Learning to Let Go
When I first began throwing pottery, every finished piece felt like a small victory. After managing to center the clay, raise the walls, and create a form that could stand on its own, it was difficult to imagine that a…
Lana
Challenge 9 — Finding Support Again
Introduction — Context After a forced pause, returning to the wheel happened cautiously. My body was not quite ready to resume the same rhythm as before, but the gesture itself was ready to come back. This challenge grew out of…
A Pause in the Gesture
Introduction — Context The throwing challenges took an unexpected pause over the past few weeks. A surgery for appendicitis forced me to step away temporarily from the wheel, the clay, and the usual rhythm of creation. This pause interrupted the…
Challenge 8- Building the Form from the Start
Introduction — Context This eighth challenge led me to work with more elongated forms, but also more demanding ones. The goal was not simply to increase height, but to maintain a clear presence in the form, without allowing the silhouette…
Challenge 7 – Learning to Contain Before Rising
Introduction — Context After several challenges focused on silhouette, neck, and foot, this new challenge led me in a somewhat unexpected direction: the sphere. It is not a form I naturally gravitate toward. Lately, my interest has been moving instead…
Challenge 6 — The Dominant Foot
Introduction — Setting the context After several challenges focused on silhouette, curves, and tension, I felt the need to bring my attention back to an area I had often treated almost automatically: the foot. For a long time, my feet…
Challenge 5 — The Dominant Neck
Letting the form rise Introduction — Setting the context Since the beginning of this series of challenges, each step has led me to look at forms differently. Some constraints were demanding, almost rigid, but they also helped refine my eye…
Challenge 4 — The Controlled Narrowing
Learning to hold back without breaking Introduction — A new form of tension In this series of challenges, each step adds another layer of understanding.After working on regularity, repetition, and precision, this new challenge addressed something more subtle: tension within…
Challenge 2 — The Cylinder
Introduction — Setting the context In this series of challenges, each form acts as an exercise in observation as much as in technique. After the first challenge, where visual tension was at the heart of the work, the second seemed…
Challenge 3 — The Continuous Curve
Moving beyond natural reflexes Introduction — Setting the context This third challenge is part of a progressive approach in which each step aims to refine the reading of forms. After the discipline of the cylinder, the objective this time was…