For the last few years I've been wanting to take a class with Daven Hee but it never worked out until this last 14-week session at the Honolulu Museum of Art School. Last night was our last night, and now that I'm at the end of the class I can say it was just what I needed. I wanted to learn from Daven because he's one of the best ceramic artists in the state and because he has a reputation for being a great teacher. I've admired his work for more years than I've been a potter and his pieces are in all of the most prestigious juried shows here locally. What really impressed me over the last 14 weeks, however, is the amount of stuff he taught us and how much I've learned. Let me give you three examples. First, he taught us how to make larger pots by joining two cylinders together. I've used this technique before with more failures than successes, but using Daven's technique has allowed me to make larger pieces with a much higher success rate. We started with just a 5-pound piece of soldate, threw a cylinder, then took a 3-pound piece of soldate and threw another cylinder. The cylinders were in a slight "V" shape, not too thin toward the top, and beveled at the rim so they would slide together for a stronger bond. With this technique, we could join the pieces immediately. It's important to make sure the top of the cylinders are fairly thick. I've joined pieces together like this when the top three inches or so were too thin, and I wasn't able to belly out the clay without collapsing the pot. After joining the pieces and making sure the bond at the joint was a strong one, we let them rest for about 15 minutes with a fan on them before stretching them out. In my case, I used a torch and started stretching in about 5 minutes. If you look in Gallery 2, #217, you can see the first pot I made using this technique. Its finished size is 12.5", pretty tall when you consider how far it's been stretched out. It's also super light for its size. I don't think every pot has to be light, but Daven's technique can help you make larger pots with less clay. Second, he showed me a technique for holding the rim in place with my right hand while doing a final stretch of the clay inside the top of the pot with my left hand so you end up with a much larger looking pot. If you look at Gallery 2, #220, you can see the first pot I made using this technique. You also end up with a small neck and rim so if you want one that's longer you can attach one you've thrown separately or add a soft coil and throw it directly on the pot. I've also added hand-built rims as well. Third, Daven showed us how to inlay clay by making depressions in the wall of the cylinder and inserting thin coils of clay. I found you can get a much cleaner line because the clay doesn't blend in as much as it does if you wedge it before throwing. After firing the piece to cone 10, Daven showed us how to sand the piece starting with 50 grit diamond sanding pads and moving up to higher grits until you get to 800. Since then I've looked at diamond sanding pads at Amazon that go all the way up to 3000! He does the last sanding underwater to get a super smooth finish. This had a profound effect on me. The pots with mixed clays looked like something out of my childhood, like brightly colored river stones. This was a look I'd been searching for, something without glaze that reveals the beauty of the clay itself.
So, if you're in Hawaii and you want to take a class from a great teacher, someone who's encouraging, inspiring, and knows how to teach people at all skill levels, take a class with Daven. And by the way, he told me yesterday that he just put up a new website, so check it out at www.davenheeceramics.com.
So, if you're in Hawaii and you want to take a class from a great teacher, someone who's encouraging, inspiring, and knows how to teach people at all skill levels, take a class with Daven. And by the way, he told me yesterday that he just put up a new website, so check it out at www.davenheeceramics.com.
RSS Feed