Time stops for Lisa Kane when she’s working with clay By Catherine Watson
HUNCHED over the potter’s wheel at the Rescue Station arts centre, Lisa Kane is absorbed in the vessel that’s emerging in her sure fingers. Time stops for her when she’s working with clay, she says. “I love it!”
At a long table nearby, Margaret Abrahamson is painting some small dishes she made at an earlier session. She has no affinity for the wheel, she says, but she likes shaping the clay by hand. She’s looking forward to seeing her first works fired.
I’ve come down to the Rescue Station Arts centre to do a story on the clay makers group.
Tutor Alan Whitmore, who taught art at Leongatha Secondary College for many years, says that even after decades of potting, he still gets pleasure from working with clay.
HUNCHED over the potter’s wheel at the Rescue Station arts centre, Lisa Kane is absorbed in the vessel that’s emerging in her sure fingers. Time stops for her when she’s working with clay, she says. “I love it!”
At a long table nearby, Margaret Abrahamson is painting some small dishes she made at an earlier session. She has no affinity for the wheel, she says, but she likes shaping the clay by hand. She’s looking forward to seeing her first works fired.
I’ve come down to the Rescue Station Arts centre to do a story on the clay makers group.
Tutor Alan Whitmore, who taught art at Leongatha Secondary College for many years, says that even after decades of potting, he still gets pleasure from working with clay.
“I think it’s making something from nothing. You take a lump of clay and you can make something really elegant.
“Every step along the way is a bit of a tightrope walk. The challenge is to make something as good as you can on the wheel, then you let it dry and then you’ve got to trim it, and the trick is to trim it as well as you can. Then you’ve got to decorate it and not muck it up.
“When all your stars align and you get something through to the finish, that’s when you tend to drop it!”
“Every step along the way is a bit of a tightrope walk. The challenge is to make something as good as you can on the wheel, then you let it dry and then you’ve got to trim it, and the trick is to trim it as well as you can. Then you’ve got to decorate it and not muck it up.
“When all your stars align and you get something through to the finish, that’s when you tend to drop it!”
Rescue Station Arts president Wendy Crellin and claymaking tutor Alan Whitmore
Watching the students at work, I’ve started to feel a little jealous. I ask if I can have a go.
Alan gives me a quick tutorial on using the wheel, showing me how to shape the clay into something that might resemble a vase, how to cut it from the base using a string held taut. It looks fairly straight forward and I’m impatient to get started.
I soon realise I’ve been hoodwinked. The clay is determined to go its own way. You can’t begin to shape a vessel until you get the clay centred and symmetrical, and that simple first step is beyond me.
Alan returns to repeat the lesson on centring the clay on the wheel. You lean forward and use the palm of your hand. Your other hand holds the shaping hand still so there’s a single point of contact with the revolving clay. Of course!
The sounds of the studio are soothing. A bit of chatter, lots of absorbed silence, the occasional curse as a pot goes too lop-sided to save. We break for a cuppa. I’m surprised to find an hour has passed.
It’s been a decade-long journey for those who first dreamt of establishing a community arts centre at the iconic State Coal Mine Rescue Station on the outskirts of Wonthaggi.
It’s finally coming together with after-school art classes for kids, studio time for experienced ceramic artists and potters and the claymaking classes.
Alan gives me a quick tutorial on using the wheel, showing me how to shape the clay into something that might resemble a vase, how to cut it from the base using a string held taut. It looks fairly straight forward and I’m impatient to get started.
I soon realise I’ve been hoodwinked. The clay is determined to go its own way. You can’t begin to shape a vessel until you get the clay centred and symmetrical, and that simple first step is beyond me.
Alan returns to repeat the lesson on centring the clay on the wheel. You lean forward and use the palm of your hand. Your other hand holds the shaping hand still so there’s a single point of contact with the revolving clay. Of course!
The sounds of the studio are soothing. A bit of chatter, lots of absorbed silence, the occasional curse as a pot goes too lop-sided to save. We break for a cuppa. I’m surprised to find an hour has passed.
It’s been a decade-long journey for those who first dreamt of establishing a community arts centre at the iconic State Coal Mine Rescue Station on the outskirts of Wonthaggi.
It’s finally coming together with after-school art classes for kids, studio time for experienced ceramic artists and potters and the claymaking classes.
Rescue Station Arts president Wendy Crellin looks forward to the day when Rescue Station potters are making crockery for the local cafes and restaurants. “We need to make a mug!” she says. “We all start off by making mugs. The local cafes could use Rescue Station pottery. We might go into production at some stage.”
Next month the arts centre will host acclaimed ceramicist Varuni Kanagasundaram as artist in residence, running a series of ceramic workshops for local women from diverse backgrounds.
Varuni says the women will be making vessel forms out of clay using markings that signify their identity. The designs will reflect elements of place, a merging of cultural practices and a sense of connection. Just being in the studio and working with their hands is bound to inspire lots of conversations.
The fired work will be displayed as an installation so the broader community gets to share the experience and the contents of the vessels.
After a cuppa and a chat, I return to the wheel. By the end of the session, with plenty of assistance from Alan, I’ve made two ungainly vessels. I can only get better.
Rescue Station Arts is off West Area Road, opposite Donmix. Follow the road past the Number Five Mine Brace. Inquiries: rescuestationarts@gmail.com or Wendy Crellin, 5672 1949.
Next month the arts centre will host acclaimed ceramicist Varuni Kanagasundaram as artist in residence, running a series of ceramic workshops for local women from diverse backgrounds.
Varuni says the women will be making vessel forms out of clay using markings that signify their identity. The designs will reflect elements of place, a merging of cultural practices and a sense of connection. Just being in the studio and working with their hands is bound to inspire lots of conversations.
The fired work will be displayed as an installation so the broader community gets to share the experience and the contents of the vessels.
After a cuppa and a chat, I return to the wheel. By the end of the session, with plenty of assistance from Alan, I’ve made two ungainly vessels. I can only get better.
Rescue Station Arts is off West Area Road, opposite Donmix. Follow the road past the Number Five Mine Brace. Inquiries: rescuestationarts@gmail.com or Wendy Crellin, 5672 1949.
An after-school arts program for children is proving popular.