I promised more arts and crafts content… and here it is! Pottery!
Thursdays on our occupational therapy timetable meant chucking some clay around and generally making a mess. As per, I did not want to go to this class. I still hadn’t learned my lesson from the pumpkin carving, and I refused to believe that something as simple as kneading clay could help me feel better. I think I ended up going out of boredom more than anything else. If you don’t engage with the ward activities it can be a pretty dull experience.
The Michael Carlisle Centre (where Stanage ward is) has an occupational therapy suite of rooms, including a pottery studio, an art room, a gym and a space for exercise classes. I think they also have a kitchen but I didn’t go to those classes. I love cooking and somehow I felt that doing this on the ward would make me feel even sadder about being there. Weird how brains work.
Anyway, the first Thursday I was there I trotted along to the pottery class, which was run by a really lovely guy called Terry. He didn’t talk down to me and the other patients (a mixture of people from the Stanage and Burbage wards), but just encouraged us to be as creative as possible and to engage at whatever level we felt comfortable. I pretty quickly decided that I was going to make a bowl, using one of the many moulds in the studio. Terry showed me how to roll out my clay to the right thickness, how to lay it into the mould, and how to trim the edges. It was a bit like doing the pastry on a pie.
Then I got to be creative with mini moulds of leaves and flowers to decorate. One of the other patients had done a lovely design the week before and I used hers to get some inspiration/slightly copied her. Once again, like with the pumpkins, I was drawn in by the activity and enjoyed the feeling of creating something. I am quite a naturally creative person, so I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise that pottery helped me feel a bit better.
The next week I was a much keener participant and was looking forward to applying the glaze to my bowl, which would then be fired in the kiln to make it all lovely and shiny. I got into the autumn spirit and used lots of seasonal colours. I remember sending the photo to my family and posting it on Instagram. I was really proud.
That bowl now sits on our hearth in the lounge, and whenever I see it I still feel a spark of pride.
Sarah x
BPD and Me 