Post #610457 by danlovestikis on Mon, Oct 17, 2011 12:55 PM

Hi Linda, my sister was a professional potter during the 60's and 70's. She was so good at it I thought that I should take a Potter's class in college. I found that it is not in the genes. It was my first and only C in art.

I'd like to see if my suggestions work for you. In class they had us prep the wheel by scrubbing off any residual clay or clay dust and then dry it. We did not put water on the platform or the clay.

We rolled the clay into a ball. Then we slammed it as hard as possible onto the platform. I mean the ball was raised above our head and brought down with considerable force.

The tricky part is the centering. You would now dip your hands in water and place them on the clay and start the wheel to spinning and work to center. You can't make anything until the clay ball is perfectly centered. If you need to you can cut the clay if it is off on one side.

I hope this helps, best wishes, Wendy