fun with pottery

It's the Sandringham Craft show this weekend so we thought we'd go for a drive and see what's on. This is my second time visiting the estate and must admit it's my favorite place as it showcase various activities throughout the year. We set out early this morning to avoid 'weekend drivers'. They are those who like to bring their sporty or vintage cars out and drive leisurely. I mean a 30 mph on a 60mph road so we just managed to avoid them but traffic heading towards the estate was getting heavy.

This year's show wasn't a disappointment at all. Several tents were gathered to showcase various crafts. One thing which caught my attention was pottery. I haven't actually tried it in the past and after feeling the clay and moulding it on a spinning table it felt really good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was excited to start with that it took time to register what the man told me. Here are the steps .

1. First place the clay on the table. You have to put pressure onto it so you could form a round base. The man began the process cause I failed to form the basic shape. Trust me on this one ;-).

2. You have to keep your hand still while placing your thumb in the middle to begin the opening. I don't know how I did it but it just opened up.

3. I slowly shaped the clay around and the more I held it up the taller it went.

4. I had to place my finger on the edge in order to create the lip of the pot then place a sponge in the middle to gently remove the water inside.

It's actually very therapeutic because the clay is so soft and smooth to touch. You also have to be very gentle but firm to control the shape. I find it very fascinating. There was no kiln on the spot so I had to bring it home to dry and the best place to put it- the oven. I haven't read on this bit. I just hope it does the trick and so far it's still standing and relatively dry.