Creativity, Serenity, and the Value of Repetition

 I often hear this from students or new potters: "Oh, I could never make the same thing over and over, how boring! Where is the creativity?" When I hear this, I think, well, you do you, but my friend, you are missing out.

Repetition, especially on the wheel, is not what it looks like. For me there are two modes: design, and production (a term I use loosely, because I am not really a production potter; they sometimes throw 500 mugs a day!) In my designing mode, to a casual observer, I might appear to be making the same thing over and over again, but I am making small changes each time: the shoulder on this one is a little higher, or the foot is a little wider, or there's an accent line at the neck, maybe the next one gets spiral throwing ridge. I am very mentally engaged, making dozens of small decisions about which version best approximates the one in my head. I do occasionally sketch forms, but I tend to do my sketching on the wheel. That's the creativity bit, and it's deeply satisfying.

The other mode, though: that is one of the true joys of pottery. I do return to the same forms often; so often that my hands can do it on their own, with little attention from my brain. Once I sit down, I let my hands do their thing and my mind can wander, or rest. It's work, in the sense of physical effort, to be sure, but like many other forms of physical effort - hiking, say, or yoga - it's mentally restorative. The serenity found there is the reward for the long months - years, if I'm honest - of frustration as you climb the long, steep learning curve of the potters wheel.

I was back at the wheel today, basking in the serenity.

 

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