Ceramics Pt. 3 - Tools

As much as I like to just use my hands to shape the clay, I have been learning to use tools more and more. They are there to help! There's a pointy piece to trim some heaviness off of the bottom. There are tools for texture and tools to score the clay. There are sponges to clean it up and smoothing tools to rid your piece of fingerprints. Tools are helpful, and I just forget to use them. Now, when I set up my wheel, I put them right in front of my face so I don't forget. Sometimes, the tool is the trick for the piece that is good but not great. Lesson here? I don't know? Look up! 

There is obviously many tools in this basket, but the camera is focusing on the tool that is used to scratch the clay to score it. There is a process called "slipping and scoring" which allows a potter to join two pieces of clay together. First, you have to score the clay. Scoring the clay means to scratch some Xs on the surface area where the two pieces of clay will conjoin. This allows for grooves to be filled with slip (which is watered down clay that acts as glue). Then, you can smooth the two pieces to look like one. Two become one..... a Boys Like Girls song. Also, in the Bible. 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIV)

9 Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Now, I don't have a boyfriend, and I'm not married. I don't even have any prospects at this point. I have my wedding dream book, and I have friends who are getting married. I have friends who have recently gotten married. It's there. I'm 20, and it's a prevalent thing. I am thinking about it, dreaming about it, and praying about it. There have been days that I wonder if I'll always be a lone wanderer, yes. But, I think I will come to find someone who I want to share my life with and invite that. So, maybe not a lesson right here and right now, but it's in there. There'll be a day when slipping and scoring will speak to my little heart that's in love. If God uses ceramics to speak to me even then, may I have open ears and and open heart to listen and obey. 

Ephesians 5:31 - "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."

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As you can see, having a towel on my leg is necessary for me as I throw. Mark (of whom I am an "apprentice") says it's because I use too much water. He is constantly nagging me about my overuse of water, which is breaking down my clay. To that, I say "PSHH!" However, these pictures were taken in the same day, which means I went through at least two towels. Woops!

This part gets forgotten sometimes. I throw the towels in the basket, and when I come back, they are clean, washed, and folded. They are ready to be used again. But there is a process that is going on behind the scenes. I don't see it, but I witness its effects. I notice it. 

Same goes for our hearts, I suppose. When Jesus captivates and cleanses us, we aren't the same. We are washed white. We are new. We are redeemed from our mess, and we can still be used. 

Some days I'm the clay.... Some days I'm the towel. 

2 Peter 3:14 - So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

This tool is simply a piece of wire with handles. It is used to cut a piece of clay off the lump, and to cut the finished piece off the wheel. It is crucial at the beginning and end of the process. 

In the beginning, the wire helps separate the clay to be thrown from the rest of the block of clay. 

6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

(Deuteronomy 7:6-9)

I am no Bible expert. Let's make that clear. I (think I) know that this is about the Israelites, God's chosen people. They weren't chosen, because of anything they did. They were chosen, because they were loved. Same goes for me/us. As redeemed children of God, we are set apart. We are a treasured possession. 

(once chosen, then wedged, stuck, centered, opened, shaped, and cleaned up..... then it's time to take it off the wheel to dry out.)

When you are ready to take a piece off the wheel, you turn off the wheel, so that you don't bump the pedal and off-center your piece. Then you wet your hands, so they don't stick to the clay and pull on it too much. You slide the wire as flat to the bat as possible, and then your gently glide your piece to the edge of the bat. You quickly jump it to a drying rack! It's a frightening process (more on that later)...

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

(Romans 12:2)

The tool here? It is again setting the clay apart. It has been redeemed and transformed. It is not like the rest of the lump anymore. Now, it is ready to be dried and tested in the fires of the kiln. Come what may. 

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This tool is a pliers with a piece of wire clamped on the end. It cuts a nice handle out of the block of clay. This tool is fun to use, because it's a shortcut. Mark (my "not a teacher" teacher) designed it. Now that I don't have to rely on pulling a handle, I can spend more emphasis and time on other parts of my pieces. 

Here's the thing. Get creative! Our great God has equipped us with able-minds to think, create, advance, work, and succeed. 

I made a comment to Mark once, that humans like to create, because we were made in the image of our Creator. This turned out to be a wonderful conversation. Not an argument. Not a sugarcoating. A wonderful pull and tug of the big questions of life.
"Who is God?"
"Are we all gods?"
"I just want peace and love."
All of these things played a part in that conversation.

Genesis 1:27 "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

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Here is a part of the process that is minor but important. When I go home for the day, I wrap up my clay. I want it to stay wet, moldable, and usable for the next time I sit down at the wheel or the table. I have to make sure I plastic wrap it well and then put it in my air-tight container, so that it will remain soft in the hands of the potter.

John 15:4 - Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

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This tool is simply a sponge tied to the end of a stick. You can't have water sitting in the bottom of your piece while it dries, because it will create a crack in the bottom - making it useful for only holding pencils. 

This tool always, always, always reminds me of Jesus and his bitter suffering for me on the cross. What he went through - for me. 

 

John 19:29 - A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.