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 Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:26 am
“Hey!” Toulouse exclaimed when Julien ruffed his hair. “This took nearly an hour to fix.” He laughed with a shake of his head, peering at the door near the back. “Should I shout for her think? The closest thing I ever got to pottery was sculpting…I think. I don’t remember it being so messy as what you’re describing though. I won’t get anything on my shirt will I?”
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Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:55 am
"You didn't bring a shirt you don't mind getting dirty?" Julien asked, although instinctively, he already knew the answer. It had even occurred to him to pack an extra shirt for Toulouse this morning, just in case, but he'd decided against it, not wanting to appear too much like the mother hen he knew he was. Now, however...
"If it comes down to it, you're welcome to use mine," he said with a crooked smile. "The smock should cover me mostly, and you'll know for next time, right?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:08 am
“Why don’t you keep your shirt on for once Jules?” Toulouse smirked with a laugh remembering the time at the park. “Thanks though, but I’ll be fine. I never like getting any of my clothes dirty, old or new. You’d think being old money, that I wouldn't care.”
Thinking to call the shop owner, Toulouse cupped his hands over his mouth and called, “Hullo? Is anyone here to play with us?” There was a sudden, unmistakable crash of clay pots followed by a shout of surprise.
A graying woman with glasses and a pointy noise appeared in the doorway. She was wearing a flowered smock and looked to be covered in different colors of clay from white to dark brown. “Oh, hullo?” She said in a startled kind of way, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone was here. You’re a bit early. You both are my two o’clock appointment, right?”
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:27 am
Julien laughed at Toulouse's teasing about his shirt. "I just don't want my best friend to be uncomfortable," he said airily in response, as the woman made her way over. "That's all." Turning to the shopowner, he rose, bowing a little. "Sorry we're early. Thank you for taking the time to teach us both," he said to her, then sat back down. "Is there anything we should be doing to prepare?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:44 am
The woman blinked a moment at the strange little bow the pale haired boy did. He was utterly adorable and she found herself fighting back a school girl’s blush. “Well first thing you can do,” She chirped falling into the easy pattern of teacher. “is take of any jewelry that you have on and then put on your aprons. If you haven’t brought one, there’s some spares in the closet.” She pointed behind her. “I’m Mrs. Tulip by the way and I know that you are Julien and you are Toulouse right?” Mrs. Tulip pointed to each boy respectively, getting the names right. “We won’t be doing anything too intense today. I’m going to teach you the basics of hand building, which is to use the turntable to build the clay up. Pretty self explanatory that.”
Toulouse blinked, offering the woman a less than balmy hello, as he took in all the information that she began to spit out at the speed of light. She jumped at bit and it was a little hard to follow the thread of the conversation. He did catch the bit about the apron though. He hopped of the stool and want to the closet, selecting the cleaner of the three aprons that were inside.
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:57 am
Julien also made his way to the closet, digging out an apron from there without too much worry about how clean it was. After all, he doubted it'd be terrifically clean when they were done. "Looks like I need a second apron," he told Toulouse as they made their way back. "The one I have at home is for cooking." With no jewelry to take off, all Julien needed to do was settle the apron on himself, tying it behind him. If he minded the flowered print, it wasn't obvious, for he sat down comfortably, looking over at Toulouse. "Why don't we trade what we make, when we're done with the classes?" he suggested. "As mementos."
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 4:07 pm
“Yeah sure.” Toulouse agreed readily. “If you don’t mind a squashed flower pot that is.”
Mrs. Tulip had wandered back over to the table with a sheeted bag in one hand and a bowl of murky water in the other. “All right, here’s your slurry, it‘s just clay and water,” she set down the bowl between the boys, “and your clay. I’ve already sized the balls so you don’t have to worry about that. Now, I’ll demonstrate how you go about building up your ware. The wheel in front of you is electric so don’t worry about a kick wheel.” Mrs. Tulip pushed of her sleeves and splashed both her hands in the slurry. She reached into the back and pulled out a slightly rounded ball of clay. She flipped on the power to Julien’s wheel.
“Alright, first off, make sure your hands are always wet with the slurry as you’re working. You don’t want the clay drying.” Mrs. Tulip threw the clay onto the spinning turn table, attacking the ball instantly with her wet hands. The first thing she did was push a depression in the center. “Make sure the that you push the hollow in the center. After that you have to build it up slowly with your hands.” She demonstrated this by molding the clay upward in a long shape. “You’re making bowls so keep that in mind as you’re working. Once you get the shape you want, you can start putting on embellishments.” She rounded the pot again, using her thumb to run a line all the way around the tan clay. “Alright, did you get that? Any questions? This is really a trial by error type of art.”
Toulouse nodded, not sure if he followed everything. He looked at Julien and wondered if he understood it better.
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Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 6:34 am
Julien was nodding to himself slowly, reaching to plunge his hands into the murky water between himself and Toulouse as he half-grinned. "I think I've got it. Keep our hands wet, do the basework first, and then worry about decorations," he repeated, reaching his hands out toward the lump of clay she'd already partially molded on his wheel. His hands settled near hers, cupping the base, and he blinked at the feeling of wet clay spinning around, sliding through his hands. "...Feels weird," he admitted with a laugh.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:44 pm
Mrs. Tulip laughed also, encouraging both boys. She even helped Toulouse out by turning on his turn table. It was then that the door clanged open and a couple with their little girl walked in. “Oh!” Mrs. Tulip exclaimed. “Do you think you kids will do alright for a moment? Looks like I need to get them settled.”
“I think we’ll be fine.” Toulouse smirked, eying the murky turry. “Don’t worry.”
“Wonderful! You gentlemen give a shout if you need any help. Remember, keep your hands wet.” Mrs. Tulip bustled off, skirts flying, to help the new arrivals.
“This makes me nervous.” Toulouse said, confiding in Julien as he looked an the wirling turntable in front of himself. “I have this miserable feeling that it’s all going to splash up in my face.” Tentatively, Toulouse wetted his hands and grabbed a clay ball from the bag. With a little trepidation, he flung the ball onto the spinning table. When it made a wet splat and didn’t bounce off, he sighed in relief
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:53 pm
"You know what the secret to a craft like this is?" Julien asked, softly, leaning a little closer to Toulouse so that he could talk quietly. He was grinning, reaching over to dip his hands in the water again and moving back to help shape the bowl Mrs. Tulip had started. He'd pushed down the side that she built up, so that instead of a deep bowl, he had a shallow, pudgy one. "Don't be afraid to get dirty. Everywhere the clay could get, you're able to wash, after all," he pointed out, eyes warm. "And when you're done, you'll have something you can be proud of, as long as you're not afraid."
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:05 pm
“Yes,” Toulouse agreed, sticking a thumb into the center of the revolving ball. “But suppose I get dirty and it never comes off and never goes away. What do I do then?” Toulouse flattened the clay, drawing it up again about four inches high. He flicked his hands in the water, smashing the clay down. Not sure what to do about it. He wondered what Julien was going to make and looked over at the teens starting creation curiously. “What are you going to make?” He asked is mind roving elswhere to other things.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:12 pm
"A bowl," Julien shrugged. "It seems like a good, simple place to start. Once we know more about how pottery works, we can maybe try more involved designs." He paused, working at his clay for several moments in silence, a faint frown on his face as he stared at it. Occasionally, he'd reach over to dip his hands in the water, using both hands to carefully push the sides of the bowl a bit, thinning it out and making the bowl itself wide and shallow.
"You know, Toulouse," he finally noted, glancing briefly over at his friend. "There's only one place where you can possibly get dirty and it'd never come off. And... the clay can't get there. Ever." He glanced over again, worried eyes watching Toulouse's face for a moment before the feel of the bowl gave and he looked back to see part of the bowl's side had folded over and fallen due to his distraction.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:28 pm
“Watch it!” Toulouse cried seeing the side of Julien’s bowl collapse. “Good show though, you almost had it. I’m still not sure what I want to do. Maybe a flower pot?” Toulouse wet his hands playing with building up and flattening the clay, not really paying attention. He didn’t know what to do. He never really was sure. He poked at the clay some more, bring round to resemble something of a small cereal bowl with a deep belly.
Toulouse played with the clay more, thinking about what Julien had just said. “So…you’re saying it’d never go away? Never ever? No matter how much I wash my hands?” Toulouse asked this question with tight lips. He thought about it all and wondered if anything he did really mattered. Since it would never go away, what was the point? He wanted to tell Julien...but he didn't. Was he not his friend because of that?
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:33 pm
"I'm saying no matter how dirty you get outside," Julien said as he mashed the clay back into a ball, keeping his hands wet and pushing it all together before starting fresh, "you can always get clean. The only place you could ever get dirty and not be able to get clean is in your heart, Toulouse. If you did something really hateful, or set out to truly hurt someone? That'd be something that'd make you dirty forever. A bit of clay can always be washed away."
Julien paused then, frowning at his bowl as he considered his own words before adding, "I think... even if you do do something hateful, you could probably still clean yourself, if you really wanted to." Looking over at Toulouse, he offered a crooked grin. "You've got a good heart, when you don't let frustration get in the way."
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:45 pm
Toulouse was silent as he let the clay spin through his hands. He thought about Julien’s words. “Your wrong Julien.” He said quietly keeping the shape of the bowl. His voice was barely audible above the whirr of the wheel. “You don’t know anything. What if you did something so awful, so horrible that not even God himself could forgive you. What then?” Toulouse didn’t look at Julien as he asked this, not expecting an answer. He had stopped looking for answers a long time ago. Those who could answer such questions were long gone.
Toulouse held his bowl a moment longer before pressing the sides in slightly, letting them fold in like a rumpled flower. He didn’t like that either.
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