Review of the New Ceramics DVD,

A Potter's Progress
by Dennise Buckley and Kim Killeen

By Deborah Black

Where were good how-to pottery videos, DVDs or books, for that matter, when I was learning to throw and handbuild in the early 70's? Videos were beta then, DVDs didn't exist and available books were those such as the text heavy Bernard Leach's A Potter's Book and Centering by March Richards which linked throwing to an inner spiritual journey. Recent years have seen a plethora of Ceramics magazines, fabulous full colour specialty books and an increasing number of technique videos and DVDs, so many, in fact it is hard to pick one.

Into this forum pops a great, general how-to-make-pottery DVD made by Canadian potter Dennise Buckley and director/editor Kim Killeen, and beautifully filmed by Genie award winning cinematographer Paul Freer. While I may be usually supportive of work by former students, of which Buckley is one, A Potter's Progress is truly an entertaining look at making mostly functional ceramics; it is not your average self-made, slowly paced visual instruction manual tedious to get through. It is a clear, well laid-out DVD "text" with six "chapters" on: Clay Preparation, Handbuilding, Centering and Coning, Throwing Cylinders, Throwing Bowls and Advanced Techniques. It is easy to go to any of these headings on the main menu to gain access to the subject you want to view. Also important in making A Potter's Progress interesting and engaging is Buckley, the host potter, guiding us through her demonstrations and tips with humour, pertinent commentary, wit and charm. She is comfortable with the camera and makes us feel we are in the studio with her.

This DVD has been skillfully written by Buckley and edited by Killeen to include in its chapters "tips" which are shown as insets on the screen. For example, when Buckley, the host potter on-screen, covers textured clay stamps as part of the handbuilding section, a tip is to dust the clay with corn starch to help separate it from the stamp. Insets are also used to highlight a specific part of a technique: during the cylinder throwing section, an inset features a cross section of the pot showing the position of the hands on the inside of a cylinder while we watch it being made. Also, A Potter's Progress employs the technique of using words floating across an image to help clarify and emphasize a point. For example, when Buckley is centering a lump of clay on the potter's wheel, the word CENTERED moves across the screen just when the clay is centered. These are simple and very effective visual teaching methods.

An inspired addition to the DVD is the inclusion of pictures of historical pots from the collection of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Arts and the Royal Ontario Museum. Here, we are reminded of the long history of ceramic forms and are able to relate the forms Buckley makes in the DVD to their historical antecedents. What a sound educational technique it is to see the connection between the 3-part pot Buckley throws and puts together in Advanced Techniques, and the examples of similarly constructed ancient Greek pots.

I especially liked the handbuilding section which so often is given short shrift in books and classes. Here, Buckley covers wedging, pinch pots, and how to join pinched pots to make imaginative forms. Also demonstrated is slab preparation for hard and soft slab techniques and forms such as boxes with lids, sushi plates and trays and oval bakers and planters with inventively textured handles and feet. These feet and handles are the kinds of things, even as an advanced potter that was new to me.

All in all, A Potter's Progress is a well-written and edited DVD, which is beautiful to watch. With an orderly sequence of information and demonstrations, pictures of historical pots and amusing outtakes at the end, this is a lively, visually interesting and fun how-to DVD that I think potters of all stripes will enjoy and find useful. It will provide a good refresher for seasoned potters and resource for ceramic teachers, schools, studios and guilds. There is something for the professional ceramist here, too, as I discovered with the textured feet and handles, and after viewing the DVD at the launch party, one established potter excitedly told me she had learned an easier way to throw tall pots - in three stages.

By titling her DVD A Potter's Progress, Buckley refers to The Pilgrim's Progress an English 17th century Christian spiritual allegory by John Bunyan and suggests, just as Mary Richards did some 30-plus years ago, that the journey of the potter is one of continued discovery and growth, perhaps akin to a spiritual journey. Certainly, at whatever stage a potter finds her/himself there is always something more to learn. I think this DVD will be a good addition to anyone's ceramics library.

Deborah Black is an educator and former ceramist and ceramics teacher.