Clay Therapy
Therapeutic benefits of clay:
1. Self-esteem:
You need very little skill to sculpt with clay – it is all about practice. Pottery can help increase self-esteem for people who believe that they lack creativity. There are no limitations, boundaries or expectations to deliver the perfect piece of art – it is in any event never possible to predict exactly how the finished product will look (glazing is still a mystery to me…). Making something useful (plates, cups) gives a sense of accomplishment – you create something that will last, something that will benefit your environment and help the people around you. Pottery can lead to a sense of accomplishment.2. Relaxation:
The sensation of rolling, pressing, moulding and squishing the clay is very enjoyable for people of all ages. It relieves stress and often opens up discussions within the pottery group, I believe that this will also be the case for children opening up to therapist…3. Anger management:
Nothing beats the feeling of man-handling a piece of clay on a bad day; and to be honest there are times when you have to be rough with the clay to get the effect that you want. The pounding and smashing is not purely for my emotional benefit, but also a vital step in removing air bubbles (yes, I am sticking to that theory).4. Increased creativity:
Imagination is key for pottery, you express your creativity though your art. You can create whatever you wish out of the clay and if you don’t like it – you start over! The group dynamic in our pottery class is such an encouraging, open one. Tips, tricks and suggestion often get bounced off each other and there is constant synergy between us. Clay leaves an “imprint” of oneself; feelings move through hands into the clay making the invisible visible.5. Other benefits:
Improving Problem Solving Skills – no picture or piece of inspiration comes with a how-to guide.
Improving Decision Making Abilities – you have to make hard choices and let some of the control go (especially when glazing as an amateur).
Developing and Utilizing Patience – doing pottery as a once a week activity does require patience, a single piece can take up to a month from start to finish.
My Pottery Experience
We are sometimes trapped in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, so creativity is a necessity for me in the battle against conformity. I recently started pottery classes as an escape form the mundane. The clay offers a very therapeutic release of tension. As much as music and my choral singing can offer hope and freedom of thought, pottery offers me that same sense of inner peace.
Pottery offers me a way to express my love for family or a friend as it is a very time-consuming, intense labour of love. These are just pieces I made for friends. It is definitely a learning experience with a steep learning curve. I will try do some nice shots of the finished products in a future post.
I hope to take this new hobby further in the future.
“Love what you do and do what you love. Don't listen to anyone else who tells you not to do it. You do what you want, what you love. Imagination should be the centre of your life.”
― Ray Bradbury
A Brief History of Pottery
Pottery can be traced back more than 10000 years back. The transition from nomadic hunters and gatherers to the more stable lifestyle of farming changed the needs of people. Pottery was born out of necessity – the necessity to water crops. Early pots were “disposable” and they were built by stacking rings of clay and firing the end product in a hole in the ground, under a bonfire.
The major shift from pots for drinking, watering and pouring to an established art form is credited to the Greeks. The Greeks experimented with characters from Greek mythology and the use of colour. From there pottery saw the invention of the potter’s wheel around 3000BC; this first potter’s wheel was known as the slow wheels. During the next century the slow wheel developed into the better known fast wheel that was by then largely used in most parts of Europe and Asia.
Pottery evolved from there to the Chinese Porcelain breakthrough 600AD, this porcelain was made from white kaolin clay combined with ground granite and yielded a fine, delicate artefact. The move to mimic porcelain (which was expensive to transport due to its delicate nature) intruded unique, colourful glazes.
The potential for clay in the modern world is still endless. New shapes, techniques and compositions still wait to be discovered; an example of this will be to see how 3D printers integrate clay, porcelain and stoneware to create unique never before seen bespoke items.
Pottery is here to stay.
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