Ceramics 101 at the CAC

Here's my first class report: D and I attended our first ceramics class this past Saturday at the Cultural Arts Center in downtown Columbus. It's a beautiful, large, and amazingly clean work space. At 9am, the studio was surprisingly busy - lots of attendees in this section already working on some pretty professional-looking pieces. Hmm. I thought this was beginner...

It turned out we were the only two beginners - everyone else had already taken a class and was registered in the section to use studio time (instead of a traditional membership, I suppose). Our instructor was lovely (and very chatty) and spent part of the morning showing us around the studio, getting us set up with our clay, and having us set forth on wedging (getting the air bubbles out) and making pinch pots to familiarize ourselves with the feel of the clay. We were told that the beginner's course would involve instruction on pinch pots, coiling, and slab work, and eventually throwing on the wheel depending on time and interest.

Admittedly, I thought 8 weeks of pinching, slabbing and coiling sounded like a drag. I was eager to get on the potter's wheel sooner than that. After shaping clay for 3 hours, however, using only my fingers and some texturizing tools, I was starting to understand why we go through this process -you begin to see how clay behaves as you pinch, flatten, stretch, pull, shape and poke it. By the end of class, D and I each made 4-5 little pots that should be leather-hard next Saturday, ready to be decorated some more.

Afterward, we had lunch at Katzinger's Deli in nearby German Village, and on the way out, bought a baguette from their bakery section. And hey! It was pretty darn good! Probably the best we've had in Columbus so far. Nice golden, crisp, chewy crust, and a dense, bubbly slightly chewy inside. After I got home, I toasted a few slices with olive oil and rubbed raw garlic all over them, with a little salt and pepper. Mmm, raw garlic.

The rest of the weekend was nice too, and relaxing. On Saturday night I had dinner at Spagio Cellars with the girls, and on Sunday we walked through the Short North and had a coffee. I almost bought a ridiculous looking gold polka-dotted dress on sale but finally decided I probably wouldn't have anywhere to wear it. We didn't end up going to the Arnold's fitness convention, but I'm not that sad about it. Today I have the day off, so I'll be doing some more baking, and then going to ballet class.