing. Go do something else. Because the more you learn, the better it's
Encouragement and Resources for Potters
00:03:02
Speaker
going to be. So I challenge you to go out there and get uncomfortable and try something different. Hope you guys enjoyed this episode and I'll see you guys in the next one. Thanks for listening to this episode of Shaping Your Pottery with Nick Torres.
00:03:15
Speaker
If you want to start discovering your own unique voice, you must first start with the right questions. That's why I put together a free 15 question booklet for you to start discovering your own unique pottery voice. All you have to do is go to shapingyourpottery.com forward slash questions to get this free booklet.
