Guest Artist: Kegan Meister

I'm a firm believer in being real with my students and admitting my weaknesses. I'm honest with my students that wheel throwing is not my strength. I didn't do it much in high school and had maybe half a semester on the wheel at ESU. I finally learned to throw during my 2nd student teaching placement- and then taught K-6 for 6 years so I've had to relearn. With lots of practice over the last year and a half, I'm feeling more confident and have improved quite a bit, butttt, my skills are not nearly as advanced as a family friend who is majoring in ceramics and thinking about becoming an art teacher. Kegan sent me a message last August to ask if it would be ok to demonstrate throwing for my classes before his semester started up again. I said absolutely and rearranged the schedule to fit him in. Kegan spent most of the day at school demonstrating which I hope was as good an experience for him as it was for the students and me. 

8th graders on the Potter's Wheel

I mentioned in my last post that I hadn't planned on offering wheel throwing to my 8th grade class but some students asked and I figured why not? Probably half of the students ended up trying it out and all but a couple of them actually made something functional! I was impressed. They seemed to take to throwing a lot better than I did in the beginning.

First attempt on the left, second on the right. I know the gray bowl was the result of a glaze defect, but I think it's beautiful.