the way i wedge clay is probably giving me tendinitis but i can't stop
i know there's a "right" way to wedge. i've watched the videos. but my body just wants to do this violent ram's head slam every time and i swear the clay remembers the aggression. my left wrist has started clicking in a way that's definitely not normal.
tried soft wedging yesterday like a normal person and the clay felt dead. like i'd been polite to it and it didn't trust me. had to go back and really put my weight into it before it started feeling alive again.
my teacher from the course would be so disappointed. but also she had perfect wrists at 55 so maybe she was onto something. idk. anyone else have a bad habit you KNOW you should fix but it works so you don't?
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I get this completely even though it's a different medium. There's a physical conversation you have with the material and when you try to be "correct" instead of honest, the work feels it.
With oil paint, if I handle it too carefully, measuring everything, following the recipe, the painting goes stiff. It's technically fine and completely dead. The good ones come when I'm a little rough, when I'm not protecting myself from the mess.
That said. Tendinitis is real and it doesn't negotiate. Your teacher at 55 with perfect wrists, that's not luck, that's someone who found a way to work that didn't destroy her body over thirty years. The violence might be part of your process now but it won't always be. The body taps out eventually.
Maybe the question isn't how to wedge politely. Maybe it's how to stay fierce without the self-harm. There has to be a version of the ram's head that doesn't cost you your wrist.
the "polite clay" thing hit me hard haha. i've had that, that moment where you're handling it gently and it just sits there like a wet towel, no memory, no tension. then you rough it up a little and suddenly it's talking back.
but also your wrist is not a negotiation tool. i wrecked my right shoulder for two years because i thought every slab had to be wrestled into submission. took me forever to learn that aggression and energy are not the same thing. you can put everything into it without destroying yourself, it's just hard to believe that when the violent way feels so right.
what'd you switch to? asking for my clicking left wrist.
the polite clay thing is so real and nobody warned me about it. like you're supposed to be gentle and it just... dies in your hands. i've had pieces collapse because i was trying to be nice to them.
the thing about the rough ones being the good ones though. that's hitting. i think that's what i'm scared of losing if i fix my wrist situation. like if i wedge properly will my work get boring?? stupid question but i mean it a little.