Mood Meter: Suddenly Inspired

 Singaporean potter Alvin Tan Teck Heng gave a demo at Joey's studio yesterday. He's staying in the country for awhile, but was quick to add that he's almost always here. Here's a rundown of what happened:

After a brief narration on how he started with pottery (and how his Chinese master taught him the craft after more than three years of apprenticeship), Alvin showed us some of his basic techniques. What strike me the most the different way he centers his clay.

Alvin starts from the upper portion, then moving on to segments until he reaches the bottom of the mound. He also gives special attention to the lip and never takes his fingers off them. If he did, he would give extra attention afterward. The threw large lumps of clay (five kilos and up) and came with these works for the demo:

If you watch him work, you'll realize that he has this centered calmness in his movements. You'd be amazed at how much attention he gave just to bring the pout (upper photo) to that size and shape.

"You have to be very gentle with clay... Because it is very soft," he said.

Alvin says that for him, the inside of the clay is as important as the outside. That is why, he paid special attention to the insides of this gourd-shaped jar.

Every now and then, Alvin will throw in what I call in my head as the Tao of Pottery. He would say, for instance, that clay throwing is a healing form and that a potter's emotions or psychological state reflects in what he or she creates.

The masters know what you are thinking based on your works, said Alvin. He also gives special mention to his left hand, which he thinks is his stronger hand.

"The left hand is very important," he said. "Because it protects the heart."

Overall, I think I like his pottery style. In a way, its a bit more feminine compared to the mostly-used Western-style, which I find very masculine. That is why, after the demo, I've decided to give pottery another chance. Who knows. Maybe one day I'll be able to develop my own technique. :)

And after his demo, the boys took turn demonstrating their wheel-throwing techniques. One of the attendees called it a showdown of sorts. Haha.

After the "showdown", Alvin gave suggestions on how I can improve my wheel throwing skills, which I will implement once I attend next class (if I find time). And my first time attending a pottery demo ended with my feeling really blissful. - 9/27/2013