tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984289093844316043.post5512559845147491235..comments2024-02-28T03:22:35.803-08:00Comments on Tales of a Red Clay Rambler: The Clear Mind Challenge and Hot Pots at the Zen Tea HouseBen Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359013637665336903noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984289093844316043.post-58904744547088137712011-04-17T07:43:39.458-07:002011-04-17T07:43:39.458-07:00That is such a coincidence about how we also exper...That is such a coincidence about how we also experience this in our teaching and in sports. Or maybe we are on to something? I grew up playing soccer too, and when I discovered pottery I quickly realized that it had the same mental space for creativity: an openness to intuitive understanding. I think it has always been important for me that I learned pottery in this way. I had to forget myself to play soccer, drop the ego and merge with the flow of the game, and this is how I look at my time on the wheel as well. I think we two may have had this great experience that others just don't have in their background necessarily. Teaching them to find it through different paths is the challenge.<br /><br />Great talking to you, as always! Take care!<br /><br /> cartercarter gillieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12744265678233135968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984289093844316043.post-28742976377627702942011-04-17T07:16:48.916-07:002011-04-17T07:16:48.916-07:00Your very welcome Carter. Thanks for the comment. ...Your very welcome Carter. Thanks for the comment. I have been thinking all weekend about this post. <br /><br />There are so many examples in my life where I have amazing results when I suspend judgement until after the process is finished. Sports have always proved this idea to be true. When I was playing soccer I would clear my mind before the game. If I was thinking about the individual passes I made I would miss the next play.Even looking at an individual half was too much. I had to play based on intuition and evaluate after the game. The same goes for teaching. I use a lesson plan but I have to be flexible so I can address the students actual needs instead of what I think their needs should be. In making and teaching direct experience/feedback is a better compass than preplanned ideas.<br /><br />On the subject of right ideas it has been great to teach in China. Every time I demonstrate here students tell me that they didnt learn it "that" way. I was not expecting the Chinese style of throwing to be so different. We are working towards the same goals but the hand movements are very different. It puts the idea of a "right way" to rest. As a teacher I love it when I get a rebellious student who challenges my methods and invents their own. This spunk and grit has led to some great work. <br /><br />Thanks again. Happy Potting.Ben Carterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13359013637665336903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6984289093844316043.post-85871876380669768992011-04-16T07:59:35.514-07:002011-04-16T07:59:35.514-07:00Wow! This may be my favorite pottery blog post eve...Wow! This may be my favorite pottery blog post ever! Great job Ben! <br /><br />I say pretty much the same thing to my students when they get slowed down demanding perfection from each little lump of clay while it is still on the wheel. I do as much as I can to get them out of this negative mental space, telling them to work quicker so their heads don't have time to catch up to their hands, delaying judgment til the pots are off the wheel, and telling them to just do something, anything, get it off the wheel and then decide in the calm moments afterward whether it worked or not. <br /><br />They don't always believe me that this is in their best interest. So many folks in our culture were raised on the idea that you have to learn to get it right first and only then can you experiment. They feel that the only way to improve is to learn in an environment where judgment is part of the making process itself. "Learn how to do it right first, and then learn how to break the rules." They hold people like Picasso up as the example of someone knowing how to paint realistically (correctly...) who then can do it a different way because the foundation of 'correct knowledge' is already there.<br /><br />In my own work I strive to keep the judgment out by working in series, not measuring the clay out beforehand, and letting the process show me results rather than using the process to get specific results. I make stuff with the intention that I will often be surprised by how things turn out. I don't want to know in advance that I will get exactly this shape with this surface. I want to leave room for accident and I want to learn from the clay with each lump everyday. I want to have an open mind and not already be convinced there is only one right way to do things. I want to stay a student so that my cup will always be ready to have more poured into it.<br /><br />Starting to ramble now, but I really am inspired by your thoughts here. I am going to share this on my blog and with my student. Thanks so much for putting these great thoughts out there!carter gillieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12744265678233135968noreply@blogger.com