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."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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. 

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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."

•••••••••••

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.

••••••••••••••

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.

Ceramics Pt. 2 - Centering and Opening

Plop down and enjoy! 

Centering....This used to be a very challenging part of the process for me. (If you're thinking.... right at the beginning?!?! You're thinking right.) The issue is that if this part is wrong, the rest of the piece will be difficult to work with. You have to speed up the wheel, keep the clay wet so your hands don't stick to it, keep your elbows on your knees, and push the clay to the center of the wheel. (Side note: I was at the studio this morning and while typing this very post, I can feel the soreness in my arms start to set in....). It can happen very fast, and sometimes it takes minutes of struggle....... but there's this glorious moment, when your hands stop moving and the clay is perfectly spinning inside of them. It's centered. You're ready. You have to very carefully take your hands off the clay at this point, trying to remove them evenly. The slightest movement can throw your clay off-center. 

Psalm 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

Opening. Also, a very particular part of the piece. You have to steady yourself. I think I forget to breathe when I open my clay!! It's a quick motion. This is the step I usually throw off the balance of my piece. I will go too fast or neglect water, so then the cylinder looks like it's doing a hula dance. Not good, people. So here's what I've learned: 

Matthew 15:18: "But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them."

Love your piece! (See the heart my hands make?) Same as we walk with God. I get myself all centered and straightened out and doing all of the godly things, and I open my mouth and the real me comes out. I only look good from the outside. I need to envelop myself with the love of God, because until that is my identity, I will continue to fall again and again (and again). I am foremost, God's child, loved and adored. The only way I will be able to be spreading love is if I'm so filled up by God's love, I overflow. "...my cup overflows." -Psalm 23:5 You can't produce it within yourself. You can't make it up. You just bubble! 

1 John 4:19 says, "We love because he first loved us."

•••••••••••••

PULLING! This is my favorite part!!! 

I distinctly remember my high school art teacher complimenting the way in which I was catching on and really pulling (literally, ha!) off a piece all by myself! Sincere words of encouragement from her lips were not rattled off without emotion. She is the kind of person who says what she means. I like that about her. So when she said, "You're becoming a real professional. Next time you'll have to do the class demonstration." I was bursting with satisfaction.

 

Psalm 40:2 - He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

    out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

    and gave me a firm place to stand.

He lifted (pulled) me out of the slimy pile of clay! It's like the clay has no idea what's in store for it. Wedging, yes. Sticking, centering, and opening, okay. But pulling. This is the repeated motion of lifting the bottom to the top. Clay pieces tend to be heavy, but have the potential to be light if you pull well. Beginners (aka me) have pieces that are very bulky on the bottom. That needs to be pulled!

This. This is where I am today. I am being pulled. I been reworked and re-centered a few times around..... and here, I stand. Out of the pit. On Christ's firm foundation. 

What are the next steps for me, oh Potter?

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Trimming the top is an overlooked, yet important step. 

If your top is wobbly or off-center and you continue to pull, you will keep pulling into the off-center position. Trim that piece that's wrecking the rest of your perfectly good piece and .... waaaalllaa! 

 Matthew 7:19 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

This is funny, because eventually the pot will go through a firing in the kiln. Jokes!

Okay, but really. As an older sister, I do think about the impact I make. Is it things I do that really influence the many young ones that look up to me?  What about my peers? What about - yes - people that are older than me? 

I DO worry about these things! I've felt and others have witnessed the transformation of my heart. But what about people I don't know so well? What about strangers? What about my parents? How do I get them to see the evidence? See that the overwhelming, pursuant love of God has captured my heart. See that I run to Him for my identity now, not to things of the past. See that I want to be better. See that I want to learn more about my relentless Savior, and that I want to be more like Him. See that in my weakness, I am strong. See that in my failure, I lean on Him who is perfect. 

How do I live a life like that????????????

Patience. This week, God has whispered the word "patience" to my heart. I have none, basically. I am going to learn. I know it. Here's the process. I will be pulled, shaped, fired, and reworked (if necessary). This is a season of patience. And I must learn. 

I am ready. I'm nervous. I am fragile. But, as I slowly pull the clay from the bottom to the top, I have to let the clay smooth in my hands, 2, 3, maybe 4 times before I move up. It's a slow process. Patience in this step pays off. It's vital. 

Romans 12:12, "....be patient in tribulation..."

••••••••••••••••••••••

Isaiah 45:5 speaks here, "I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no GOd. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,"

So the piece is centered and opened and I was pulling. It began to wobble. My strong, sturdy hands (for the sake of the comparison....) hold the walls upright. I bring back balance and order. The vase doesn't know it, but I just saved it from toppling over! 

Isaiah 45:9 says, "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does you work say, 'He has no hands'?"

I'm in the midst. I have a curvy spine and a chemical imbalance. I have eating issues and eyes that can't see. I just want to throw my hands in the air, and say, "God, why did you make me this way?!" I do. I really do. But I am the clay, and HE is the Potter. Though on Saturdays in the studio, I am the potter. In life, I am the clay. So, what do I do with a piece that is frustrating? I keep working on it. I don't give up. I pursue its potential, because I know the beautiful pottery that can come of even an off-center piece. I work at it. And so it is with me. 

God pursues me. He won't give up. I'm gonna be a beautiful vessel (of His love). His mighty hands are holding my life together. His hands are holding me. He loves me - how I am. He sees the potential in me. He wants to soften my heart and mold me into a light for Him in the darkness of the world. 

These things are true for me, and they are true for you. 

He's relentless. 

The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 7:7-8)

 It wasn't something you did. It's what he did. God made a promise and kept it. He said He would do it and He did it! We are not Israel, but we are bought with a price. God does the same for us. With His mighty hand, He redeems us. Why?

 He does it, because He loves us. 

That's all there is to it. It's a mystery to me, why a perfect God would love a broken, wayward sinner like me. But it's a beautiful mystery. Maybe I don't need to understand every angle of His love. I need to receive it. I need to receive it, fill up, bubble over, and share it. That's how it goes. 

He's creating me to be a vessel that overflows. 

Psalm 23

A visual version of Psalm 23.

 I took my journal on my prayer walk today. I had written out the verses in pretty writing in attempt to memorize the verses a month or so ago. I was very blessed by going and getting active with my memorization. It's like the fresh air cleared my mind enough for the weight of the words to stick. 

I passed a man at one point, who gave me a weird look. He was like, "You read and talk while you walk?!" I said, "I am memorizing Bible verses! It works!"

Eventually, I ended up in my usual "thinking spot"

I might have to do this more often.

It was at this point, that strange man started to stare at me

yeah, I almost fell in at this point. The log was not sturdy, if you were wondering

seven bug bites.

there was a spider on this tree....

This was a very flat rock - it stood out - among the mess of rocks along the water's edge

walked this trail, reading the Psalm out loud over and over

Ceramics Pt. 1 - Wedging and Sticking

The very beginning of the process of making a pot/vase/plate/mug/whathaveyou is taking a portion from the block. I cut it off with a string or a wire. Even in this step (that literally takes 2 seconds), God shows up. 

Romans 9:20-21 says, "But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?"

Just as I know what I want to make on the wheel and pick a matching amount of clay, God knows what He is doing with me. Who am I? Who am I to say, but "WHY ME, God?" Have you ever felt that way? I have. Have you ever said those exact words out loud? I have. I've looked in the mirror, thought about my particular-ness, my insecurities, my ugliness, and I have thought, "Why did you make me like this?" Being in the studio, being the potter, gives me a chance to see myself through my Father's eyes. 

Isaiah 64:8 says, "Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." 

Our Heavenly Father is the artist of our lives! God has a specific purpose for each of our lives (Romans 8:28), some are special purposes and some for common use. Is that bad? NO! Whether you are called across borders or called to stay where you are, God has His Potter's hand on it all. 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Next, you need to wedge. This part is really good for toning your arm muscles, and also really good for getting out all of the pockets of air in your clay. If you proceed without wedging, there is a chance that whatever you throw on the wheel will be bumpy. This causes for uneven walls - and not in a good way. Then, if you don't work out the bubbles while throwing the clay, it could get trapped in there as it dries. This heightens the risk of your piece cracking. Finally, as it is fired, science will happen! The air in the bubble will get super hot, the molecules will expand and move really fast, and with no where to go, the pressure will build. The pressure can get so intense (as the kiln heats and heats and heats) that your piece could explode in the kiln. However, that's not even the worst part! The shards of that piece have to go somewhere, and occasionally they will stick to another pot, and ruin that one as well! It's no good, people. WEDGE YOUR CLAY!

The lesson here folks is that the pressure and pain is necessary. There is a purpose. Though I might not ever know if my pieces would have exploded in the kiln or not, I continue to wedge. Though I might not know the purpose behind the pain in my life, I can trust that the Potter of my life WILL know. He is omniscient. He knows every bubble in us. The Lord of the Universe knows me to the depth of my being. He knows me through and through. He knows where there is a bubble of insecurity, which will lead to temptation, which will cause me to fall. He knows that if it festers for too long, I will explode. I will break down. The Master Potter knows me. 

Psalm 139:1, "O LORD, you have searched me and you know me."

verse 5 says, "You hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me."

verse 14, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. I know that full well."

 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

This part is like stress relief! You just chuck the clay hard down onto the canvas, so as to get rid of all of the air bubbles. You knead the clay, pound the clay, and smash the clay. Poor clay....

 

Do you feel like you're getting wedged? Life is throwing you around, pounding you to look a certain way, or smushing you against a rock and a hard place? Take heart, my friends. 

2 Corinthians 4:16-17 says this. "There we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 

Friends, just as the wedging is part of the process, so are the troubles you face today. They will pass. God's hand is still on your life. The pressure is preparing you to be a beautiful vessel for His glory :) Hold tight. 

^^^^ Air bubbles are a real and scary thing, people! Take precautions! ^^^^

Psalm 66:18, "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;"

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Just look at that determination! I am grabbing that clay with confidence. I know I am going to make a vase. I'm gonna have bumps (literally) along the way, but I am going to make a beautiful vase!

I choose YOU. John 15:16, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit--fruit that will last--and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you."

God chooses YOU.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

 Getting the clay stuck to the wheel. This seems obviously important. How often do we neglect those "obviously important" steps in our relationship with Jesus? How can we expect a healthy relationship if we have no communication? Even in earthly relationships, that makes no sense! God is not a long-distance relationship. He is ever-present. Do I feel Him always? No. Sometimes, I do. But when I don't, has he left the studio? Is he leaving me to dry up? NO! His promises stand the test of time.

God is with us.

Matthew 1:23 says, "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us").

As the clay sticks to the wheel, more pressure. Hold fast to God! 

Deuteronomy 13:4, "It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him."

Acts 11:23, "...that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."

Let's stick to being clay. God is the Potter. We are in for a wild ride. We have yet to be centered, opened, pulled, stretched, thinned, cleaned, dried, trimmed, fired, and dunked (into glaze). God's hand is on us always. 

I hope you are encouraged by clay today!