Take a little clay

[offcntr]

I often think it would be cool to have a digital video camera, like a GoPro. Show a potter's eye view of the throwing process, how amazing and magical it is to spin a lump of clay into something beautiful and useful. I even looked into buying one--do you know how much they cost? I have friends who set up their cell phone to take video while they work, post it to their Instagram, but I don't have a tripod for my cell, and can't really work one-handed while I hold the phone in the other.

Then I realized, this morning, that I do have a tripod, Denise's (and her father's before her), from when we both had 35 mm cameras. And also, that my Canon digital camera has a tripod mount on it. And it takes video.

I couldn't set up for a potter's-eye view--my throwing stool is backed up tight to the wall, elbow-to-elbow with the ware shelves. But I could set up from the front, and at least show the pot taking form. It's useless for instructional purposes--you can't see what my hands are doing half the time, and besides, I throw left-handed--but for showing the magic? Hell yeah.

I played around with video editing this afternoon, decided to throw in one of my favorite songs as a soundtrack. That's the late Freyda Epstein with her band, Acoustic AttaTude, singing Bill Danoff's Potter's Wheel.

Earth and water and wind conspire/with human hands and love and fire...

Comments

[sara]

Aw, that was really soothing.

[offcntr]

Thank you! I love that song so much.