Novice throws himself into pottery
Over the summer Chronicle reporters have been trying something new, under the supervision of experts. In the next instalment of our series called I’m New to This, Logan Tutty gets a lesson in pottery from Ivan Vostinar.
When it was proposed we do a series on experiencing something for the first time, I wanted to choose something that I would never usually consider.
It had to be something in the arts and crafts world; an area I had always been very timid about and nervous to dip my toes into.
After pondering at my desk for a couple of minutes, it suddenly came to me. Pottery.
I was warmly welcomed by Ivan Vostinar, who walked me through his gallery as we talked about his history as an artist.
He was introduced to pottery 15 years ago by a former partner and was immediately fascinated by the art form.
“I fell in love with it immediately. Somehow there was some sort of flow and serendipity with me getting into clay,” he says.
Just five years after taking up pottery, he was approached to do all the pottery and ceramics for The Hobbit movies.
He spent two years working fulltime making all the pieces for the set.
“It was 750 ceramic items in Bilbo’s house. They wanted two sets, one was normal size and one was a smaller size so they all had to be identical pairs.”
After working for more than 10 years as an artist making just enough to survive, he relished the opportunity the big break brought.
“When a gig like that finally turns up and with good money, that was awesome.”
Shortly after finishing the mammoth project in 2012, Vostinar bought the Rangiora St building with his house included and moved to Whanganui.
Vostinar walks me over to the station where we will begin “throwing” — the process of forming and shaping the clay on the potter’s wheel.
He throws the clay down onto the bat — the board on top of the wheel — and begins working with the clay.
I dial in trying to pick up all his instructions. Where my hands should be placed, how they should be shaped, how fast I should be spinning the wheel and more.
Within two minutes, he has a perfectly shaped mug that looks exactly like the eight others he had previously prepared.
He runs through the process a second time, slowing down and emphasising different steps along the way. Once again, he has a perfectly balanced cup that looks no different from the rest.
He asks if I’m ready to go. I nervously step up.
I sit down in the chair. The pedal to control the speed of the wheel is under the table, similar to an accelerator you have in your vehicle.
I throw my clay ball down and begin to work. Immediately, I was fascinated.
I realised very quickly how meticulous it was. The smallest little movements or details with where your hands should be greatly affect how the clay reacts.
In my head I’m saying “Good God, Ivan has made this look very easy”.
“It took me about 1000 attempts to be able to get replicable mugs, you are fine,” Vostinar quickly says.
As I’m shaping this cup, I keep alternating between being too tentative with the speed of the wheel and too eager with my hands.
It felt like it was all going pretty well until I looked at my creation; a rather lopsided ornament somewhere between a bowl and a cup. Vostinar steps in and says I should put this one on the back burner about as nicely as you can: “I think we will just leave that one.”
Before trying pottery, I didn’t know how much it would be based on feeling. As I’m “throwing”, I realise how little my eyes are actually involved. It’s based almost fully on feeling, that at times I found myself closing my eyes using my hands to guide me. It became strangely meditative and I became both very lost and focused on the task. My second attempt went a lot better, where I had created something at least resembling a cup, I was stoked. Ten minutes ago, I had a clay ball. Now, I have my own cup.
The cups will now sit for a couple of days, before being fired in a kiln. It will go in there for a day before being pulled out and rested for another day.
It will then get glazed and fired one more time before it is finished. It’s safe to say mine won’t be getting mixed up with Vostinar’s mugs.
After the Christmas holidays, I pop back into Vostinar’s gallery to pick up my cups. My time away has deceived my memory, and my cups look an awful lot smaller than I remember.
Instead of being the cups I had earlier envisioned, they may be better used as small bowls to house dip as I’m eating my chips over the summer.
It was a truly awesome experience and was what I thought I wanted it to be and more. I didn’t want to leave, I could have spent hours trying to make the perfect mug. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to trying it again. The intricacies and difficulty using the wheel was insane; and that was just for a mug. A little ol’ mug, let alone these incredible sculptures or other possible creations. Vostinar was a great teacher, who was very patient and offered wonderful advice and direction. It was enlightening being around someone so free spirited and creative.
His studio on Rangiora St is open Thursday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm where he has ceramics and paintings. He recommended anyone looking to get involved in pottery or give it a go to contact the Wanganui Potters Society, who hold weekly classes and courses for beginners.
To get involved, contact Jim Farley (06) 342 5854 or Lesley Keats (06) 345 8397.