I discovered the joy of pottery a few years ago. What makes my pottery journey a bit different is the fact that I do it despite only having the use of one arm. When I started out there was lots of information about how to centre, how to throw clay etc. My issue was that it was all aimed at two handed potters and so I thought why not post videos myself. I hope you join me on my journey and hopefully someone out there gets inspired to have a go themselves. I'm based in Cornwall UK and work out of my small studio which is in my back garden. I sell my pots in various outlets and its my main source of income. I love doing what I do and I hope you get something from my videos, even its only a distraction for a few minutes.
I'm not a professional video editor so I post exactly how it is. Thanks for stopping by. . . . . . . . #onearmedpotter #onehanded #handmade #cornwall #madeincornwall #disability #disabledpotter #functionalpottery
Hi I have deformed hand from rhumatoid arthrits and just trying to learn the wheel any tips on centring with one hand as my one hand is much more deformed
Hi, sorry to hear about the arthritis. Have a browse through my videos. One handed throwing can be daunting but if you are keen and willing to persevere it is more than possible. There are also tools which can help, Google @strongarmpotterytool. If you are throwing one handed with your left hand you want the wheel to spin clockwise. If righthanded go anticlockwise. Start small, 400 grams and just practice , practice practice
Certainly. I was knocked off my motorbike about 20 years ago. I ended up in a coma for 6 weeks and suffered quite a few injuries. I punctured both lungs, broke my neck, my ribs and snapped by clavicle and shattered my right shoulder blade. I also managed to wrench the nerves which operate my arm etc from my spinal column. The injury is known as a brachial plexus injury. I was right handed but do not have any use of my right arm whatsoever. I actually have no feeling in my right arm from the elbow. There is also a lot of pain associated with this type of injury but, weirdly, when I'm throwing pots I don't notice the pain as much. A year after my accident I had a massive heart attack, brought on by injuries sustained in the accident, and had to have a coronary artery bypass. Pottery is something I got into by accident about 7 years ago and I fell in love with it.🙂🙂
@@onearmedpotter oh my what a journey. As they say out of the bad comes the good. Your survived and a whole new world opened up for you. Pottery giving you so much more than just making pots. Well done, I'm glad you found your love for clay. I'm a newbie can't wheel throw and just about to do a glaze firing. I just read that once you kiln wash the shelves they must be bisque fired first. I wonder if I could do a bisque load of pots with fresh washed kiln shelves. Happy potting
I like these mags with yellow inside! Can you tell, how long it took for you to create this batch of mags? And do you sell them on markets or in the shops?
Hi. To make a kiln load it takes a few weeks, throwing, trimming, handles, drying out, bisque then glaze. At the moment I sell via stockists in Cornwall & Devon.
It was just as good for me. Those color combinations are great. 1. How hot does the area around your kiln get when it's firing? I'm getting a kiln and have a shed that looks to be about the same size as your work room, so I'm curious. 2. Do you use commercial glazes, or mix your own? If you make your own, would you mind sharing your recipes? Thanks in advance for any info you have for a new potter.
Hi. I have a gap of around 12 inches between the wall and kiln. I fire to 1210. I generally leave the windows open as well as the doors in order to allow air to circulate. I always make sure I'm around whenever I glaze fire but generally never had any issues. All of the glazes I use are commercial glazes. I have thought about making my own glazes but then I'd have to test and then find more storage so it's easier, for me anyway, to simply buy something that has been tested and works;)
Enjoyable and very instructive. I feel like I should be able to get into clay without ever having done it before. Quality of the video is good. I'm glad I was lucky enough to be one of the first few hundreds of viewers for this video. Thanks a lot for posting it.
Wow, I promise never to complain again when I can't do something, it's a nice shaped bowl, your teaching skill is calm and meditative, that's how I feel when I use clay, I'm in awe of your skill and use of the equipment you have to throw a good sized bowl. Thankyou for sharing your skills with us x😊
Hey man, I have a question to ask. How do you take off the clay from the wheel with the wire tool? I am trying to do a wheel throwing project for school, but I lost the ability to use my right arm due to a brain bleed.
hi. I stand at the wheel rather than sit. My wheel is a Brent C so the splash pan comes apart. I use 6 inch square plywood tiles and wedge them against the wheel with my hip. I drip water at bottom of pot and then wire it. From that point I slide it onto the batt. There should be videos on my channel showing me do this. Hope that helps
You may be putting too stiff a clay in. I tend to use soft clay. It does mean that I have to leave the handles to stiffen up a bit before I'm able to attach them but it is certainly much easier to pump the softer clay out. I learned the hard way by trying stiffer clay and it was nigh on impossible;)
