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Summary: Centering clay when throwing large pots on the potter's wheel is an essential skill for ceramic artists. Center clay for large vessels using pottery wheel techniques in this free ceramics video.
Chris Cook received a BFA in ceramics and sculpture from Southern Oregon University where he studied raku, studio ceramics, stoneware, and various firing techniques under Jim Romberg....read more
"Now we are pretty close to having center but what I did is I went and cleaned the slop off my hands because throwing with some slop, slip, slop whatever you want to call it is a lot better than getting into your water. The water will break down your clay and the grog within your clay will start coming out and then you're left with a really difficult clay body to work with. You don't necessarily have to throw dry, dry is good but you don't need to throw wet, there is a fine line. Take the force of your body and really push it in there. We are getting there. You want to make sure that it is centered, I'm telling you, you won't be able to throw a big vessel unless it is centered and I think that we've got it centered. Flatten the top and we are going to move on to boring a hole in this guy."