Next up in this series, How To Throw A Hand Grenade

This pot was thrown Spring of 2001.

I have tried to throw a pot twice after this, but both failed to produce a pot.

Greetings all. For those of you who don't know me, on the internet I am known simply as Risawn. At one time I was a college student and took a class known as Pottery. No, I am not teaching you how to throw as in a baseball, I am referring to the technique of throwing pottery on a wheel. Such as the following figure, which is one of the first pots I threw at the beginning of Spring Quarter 2001, where as I was a tad rusty. Well, as noted from above, I have created this website teaching an alternative method to throwing. In other words, a method that is not traditional. The traditional method would be to throw with one's hands. That is fun, but there are in fact, other ways to throw a pot on a wheel. How, might you ask? Well, with one's feet of course!

To Begin First, before one wants to throw a pot on the wheel, whether one wants to throw it with one's feet or with one's hands, one needs certain items to begin with. First, you need some clay. When you learn to throw with your hands, you should start small, with only three pounds or so. However, when throwing with your feet, you should start with more. This is because your feet are not as delicate and careful as your hands are. You need to work with a lot of clay in order to throw anything with your feet. When you get used to throwing with your feet, then you should go smaller. I started this project with roughly seven or eight pounds of clay. Next, you need some water. A container to put the water in is perferrable. Make sure the container is big enough to dip your feet into. You need to have a wet surface when throwing on the wheel, whether with your feet or hands, and the clay needs to be suitably wet. You need a wheel. In order to throw a pot, you must have a wheel. There is no way around it, just as you need clay in order to make something. A sturdy seat above the wheel. This is a requirement. You can't use a traditional stool, as you will be supporting your entire body as your feet try to shape the thing you are trying to create. It helps if the seat is about a foot or two above the wheel. I used a table, it worked great. A sponge. This isn't required, as you can use your wet feet to transfer water onto the clay, but it helps. Suitably muscular physique. Especially when throwing with your feet. This will give you a workout. If you don't believe me, try it, and you will find your inner thighs begging for mercy while you try to center your pot. Knowledge of clay. If you have never thrown on the wheel the traditional way, then I don't recommend throwing with your feet. You will be in for a soar treat if you have never done this before in your life. Shorts. If you throw in pants, you are asking to add onto an already messy experience. That's basically what you need to begin with. From here, all it takes is a little discipline and a lot of patience.

Centering Now, you are going to take the big glob of clay and wedge it, one of the few things you actually do with your hands. Shape it into a preformed cone shape and then place it nicely on the wheel. As so. Note that I am elevated above the wheel aproximately a foot or two, and my legs are extended in front of me. This helps when trying to center the clay. After this is done, wet the clay with your feet, getting it well sunctioned against the wheel bat and shape it some more into the conical shape. Now, turn the wheel on with the foot peddle. When throwing with one's feet, the peddle is operated by the hand, as the functions are reversed. Keep the wheel moving at a slow speed and feel the loppy clay underneath your feet. It actually feels very nice. Play with the clay for about fifteen minutes. It takes forever to center it with your feet, and you might notice that your little toes and your heel tends to get in the way at times. This can be frustrating, but be patient with it. The conical shape is by far one of the hardest parts, as throwing in general is very difficult when the clay is not centered on the wheel. I can not stress this enough, make sure your Clay is CENTERED!!! You think it is already hard enough trying to throw something with your feet, try doing it when the clay is out of whack. Once you got the conical shape, take the one foot and begin to press downward on the clay, as the other foot presses on the sides. This is just like centering with your hands, only your doing it with your feet. The bird's Eye view is as follows If your feet don't shake and shimmy at this point, then you are squared away. Notice that little round dome? That's what you want.

The Cylindar All of us who have thrown pots know that the precurser to the pot is a cylinder. Well, we are still making that cylindar, and it is doubly hard because we are using our feet to make one. First, open up the centered glob of clay with the heel of your foot (stupid me, I didn't take a picture!) First, bring the wheel closer to you to do this, so you are almost directly over it. The heel is the hardest surface on your foot, and it works very well for this. Pull outward as you dig in deeper with your heel. Don't go to deep, as you don't need thin walls to do this, and it will make your task that much harder. Next, you will place the nice little conveniant arch of your right foot against the outside of your pot as you push in with your toe, as shown here. Yes, it looks pretty trippy. And you will discover that you will have to rest your leg muscles every now and then during this stage, as it wipes you out. When you get a suitably tall cylinder with reasonably thin sides (you will not have those tiny sides you are used to when throwing with your hands on your first try), then you are ready to shape your pot!

The Pot Form This is the tricky part. From your cylindrical shape, you now have to make this into a pot, or some other shape. For your first try, just leaving it as a cylinder isn't that bad, as you can show all your friends that you actually threw something with your feet (photo evidence of the event isn't a bad idea either!) But if you want to continue further, well, then you need to make something out of that cylinder! You make a pot with your feet the same way you would with your hands, only it is a lot trickier. Your feet don't have thumbs, and the the little toes don't cooperate very well. They like to dig into the surface of the pot and screw things up. To extend the pot outward, press one foot against the inside of the cylindar and press outward. Be careful as you do this as to not stress the clay. YOu will have to come back with your other foot and smooth out the stress fractures that you will note on the surface of the clay if you are not careful. To make the top come inward, just press down lightly but firmly on top of the pot with one of your feet. This will give it somewhat of a spherical look, which is not a bad place to stop. However, if you want the traditional lip of the pot, just bring your foot on the inside and bend it back upward. You do this very similar in the manner of which you throw a pot with your hands, except my favorite tool for this is that little space between the big toe and the toe next to it. Actually, this is just a place to experiment, as everyone's pots are different. Depending on how patient you are, you might even come out with a pot still intact!

The Finished Pot Now you must remove the pot from the wheel, unless you are using a bat. Sorry, this should be done with your hands, unless you want to risk screwing up your pot. Take the wooden thingamabob and trim the excess off the bottom of the pot. Wet the surface of the wheel and take out the wire, running it under neath your pot several times. Take the damp pot lifters and run them under your pot, then moving it to a moist bat and setting it aside. And then you're done! Now is the time when you can sit down and stare in awe at your piece of artwork as you contemplate what you can do with those extra limbs located below your lower torso other then use them for transportation. And watch as everyone gawks and stares as you prove that you can throw a pot with your feet! From here on out, sorry, everything else should be done by hand, as in trimming and glazing your pot. And cleaning your cursed wheel, which is a mess right about now (hey, throwing is a messy sport!) Unless you are born with no hands, your art with your feet should end at the wheel. This is just my recommendation. It's incredible enough throwing with your feet in the first place.