Messy art

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

Who wants to get dirty this summer?

If getting splattered with mud while creating functional art sounds like fun, maybe pottery wheel camp is right for you.

This July, experienced potters Tom Murray and Ron Pothier will be offering teens between 12 and 17 years old the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the pottery wheel and throwing pottery through their two-week camp in Dorval, offered in both English and French.

“They’ll just throw and throw and throw until they learn how to do it. It’s that kind of thing. It’s about practice, practice, practice,” said Murray, a retired high school teacher with more than 10 years of pottery wheel experience.

Throwing pottery requires students to learn a number of different techniques and procedures, and the camp will focus on the basics, like wedging the clay (preparing it for the wheel), throwing a pot, and trimming the foot (finishing the bottom of a pot, bowl, etc.).

Murray said the idea of starting a pottery wheel camp for teens came up to fill a niche between children’s activities and adult pottery classes. Pottery, he said, is a great activity for teens, because it’s different and it gives them the opportunity to keep learning something new and feel like they’ve accomplished something.

“It’s really the satisfaction of making something,” he said. “It’s never done. You keep learning. I always want to learn more.”

The pottery wheel camp will take place Monday to Friday between July 14 and 25 at the Sarto Desnoyers Community Centre in Dorval. The English session will take place between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m., and the French class will be held between 1 and 4 p.m. The cost is $200, and includes all materials. For more information, visit www.wheelcamp.sprucelog.com, and e-mail tmurray@sprucelog.com for registration.