Page 32 of Beneath Pearly Irish Skies
She smiled as his fan girls sighed. “Irish pottery is famous around the world for its use of Celtic symbols as well as some very special clay found in areas like Cashel. Eoghan just told me his brother was a potter.”
“Was that Callum?” Lisa Ann asked, already wearing a black apron that looked like it came from her salon.
“It was indeed,” Eoghan answered. “A fine man, although he wasn’t long with us. But we’re interrupting the Yank.”
She smiled, knowing the Irish could go on with their stories. “You might have had family who worked with the clay, or you might find inspiration from another source. Wherever it comes from, I hope you will infuse your own passion and history into everything you make. Which leads me to a question. How many of you have done ceramics before? I just learned about my cousin’s experience.”
“Do those paint your own pottery places count?” Hollie asked. “A girlfriend had her birthday party there.”
“That would make you familiar with decorating and handling fired pots, which is good, but throwing them is another step.” She looked around the room, but no one else raised a hand. “So Liam is our only student with experience at the wheel. Anyone ever make shapes out of Play-Doh? Do you have that in Ireland?” Crap, she’d forgotten to check.
“We have that,” Lisa Ann said helpfully.
“Good, then that’s also something you can do. Hand building. I’ll do my best to run you through the various options as we go along.”
She fisted her hands at her sides as a lull came over the room. She needed to start a demonstration. There was only so much information people could absorb, especially on the first night. But she was delaying.Say something, Megan.
“I’ll just do a little demo to show you what to do,” she said, her tone overly bright.
Megan walked to the clay she’d set aside. When she picked it up, she handled it gently, letting her hands feel it. Centering started with feel, and if she focused on the clay, maybe she wouldn’t remember how tight her stomach was as everyone watched her.
“This is about one kilo. You can weigh your clay on the scale on the wedging table. That’s about the weight you’ll want to start with. It makes a nice mug or a small bowl or vase—great when you’re first starting out.”
Like her.
“You’ll want to wedge the clay like you’re kneading bread. Come close if you want to see what I’m doing. This stamps out any air pockets in your clay and makes it more uniform to throw.”
She demonstrated the technique.
“I’m going to throw a simple cylinder and make a mug,” Megan said, praying she could manage it.
She sat down at her station as people clustered around her. Sweat formed at her temple, even as Kade pulled his stool close. She took a deep breath, searching for his scent, and it calmed her. Plopping the clay onto the center of the wheel, she turned the wheel on and pressed the foot pedal to give it speed.
“You’re going to physically place the clay in the middle as best you can, flatten it into a mound, cupping your hands around it, and then start the wheel. Convention has it that you center better with medium to high speed rather than a slower setting, but as you will discover, you need to find the best way for you.”
Boy, did she ever. Right now.
She bent over at the waist, applying pressure to the mound.
Pressure.
She felt it in all the eyes trained on her. The clay started to bolt. She could feel her frustration growing, but she fought back, remembering how she’d centered it for the first time in ten years. With Kade by her side as he was today. She closed her eyes and gentled her hands. In less than a minute, she knew it was centered.
“Aha!” she said spontaneously to her class as she opened her eyes. “The first hurdle. It’s centered.”
“You’re in your Zen space, cousin,” Liam said with a grin.
She blew out a breath. If only. “Now I’m going to form a cylinder by opening up the clay disc with my thumbs to form a thick wall of clay that will resemble a jelly mold with a bottom.”
She did exactly that, rewetting her hands to create more ease with the clay.
“As you see, I only use a little water. Now I’m going to place my fingers on either side of the clay and start to pull up.”
“Megan, do you want to check the bottom for thickness?” Liam asked, looking over at her.
She wanted to kick herself for forgetting. “Yes, thank you. Now I’m going to measure the thickness of the clay floor by how much it sinks into the needle.”
She cut the speed and the wheel ground to a halt so she could check.
